Well, that just about sees off another year and it seems only fair to pause and take it all in bearing in mind how twelve more months passed in a blur of mischief and mayhem at 100 miles an hour……just the way I like it.

Well it all began with the release of ‘Not On Our Watch‘, my 16th album and a record I remain phenomenally proud of; but in January something rather unexpected happened.

I wrote another.

During a couple of weeks R&R I’d read Brian W. Lavery‘s incredible book ‘The Headscarf Revolutionaries’, telling the story of the Hull’s Triple Trawler Tragedy and the subsequent grassroots campaign by a group of amazing women to improve safety aboard ship. I wrote the first song on February 21st and recorded the last one on March 22nd, and the album ‘Headscarves & Hurricanes’ was born. Course, it needed a few embellishments from Rebekah Findlay‘s amazing violin and a fantastic night in Leeds with Commoners Choir, but in essence it was done and the year was off to a cracking start.

The gigs came thick and fast and I sang everywhere from picket lines to Children’s Wards; for everything from strike funds to food banks and back again; and the madness hit: Hull, Manchester, Stockton-on-Tees, Ashton-under-Lyne, Market Weighton, Hartlepool, Leeds, Scarborough, Wigan, Croxton Kerrial, Rotherham, Filey, Barnsley, Dublin, Durham, Bolton, Wakefield, Oldham, Warrington,  Glastonwick, Doncaster, Mansfield, Southport, Bradford, Goathland, Glasgow, Llangollen, Huddersfield, Whitwell, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Darlington, Cleethorpes, Skegness, Liverpool, Warsop, Stainforth, Glossop, Ulverston, Middlesbrough, Harrogate, Stourbridge, Grimsby and Scunthorpe…..many of them more than once…..and en route I had the time of my life. Highlights everywhere and too many to mention so here’s a few pics to sum it all up.

The third May Day Festival Of Solidarity was probably our best yet. Tony Wright and I had put together what we felt was a classic line-up, and the roof came off Old Schoolhouse in Barnsley so many times that weekend it was genuinely hard to keep up. Superb performances from all, but there were moments that brought tears to my eyes and tingles up my spine that I will remember forever. Again, the pics tell the story, but it was IMMENSE.

Everywhere I went I met amazing people giving their all for live music and for the cause of humanity, and that is the best thing about being out there on the road, the politics isn’t an abstract concept because you see it in action, you see how much people give for others, you see socialism in action away from the books, away from the dry text and the arguments over the small-print- you see real people helping real people through real troubles and it inspires in a way that nothing else can.

Whether that was an unbelieveable night at Stainforth Pit Club opening for Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott….

Or on the ‘Armistice Tour’ alongside the truly amazing Rebekah Findlay…

Be that in Edinburgh…

Glasgow…..

Dublin…..

Or Stainforth…..

You see it, you feel it, and you know it because it’s there beating in your chest and in the hearts of thousands of others. I love that. I never tire of it. Whether the gig is to 6 people or 600, the message is the same. The future needs us, and we’re good for it.

So from the handful of FCC workers whose strike won sick pay for 3000 people up and down the land…..

To the Unison choir bringing Xmas cheer to poorly children on hospital wards…

There is hope out there if you know where to look.

The trick is to never stop looking.

In June I FINALLY got that selfie with Mr Corbyn when I sang at the BFAWU Conference in Southport. It was a something of a rushed meeting, but I know he is 100% behind the work we are doing with We Shall Overcome which hit its fourth year in #WSO2018, and with Universal Credit being rolled out into more and more areas, causing poverty like never before wherever it lands, our amazing family of artists, organisers and activists were needed more than ever before…..and boy did they respond.

We added 208 more events to our grand total which will top the 1000 mark by the middle of 2019, and our best estimates tell us the help we will have raised for those at the sharp end of austerity will be close to half a million quids worth of food, cash, clothing, bedding, furniture, electrical goods, sleeping bags and tents; and on top of all that, Pauline Town‘s incredible work over in Ashton-under-Lyne has secured hundreds of people a future off the streets and into places of their own where they can dream of a fresh start. The hope this brings is immeasurable. Pauline is an absolute mountain of a woman and was rightly presented with a community award for her incredible achievements earlier this month.

Speaking of awards. September was quite a month.

