Sunday October 30th sees the recording session for my Christmas song, a collaboration between The UK Miner’s Pension Scheme for Justice & Fair Play Association and We Shall Overcome. My part is already recorded, but on Sunday the Hatfield Brigade and former Miners and comrades from up and down the country are gathering to form a chorus line like no other. It will be messy, but it will be one hell of a lot of fun.

Anyone wanting to get involved the address is:

Stainforth Central Club
Silver Street
Stainforth
Doncaster
DN7 5AJ

We start at 5pm sharp with speeches, the rehearsal, the recording session, and then a Motown disco…..alcohol may well be involved.

Entry is free but in the spirit of We Shall Overcome we are asking all-comers to bring a small amount of non-perishable groceries for DN7 Community Food Bank; but I would also like to ask you, if you can, to bring spare woolly socks and/or gloves for my #SocksAppeal. All donations will be sent to Pauline Town in Ashton-under-Lyne to help keep rough sleepers in Greater Manchester warm this winter.

I will be mixing the recording on Monday and it will be ready for a late November release with all proceeds going to keep local food banks stocked this Winter.

We are proud to be fighting alongside Peter Stefanovic whose enthusiastic backing of the project is infectious, and he is hell bent on a campaign to get the song to No.1 for Christmas. Insane, but it’ll be fun trying 😉

If you are planning on attending, be warned, there will be not one, but two film crews in attendance. The film maker Michael Lee Toas from MLT Productions has kindly offered his services to produce a music video we’ll be sharing like mad over the coming weeks, and BBC East Midlands are sending a crew up and plan to run a piece on the project very soon.

All in all, a manic few hours of a Working Men’s Club decked out in Christmas gear in October, a room packed with miners, two film crews, one microphone and a bar.

What could possibly go wrong?

Top fun.

You are cordially invited to a genuine one-off event.

Last night I was joined on stage by both Rebekah Findlay and Daniel Lucas aka Boss Caine to perform my song ‘Halo’ from the forthcoming ‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’ album. The gig, at York’s Fulford Arms was top fun start to finish, but this was a highlight and I can’t wait to get this song out there. Dan duets with me and adds some mean pickin’, while Rebekah provides fiddle and backing vocals. It’s a bit good.

A couple of years ago Dan recorded ‘Ghosts & Drunks’, a song I wrote for him. He NAILS it. You can listen on this link:

https://bosscainemusic.bandcamp.com/track/ghosts-and-drunks-2

Also absolutely made up that Rebekah is to record her own version of my song ‘Standing By My Man’ for her forthcoming album. Originally released on my ‘NEVER BE DEFEATED’ album, the song has been cited by many as their favourite of my compositions and I have to say I think I agree. Rebekah’s solo version is INCREDIBLE. Look out for it as it will break your heart at fifty paces. The original is here:

https://joesolomusic.bandcamp.com/track/standing-by-my-man

Two amazing musicians and two people I am proud to call my friends.

Mint.

****SPECIAL REQUEST PLEASE FOLKS****

Two fantastic gigs last weekend. The first was a We Shall Overcome event at one of my favourite venues of all time, the magical Cafe INDIEpendent in Scunthorpe. A safe haven for people from all walks of life to express themselves without fear, to be encouraged and inspired in equal turn…..and it has umbrellas hanging from the ceiling which surely clinches it. The gig was opening for US Folk legend and latter-day Woody Guthrie, David Rovics. I have long been an admirer of Mr Rovics from afar, but our paths had not crossed until Friday. What an incredible songwriter and musician! And what a lovely bloke too. His set was embellished by the stunning harmonies of Glasgow’s Lorna McKinnon, who wove her voice around David’s with sublime perfection. Their set was an absolute joy from start to finish. Loads of food raised and a top night of music- if you missed it, you REALLY missed out.

