JEZ LOWE

27th September 2012

Jez Lowe has built an enviable reputation as a songwriter and performer in the world of acoustic music, and as a recognised musical ambassador for his native North East England, with more than a dozen albums and countless live performances around the world over the last twenty years.

Among those who have recorded their own versions of Lowe’s songs, are Fairport Convention, The Dubliners, The Tannahill Weavers, Cherish The Ladies, Gordon Bok, The McCalmans, The Black Brothers, Liam Clancy, Bob Fox and literally hundreds of others. Songs like BACK IN DURHAM GAOL, THE BERGEN, GREEK LIGHTNING and THESE COAL TOWN DAYS have generated scores of cover versions around the globe, and are now classics of their kind. He has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the world, both solo and with the Bad Pennies.

In 2008, Jez was nominated as “Folksinger of the Year” in the BBC Folk awards, following the success of his album JACK COMMON’S ANTHEM the previous year. After a retrospective live collection, entitled NORTHERN ECHOES (winner of the Indie-Acoustic Award for “Best Lyrics” in 2009), last year’s follow-up CD, entitled WOTCHEOR! has surpassed that success, and has become Jez’s most popular album yet, spawning a series of special stage-shows and UK tours based on the themes of the album, to great acclaim.

Back in 2006 Jez was one of the principle songwriters in the award-winning BBC series The Radio Ballads. The success in 2010 of another one-off programme has now inspired the BBC to commission a further six programmes for 2012, on the subject of The Olympic Games, and Jez is currently working on his contributions for this forthcoming series. In all, he has so far written almost forty songs over the last five years for the Radio Ballads series, many of which such as “Taking On Men” and “The Miami” have already become widely-sung folk classics, and Jez has developed a special concert performance that includes a varying selection of these songs, under the title of “The Muse MacColl”, referencing the instigator of the Radio Ballads format, Ewan MacColl.