I became the first non-famous person to be presented with the Gerrard Winstanley Gold Spade Award for Contributions to Socialism. The only other winners have been Tony Benn, Maxine Peake, Jimmy McGovern and Ken Loach; so when I was handed this amazing plaque by my good friend and comrade Attila the Stockbroker at Wigan Diggers Festival, it was a truly magical moment.

But perhaps the moment that best summed up my year, and the amazing people who have made it so special, came earlier that day when I took to the stage amid driving rain and looked out on to an empty square as the crowds huddled in the beer tents for shelter. Thinking it was going to be a tough gig playing to an empty space, I set myself up and heard the introduction so I looked up, and there before me was a square full of people braving the weather to watch the show……and we made the rain stop!!

Unforgettable.

So that was the year that was. I have been tremendously lucky to have been the places I have been and met the people I have met. I know that. Stuff like this doesn’t happen to everyone, and it’s important to recognise that, to love every moment, and to appreciate the good fortune that brings stuff my way.

A massive thank you to everyone who supported both me and WSO throughout the year, either by coming to the gigs, buying the music, sharing the posts, making the posters, running the shows, snapping the pics…..or in the case of the amazing Sean Mcgowan at the RMT, making me cry by handing me a birthday cake and award.

I vow to fight on in 2019 and do everything in my power to live up to my promises, to fight the good fight harder than ever, and to be there for as many people as the road permits me.

We start with two new records….

a brand new May Day Festival of Solidarity.….

And more love and enthusiasm than ever.

Not bad foundations on which to build.

2019 here I come x

The good news is MAY DAY FESTIVAL OF SOLIDARITY returns to Old School House, Barnsley next year.

The GREAT news is the INCREDIBLE bill!!

Tony and myself have pulled out all the stops to bring you a day I’m sure you’ll agree is worth every penny of the ticket.

You can bag them for £12.50 early bird price on this link:

https://www.seetickets.com/tour/may-day-festival-of-solidarity

but BE QUICK! We know Grace Petrie has gone up several levels this year and will be opening for Frank Turner on his arena tour of the UK early next year where she’ll be playing to crowds 20 times as big as we can fit into the Old School House; and with the rest of the bill made up of some of the very best live acts around, this is sure to be a pretty busy year.

So take advantage of the early bird price and GET EM ORDERED!

This will be MINT!

My last gig of 2018 is the Annual Hatfield Brigade Knees-Up at Central Club, Stainforth on Friday December 14th. I’ll be joined by Rebekah Findlay on fiddle and vocals, and the material will mostly centre around the songs from ‘Never Be Defeated’ and the three Joe Solo and the Hatfield Brigade singalongs, but there will be a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

Everyone is welcome and it’s free entry, although it is also my last We Shall Overcome gig of #WSO2018 so we’ll be making a collection of groceries for the local food bank, warm clothing for #SocksAppeal and sanitary towels for #EndPeriodPoverty solidarity campaign.

Please get there if you can.

It will be the last time I raise a guitar in anger before the new year hits and the whole job starts again, but I will be singing songs in local hospitals over the weekend of December 15th/16th as part of a Unison-inspired series of events to bring a little cheer to children unable to make it home for Christmas. There’ll be some old seasonal favourites hammered out on the uke and hopefully we’ll be able to raise a smile or two.

After that it’s back to the job of changing the world.

And there are already some absolute BANGERS confirmed for 2019.

Watch this space.

I have always tried to make my songs mean something more than just words and tunes.

Music saved my life.

Over and over again.

And I have always used my own to help save others.

Here’s how it is all going to work this Christmas.

1. DOWNLOADS
   If you download ANY Joe Solo songs from Amazon, I-Tunes, CDBaby, Googleplay or Spotify the money will go to the ‘DN7 Hardship Fund’ set up by the Hatfield Brigade to help people struggling to make ends meet in the pit villages of South Yorkshire. This has been running all year and we will be making a sizeable donation to the local food bank this Christmas.
2. CD SALES ONLINE
   I only sell CDs on Bandcamp. They are £10 and of that tenner £5 goes to Pauline Town who moves mountains in the battle against homelessness in Greater Manchester. Those fivers become daily packed lunches, or deposits on flats, or any number of other amazing things. Pauline is an expert in making that money stretch in order to have the biggest impact, and she is saving lives on a daily basis.
3. CD SALES GIGS
   Again they are a tenner, and again £5 of that goes to Pauline so when you bag yourself some Joe Solo songs you can rest assured that half of the money you just handed over will be helping someone within days. The other fiver? Well that pays for more CDs and the whole things starts again.

