Alela Diane and Shannon Lay book a January night at Turntable

The folk singer brings her seventh album, Who's Keeping Time?, to the 400-capacity Indianapolis room on Wednesday, Jan. 20, with Shannon Lay opening.

A Wednesday in late January is a hard sell for most shows in Indianapolis. A quiet folk bill in a room of 400 is one of the few that works better in the cold.

The facts: Alela Diane plays Turntable on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2027, at 8 p.m., with Shannon Lay opening. The show was announced Oct. 22, and tickets are on sale through OpenDate. Turntable holds about 400, so the songs won't have to compete with crowd noise.

The reason for the trip is *Who's Keeping Time?*, Alela Diane's seventh studio album, released on Loose Music. She has been touring it all year. A listing from Tadpole Productions bills one of the dates as the album release tour with Shannon Lay as special guest, and the pairing is coming to Indianapolis too.

She has spent the fall in Britain and Europe. She played Chetham's School of Music in Manchester and was booked at Band on the Wall and Budapest's Zeneháza on the same run. January gets her back on American roads, and an Indianapolis Wednesday is one of the stops.

The bill is worth noting on its own. Shannon Lay is a songwriter in the same quiet, finger-picked territory, and she has been opening for Alela Diane on this tour, including the Bellingham release date. Get there for the opener. On a bill like this, the two sets work like one long evening.

A quiet folk bill in a room of 400 is one of the few that works better in the cold.

Turntable is the right size for it. A record like this needs a crowd that will listen, and a 400-capacity room on a weeknight in winter tends to bring out exactly the people who bought the album. Neither of these artists plays loud, so the room's size is part of the appeal.

When to buy: early. Tickets are on OpenDate now, and this is the kind of small, specific booking that sells to the people who were waiting for it. Wednesday, Jan. 20. Bundle up, get there early, and leave your phone in your pocket.

Sources: Tadpole Productions — Alela Diane: Who's Keeping Time? Album Release Tour w/ special guest Shannon Lay (tadpoleproductions.thundertix.com); Chetham's School of Music — Alela Diane (chethamsschoolofmusic.com); Band on the Wall — Alela Diane (bandonthewall.org); Zeneháza — Alela Diane (USA) (zenehaza.hu); OpenDate — Alela Diane, January 20, 2027 (app.opendate.io); JamBase — Alela Diane at Turntable (jambase.com)