It was the first of August, 2010, that Stephen W. Thomas (Esq.) first moved to London. It was a shabby house he took up residence in, out in the relative suburbs of South Kenton. Being the inconceivably lucky sod that he is, he found himself sharing an entire house with just one other person. And, being the inconceivably lucky sod that he is, within a few days he’d met a nice man called Nigel, who ran a lovely little boozer near Kings Cross, and they went about arranging for Stephen to put on a fortnightly folk gig.

It was the first of September, 2010, that Stephen W. Thomas (Esq.) put on the first Folkroom gig. Just over two years ago. It seems sort of incredible now, to think about it that way. As a gig – just a gig, with nothing beyond that. Nobody knew anyone else, and every act was making their debut appearance. There was no history, few audience members, no Ben – no Ben! A man who has since become every much a part of Folkroom as Stephen. A man who, if you ask Stephen, actually is Folkroom Records – collating and creating and forming this absolutely distinct Folkroom sound.

Yeah, we’ve come a long way in two years. We have a label now. We have friends, people we’ve met through the gigs and have come to care for greatly. We’ve seen collaborations happen between the acts coming through, and we’ve been in collaborations with those acts! Soon we’ll be releasing our second free compilation album (our fourth release on the label), and putting on gigs in exciting new venues (on a boat! A ruddy great boat!). It was incredible to close August with a gig, celebrating our second birthday and the signing of our newest Folkroom act.

But there’s still a deep connection to those early days. Our first ever headliner, Andrew Butler, was our first ever signing to the label, too. He still plays our gigs – in fact, he plays tomorrow’s. And we try to keep in touch with all our favourite acts from the years as they pass.

Take our second ever headliner, for instance. Gibson Bull. Gibson, like most of the people we’ve met, is still pushing forward and making music. We hope he always will. Last week a new song by Gibson emerged online, filmed at The Workshop studio in Notting Hill. Stephen listened to it and within seconds was transported back to that second gig. It felt, in some strange way, like going home. Maybe it’s the warmth in his voice – reminscent of Ray Lamontagne or Noah and the Whale’s Charlie Fink. Maybe it’s the gentle folk pop hooks that inhabit his music and bring some familiar comfort, like the log fire or heirloom quilt. Probably it’s just that Gibson was there at the beginning, when we were nothing more than a bunch of music fans who didn’t know each other and anything could have happened, and a great deal of those anythings did.

Do listen to ‘Matilda‘. It’s a beautiful song sung with more heart and care than most musicians are capable of – Gibson Bull has had a way with lyrics that entertains and empathises in equal measures.

And keep coming back to our gigs, and our website, and our music, and whatever else you want to. We’re two years old now, but we wouldn’t have made it two months were it not for those people who support us in all we do. Thank you!