JON BODEN

0	SEVENOAKS: St Edith Hall, Kemsing
P	Friday 19th May, 2017
N	7:30pm

SEVENOAKS: St Edith Hall, Kemsing

Friday 19th May, 2017

7:30pm

Event information

Best known as the lead singer of the progressive folk big band Bellowhead who, over a period of 12 years, achieved a level of critical and commercial success unmatched by any other band working in English traditional music in the last three decades. In 2015 Jon announced that he had decided to leave the band and on May 1st 2016 Bellowhead played their final gig.

Since 2009 he has also performed with his own band The Remnant Kings, performing both traditional folk music and Jon’s own work featured on his second solo album Songs from the Floodplain – a bleak but hopeful view of a post-apocalyptic world. The links between that and folk music was something further explored in BBC Radio 3's The Essay. In addition, within the traditional folk scene, he has played in a duo with fellow Bellowhead member John Spiers for over a decade.

Jon launched his solo career in Autumn 2016, touring the UK solo for the first time. Largely presenting the self-penned songs of his debut album, Painted Lady (2006), (recently re-issued by Navigator Records), as well as material from his remarkable dystopian follow-up, Songs From The Floodplain (2009, Navigator Records), Jon’s solo show also includes material from Bellowhead, his duo partnership, Spiers & Boden and his ambitious A Folk Song A Day project, in which he recorded 365 folk songs in one year. Jon is delighted to announce Painted Lady tour, Part Two, starting in May 2017.

Though widely respected as an interpreter and champion of traditional song, as anyone who has heard his solo albums or has seen Jon live will know, his repertoire extends far beyond the boundaries of the traditional folk genre. Jon’s May 2017 dates will not just showcase his instrumental talents on fiddle and concertina, but also on guitar and trademark electrified ‘stomp box’. Accompanying himself with simple handclaps one moment and performing a distinctive version of Whitney Houston’s 80s hit ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ the next (one of the new, bonus tracks on the reissued Painted Lady), Jon Boden’s solo performances are electrifying audiences around the country. Jon’s compelling live shows provide insight into a man of many and various talents who uniquely manages to draw audiences deeper into the worlds of traditional music and of his own highly accomplished song writing.

"Jon Boden, formerly of Bellowhead, was without a doubt the highlight of the week for us. He held the crowd for over an hour and a half, alone on stage with his plethora of instruments… filled with a mixture of songs from Bellowhead, traditional folk tunes and songs from Boden’s solo career. He came back for two encores at the end – the first time we have ever seen this happen at Sidmouth." ~ Culture Vultures review of Sidmouth Folk Week 2016