Carsie Blanton

Carsie Blanton plays Komedia on Wednesday 7 April 2027, with special guests on the bill. She's a Philadelphia-based songwriter and radical folk artist who works in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, and she describes her music as drawing on vaudeville, campfire singalongs and punk rock.

Blanton's work doesn't stop at the stage. She's a political organiser and activist, and in the autumn of 2025 she took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla, a direct action to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza by sailboat, for which she was imprisoned in Israel for five days. One of the songs from that period, 'The Little Flame', was recorded with the Irish band Ye Vagabonds and her prison-mate Rana Hamida, and it appears on her album The Red Album Vol II. She's toured heavily with her own band and with the Canadian folk-punk act The Burning Hell, and she continues her organising work with Artists Against Apartheid and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Komedia is in the heart of the North Laine and has hosted live shows for just under 30 years. The gig is in the Komedia Basement, at 44-47 Gardner Street, BN1 1UN. Doors open at 7:30 pm, and tickets are £11 standard and £16.50 concession.