DUE TO COVID-19 BOB & BILLY GIGS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED/POSTPONED

Click here to keep an eye on

the gigs page to see up to date details.

Bob Fox & Billy Mitchell

t

TOURING 2020

'THE PITMEN POETS'

"Farewell" tour

Autumn 2019

A unique concert celebrating the songs and culture of North East England's Coal Mining tradition, bringing together four of the region's leading champions of it's musical heritage, it's triumphs and tragedies,

it's humour and hard times.

With archive footage and photographs, this is a journey through the centuries of a once-great industry,from the songs that saw it thrive and dominate, to those that saw it's demise and the resulting aftermath.

Featuring:

ex-Lindisfarne singer/songwriter

Billy Mitchell,

renowned singer and instrumentalist

Bob Fox,

leading exponent of Tyneside song

Benny Graham,

highly acclaimed Durham singer/songwriter

Jez Lowe.

Individually and collectively they perform

'THE PITMEN POETS' with a power and presence rarely seen in recent years.

Following a great reception at

The King's Place in London and a sell-out performance at the Sage Gateshead,

'THE PITMEN POETS' is set to tour in the

Autumn 2019

Songs, stories and images from North East writers past and present

performed by a team second to none...

this one is a real "don't miss it" gig.

BOB closed the Warhorse sketch book for the last time on Saturday 5th January 2019

at

The Lyttleton Theatre in London.

THE 1st WARHORSE UK TOUR

BROKE ALL RECORDS

BOB RESUMED AS "SONGMAN"

IN THE 10th ANNIVERSARY UK TOUR

ON THE ROAD

FROM SEPTEMBER 2017

TO

5th JANUARY 2019

full details here:

WARHORSE 10th ANNIVERSARY

UK TOUR 2017-19

After completing 18 months in the West End production of WarHorse Bob returned to his roots to play Folk Clubs,

Arts Centres and Folk Festivals

throughout the UK.

He then resumed in the role of

"Songman"

for a further 18 months in the

1st WarHorse UK, Ireland and South Africa Tour from September 2013 to February 2015.

WHeH

prTHE PITMEN POETS

We are delighted to announce that the Pitmen Poets will tour again when time allows.

See Gigs Page for details

Seef

A unique concert celebrating the songs and culture of North East England's Coal Mining tradition, bringing together four of the region's leading champions of it's musical heritage, it's triumphs and tragedies,

it's humour and hard times.

With archive footage and photographs, this is a journey through the centuries of a once-great industry,from the songs that saw it thrive and dominate, to those that saw it's demise and the resulting aftermath.

Featuring:

ex-Lindisfarne singer/songwriter

Billy Mitchell,

renowned singer and instrumentalist

Bob Fox,

leading exponent of Tyneside song

Benny Graham,

highly acclaimed Durham singer/songwriter

Jez Lowe.

Individually and collectively they perform

'THE PITMEN POETS' with a power and presence rarely seen in recent years.

Following a great reception at

The King's Place in London and a sell-out performance at the Sage Gateshead,

'THE PITMEN POETS' is set to tour in the Autumn 2011 and Spring 2012.

Songs, stories and images from North East writers past and present

performed by a team second to none...

this one is a real "don't miss it" gig.

To co-incide with their re-union tour of 2008

Bob and Stu re-recorded both
"Nowt So Good'll Pass"and their

second LP "Wish We Never Had Parted"

as well as a few previously unrecorded

songs that never made it onto the

original records for a unique

"collector's item" double CD

"THIRTY YEARS ON"

Clickfor details

and to purchase online

CD Review:

Thirty Years On (BFMCD010)

It would be criminal of me to not flag

up this recording by

Bob Fox & Stu Luckley

as one of the finest examples of

musicianship anywhere!

A bold statement but, if you’ll bear with

me and if, more importantly you’ll buy

this 2 disc album you too will be equally astonished.
From the opening track, the jaunty

“Bonny Gateshead Lass” you can’t be anything but impressed by Bob’s

beautifully finger-picked guitar and

with the addition of those rich baritone

vocals backed with just the right amount

of acoustic bass and harmony from Stu

you just know you’re in for a treat.

OK, so it might not be politically

correct in the current climate but

the next track “Reynard The Fox” with

its intricately placed time signatures is

a musical tour de force that I defy

anyone (musician or not) to say

“How good was that?” and leave you

grinning at the wonder of it all.

To give you some idea of how good it

really is you need to experience the

duo at a live concert where they inject

the same enthusiasm and fun with
(if it’s possible) even more passion.

Waxing lyrical writing this review

you’ll have to excuse me the

indulgence of extolling Bob & Stu’s

virtues as they have been instrumental

in inspiring many artists

(including yours truly) to

take up the challenge of promoting

folk music to a wider audience,

a thankless task at the best of times

but a worthy challenge that the lads

seem only too happy to take

up the gauntlet.

Utilising contemporary songs such

as Donovan’s wistful “Isle Of Islay”

and that old folk chestnut

“Ruby Tuesday” Luckley proves no

slouch when helming the vocals and

Bob’s rendition of Graeme Miles

“The Shores Of Old Blighty”

(every bit as good as the “Green Fields

Of France” in my opinion) will leave

you pondering the futility of war.

