GREAT NEWS...WE'RE BACK!!! What's Cookin' is back and will be re-igniting the stoves 15TH MAY 2013 at The Crown (formerly The Sheep Walk) in Leytonstone. Shows will initally be every Wednesday with doors opening at 8.00pm. But we will also be doing the odd one-off now and again, so make sure you check the Whats On page. We'll post more information on here as we have it.

The pub has had a big makeover and you'd hardly recognise the old place now. It now regularly has a couple of real ales on, does a wide range of food, has a covered smoking area out back, and you mightn't even be too scared to use the toilet! And of course we'll be back upstairs. Just like old times!

As usual it'll be a free entry night with a collection to pay the musicians. PLEASE BE GENEROUS! Its the way we make the night work.

The story so far...

In 2004 we sprung up at The Plough in Walthamstow. Stayed there a bit. Then we moved to upstairs at The Sheep Walk in Leytonstone. We stayed there quite a while. Then we were forced to move to Leytonstone Ex-Servicemens Club in Leytonstone (whilst continuing to do shows downstairs at The Sheep Walk). We did that for a while. Then we moved back to upstairs at The Sheep Walk. We stayed there for a good bit. Then at the same time we started doing some shows at The North Star in Leytonstone.

During all this we started doing the annual Leytonstone Festival Sunday Picnics at Henry Reynolds Gardens. Then we left The Sheep Walk for good in August 2010 and continued doing some occasional shows at The North Star, eventually moving there full-time early 2011, as well as starting a stage at the Brentwood Beer & Music Festival, and doing some shows at Arch 1 in West Ham. Somewhere along the line we also launched Stove Pony Records with our lovely friends at Mule Freedom. You keeping up here?

Then in September 2011 we started to manage our own pub - The Birkbeck Tavern in Leyton. The Birkbeck was a very lovely old East End community boozer, with possibly one of the nicest beer gardens yer ever gonna come across. It was a great looking pub with loads of character (and characters).But in March 2013 we decided we wanted a bit of a breather from the pub business and to concentrate on just doing music. And guess what? We've ended up going back to our old hunting ground upstairs at The Sheep Walk, though its now been refurbished and re-opened as The Crown.

Check out what's On The Menu and Past Dishes pages to see who is coming up and who has put on shows in the past. Previous shows have included The Broken Family Band, BJ Cole, Martin Stephenson, Bobby Bare Jr, Jesse Dayton, The Coal Porters, Justin Rutledge, Jason Ringenberg, Daniel Wylie, Damien Jurado, Billy Childish, Simple Kid, Pete Anderson, Corb Lund, Stewboss, Andy White, Holly Golightly, Darren Hayman, The Nightingales, Wilko Johnson, John Power, Black Diamond Heavies, Hank Wangford, Scott H.Biram, Jim Jones Revue, Otis Gibbs, Jackie Leven, The WIYOS, Michael Weston King, Woody Pines, The Answer, The Fabulous Penetrators, Pete Molinari, Paul Burch, Ducks Deluxe, Michael Chapman, William Tyler, Water Tower Bucket Boys, Talvin Singh, Wolf People, Doug Paisley, Singing Adams, I See Hawks In LA, Nelson Bragg, Phil Lee, The Sweetback Sisters, Elliott BROOD, Charlie Parr...

"The ever-hep What's Cookin club", THE GUARDIAN GUIDE

"A fantastic (and cheap) evening...at What's Cookin'" DAVID SMYTH THE EVENING STANDARD

"Weekly and very marvelous bluegrass and country club. After years in the upstairs room of Leytonstone watering hole The Sheepwalk, the reliably excellent What's Cookin' club has moved to this community-minded, real-ale boozer. It continues to pursue its agenda of blues, bluegrass and 'rockin' country-fried music', which often stretches to embrace the more alt.rock/indie end of that spectrum" TIME OUT

"Over the last few years, in London and doubtless beyond, a few venues have been reviving the spirit of the old folk clubs - and rehabilitating the reputation of pub gigs after years of tribute acts and ageing blues bands - with nights that are intimate, welcoming, run for love not profit and, above all, uproarious fun. What's Cookin' is one such, a labour of love run from a variety of frills-free pubs around the no-nonsense east London suburb of Leytonstone. The music it's dedicated to - country, blues, bluegrass and old-time rock'n'roll - isn't going to grace NME, but it will win the hearts of any doubter who drops in. The "come in for free, pay what you like" ethos hasn't stopped acts like Billy Childish, Damien Jurado, Emily Barker, Pete Molinari, Singing Adams or the Southern Tenant Folk Union from turning up to deliver shows that are still talked about" JAMES EAGLE - THE MORNING STAR

"They could almost be the soundtrack to my show" MARK LAMARR - GOD'S JUKEBOX RADIO 2

"If country and folk are your things, head out to Leyton, home to the excellent What's Cookin' club" SHARON O'CONNELL TIME OUT.

For the full lowdown on What's Cookin', contact Stephen Ferguson on 07904 210218 or email Ramblin Steve

Check out our cds, the latest is, "What's Kickin...Vol 5"