Westside Cowboy, Brook Combe, The Molotovs and MORE for Sound City 2026

Brooke Combe © Sam Crowston

Westside Cowboy, Brook Combe, Keyside and The Molotovs join the first wave line-up announcement for Sound City 2026

The UK’s leading festival of new talent makes its biggest announcement yet and opens its Apply To Play portal following successful applications from Ed Sheeran, Grimes and Christine and the Queens

Confirmed Sound City 2026 Artists: Jalen Ngonda, Keo, Brooke

Combe, Cherryholt, Blossom Caldarone, Will Parker, Et-al, Keyside, The Lilacs, The Molotovs, MT Jones, ashnymph, Westside Cowboy, Finn Forster, Lynnie Snow, Jack Devlin, SLAG, Saint Clair, Teenage Joans

Sound City 2026

The UK’s Inner-City New Music Discovery Festival

Liverpool City Centre, Sat 2 – Sun 3 May 2026

Sound City+ Conference Fri 1 May 2026

Weekend & Day Tickets On Sale Now! www.soundcity.uk.com

Indie’s rising stars meet punk upstarts and new pop sensations at Sound City 2026 with Liverpool’s multi-venue festival of talent discovery announcing it’s first wave of artists, including hype-generating Manchester four-piece, Westside Cowboy, Scottish commander of slick soul songwriting, Brooke Combe and Aussie powerhouse duo Teenage Joans on a rare UK appearance.

Following the rapid sell out of early bird tickets for the three-day event, opening with the Sound City+ Conference on Fri 1 May 2026 and continuing for two days of live music over Fri 2 – Sun 3 May 2026, remaining Weekend and Day Tickets are on sale now via www.soundcity.uk.com.

Having announced the return of two previous Sound City small stage artists as festival headliners this year, welcoming back Keo to Saturday night and Jalen Ngonda to Sunday night, both performing at the ornate, 3,500-capacity St George’s Hall, the festival’s keen talent scouting shows no sign of letting up in 2026. Rising stars and big names come together with Tik-Tok-borne sensations and fresh, early days indie talents in the latest line-up announcement.

Bouncing into national tastemaker recognition off the back of their debut This Better Be Something Great EP, Westside Cowboy’s rise from accidental hobby band to folkish, infectious indie figureheads means them closing out 2025 with widespread radio and media attention launching them onto bigger festival stages in 2026. Similarly hyped in the realms of cutting-edge guitar sounds, London’s Saint Clair debut at Sound City having signed to Submarine Cat to release recent single, Warm, with similarly tipped ashnymph also arriving from the capital via the mid-summer boost of hyped single, Saltspreader, bringing comparisons to Arcade Fire and Animal Collective. Brighton’s complex math-rock risers, SLAG, complete a compendium of intriguing alternative prospects at the festival having set tongues wagging with their skittish Heaven single earlier this year.

The Adelaid power pairing of drummer, Tahlia Borg and guitarist, Cahli Blakers as Teenage Joans make a stop in Liverpool for the first time amongst their run of debut UK tour dates, bringing songs including their breakout 2021 single, Wine, and highlights from their debut album, The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest. Adding fuel to the Sound City rock and roll fire, sibling mod duo, The Molotovs will also arrive in the city for the weekend having released their long-awaited debut album, Wasted On Youth this coming January.

Sophisticated, arena-performing nu-soul stalwart, Brooke Combe returns to Sound City 2026 having taken her songbook out to overlooked UK towns and cities on February’s Sound City Tour, opening at Wigan’s intimate Fat Bird on Wed 4 February 2026. No stranger to the city nor the festival, the Glasgow-by-Liverpool artist first performed at Sound City 2022 and will be joined on 2026’s line-up by similarly exciting and emotive song-focused solo artists including Liverpool’s authentically golden era of soul-inspired, MT Jones. Fresh from the release of her latest, delicate single, Waxing Lyrical, prodigious multi-instrumentalist songwriter, Blossom Caldarone, joins the line up as she plots out her own live commitments away from her role as touring member of English Teacher.

Middlesbrough’s Finn Forster, riding a tall wave off the back of singles such as Can’t Back Down, self-confessed ‘Brighton-based cool girl’ Lynnie Snow and Northern Ireland’s Jack Devlin also take their cue as leaders in a pack of resurgent, young keepers of the songwriting flame at Sound City 2026.

Making waves across social media before heavy streaming for their Irresistible single confirmed their cross-platform popularity, Lincolnshire’s Cherryholt make their Sound City debut in what’s near-guaranteed to be the latest in the festival’s beg-for-a-ticket, lock-out, queuing-down-the-street showcases. Sticking with the good time storytelling indie ticket, Sound City welcomes back hometown heroes, Keyside, returning following repeated sell-out Liverpool shows and the release of their latest, powerful single, Rock My Love. Wigan’s The Lilacs, bring loud, sing-along crowd-favourites including their own, relatable, main stage-ready anthem, Vicarage Road.

Having welcomed more than 150 artists to play Sound City in 2025, the announcement of the first wave of artists for next year’s 19th edition of the inner-city festival, also including fresh-off-the-production-line talents of popular social media-flighted vocalist, Will Parker and hand-picked underground prospects, et al, clears a path for further, imminent reveals of yet more emergent and established talent.

Sound City's Managing Director, Becky Ayres, says: “We’re thrilled to share our first wave of acts for Sound City 2026! With Jalen Ngonda and Keo already set to headline, this year’s line-up promises a mix of rising stars, genre-defying talent, and the next generation of music’s biggest names.

“Sound City has always been about discovering tomorrow’s superstars today: giving artists the platform to grow, connect with audiences, and take their first steps toward global success. This first wave gives a glimpse of the unforgettable experiences waiting for audiences in the world capital of music, Liverpool, in 2026.”

In addition to the exciting first line-up announcement, Sound City has opened the 2026 Apply To Play portal, powered by TuneCore and Amplead, the application platform provider, once again offering the opportunity for any artist to get into contention as next year’s one’s to watch.

With recently successful applicants including NXDIA, Ruby J and M60, plus superstar names including Ed Sheeran, Grimes and Christine and The Queens achieving early audience and industry recognition via successful applications to play Sound City, all talented bands and artists are encouraged to put themselves in the frame for next springtime’s festival season opener.

Additional to multiple stages of thrilling performances, the Sound City + Conference has become the destination for industry figures to meet and share their knowledge and experience. Returning to open the weekend, and supported by key festival partner, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) alongside PRS, PPL, PRSF, AIM and UK Music details of accreditation and the line-up of speakers, panels and networking opportunities will be made available at https://soundcity.uk.com/.

Sound City and Sound City + will once again go ahead with the support of main festival, conference, training, talent development and community engagement funder Arts Council England, thanks to National Lottery players. Sound City is also grateful for the support and partnership of CAPLL alongside the event’s Principal Creative Education Partners, SAE Institute and The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP).

Leeds Conservatoire and the Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMA) jojn as partners for 2026, alongside Off Axis, the not-for-profit gig swap and live music touring network, which enables artists to tour the UK and Ireland independently whilst retaining 100% of the ticket profits. SESAC also remains one of the festival’s valued contributors for 2026, returning to present a live showcase. The festival’s stage at The Shipping Forecast venue will be named in honour of their influential Vice President, John Sweeney, who passed away in June.

Sound City remains the UK’s lead festival for Keychange, the global movement focused on the restructuring of the music industry to achieve gender equality. Aiming to achieving a gender balance across all Sound City events and initiatives, equal representation of women and diverse genders is a determined feature of every Sound City weekend.