Seb Lowe to support Richard Ashcroft at Forest Live festival

Seb Lowe, 19, from Delph, who made his Glastonbury debut last year, will be playing at the gig as part of Forest Live 2023, the summer concert series presented by Forestry England.

Forest Live is a major outdoor live music series that introduces forests to new audiences in unique, natural woodland arenas around the country.

Before his music career took off, Seb, who has 5m likes on TikTok had been planning to attend Birmingham University to study English and history.

Now, he’ll be supporting The Verve’s frontman on Sunday, June 18 alongside Liverpool indie rock band Cast at Delamere Forest, near Northwich, Cheshire.

@seb.lowe.music Personality test. Or whatever. Not really. Lol. Enjoy kidz. #originalsong #politics #songwritersoftiktok #lyrics #uk #originalmusic ♬ original sound - Seb

Seb said: “It’s a Richard Ashcroft support, which is mental.

“It’s absolutely crazy – my first ever gig, per se, was at a cafe near where I live four years ago.

“I did an hour’s set of covers, and one of the covers I played was ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ by The Verve, written by Richard Ashcroft.

“I was young, I was so bad – I was still struggling to get to grips with singing and playing at the same time, and now I’m supporting him, which is crazy.

“When you actually take a step back and look at things like that it does kind of blow your head off a bit.”

Seb spoke of his excitement after he was told of the gig.

He said: “You’ll have months where nothing’s going on, and suddenly you get an email like that, that is just completely earth-shattering to you, and I ran downstairs and told everyone.

“My mum especially is a big fan of The Verve, it must have been the week before that we were sat down with my family having a drink and playing music and The Verve was played twice.

“My mum insists she’ll drive me because she wants to see him.”

The artist’s most recent mini-album, The Other Half, is available to stream on Spotify.

Richard Ashcroft (Image: Kate Radley)

Respected by his peers and adored by his fans, Ashcroft has enjoyed an illustrious career as lead singer and songwriter of alt-rock band The Verve and as a highly acclaimed solo artist.

Music industry accolades include the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards: Songwriter of the Year (1998) and Outstanding Contribution to British Music (2019).

His latest recording, "Acoustic Hymns Vol.1", is a salute to key tracks from his repertoire such as "A Song For Lovers" and "Break The Night With Colour" as well as "Bitter Sweet Symphony", "The Drugs Don’t Work" and "Lucky Man" from The Verve’s seminal album "Urban Hymns".

More than 2m people have attended a Forest Live gig in the last 22 years, supporting the nation’s forests when buying a ticket.

Going to a concert helps Forestry England create beautiful places for people to enjoy, run important conservation projects and keep growing trees.

Last year the organisation planted 6.8m trees, caring for the nation’s 1,500 woods and forests sustainably and welcoming 363 million visits annually.

Tickets and information on the festival are available on Forestry England’s website.

Tickets cost £49.50, plus a £5.95 per ticket booking fee.