From there it was Musicport Festival in Whitby on Saturday night, just the sort of celebration of international culture and togetherness we need during these dark days of post-Brexit Britain. Jim and Sue McLaughlin and the team once again pulled off a blinder and I loved every second of a top, top night. Even got presented with my trophy for ‘Outstanding Songwriting’ courtesy of Yorkshire Gig Guide Grassroots Music Awards, which ain’t a bad way to be introduced to an audience….though it is a lot to live up to.

Hehe.

All in all a TOP weekend.

There’s a video of ‘Why Are You So Angry?’ shot by Viceversarobbi on his i-pad doing the rounds. Worth a watch….

Big thanks to all who came to both gigs and made them such great nights.

Next stop York on Wednesday.

Then the small matter of that Christmas single……

Those of you familiar with my song ‘No Pasaran!’ will know it tells the story of Jack Atkinson at the Battle of Jarama during the Spanish Civil War- but who was he?

Well, until today I didn’t even know what he looked like, but the above photograph came courtesy of Andrew Young from the Hull International Brigade Memorial Group and both Andrew’s work, an obituary sent by Brian Barnes, and a helpful MI5 record, have embellished what I knew already through Giles Stevens to the point where we can now paint some kind of a picture.

Jack was born in Hull early in 1911. He was from Romany stock. Traditionally that meant large families, but Jack’s father was killed in the trenches leaving him an only child. He appears to have developed a healthy dislike for authority at an early age, and by 14 he had stowed away on a ship travelling to Australia where he fought the police and armed thugs clearing Aboriginal peoples from their homes to make room for settlers.

He didn’t like injustice.

While in Australia he lost an index finger, meaning he had no trigger finger and had to adapt in order to use a rifle. In my song ‘Fight On’ I allude to this with the line:

“A certain way with a gun.”

On his return to these shores he found work as a lorry driver and lived on St. Luke’s Terrace, St. Luke’s Street in Hull. An tall man at 6’4″ he was quiet but well-liked, though drinkers at his local would size up what sort of a mood he was in as it was said he could swing cast-iron bar stools- one in each hand…..there was no power steering in those days.

Over the Summer of 1936 Oswald Mosley organised a British Union of Fascists rally at Corporation Fields in Hull. No-one seems able to confirm if Jack was present at the riot which followed, but it is unthinkable that he wasn’t in there fists flying. The Blackshirts were run out of town by the Hull Dockers, with Mosley’s car leaving town with a bullet hole in the door.

Jack left England for Spain on 6th February 1937 having travelled south by train with Rotherham union leader Tommy James and three other men. They left Newhaven for Dieppe bound for Paris, and had clearly been spotted by the security services as they had a record of him leaving. He had told his mother he was going to drive ambulances and would be nowhere near the front line. I doubt she believed him.

James describes in his autobiographical account of the war ‘Pounded Earth’, how they were moved straight from their train out to the front line at Jarama where a fascist attack threatened to break through and take Madrid.

Sadly, Jack didn’t last long.

On 21st February 1937 he left his trench with the same aggressive sense of purpose he had lived his entire life. He rose to attack fascist positions and charging across no man’s land was shot through the neck by a machine gun bullet. Tommy ran to help but realised his friend must have been dead before he hit the ground.

Jack was partial to a fruit cake, and his mother had baked one for him for when he came back from Spain. Decades later when she passed away, the family were clearing out her house and found that cake in her pantry still waiting for her only son to return.

Jack Atkinson was 25 years old.

The deeds of our lives MATTER; they live on long after we are dust. In those 25 years, Jack fought for freedom, justice and equality and his example is an inspiration to me and hopefully anyone who hears his song.

“They say a man he dies twice, Jack
First when his days are through
And then when he gets forgotten, Jack
But I remember you.”

Fight on.

The new album ‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’ is nearing completion and will be available to download via Bandcamp from November 29th with CD copies following early in the new year.

This is a collection of songs and poems which hopefully tell the story of our times. That is the intention anyway. After writing the Spanish Civil War and the 1984-85 Miner’s Strike over the last few years I wanted to write a record right here, right now and send it out into the world.