Songs to make you laugh, songs to

make you cry…they’re all here in all

their glory and I can truthfully say

there’s not a bad track (all 21 of them)

on this album. Fox & Luckley’s CDs

should have a health warning

stating that this music will bring a

smile to anyone who has a heart. Unfortunately it doesn’t but with the tremendous artwork from the near

legendary Bryan Ledgard and the

recording wizardry of Ron Angus this

album should be on every folk

enthusiast’s wish list for Christmas.

Live Gig Review:
Chanticleer Folk Club

Dorking, Surrey (15th Oct 2008)

Well it might be thirty years on

(which also happens to be the title of

the duo’s latest CD release) but who

would have known it. I admit at having

gone to see the duo as a sense of

nostalgia along with my mate Les Elvin

whilst in the process bearing witness

to one of the best concerts we have

both enjoyed in ages. I don’t know what

it is but musicians and singers such

as these only come along once in a

lifetime and I’m glad to say I was

there when it all started.

I won’t go into their history - you

can  always buy the CD for the

sleevenotes but needless to say

they’re both cast from that mould of

North East music mafiosi which

sprang up at the same time as the

likes of Lindisfarne.

Both Stu and Bob have that

Geordie sense of humour that

proves so popular with us Southerners

and the audience were treated to a

right royal banquet of stunning

musicianship and formidable vocals

in bucket-loads and the only words

I can find to describe the performance

are "sheer entertainment of the

highest calibre!"

To balance the levity of the

introductions Bob’s rendition of

“Bruton Town” was so inspiring

that it meant you lingered

onevery chilling word and you

actually felt the passion pouring out.

No mean feat

(take note Rachel Unthank etc)

for someone half his age but that’s

where the maturity in the craft of

delivery and how to tell a story are paramount to the overall effect.

In a near two hour show lithely

changing instruments including

guitars, bouzouki, bass, and dulcimer,

Fox & Luckley provided a selection of

their greatest hits such as;

“Sally Wheatley”, “Doodle Let Me Go”

and “The Two Magicians” and plenty

ofchorus songs which were

enthusiastically embraced by a

more than eager audience.

Now, if you think this review is too

gushing then don’t take my word for

it just catch them while you still can

and perhaps, like me and Les you’ll

find yourselves talking for ages after

the show about how good a gig can be.

PETE FYFE

     
                                      
Two of the 2006 Radio Ballads win
prestigious SONY MUSIC AWARDS.
 
        
 

"The Song of Steel" and "Thirty Years

of Conflict" won Gold and Bronze

awards at the Sony Radio

Academy Awards 2007.
Congratulations to all involved in the productions especially John Tams and

John Leonard.
Bob was involved in the project singing

many songs on five of the new ballads.

Clickfor details

and to purchase online

Bob Fox performs at Celtic Connections 2007

I was delighted to be asked to sing and
play in a live performance of the New 
Radio Ballads at Glasgow's Celtic 
Connections Festival on Monday 22nd January.

The New Radio Ballads were first

broadcast on BBC Radio 2 last year.

In Glasgow, selected highlights from the shows were performed on stage by the musicians and singers involved in the

original recordings.

The instrumentalists included

myself(guitar), 
John McCusker(fiddle,whistle,cittern), 
Andy Cutting(accordion),
Andy Seward(double bass), 
Barry Coope(piano,percussion),
Jez Lowe(guitar,bazouki,mandolin) 
and John Tams (harmonica). 

The singers were Kate Rusby,

Karine Polwart, John Tams, Barry Coope,

Jez Lowe, Chris While, Julie Mathews

and me!

Getting so many artists together for

the show was an achievement in itself. 
Musical director John Tams and

producer John Leonard oversaw

development of the musical and vocal arrangements during an intensive two

days of rehearsal before the

performance.   Last year's broadcast

sessions for The Radio Ballads were

recorded over a number of months

with most of the musicians

contributing without the others

present.  This made the job of turning

the material into a cohesive live show

even more daunting but everyone

involved made a massive effort and on

the night it was a lot more than alright!

The show was staged in the Royal

Glasgow Concert Hall and the

first set was a selection of songs

from five of the 2006 Radio Ballads:
Song of Steel, The Enemy Within,

The Horn of the Hunter,

Swings and Roundabouts

and Thirty Years of Conflict. 

After the interval

The Ballad of the Big Ships, concerning shipbuilding on the Tyne and the Clyde,

was performed in it's entirety and

included many of the interviews with

ship-builders recorded for the

broadcasts expertly interleaved with

the songs by Max Leonard. 
Another feature of the show was a

'big screen' projection of shipbuilding

pictures collected and collated by

Brian Ledgard. 
Former shipyard worker

Brian Whittingham also appeared on

stage to read his own poems.

The Royal Concert Hall audience gave

The Radio Ballads show astanding ovation.

It was a true folk spectacular and one

I dearly hope will be repeated.

Full details and a chance 
to listen again click here!
 

Clickto purchase online

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