First, let’s allow one of the Club Acoustic founders, Keith Smith, to explain what it’s all about:
Club Acoustic is run by friends for friends and anyone else who is in Buxton and enjoys performing or listening to live music of all sorts, usually but not always acoustic. The music is performed by musicians of all sorts from a host of local talent and visitors, who meet at the Working Men’s Club in Buxton, Derbyshire. We have a large regular audience, a warm and welcoming atmosphere and many visitors. Open sessions run on 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, with doors opening at around 7:30 pm. Come along on the night to perform, or just to listen.
In addition to the open sessions, we also run showcase concerts of local talent on 5th Wednesdays, and occasional concerts. Check out the Home page for what’s coming up!
A short history of Club Acoustic
Club Acoustic was started on 30th September 1999 in a small room in Buxton’s Old Clubhouse pub, by Keith Smith and Ric Bateman. A group of local musicians had been playing in noisy pubs around Buxton for some time, but wanted to create a space where music could be played, listened to and enjoyed in a quieter environment. Ric and Keith invited all types of musicians and music, just so long as it was acoustic. The intention was to create a very low maintenance event which was a pleasure to attend, so it was held fortnightly to make it a treat rather than an obligation.
The sessions were a success from the start and, under the guidance of Chris Rockliffe, developed peripheral activities such as showcase concerts for local acts, separate weekly jam sessions, a Buxton Fringe Festival concert and special ticketed shows for professional acts, including Ken Nichol, Kirsty McGee, Martin Simpson, Bob Brozman, Spiers & Bowden, Last Night’s Fun and more.
In 2003 the Club moved to the Eagle pub where it continued to prosper until Chris Rockliffe’s premature death in June 2008. Stuart Kelly took over the running of the Club and maintained it heroically for two years, when he was joined by Dave Purchase and Tony Boden, and together they set up a committee to revitalise it and, in November 2010, move it to a smaller, more intimate venue in the Old Sun Inn.
The Club quickly re-established its popularity, and, by the end of 2011, the Club had a large group of regular local performers and visitors from outside Buxton and a growing audience. A larger venue was needed than the Old Sun could offer, so, in January 2012, the Club returned to the Old Clubhouse, but this time to the larger function room.
During the years following 2012, Club Acoustic continued to thrive, attracting performers from as far afield as Macclesfield, New Mills, Hyde and Chesterfield on a regular basis. Noticeable too was the growing contribution made by female performers and by younger artists, giving the club a very healthy balance and a strong platform for the future. As the popularity of the club has grown, it has also attracted many musicians passing through on vacation.
Showcase Concerts have continued to give Club musicians the opportunity to perform extended sets complete with Full PA and stage lighting.
Over the years, there have been a number of very special highlights with local girl Lucy Spraggan performing a wonderful full-house concert at the club before she left for X-Factor and much deserved recognition world-wide. Linda Simpson, of ‘Magna Carta’ fame, was a regular visitor to the club during 2011/2012, and introduced us to the wonderful talents of ‘Elrieke and Poldy’ from The Netherlands who remained great friends of the club over the next few years. Unfortunately, Poldy passed away in 2018.
We also lost the much-loved and wonderful Glastonbury performer, ‘Jolly Jock’ in 2016 and, also greatly-loved, Kevin Allsop in 2019 after a long illness.
More positively, 2019, saw Club Acoustic reach the milestone of its 20th Birthday and a wonderful celebratory party was held on 2nd October with the original founders of the club performing along with many that have played their part throughout the years and, of course, the current performers too.
At the beginning 2024 the Old Clubhouse told us they would be closed for a while to revamp and re-open with a focus on catering, so Club Acoustic had to find somewhere else to meet. After trying a few possible venues, we settled on the Buxton Working Men’s Club, who have made us very welcome. By October, we were celebrating our 25th anniversary with a party in what already felt like our new home!
When writing this in 2025, Club Acoustic is continuing to prosper, with healthy attendances and every reason to look forward to the future in great spirits.
