Our Story
An independent live music promoter based in Kent, bringing blues & rock to intimate venues across the county — and beyond. No algorithm. No formula. Just the right music, in the right room, with the right people.
Rock Driven • Blues Inspired • Soul Guaranteed
Why The Name
As a live music promoter in Kent, the name we chose matters. Rockin' Roots Events takes its plural seriously — rooted in the blues music in Kent that the county deserves, each root represents a distinct genre, a musical lineage, a tradition that feeds into every show we put on. Together, they form something richer than any one genre alone.
And there are more roots besides — Americana, R&B, Gospel, Country Blues — all welcome under our banner whenever the music is honest and the artists are real.
The Right Artist · The Right Room · The Right Crowd
This music has a history worth honouring. Blues, rock, soul, roots — it came from somewhere real, and it deserves to be heard somewhere real.
I book artists because they're brilliant, because I know their audience is already out there. Every night we put on is another chance to pass something precious on.
Finding that audience. Giving them that night. That's the job.— Mark Matthews, Rockin' Roots Events
The Origin
It started the way most love affairs with music do — not with a business plan, but with a feeling. In October 2015, Mark Matthews put on his first show as a live music promoter in Kent, under the name Bourne To The Blues in Sittingbourne. No grand ambitions — just a deep conviction that the music he loved deserved a room, an audience, and a proper night out.
The second show came in February 2017 — and once it did, there was no looking back. What followed wasn't a straight line so much as a series of stages, each one building on the last.
The operation grew, the audience grew with it, and the name evolved to The Bourne Music Club — a natural reflection of a nights series that had found its identity and its crowd.
The stages overlapped and fed into one another. Even as The Bourne Music Club continued, a broader vision was already taking shape — one that could carry the full range of blues rock events Kent was missing, reaching more venues, more artists, more corners of the county and beyond.
That vision became Rockin' Roots Events: a name built to carry everything the nights stood for, from the foundational blues to the rock, soul and roots sounds that complete the picture.
Today the operation runs live music in Faversham, live music across Medway, and beyond.
Today, as an independent live music promoter in Kent and South East London, Rockin' Roots Events books internationally touring artists and operates with the independence, taste, and personal commitment that only a true believer in the music can bring.
The Journey
By The Numbers
Beyond Kent
Mark co-runs Bromley Blues Club alongside fellow blues champion Oli Mississippi MacDonald — bringing the same passion for live blues in Kent and beyond to a dedicated audience in South East London.
The blues has always found its home in intimate rooms — from the origins of the genre to the stages we programme today.
The Bromley Blues Club is a natural companion operation to Rockin' Roots Events — a testament to the depth of the community built, and a commitment to the blues as a living, breathing thing that deserves a regular home.
It's also proof of something important — sharing with people who feel exactly the same way about the music.
