There is a lot of driving when on tour and sometimes it becomes a pleasure. Today, we drove along the winding roads with view of the hills in from the Welsh border, then across the Pennines and into Sheffield. I’d only ever seen Sheffield before when driving north or south on the M1 so it was nice to get a better impression of the city as it sprawls over the hills and valleys.
Café9 was established as a coffee house and café in 1995. Jonny started promoting music there only a few years ago and it has gained a good reputation. See here for upcoming shows.
It’s very cosy with a capacity of forty and is very much like a house concert, something Ray plays quite often (click here for further information)
Support for this show came from Araya, a young British-Thai singer-songwriter studying at the Leeds Conservatoire. Now in her final year, she released her first EP on 18th November and came up to Leeds with her band to showcase her songs. You can find out more about Araya on her Instagram account.
Café9 was a nice venue to finish this tour, especially as Ray’s commitment to the tours as Oysterband’s John Jones, Ray Cooper, Al Scott mean that there is not time for him to come to the UK for a solo tour in 2026 although he will tour in Germany in September.
The set list shows the core of songs that Ray used on this tour.
A Visitor On Europe’s Roads 
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