Rupert Wates

Rupert Wates was born in London and studied at Oxford University. He has been a full-time songwriter since the late 1990s when he signed a publishing contract with Eaton Music Limited. His contract required him to write material in all kinds of styles and genres, for all kinds of artists, and it shows: his music is an eclectic mix of acoustic, melodic art/folk, with flavors of jazz, vaudeville, and cabaret. He has released twelve solo CDs. 

Rupert averages 120 live shows every year, in acoustic venues in every state in America, in Canada and in Europe. He performs sometimes alone, sometimes with his trio or his quartet. He prefers smaller listening rooms where the audience is up close and the emphasis is on the music.  He was voted an Artist Of The Year in both 2013 and 2016 by the international house concert network Concerts In Your Home. He is the only artist on the entire CIYH database to have been honored with this title twice.  

 In 2014 Wates joined forces with Toronto-based virtuoso pianist Bartosz Hadala to form a piano/guitar duo called The Nightwatchers. The duo tours Europe regularly. In March 2015 they released a debut CD entitled The Nightwatchers, recorded at Phase One Studios in Toronto and featuring some of the standout songs of Wates's extensive catalog.

Despite Wates' British background, and underpinning the universality of his music's appeal, Folk And Acoustic Music Exchange has called him "a prime figure in American music'' (www.acousticmusic.com) and goes on: "This is one gifted sonofabitch... If you're not hip to this guy yet you're missing out!"