Songs of Love Loss and Light - (Leonard Cohen and the Art of Songwriting)

Singer songwriter Jason McNiff makes an Alnwick debut with a new theatre show that brings together the songs of Leonard Cohen with his own deeply lyrical work. Songs of Love, Loss and Light places McNiff's acclaimed songwriting alongside that of the Canadian master, tracing the thread between influence and originality, and offering a rare glimpse into the enduring art of songcraft.

'Cohen brought us here, but we left with Jason's songs” M.Robertson, recent attendee

Jason McNiff is a troubadour in the truest sense — a songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist who has released nine acclaimed albums variously described as Folk, Americana and Alt-Country. Yet beneath those influences lies something unmistakably English. Imagine Ralph McTell with the poetic melancholy of Townes Van Zandt, with echoes too of chanson writers such as Georges Brassens and Fabrizio De André.

Over time McNiff’s music has drifted away from straightforward Americana toward a more continental sound: romantic, literate songs filled with late-night streets, drifting characters, fleeting vignettes and surprising stories.

Time Out wrote: “McNiff’s quiet, intimate, fragile-sounding vocals draw you into his world — an almost timeless place, through which he drifts, a romantic loner, a dreamer, at home with the blues.”

Long admired as one of the UK’s most distinctive songwriters and guitarists, McNiff has built a devoted following through exceptional musicianship and the understated depth of his songs. His album Dust of Yesterday (2022) was named Album of the Week in The Times, and in 2024 he was voted Male Artist of the Year by Fatea.