On top of that all my gigs are collection points for groceries for food banks through We  Shall Overcome, warm clothing for street homeless as part of my #SocksAppeal, and sanitary towels for my #EndPeriodPoverty solidarity campaign. I will never turn donations away, and all of them are shared according to where need is greatest.

So if you want to make a gift of Joe Solo songs this Christmas, or you want to fill a gap in your collection, then please do. You can do that knowing you might just have save someone’s life into the bargain.

You can start here:
joesolomusic.bandcamp.com

Thanks folks x

****NEW MUSIC ALERT****

The new album ‘Headscarves & Hurricanes’ and the new 8-track extended EP ‘The Past Won’t Last Forever’ were mastered on Monday 26th November and are available NOW to stream/download via Bandcamp, and the pre-order is set up for CD copies of both featuring the artwork of Kevin Pearson and Jamie  which will follow in January.

So that’s 19 new Joe Solo songs for 2019!

‘Headscarves & Hurricanes’ tells the story of Hull’s fishing community and is set against the backdrop of the 1968 Triple Trawler Tragedy and the subsequent campaign by the ‘Headscarf Revolutionaries’ to change maritime safety law. It’s 11 songs about love and loss, pride, resilience, and survival; and it tells of a time when Working Class people were bonded to their trade and each other in ways that have been lost in modern times. It’s that shared sense of purpose I wanted to capture. The album features both Rebekah Findlay and Commoners Choir. It’s worth a listen….

‘The Past Won’t Last Forever EP’ is a collection of songs covering subjects as varied as the Peterloo Massacre, the Grunwick Strike, broken promises in the wake of the First World War, the struggles of former mining communities and the rise of the street level fascism in the UK. It features both Rebekah Findlay and the Hatfield Brigade, and is as good a set of songs as I’ve ever put out there. Again, worth your time and attention….

‘Headscarves & Hurricanes’ is available to stream/download or pre-order on this link:

https://joesolomusic.bandcamp.com/album/headscarves-hurricanes

and ‘The Past Won’t Last Forever EP’ from here:

https://joesolomusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-past-wont-last-forever-ep

The pair will set you back £15 on CD and £5 of that goes to help Pauline Town fight homelessness in Greater Manchester, so you are helping combat Austerity as well as bagging the best 19 songs I wrote this year.

Enjoy x

The #ArmisticeTour came to its climax last night as our guns fell silent on the centenary of the end of the First World War.

It has been an incredible couple of weekends, six shows taking in Glossop, Wigan, Bolton, Wakefield, Ulverston and Middlesbrough. Each event doubled as a We Shall Overcome gig and the donations coming in each night were truly humbling. Rattling the bucket we raised more than £350 for Pauline Town‘s homeless packed lunches; and donations of food, warm clothing, toiletries and sanitary towels meant we sent Pauline off in one packed car full, and were able to donate Teesside Socialist Clothing Bank what looked to be close to another FOUR car fulls. Can’t thank those who brought donations enough, your compassion and generosity will literally save lives this winter.

A massive thank you has to go out to everyone who booked us and helped support these events, especially Matt Hill, Ian Whiteley, Dave Wood and Leigh Sayers without whom this tour would never have happened; and a special thank you to Lee Huck on sound and vision and humping of much PA equipment at unsociable hours of day and night.

And to our comrades at Philosophy Football for kitting us out in their First World War t-shirts. Much appreciated here.

Having been a bit worried about whether people would be interested in these shows I was absolutely overjoyed to see not only audience numbers, but the reaction after the gigs was truly heartwarming, and although I know the subject can be dark there are moments in the set of genuine slapstick……

…..one of which was caught on camera by Randers Gallery on opening night in Glossop as Rebekah and myself sang a new duet for the very first time live.

So there was laughter to go with the tears, history to be channeled as well as challenged, and a new outlook on the process of Remembrance to be discussed.

And I loved every minute. It is sheer joy to make music with Rebekah Findlay, and such is the added emotional depth her violin and voice give to these songs, that I have dusted off the shelved idea of re-recording these songs for a new album.

So 2019 will see the release of ‘Postcards From Potter’s Field’ by Joe Solo & Rebekah Findlay, and it will also see us hit the road again on the first two weekend of November.

Can’t wait.

More footage is available below courtesy of Ian Swinburne and Randers Gallery.

