SoundBox presents: Jon Wilks

Event information

“Jon Wilks is the real deal. He has a deep love for folk music which is coupled with intelligence, curiosity and musicianship. He is a fine guitar player, a really good singer and an excellent writer to boot. What he does is capture the essence of his material.” Martin Simpson
“Jon’s a badman fingerpicking guitarist and leading exponent of the songs of old Albion.”
Carl Barât, The Libertines
Jon Wilks is a prominent fingerpicking guitarist and singer who performs traditional English folk songs and broadside ballads, in addition to original material. He has recorded four albums: Songs from the Attic (2017), Midlife (2018), Up the Cut (2021), and Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost (2023).
It was during his time at the University of Bangor that he became interested in the fingerpicking guitar style for which he is now known, initially learning to interpret the playing techniques of his musical heroes, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy. He would regularly perform at the Greek Taverna in Upper Bangor, often in return for a pint of beer, a packet of cigarettes and a plate of boiled potatoes!
He co-arranged and performed tracks on Jackie Oates’s Gracious Wings album and was a part of Slow Jane, the quartet that created videos of Nick Drake songs during lockdown. He is also a current member of the Jim Moray touring band, in which he plays bass guitar, and he performs in a semi-regular duo with Jackie Oates.
His talent has been recognized by Guitarist, one of the world’s biggest guitar magazines, which featured him as one-to-watch in July 2022. He was also the subject of an acoustic session on Mark Radcliffe’s BBC Radio 2 Folk Show in May, 2023. In May, 2024, Jon’s performance of ‘October Song’, by the Incredible String Band, was included on a live recording of the Les Cousins Tribute night, held earlier in the year at Moth Club in Hackney, London (which Jon helped to organise).
With his background as a former editor of Time Out magazine and contributor to Dazed & Confused, The Guardian and other publications, Jon has a keen eye and ear for storytelling. During his live shows, he mixes entertaining folk song performances with fascinating titbits about the original singers and collectors that he has unearthed during his extensive research on traditional folk music in the UK.
Venue: Level access; free car park on-site; bar