The Warrington four-piece will champion the independent venues that helped shape their career, with IVW27 running from January 25–31
There’s something particularly fitting about The K’s becoming the Artist Ambassadors for Independent Venue Week 2027.
The Warrington four-piece have spent years building their career from the ground up, playing the venues, clubs and stages that form the backbone of the UK’s live music scene. Now, as one of the North West’s most successful independent guitar bands, they’re stepping forward to champion the very venues that helped get them there.
Independent Venue Week (IVW), the UK’s long-running celebration of independent music venues and independent music culture, returns from January 25th to 31st, 2027, with The K’s taking on the role of Artist Ambassadors.
The seven night nationwide celebration will see independently owned venues across the UK, from intimate grassroots rooms to larger independent spaces, hosting hundreds of live shows and events across virtually every genre.
For music fans, it’s an opportunity to discover something new, revisit a favourite venue or simply get out and experience live music in the places where so much of the country’s musical culture begins.
And for the venues themselves, it’s another chance to underline just how important they remain to the UK’s music ecosystem.
170 independent venues have already registered to take part in IVW27, with venues able to sign up until December 9th. Full details of participating venues and shows will continue to be updated via the Independent Venue Week website.
Artists looking to get involved with shows and tours can find more information here.
The K’s: From Warrington to the biggest stages
The choice of The K’s feels particularly appropriate.
The Warrington band have built a fiercely loyal following through years of relentless touring, gradually moving from the UK’s grassroots circuit to some of the country’s biggest stages.
This year has seen the four-piece headline shows at Halifax’s Piece Hall and Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl, alongside appearances at major festivals including Reading & Leeds, Truck, Tramlines, TRNSMT and the Isle Of Wight.
Their rise has been equally impressive on record. Following a Top 3 placing for their debut album, I Wonder If The World Knows?, its follow-up, Pretty On The Internet, went one better, debuting at Number 1 on the UK Albums Chart in August 2025. Yet despite that progression, the importance of the independent venues that provided the band’s early platform hasn’t been forgotten.
The K’s will perform a special show as part of next January’s Independent Venue Week celebrations.
Confirming their role as IVW27 Artist Ambassadors, the band said:
“As a band we feel that we owe it to the independent venues up and down the country that gave us the platform to build and become the musicians we are today. Without them it would have been pretty much impossible. It’s so important to support and protect these types of venues and their surrounding communities. They are where it started for us, and like many others, they are where we learnt our craft, gained our education and cut our teeth. Anything we can do to protect them for future generations is pivotal. This is why we are honoured to be part of (and Ambassadors for) 2027’s Independent Venue Week.”
It’s a sentiment that will resonate particularly strongly across the North West, where a thriving network of independent venues continues to provide vital platforms for emerging artists.
From Liverpool and Manchester to Warrington, Chester and beyond, the region has long played an outsized role in developing British music and the grassroots venues sitting underneath that ecosystem remain fundamental to its future.
Remembering Paul “Jacko” Jackson
IVW27 will also carry a more poignant significance.
This year’s celebration will be dedicated to the late Paul “Jacko” Jackson, the founder, owner and operator of Hull’s legendary New Adelphi Club, who sadly passed away in March 2026. Jacko was one of the great champions of independent music venues and local music communities. Established in a terraced house on De Grey Street in 1984, the Adelphi has hosted thousands of live performances over more than four decades, including early appearances from artists such as The Stone Roses, Oasis, Radiohead and Pulp. The venue has participated in every Independent Venue Week since 2015, while Jacko and the Adelphi also featured prominently in IVW’s On The Road documentary, released on BBC iPlayer in 2021. More than simply a venue operator, Jacko represented the ethos at the heart of Independent Venue Week: providing artists with a place to experiment, develop and find their audience, while creating a genuine community around live music.
Paul’s sister, Rose Jackson, said:
“Jacko would have been honoured to have IVW27 dedicated to him. He loved every minute of his working life of 41 years in the Hull Adelphi Club. He wasn’t interested in money or material possessions. He loved people and shared moments with them. His dream was to be able to come downstairs from his flat, enjoy a good pint with mates and engage with good live, original performances. Like all venues, he had struggles and hardships for little or no financial reward. But his reward was in seeing artists develop the ability to express themselves freely on stage; and in audience participation in a safe and inclusive community. This is the value of what truly ‘independent’ venues share: the absence of anything that threatens the who, what, where, when, how and why of artistic expression. Something we can all celebrate and be proud of.”
That idea of independence is ultimately what IVW is celebrating.
Since launching in 2014, more than 1.2 million tickets have been sold for Independent Venue Week events, helping introduce new audiences to live music while highlighting the cultural and community value of independent venues across the country.
BBC 6 Music, Beavertown and DICE return
IVW27 will also see the continuation of several major partnerships.
BBC Radio 6 Music will continue as an official broadcast partner in 2027, alongside BBC Introducing, which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Beavertown returns for a fifth consecutive year, while ticketing and discovery platform DICE joins the Independent Venue Week family for the first time.
Further details around these partnerships are expected to be announced in the coming months.
The event will also welcome respected music journalist and digital communications strategist Paul Bridgewater to the IVW team as Chief Content Officer.
Bridgewater, formerly Editor of The Line of Best Fit, has spent years championing emerging and established artists while exploring music and cultural scenes across the UK and internationally.
His appointment comes at an interesting time for IVW as the organisation looks to develop its content, reach new audiences and provide additional value for participating venues and artists.
Sybil Bell, Founder & CEO, Independent Venue Week, said:
“I am honoured that we have Rose’s blessing to dedicate IVW27 to Jacko, an unique and wonderful friend who still means so much to so many. The spirit and community that Jacko instilled in the Adelphi remains truly inspirational. Like many other independent venue operators, he was a remarkable person who made remarkable things happen in his own backyard. We will always carry that passion and integrity in all we do and will amplify that spirit next January.”
She added:
“We are so happy to confirm The K’s as our Artist Ambassadors for IVW27. As one of the UK’s hardest working bands, they understand better than anyone the importance of independent venues to our music culture. Off the back of two phenomenally successful albums and some landmark live performances, it will be really exciting to work with them on what we hope will be a truly special show in January next year.
“The addition of Paul Bridgewater to the team this year is so exciting. His appointment comes at the perfect time as IVW explores more ways to deliver value to our venue community and those they support whilst reaching new audiences and artists.”
For The K’s, the appointment represents a chance to give something back to the venues that helped shape their own story. And for Independent Venue Week, having a band with such strong roots in the North West’s independent music scenefronting the 2027 campaign feels like a fitting reminder of where so many successful music careers begin.
Independent Venue Week 2027 runs from January 25th–31st.
Venues have until December 9th to register.
Find out more about Independent Venue Week