Enjoy.

Incredible weekend on the road with the #ArmisticeTour hitting Glossop, Wigan and Bolton over two days.

So good to see crowds in such numbers for what is quite a dark subject, but the audience responses and the feedback after the gigs has been immense and we can’t thank you enough for your support on this.

We  Shall Overcome has benefited too. We managed to collect £150 for Pauline Town‘s work with the homeless of Greater Manchester on Saturday, and I was able to hand her a HUGE bin liner full of #SocksAppeal and #EndPeriodPoverty solidarity campaign donations from previous gigs. On Saturday we raised another £105 rattling the bucket and a rammed car full of solidarity from the north west bound for the north east, which will be delivered to Teesside Socialist Clothing Bank next Sunday.

Massive thank yous to Matt Hill aka Quiet Loner whose legendary Defiance Sessions at Glossop Labour Club got us off to the best possible start; and to Ian Whiteley for answering the call and not only booking Wigan and Bolton, but opening up for us at both with his Crows Of Albion project. A massive thank you too for Lee Huck who lugged his PA into some very tight corners and put on a storming slideshow.

And there are no words to sum up the impact Rebekah Findlay has when she sprinkles that magic dust of hers. Such an honour, and enormous pleasure to share a stage and she was on spellbinding form, finding new emotional depths in those songs and cracking me up hitting the panic button as our unrehearsed new duet stayed the course despite flirting with disaster. You can check that out here:

We’re halfway through, and you can still catch us this coming weekend in Wakefield, Ulverston and Middlesbrough.

Be good to have your company.

My Armistice Tour kicks off this weekend with three gigs in two days, taking in Glossop, Wigan and Bolton. I would be delighted to have your company.

I’ll be accompanied by Rebekah Findlay on violin and vocals, and we’ll be revisiting some of the songs from my 2009 and 2012 albums ‘Music From Potter’s Field’ and ‘Going Home’, stories of men and women struggling to survive and make sense of the world caught up in the maelstrom of the First World War.

The songs are about love and loss, superstition, the nature of remembrance, survivor’s guilt, shellshock, conscientious objection, burying the dead, and above all the quest for a glimmer of light in the darkest of times.

There are also four new songs including two duets, and a narrative weaving the whole thing together and trying to make sense of who we’re remembering and why, together with what put these ordinary people at the mercy of fate in the most extraordinary circumstances.

It’s good. Trust me.

The tour continues the weekend after in Wakefield and Ulverston before concluding in Middlesbrough on Remembrance Sunday which falls on the centenary of the Armistice itself.

All gigs are We Shall Overcome events, so donations of groceries for the local food bank, warm clothing for #SocksAppeal, or sanitary towels for #EndPeriodPoverty solidarity campaign are very welcome.

See you there x

The new song by Joe Solo & The Hatfield Brigade was recorded at Central Club in Stainforth last Sunday. ‘Rise Up!’ will be released on Monday November 26th as soon as it is mastered, with all funds raised going to the DN7 Hardship Fund helping those struggling to make ends meet in the former pit villages of South Yorkshire.

As ever the session was total mayhem and the best fun you can have making a record. This is our third song together and every bit as shambolic as the first, but always one of my favourite days of the year.

The event doubled-up as a We Shall Overcome gig and thanks to donations from the choir we managed a fantastic stack of food, shoes, coats, socks and sanitary towels for the local food bank on top of TWO recordings; because as well as ‘Rise Up!’ I recorded Mick Lanaghan singing his own song ‘Farewell Hatfield Main’ which will close the forthcoming reissue of ‘Never Be Defeated’ released to mark the 35th anniversary of the Miner’s Strike. No finer way to finish the record than the voice of a true miner singing his own words.

You can hear Mick’s song here:

https://joesolomusic.bandcamp.com/track/farewell-to-hatfield-main

and the first mix of ‘Rise Up!’ here:

https://joesolomusic.bandcamp.com/track/rise-up

‘Rise Up!’ will appear on two forthcoming CD releases. First my ‘The Past Won’t Last Forever EP’ in January, and then the ‘Never Be Defeated’ reissue in March, so look out for those!

A massive thank you to all Brigaders past and present, especially those who made some pretty long journeys to be there standing in solidarity with us on the day; and to Lindsay Rutland and Pete Martin on camera duties recording the session in photographs.

The best afternoon in the best of company.

We march on.