Jez Lowe

Songbook Volume Two – songs available on-line at last!

jez — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:31:37 +0000

Lyrics and sheet music from Jez’s second songbook, “Songs of Jez Lowe Volume 2″, published in 1994, have finally been made availble by mail order via the SHOP page on this site. The book covered the songs from the albums BAD PENNY (1988), BRIEFLY ON THE STREET (1990), BEDE WEEPS (1993) and BANNERS (1994). It has been out of print for quite some time, but now it’s possible to order individual songs, either by email attachment or by post. The SHOP page will be redesigned in the next few days, as it’s now looking pretty full, but all the songs, along with those from Songbook Volume One, which were already available, are all obtainable at this point. Songbook Volume Three is still available in book form at the moment.

Jez solo gigs coming up.

jez — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:07:29 +0000

Jez is solo at Otley Folk Club in Yorkshire tomorrow, and then appears at Newhampton Arts Centre in Wolverhampton next Saturday as part of the Folk 21 conference. This is a folk-club oriented set up, with conferences and showcases throughout the day, with Jez featured as the “star guest” at the end of the evening. Folk 21 is gaining momentum as a performer-driven focus on folk venues in the UK, with both artists and organisers heavily involved…. Meanwhile, The bad Pennies’ show at Kings Place last weekend was one of the best shows the band has done in recent times, and doubly memorable due to the “out of the ordinary” slot being filled by a spot-on rendition of Jez’s 1998 song, THE PARISH NOTICES – the first performance for a decade, and “goosebump time” by all accounts.

News catch up from the road.

jez — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:52:50 +0000

The Bad Pennies, with “special guest” piper Becky Taylor wowed a packed audience at Bury Met last weekend with a set that included songs that spanned Jez Lowe’s career, including new arrangements of “long lost” numbers like GLAD RAGS AGAIN (a real highlight) and a big surprise, THE BIG FEAR. Jez prefaced that song by saying how, every time he played, he liked to bring out something that hadn’t been played for a while. It certainly was a treat, as was, no doubt, a rare outing for TOO UP AND TOO DOWN at the Spanish concert during the week. Jez is solo at The Hearth Arts Centre in Horsley Northumberland this Friday, then The bad Pennies (with Becky) are at Birmingham Red Lion on Wednesday, a rare central London gig at The King’s Place on Friday May 3rd, and Franfield Village Hall in Sussex on Saturday May 4th.

A new Bad Penny for this week’s shows!

jez — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:05:39 +0000

Jez and the band welcome piper and whistle player Becky Taylor to their ranks for gigs this weekend at Bury St. Edmunds and Bury Lancashire, while regular piper Andy May is away on tour with his other band Baltic Crossing. Becky, who plays one set of pipes made by Andy in fact, is someone that Jez has known for many years. She’ll be a regular though occasional member of the band for the foreseeable future, as Andy has duties elsewhere, much the same as fiddler Hinny Pawsey has become a regular addition to the group when needed and available (Hinny plays with the band on their track on the new Judy Small tribute CD by the way.) Becky plays Irish pipes as well as Northumbrian, and audiences in the south of England will get their first chance to hear the line up at the King’s Place concert in London on May 3rd, a gig which is rapidly shaping up to becoming a night to remember!

Covers… Theatre tour… Bad Pennies gig!

jez — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:56:21 +0000

Jez has mentioned on his Twitter page that there are several new cover versions of his songs about to be released, one of which is LAST OF THE WIDOWS, and worth looking out for! We’ll reveal who has done it when it’s about to appear… We also hear that Jez’s weekly column in the Northern Echo ranks as the most-read section in the paper’s on-line version. It’s reachable from our LINKS page… There are FOUR new Jez Lowe songs in the new Badapple Theatre production “Lights Out Land Girls” that has just started a nationwide tour to rave reviews – details at www.badappletheatre.com… Work is about to start on a new round of BBC Radio Ballads, we hear… Jez is in Westcliffe On Sea in Essex tonight and at The Wooden Horse in Ellsmere Port on Thursday, then there’s the first Bad Pennies gig of the year in Belper on Saturday! It’s all GO!!

Jez sings Judy Small

jez — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:37:57 +0000

A new CD called “Festival Folk Sing Judy Small” has just been released in Australia, with a grand launch concert at the National Festival. Jez of course wasn’t there, but he is featured on the album along with The Bad Pennies, performing Judy’s song TURN RIGHT, GO STRAIGHT. Judy is of course one of Australia’s foremost singer songerwriters and activists, and also featured on this tribute album are Peggy Seeger, Enda Kenny, The Fagans and many more. It’s a great collection… Jez joins The Pitmen Poets for their final concert at Alnwick Playhouse on Friday.

Updates.

jez — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 15:17:20 +0000

Dates for the October Jez Lowe/James Keelaghan US tour have now been added to the gig-list on this website. More will be added shortly. The tour schedule is now updated until November, and December’s shows will be added later this week… Jez has a solo gig in Dunoon next weekend, then the last Pitmen Poets gig in Alnwick next week, before UK touring starts in earnest in April.

