So there we have it. Another year has fizzed by in a whirlwind of mischief and mayhem, hard work, and heartache; and it’s time to gather my thoughts before the onslaught begins again.

It was a year of picket lines….

…..and protests…..

…..The Road took me from Scarborough to Ashton-under-Lyne, Sheffield, Newcastle, Stourbridge, Hartlepool, Bradford, Hull, Bolton, Leeds, Harrogate, Barnsley, Wroot, Wakefield, London, Ulverston, Walton, Hebden Bridge, Grimsby, Doncaster, Stockton-on-Tees, Manchester, Glasgow, Whitby, Queensbury, Nottingham, Middlesbrough, Chesterfield, and Malgrat-de-Mar via Barcelona….and that was a quiet year!

I got to share stages with much-loved musical friends and comrades….

I ran into a load more…..

I got to play Barrowlands….

I got to release new music with Lithium Joe….

…..and jump up and down on stages again, kicking up a racket…..

…..Comrade-in-crayons Kevin Pearson and meself launched another book through Unison, this time to mark Trans Awareness Week…

I did speeches, lectures, book signings, radio sessions, fundraising dinners….

I got to be on left-hand pole duty for the Hatfield Brigade at the Orgreave Rally and Durham….

Then record them for a new single at NUM HQ in Barnsley…..

…..there was launching the video for ‘These Are My People’….

…..the annual Three Shall Overcome hike with Kev and Steve….

….a stack of incredible nights raising funds for We Shall Overcome especially memorable were the ones for Pauline Town over at WSO Central, The Station…..

If I had to distill it down to a handful of images, it would be these; from singing ‘No Pasaran’ in the face of fascists in Victoria Square, through Catalunya with Joe Gibbins, to the insane joy of Black Country Folk Festival…..

As always, no year can be remembered without the memory-making images shot by the like of Neil Terry, Mark Whyatt, Paul and Lindsay Rutland, Ian Jones, Pete Yen, Eric Barnes, and a hundred others; and none of this would be remotely possible without the love, support and friendship of everyone who keeps my show on the road. THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE!!

The recording work which began at The Cellar in Milnsbridge with Gaz, Liss and Bar back in August ended in T’Shed four months later, and thanks to Rebekah Findlay and Lee Huck, Carol Hodge, Jess Silk, Daniel Lucas, Commoners Choir, the Hatfield Brigade and the People’s Chorus, ‘Sledgehammer Songs’ is at the pressing plant and I’m waiting on delivery of CDs and black and red splatter vinyl ahead on the March 4th release. The other news is the ‘Twenty From Twenty’ compilation marking two decades of this madness, is also en route from the factory and will land on your doormats in January.

So I will be back in the new year with two new albums, a ‘No Pasaran’ children’s book, an insane amount of gigs, and as much mischief and mayhem as I can squeeze out of another 12 months.

So all the very best to you for the new year, and here’s hoping it brings us a change for the better. One thing you can depend on, is that it won’t be for lack of trying x