There will be plenty for everyone and once again I will be accompanied by Rebekah Findlay on fiddle and vocals, I will also be joined by Daniel Lucas AKA Boss Caine whom I duet with on the song ‘Halo’ and whose guitar picking puts mine to shame. It’s a highlight of what is hopefully a cracking record.

The artwork is from Alan Morgan who provided We Shall Overcome with so many of its defining images this year, and design is by my comrade and friend Kevin Pearson.

I will be recording with Rebekah in mid-November and mastering takes place on 28th November- my 47th birthday- at Strange Reality Studios in Snaith with my long-term collaborator, and man in control of ‘The Good Button’, Mr Chris Miley.

All in all it’s fair to say I’m pretty excited about this one.

‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’ will be officially launched at The Station in Ashton-under-Lyne on Saturday March 11th. Big Sis, Pauline Town, will be hosting and the event will double-up as a We Shall Overcome fundraiser. MAKE A NOTE IN YOUR DIARIES!

More details as I have them…..

I have written and recorded a Christmas single for the UK Miner’s Pension Scheme For Justice and Fair Play Association, to highlight their fight. On Sunday October 30th I’ll be travelling to the Central in Stainforth to record all present singing the chorus before mixing and mastering for a late-November release. All proceeds will be going to help support food banks in the former South Yorkshire pit villages.

The campaign has been taken up by Peter Stefanovic who seems hellbent on trying for Christmas No.1.

His video post is here:

but here is the text:

“Over 1 million people in the U.K. have been forced to rely on food bank hand outs to survive. In 2015 alone over 400,000 children used food bank supplies. Parents are skipping meals to make sure their children have enough to eat. The situation is becoming even more desperate as food bank supplies run short.

Our heroic Miners at U.K. Miners Pension Scheme Association for Justice and fair play are doing something about it! They have teamed up with award winning singer song writer Joe Solo and The We Shall Overcome campaign to make a Christmas single the proceeds from which will go to support local food banks and those at the sharp end of austerity!

Joe has penned a powerful Christmas song titled “Merry Christmas from Hatfield (Main)” The story behind the song how people came together at Christmas 84 to give the miners and their families, by now destitute and without food, a Christmas to remember! It’s a very emotional Christmas song so expect some tears, especially when the video is released! We also hope to raise public awareness of the Miners Pension Scandal in which successive governments have so far robbed the miners pension fund of a staggering £8 billion leaving our former miners, who risked their lives every day to keep our homes, hospitals and schools warm destitute.

We shall be recording the single on Sunday 30th October @ the Central club, in Stainforth Nr Doncaster DN7 5AJ and everyone is welcome! We will need you to learn the chorus before (we will distribute the words) and dress for men will be donkey jacket with NCB or BC on the back, pit helmit or flat cap (or similar attire) and ladies should be blinged to the max! Expect an early Christmas party! Everyone is giving their time freely for the single!

The price of admission? A single bag of food which we can take to the local food bank afterwards!

The Miners are BACK to take the Christmas NO1 for our food banks so come and support them, be apart of it and most importantly buy the single when it’s released! And please share this post!!”

I will post the song when we have a finished version, but please make a mental note to download it and help put food on tables this Christmas.

Thanks folks.

On Sunday 9th October I was announced as the winner of the OUTSTANDING SONGWRITING gong at Yorkshire Gig Guide Grassroots Music Awards. I wasn’t able to collect the award as I was in Liverpool singing for We Shall Overcome, but I am proud as punch to be acknowledged for my writing which has always been the most important part of it for me.

