Award-winning songwriter, novelist, and one of the busiest and most admired performers on the UK folk scene, Jez Lowe is celebrating forty five years as a touring singer, songwriter and musician.

You may have heard Jez Lowe’s songs on albums by Fairport Convention, The Dubliners, The Unthanks, Wizz Jones, The Young Uns, The Tannahill Weavers, Megson, Bob Fox, The McCalmans, Liam Clancy, Cherish The Ladies, and many, many more…

Or maybe you’ve heard one of the fifty or more songs he wrote for the award-winning BBC Radio Two series “The Radio Ballads…

Or perhaps you’ve heard one of Jez’s many albums, either solo, with his band The Bad Pennies or in his many collaborations with the likes of Steve Tilston, James Keelaghan, Jake Walton and The Pitmen Poets…

And no doubt many will have caught one of Jez’s solo shows in the UK, or on the many international tours across the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and mainland Europe…

Jez has just released his fifteenth album of original songs entitled “Oubliette” and it’s already being heralded as a classic by folk radio presenters, reviewers and, most importantly, listeners all over the world.

Jez’s backing band The Bad Pennies first joined him in 1990, and the long-established line-up of Kate Bramley, Andy May and David De La Haye have been with him for the last twenty years.

Kate (on fiddle, mandolin and vocals) is also a solo performer and a member of the country-folk trio The Mile Roses, as well as being a renowned theatre writer and director with her touring company Badapple Theatre.

Andy (on Northumbrian Pipes and keyboards) is one of the UK’s leading pipers, known for his work with multi-national band Baltic Crossing, his own Andy May Trio and as a session-musician for many of the scene’s best known artists.

David (on bass-guitar) has secured a formidable reputation as a producer, an innovative sound-mixer and field-recorder, and as a founding member of the popular dance outfit The Monster Ceilidh Band.

All three bring their talents, skills and ideas to The Bad Pennies, giving an extra dimension to Jez Lowe’s albums and live concerts. Together they’ve played at most major UK festivals, as well as in festivals in Edmonton, Calgary, Tonder, Cincinnati and more, and cemented their regional standing by being recognised as having appeared at Tyneside’s prestigious Sage (now The Glasshouse International Centre For Music) more than any other artist in the venue’s fifteen year existence.

Jez published his fourth novel, “The Keeker Seam” in early 2024, following on from its much praised predecessors “The Dillen Doll”, “The Corly Croons” and “Piper’s Lonnen”, all keenly inspired by the folklore, social history and traditional music of his native North East England. His next book is set for publication early in 2026.

So watch out for Jez Lowe – he’s undoubtedly soon coming to a venue near you.

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