Writer and Folk Musician
Here’s a cover of “Northern Sky” by Nick Drake, featuring Katherine Priddy on vocals, Jon Wilks (me!) on guitar, Lukas Drinkwater on double bass, Jon Nice of The Grizzly Folk on keyboards, and Knees Thompson on percussion. We hope it brings you some quiet peace and joy. The recording came about because Katherine and Jon […]
OK, so I’ve been harping on to anyone and everyone about ‘The Sausage Man’ for a while now, and those that follow me on social media will have seen snippets of it here and there. I’m not sure if it needs to be better known, but I’m going to do my damndest to give it […]
Sometimes a title just catches you, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s just me, but this one tickles me good and proper. Maybe it has to do with memories of friends from Bromsgrove when I was a teenager – good friends; a funny bunch – but the idea of there being a proud knight roaming Bromsgrove Town […]
I first heard “From a Lullaby Kiss” less than two weeks ago. That’s how quickly these things can happen. I was sitting on the floor at the back of the Knight & Spiers gig I was organising at Whitchurch Folk Club, when Peter Knight started playing it. It was the only piece in the gig […]
You might want to make a cuppa and get comfy. I’ve a few things to tell you… The following gigs are currently still on. However, things are clearly changing all the time. My view is that, since the Scottish and Irish leaders have deemed indoor gatherings of 500 or more to be unsafe, that seems […]
Published in 1833 by Whitings, a street ballad seller who appears to have had limited success in the songs world, the “Pretty Girls of Brummagem” has the kind of title you might associate with bawdy singsongs. However, it’s quite the opposite, being something of a sweet, melancholy look at how various Brummie men of the […]
Here we go, then! Gearing up for my first big outing of 2020. I’ll be hitting all the places linked below, so make sure you come along and see me if you can. As always, Brummie songs aplenty, with a few tidbits and morsels thrown in. If you’re interested in seeing a very rare performance […]
I love traditional folk songs that are linked to specific place. For the last 18 months I’ve been playing songs from Birmingham, as it was where I spent my first 20 years. My following 12 years, however, were spent in Japan. My wife is Japanese. My kids are half Japanese. Japan is where I’d be […]
As promised, here’s some background to ‘The Trial of Bill Burn Under Martin’s Act’. Unfortunately, there’s not nearly as much info here as there was for ‘Holly Ho’ (click here to confront that juggernaut), or even as much as ‘Who Hung the Monkey?’. Still, it’s a great song from a great story, and it’s worth […]
Part of the fascination I have for traditional folk songs is the way in which they humble the singer. As a singer/songwriter, I spent years thinking about the ways in which a song represents the self – a snapshot or meditation on the writer in that moment. What grabbed me about traditional song was how much […]