The award came off the back of my ‘NEVER BE DEFEATED’ album telling the stories of the Hatfield Brigade during the 1984-85 Miner’s Strike, and as such I would like to dedicate it to everyone who helped me write it by telling their stories and encouraging me along the way, in particular Mick Lanaghan, Harry Harle, Les Moore, Will Moore, Sheena Moore and Tony Clegg without whom it would never have seen the light of day. Their friendship and encouragement has given me such a lift over the last few years and I am delighted the album is receiving some acclaim as much of that belongs to them.

I was also voted runner-up in the OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION category, which put the icing on the cake of a cracking night.

But, as a wise man once told me:

“Don’t listen when people say you’re great, and don’t listen when people say you’re rubbish as you are neither. Just get on with it.”

Tomorrow is a brand new day.

Well, for the second year running we proved how ordinary people working together can do extraordinary things. With no superstars, no celebrities, no mainstream media help, and no financial backing, we ran 262 events in 114 different towns and cities showing unity and solidarity are alive and well in post-Brexit Britain despite the negative narrative being pedalled out there.

It is an incredible thing to be a part of, it really is. Watching it build almost daily over six months and then flourish and bloom is a feeling impossible to describe as the WSO family just picks it up and runs with it and makes magic happen.

We had music of every genre, quiz nights, history walks, lectures, poetry, comedy, art auctions, car boot sales….just about anything you can imagine. It gives you a flavour of the massive amount of untapped creative talent there is out there, and if WSO can help unleash some of that, then that would be excuse enough to keep going; but it is so much more than that. WSO is not about us, it is about the people we help and the politics we are fighting against.

In a country where poverty-hatred is rife and actively encouraged by politicians and media alike; where race attacks are on the increase; where unemployment, low wages and zero hours contracts are making millions of people poor and KEEPING them there, crushing their hopes, destroying their futures, vilifying, victimising, humiliating and turning them against one another; who would have thought so many people could come together to offer the remedies of hope and compassion? But we did. We may not have won the war, but we have proved there is still a fight to be fought.

And through that fight we helped food banks, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, crisis centres, and refugee charities. We donated food, cash, clothing, bedding, camping equipment….to the tune of well over £100,000. All of that stays in the towns it was raised as neighbour helped neighbour and demonstrated the true meaning of community.

We shall return in 2017 bigger, bolder and better and we will fight until the crippling impacts of austerity are banished to the dustbin of history forever, and this horrific agenda is exposed as ideological warfare on anyone who doesn’t turn a profit; because that is exactly what it is.

For now though, we did it.

#WSO2016 I salute you.

Thanks everyone. You rule.

So WE SHALL OVERCOME officially kicks off this weekend with 260 gigs up and down the UK and beyond, but where exactly can you find me?

Well, truth is I’ve started already. Both the #KeepCorbyn gig in Doncaster AND the ‘Never Be Defeated’ performance in Glossop last week, were WSO events collecting food and cash donations for local causes.

…..but my WSO week really begins on Thursday October 6th with two events. The first is at St. Aiden’s Church in Billingham with a 7.30pm kick off, and from there I hightail it to Nursery Inn in Hartlepool to open for the legend that is TV Smith.

Friday I’ll be hauling over to play the fantastic Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, and there’s thankfully just the one gig that night, because Saturday is a somewhat daunting 3-gigger.

First I’ll be kicking things off at The Filling Station in Scarborough as part of an afternoon session compered by the wonderful Graham Rhodes and pretty much next door to the Radio Scarborough studio from where I broadcast The Joe Solo Show.

I race from there to Polish Club in Barnsley for a teatimer at the venue which hosted our May Day Festival of Solidarity earlier this year.

And from there to Stainforth Pit Club to perform ‘Never Be Defeated’ for the Hatfield Brigade in the building it was born in, raising food and cash for the DN7 Food Bank helping those struggling in the former pit villages of Stainforth, Dunscroft and Thorne.

Hopefully my voice will hold out because Sunday 9th sees me back in my old stomping ground of Liverpool for one last gig as part of the main week at The Brink.

There are more WSO gigs later in October and November for me, but for now that is your lot.

Hope to see some of you out there.