BY MICHAEL CHOWNE
On a night of a serious UK country gig clash in North London, we found it impossible to say no to Katy Hurt on a rare trip to the capital. Katy and her partner, Gab Zsapka, were joining forces with Isi and Lewis Folkner of Two Ways Home on ‘The Better Together Tour’ and they all put on an astoundingly good show at Oslo Hackney on Thursday 29th October 2026.
Split into four parts lasting over two and a half hours, those four good friends began the evening with a 4 song ‘acoustic’ set (in semi darkness due to initial lighting problems) which included ‘Nostalgia’, a song from Two Ways Home’s 2020 album ‘Break The Silence’ that had been written with Katy and Gab.
Then came Katy’s wonderful band set including Gab, Martin on bass guitar and James Randle drum’s (Beef). 9 songs in this section including 5 from Katy’s superb 2025 debut album ‘Gimme A Break’ (to add to one from that album played in the first set). I particularly loved hearing two newer songs ‘Let It Ring’ (what a classic that’s becoming!) and ‘Fast, Wild and Free’. ‘The upbeat ‘Revved Up’ and the slower ‘Unfinished Business’ from the 2019 EP of that name completed this portion and ‘Sounds Good In A Bar’ did what it said on the tin!
Katy, Gab and Beef then left the stage and Martin remained and was joined by Two Ways Home for their full band set, along with Michael Clancy on electric guitar and another drummer. A really great 10 song set, all but one from their fabulous ‘Patience To Play’ album released this year. The other song played was ‘Standing Still’ from that earlier ‘Break The Silence’ album.
Lastly, the encore when Katy and Gab joined Two Ways Home and their 5 piece band, so now there were seven! A further 5 songs here, including 2 covers (Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s ‘I Had Some Help’ and a surprising ‘More Than A Feeling’, a 1976 singalong from Boston.) ‘Hold On Tight’ was, I think, another new song written together and Katy’s ‘See Ya Later’ and Two Ways Home’s ‘Broken Hearts Club’ both sounded divine with this extended band.
What a fantastic night – Katy remains up there with the very best on the UK country scene and Two Ways Home also put on a fantastic show so get out to see them together if this tour’s coming anywhere close to you. Hearing them all together is special! One final mention for Isi’s boots – wow, I’m not sure how she lasted the whole night on those platforms!
