Acclaimed songwriter Robb Johnson returns to The Ropetackle for a solo performance celebrating the release of his new album The Optimist Hotel. The songs on the album “are all linked by hopefulness,” says Robb. “Not everybody lives happily ever after in them, but these songs are about people who are hopeful, & who refuse to relinquish that hope.” Robb will introduce you to a man who makes roses out of paper napkins, a boy growing up in the 1960s, a man who didn’t teach Keith Richards how to play guitar, some soldiers who fought back at Bamber Bridge, a girl looking for her cat in Jenin, a woman who feeds the foxes, a woman who sells the Big Issue, the woman responsible for Animal Farm, & a couple sheltering from the rain. He’ll also be playing some of the songs that have established his reputation as “a national treasure” (Mike Harding) “one of this country’s most important songwriters (no argument!)” (fROOT) “One of Britain’s finest songwriters, a genuine folk legend” (Twickfolk) “An English original”, (Robin Denselow, the Guardian) “The appellation National Treasure is often over-used, but in Robb’s case it is entirely appropriate” (St Edith’s Folk)