Weekly at The Harrison, Belfast
Inspired by the supper clubs of 1930s Europe and New York, McKowski Café recreates the intimate, upscale mood of a mid-century live salon.
Thirty chairs. No more. Each week, Mark McKowski curates a world-class guest for an intimate live session in the hidden corners of The Harrison, with no balconies, no back rows, just thirty people close enough to hear the strings breathe.
When the last note fades, the night moves into the bar, where vinyl spins and a specially prepared cocktail menu awaits.
Curated by Mark McKowski
McKowski Cafe is curated by Mark McCausland, acclaimed Irish songwriter/producer/musician best known as one half of The Lost Brothers. Under his own alias, McKowski, he's collaborated with the likes of M Ward, Glen Hansard and Jolie Holland, and recently composed the score for The Spin, a feature film inspired by his own life running a record shop in Omagh.
Each week, Mark brings that same ear for talent to Belfast, hand-picking a different musical guest for an evening of intimate, unplugged performance.
See upcoming McKowski Café events below.
Don't miss this rare, stripped-back acoustic performance from Grammy-nominated songwriter and She & Him co-founder M Ward, playing career-spanning songs in one of Belfast's most intimate settings.
Catch Grammy-nominated songwriter and She & Him co-founder M Ward in an extremely rare acoustic performance, playing songs spanning his entire career in one of Belfast's most intimate settings.
Hailed by Hot Press as "Ireland's answer to The Travelling Wilburys," Dead Goat brings together four of Northern Ireland's finest songwriters, Stevie Scullion, Matt McGinn, Mark McCausland and Declan McManus, for a rare night of music born from friendship and captured in real time.
This is an early bird seson pass for any ten shows at McKowski Cafe, available for a limited time only.
Award-winning singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery, with over 170 million streams and performances at Glastonbury and SXSW, brings his acclaimed solo show to the intimate setting of McKowski Cafe.
Praised for sparking a "new Harp revolution," Grammy pre-nominated harpist Lily Neill brings her genre-defying blend of ragtime, tango and original compositions to McKowski Cafe for a performance unlike anything you've heard from the instrument before.
Duke Special, Belfast's beloved troubadour of gravel-voiced songcraft, is playing a rare, stripped-back set in the intimate surrounds of Harrison Chambers of Distinction, and with only a handful of seats available, this is your chance to hear one of Northern Ireland's most singular songwriters exactly as he was meant to be heard.
Duke Special, Belfast's beloved troubadour of gravel-voiced songcraft, is playing a rare, stripped-back set in the intimate surrounds of Harrison Chambers of Distinction, and with only a handful of seats available, this is your chance to hear one of Northern Ireland's most singular songwriters exactly as he was meant to be heard.
Hailed by Hot Press as "Ireland's answer to The Travelling Wilburys," Dead Goat brings together four of Northern Ireland's finest songwriters, Stevie Scullion, Matt McGinn, Mark McCausland and Declan McManus, for a rare night of music born from friendship and captured in real time.
Two-time Grammy winner Gill Landry, the Louisiana-born songwriter and former Old Crow Medicine Show member, brings his solo show to Belfast, offering a rare chance to hear his genre-defying blend of cinematic sweep and intimate storytelling up close.
Straight from the USA, Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys featuring Grey DeLisle bring decades of rockabilly pedigree and honeyed harmonies to Belfast, blending explosive musicianship with old-school glamour for a night that channels Sun Records grit with CBGB energy.
Derry songwriter Roe, whose genre-blurring storytelling has taken her from SXSW to a UK arena tour with Snow Patrol, brings her raw, confessional songcraft to Belfast for a rare and intimate night, with latest single "Adrenaline" offering a glimpse of the heart-on-sleeve honesty she's built her name on.
Belfast's own Arborist (Mark McCambridge) launches his stark, self-produced fourth album with a live performance of these hushed, late-night songs of love and loss, a rare chance to hear the intimate, close-mic'd atmosphere that's drawn comparisons to Leonard Cohen and collaborations with Kim Deal and Matthew E White's Spacebomb band.
Sheffield songwriter Ed Cosens, former Reverend and the Makers guitarist and bandmate of Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner and Matt Helders, brings two decades of multi-platinum songwriting and collaborations with the likes of Damon Albarn and Richard Hawley to Belfast for an intimate solo acoustic show.
Mark McCausland (McKowski) of The Lost Brothers, alongside David Murphy and Laura McFadden, performs the soundtrack to feature film The Spin live for the first time, in the candlelit intimacy of McKowski Cafe at the Harrison Hotel's speakeasy bar.