Jez on the road again…

jez — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 18:25:20 +0000

Jez is at Forest Folk, at The Miners Arms, Lydney in the Forest of Dean tomorrow, then continues with The Pitmen Poets at Whitley bay on Wednesday. Meanwhile, dates for October’s American tour with James Keelaghan will be posted on this website in the next couple of days. A few solo gigs by Jez are also lined up on this trip.

Round Up – Pitmen Poets and more…

jez — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:06:53 +0000

The first Pitmen Poets gig last Tuesday got the tour off to a great start. A packed house at South Shields saw Benny, Bob, Billy and Jez (sporting a new short haircut, we’re told), revisit some of the last show’s material, but also bring in some new stuff, including Jez’s own new song (with vocal duties shared between all four), The Pitmen Poets. As well as the rehearsal video now available on You Tube, there was some different rehearsal footage aired on Tyne Tees TV last Friday of this song. The tour continues this Wednesday at Whitley Bay Playhouse… There’s an article, written by Jez, about The Pitmen Poets project, in the new issue of UK Folk magazine R2 (formerly Rock and Reel)… Jez did an interview for North west UK folk radio show *That’s All Folk” earlier this week. Broadcast details soon… Sad to report that Jez’s original booking agent in the USA, Amy Fonoroff, passed away earlier this week in Boston. She arranged all of Jez’s early American tours, including many with Jake Walton in the mid-1980′s, as well as promoting concerts in the Boston area for many Celtic bands at that time. Jez has much to thanks her for, as have many other UK acts from those days.

Pitmen Poets – rehearsal video and NEW Jez Lowe Song

jez — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 11:25:24 +0000

Eavesdrop on last week’s rehearsals for the Pitmen Poets tour, and hear Jez’s new song written specially for the shows – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXPR2EXaGkk

jez — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:36:17 +0000

Rehearsals, Newcastle March 2013 – Jez, Bob, Billy, Benny.

March news round-up!

jez — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 12:58:01 +0000

There’s a great review of Jez’s HEADS UP album in the new edition of UK folk magazine English Dance and Song (EDS). It certainly seems that having all those songs in one place is certainly making people realise the body of work that Jez has built up… We caught a solo gig in Sheffield last week – so many new songs! Almost the whole set was recent stuff, with just a few older ones thrown in, and yet the audience lapped it up. Two brand new ones to start the night off! Extraordinary… Jez is rehearsing with the Pitmen Poets this week for their short set of gigs that starts next week… Songwriters! Jez’s season at La Grande Gennerie in France starts on May 12th for one week. Details are at www.lagrandegennerie.com. Jez calls it “a complete songwriting and musical experience in a great setting”. Places still available as we write…

Bad Pennies look ahead to April and May!

jez — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:50:06 +0000

Jez’s solo appearances pick up pace in the weeks ahead, and the Pitmen Poets concerts during March are selling out fast, but looking ahead to April, Jez will be back with The Bad Pennies for a series of shows, including Belper (13th), Bury St Edmunds (19th), Bury Met (20th), and into May at Birmingham Red Lion (1st) Kings Place, London (3rd) and Franfield, East Sussex (4th). The Kings Place gig in London is particularly prestigious (it was the venue for the very first Pitmen Poets gig three years ago), and tickets are selling well for it. It’s very rare that Jez brings the band into London these days, and it’s bound to be a special show, though aren’t they all?!!

Jez on the radio.

jez — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 11:24:21 +0000

There’s a Jez Lowe Special on “The Geordie Hour”, a weekly feature on Radio Tyneside and Radio Northumberland, on Sunday February 24th at 5pm UK time. It’s also available via www.garyhogg.co.uk. Jez was interviewed for the show at one of last year’s Christmas shows, and has also chosen a selection of his favourite “Geordie” records for the programme… Jez returns to live gigs this coming Thursday, for a solo show at Skelton’s Duke William, near Saltburn.

News Round-up… Pitmen Poets… Newsletter…

jez — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:45:24 +0000

Jez is currently overseas, and his next scheduled date is at The Cutty Wren in Skelton, Cleveland on February 21st. The postponed-by-snow gig at Hartley in Northumberland may also be rescheduled before the end of the month… The Pitmen Poets tour – featuring Benny Graham, Bob Fox, Billy Mitchell and Jez Lowe – starts at South Shields Customs House on March 12th and tickets for all these very special shows are selling very well, so grab them while you can. The last tour (in 2011) was a sell-out success. Details of all the concerts are on the LIVE DATES page of this website… Jez’s long-established newsletter The Midnight Mail, which has been exclusive to people who had signed up to his mailing list, is now to be available via Twitter and The bad Pennies Facebook page. For those who have signed up to the mailing list,, it’s hoped that there’ll be “extra incentives” to keep in touch!

Looking ahead… Festivals, workshops, collaborations…

jez — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:16:32 +0000

Jez and the band have just been added to the bill of Fylde Folk festival in early September. Other UK festivals booked include Chippenham, Chester, Tolpuddle, Whitby (with The Pitmen Poets), Moira Furnace, Shrewsbury, Douglasdale (Lanarkshire), New Forest and Swanage…. Jez has been invited to be in charge of the song part of this year’s Folkworks Summer School in Durham in early August. This still has to be confirmed… Some dates for Jez on the rumoured American tour with Canadian singer James Keelaghan in October have now been confirmed. The full itinerary will be announced soon.