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'THE
PITMEN POETS'
2nd
FINAL FAREWELL TOUR
AUTUMN
2022
Click
here
to see details/buy tickets
BOB
& BILLY GIGS
RE-SCHEDULED
Click
here to keep an
eye on
the gigs page to see up to date details.
Bob
Fox &
Billy Mitchell
t
TOURING
2022/23
'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.
|
Bob's
recent interview and
songs
live on The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe
29/04/2015on
Click
on the song title to
hear
Bob's radio
plays
on the
Mike
Harding Show
along
with Mike's comments:
25/01/2012
WAR HORSE/"Shoals of herring"
13/04/2011
"Rambling Rover"
10/12/2010
"Taking on Men"
Bob
Fox &
Billy Mitchell
With
several
"one-off never to be repeated" tours and two
well received CDS
successfully
completed,
Bob and Billy
will
continue working as an occasional
duo
as wellas solo and with the new
PITMEN
POETS project
so
plenty to look forward to!!
Click
here to keep
an eye on
the gigs page to see up to date details.
This unique combination will
entertain
people of all shapes and
sizes
with their wonderful selection
of
northern songs that spans
Jimmy Nail’s ‘Big River’ to
Lindisfarne’s ‘Meet Me On The Corner’
all delivered with consummate musicianship.
The
duo’s on-stage banter has also been
known
to regularly reduce audiences to
gibbering
wrecks.
"Back
on City Road"
Click for
details
and
to
purchase
online
BILLY
MITCHELL has done it all as a
performer
and songwriter.
He
spent eight years as front man of
the legendary Lindisfarne until their
retirement
in 2003.
Billy
Mitchell’s influence on the
latter-day
line-up of the band
helped
them stay as respected and
successful
as they had been prior
to
his recruitment.
In
the seventies he founded the
seminal
Jack the Lad, who were both
musically
deft & wondrous and also,
clearly
(some say), unhinged.
Their
final album, ‘Jackpot’ has just
recently
had its debut on CD.
Billy
recently also released his first
solo
album, 'The Devil's Ground',
and
in one enthusiastic review
of
the album, was noted as
“one of the finest singers on the planet”
(Pete
Fyffe)
He
has also recently performed on
stage
with Roger Daltrey of The Who,
Paul
Weller, Jools Holland and
Brian
Johnson of AC/DC at
The
Sage, Gateshead.
One
of Britain’s most respected and internationally
acclaimed performers
Ralph
McTell said of BOB FOX:
“As
soon as I heard Bob Fox sing I
realised
that he must have one of the
best
voices in England. I have
always
regarded him as an artiste of
great
integrity and ability".
Bob
has twice been nominated as
Folk
Singer of the Year at the
BBC
Radio 2 Folk Awards and was
invited to sing and play at
Celtic
Connections as part of a
performance
of the
2006
Radio Ballads.
In
2000 Bob was Special Guest on
the Wood and the Wire tour with
the legendary Fairport Convention,
who
guested on his
Dreams
Never Leave You album.
Bob’s
masterful interpretation of
traditional
and contemporary songs
is one of his greatest strengths and
during
his time performing with
Stu
Luckley they won the
Melody
Maker
‘Folk Album of the Year’ Award.
Billy
and Bob have a souvenir of
their
performances available on CD
for
all to sup and feast on,
proudly
entitled
Five
Star B & B
a
title that cannily reflects both
the
quality and wry humour of
their musical collaboration
and ‘live’ performance.
"I’ve
just witnessed my favourite
gig
this year and who would
doubt
me when I say that the
protagonists
arethose likely lads
Bob
Fox & Billy Mitchell."
was
one delighted
reviewers
response.
The
concert performances feature
Billy
and Bob performing material
alone
and together, cherry picked
from
their solo work and the
combined
back catalogues of
Lindisfarne,
Jack the Lad and
Bob
Fox and Stu Luckley
to
produce a memorable night.
Five
Star indeed.
"Five
Star B & B" was recorded
during
the Autumn
2006 Tour and
features
new live versions of
their
classic songs.
"Five
Star B & B"
Clickfor
details
and
to
purchase
online
Live
Gig Review:
The
Maltings, Farnham (18th Oct 2006)
I’ve
just witnessed my favourite
gig
this year and who would doubt
me
when I say that the
protagonists
are those likely lads
Bob
Fox & Billy Mitchell.
You
know you’re guaranteed a good
night
out if you’re lucky enough to
see
either as a solo performer but
working
as a duo, they bounce
off
each other as if they’d been
playing
together for years.
The
surprise is that the two genial
Geordies
have only completed five
days
of a 19 date tour and,
although
originally intending to
join
each other for the last twenty
minutes
of the show they are both on
stage
most of the evening.
Utilising
their towering vocals and accompanying themselves
with
astonishing
skill on a variety
of
stringed instruments,
guitars,
bouzouki and mandolin,
they could hold a master class
in the art of ‘live’ entertainment.
Instrumental
expertise aside, the
songs
come thick and fast with
standards
such as
“The
Galway Shawl” and
“Sally
Wheatley” rubbing
shoulders
with Mitchell’s own
self-penned
“The Devil’s Ground”.
Talking
of North-East songs, it’s
interesting
to note that the power
of
a good TV campaign can influence
a
much wider audience especially
the
recent Young’s Seafood
advert
featuring the emotive
“When the Boat Comes In”
performed
(in this case) with
such
eloquence by Fox.
The
banter between the two may
at
times have been unrehearsed
but
at no point did the audience
feel
excluded from the joke and in a
room
that was particularly difficult
to
utilise a PA Ben (the engineer)
did
a sterling job.
Bob
& Billy are planning to tour in
April
of next year and by that time
they hope to have a live recording.
If
you’re looking for a fun night
out
with amazing musicianship and
vocals
make sure you don't miss them.
Pete
Fyfe
For
more information about
Billy
Mitchell visit
www.billymitchell.co.uk
Bob
Fox & Stu LuckleyStu
Luckley
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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