Rupert Wates

Minimum donation directly to artist $25

Come join us for a fun house concert at our private home in Newton! To make a reservation, email us at susan.hurwit@gmail.com. and we will confirm and provide directions. You must have a reservation beforehand. Snacks and drinks provided. Capacity limited to 35. When you get here you can pay in cash or Venmo. If you’re not feeling well, please refrain from attending.

Rupert Wates was born in London and studied at Oxford University. In the late 1990’s, he signed a publishing deal with Eaton Music and worked for several years as their house songwriter. He moved to Paris in 2001, formed his own quartet and performed regularly in the city’s clubs. He came to the US in fall 2006. Since then he has received more than fifty songwriting and performing awards. He has been a Finalist in the Kerrville New Folk Song Contest, and an Emerging Artist at Falconridge Folk Festival (full list of awards at www.rupertwatesmusic.com/awards). He has recorded and released 9 CDs (available at www.rupertwatesmusic.com/buy-music). All have received outstanding reviews in the online press and have been played on radio stations in America, Canada, The Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Israel and Australia. Rupert’s songs have been covered plentifully by other performers in the UK, Canada, and the USA (see www.rupertwatesmusic.com/covers). In 2015-17 alone, 25 of his songs were recorded by other artists, including two full length CDs: ‘Crazy Puzzle’ (August 2015) by Nashville-based performer Roxie Rogers, and ‘Wide Open Heart’ (July 2017) by Los Angeles vocalist Susan Kohler. These two CDs comprise exclusively songs chosen from Rupert Wates’ catalog. They were initiated and funded entirely by the artists themselves, and may fairly be described as tribute albums to his songwriting.

In addition to writing and recording, Wates plays over 120 live shows a year in venues all over America, in Canada and in Europe, and has appeared regularly on radio and TV. He prefers smaller, more intimate spaces, where the audience is up close, where true musicianship counts, and where real emotion can’t be faked. The house concert environment suits him best of all. Between 2012 and 2016, Rupert has booked over 150 shows through the LR network, making him by far the most booked performer on the LRN database. In recognition of this, LRN hosts voted him one of 3 ‘Artists Of The Year’ in both 2013 and 2016. Well over 120 host recommendations on his profile page give some reasons why.