This Saturday, April 8th, marks the 40th anniversary of the release of The Clash’s legendary debut album and I am proud as punch to have been asked to perform at a special celebration in London.

The Clash have been at the heart of not only my music, but my entire life; making me question things, think them through, find solutions and constantly push myself beyond where my body and mind want to go. As Joe Strummer used to say:

“No input, no output.”

Just how influential they have been is hard to measure. I learned to play guitar by picking up ‘The Clash Songbook’ volumes one and two…..that’s all the songs and related b-sides from the first two albums. I wasn’t good enough to play Mick Jones’s parts, so it was all about learning Strummer’s chaotic downstrokes, so important in driving the sound forward…..and let’s face it…..I still play like that today.

Would my ‘No Pasaran’ album have happened without ‘Spanish Bombs’? I doubt it. The poetry of those lyrics made me read Orwell and Paul Preston and Lorca and Richard Baxell. Without that, I doubt I would have been able to even START that album, let alone finish it.

But influence is one thing, it’s always heralded as a thing to strive for as an artist, to be influential. Yet to ‘influence’ can also just create a generation of clones and copyists and that would be so out of step with the ethos of The Clash as to make them failures. Being influential is NOTHING next to being inspirational, and the thousands of ways the band have inspired me over the years- to get off my arse and do something, to pick myself up when the world has knocked me down, to pick things apart until I reach their inherent truth, to look the world in the eye and not give a good God damn about the consequences- these are all legacies of The Clash which play out in me to this day. They are a part of who I am, so who would I have been without them? I simply don’t know, but I was inspired and I continue to be so.

And I’m not alone. I have met hundreds of people over the years, union leaders, film makers, fanzine writers, teachers, activists and campaigners, all out there doing what they do because the band set them thinking and they took to their lives with the same fire I did and fought their own battles as a result.

So Saturday is less a gig and more a pilgrimage. To celebrate what can be achieved when music is made with commitment and is played like lives depend on it.

Because sometimes, they do.

Some belting gigs coming up in April. First stop is St. John’s in Hull on Tuesday 4th which heralds the start of a blinding few days. Friday 7th I’ll be opening for Richard Kitson at The Greystones in Sheffield, before heading down to London on Saturday 8th to sing at a VERY special event marking the 40th anniversary of the release of The Clash‘s eponymous debut album. The songs are being performed by contemporary artists and my remit is an update of ‘Protex Blue’. This event has been lovingly put together by Philosophy Football in conjunction with the RMT, FBU, R2 Magazine and Trade Union Pale Ale and promises to be a classic.

From there it’s Leicester on Thursday 13th where I have the honour of playing the amazing Grace Petrie‘s new ‘Fire In Your Heart Folk Club’ so that will be another proper special night.

And then last, but certainly not least, is the small matter of MAY DAY FESTIVAL OF SOLIDARITY over the weekend of 29/30 in Barnsley. The event, run by myself and Tony Wright from The Hurriers, is one hell of an undertaking but we’ve put together an incredible bill of musicians, poets and speakers and now all we need is you. Tickets can be gotten from here:

http://www.seetickets.com/event/may-day-festival-of-solidarity-weekend-ticket/old-school-house-venue-barnsley/1065030

and we would love to have your company.

All in all then, a cracking month. A lot of miles, but a lot of good friends and comrades en route, and I’m looking forward to every second.

Mint.

I recorded an interview and two live songs for BBC Introducing on Radio Humberside last week and the podcast is available for the next couple of weeks.

There are live versions of two songs from the new album ‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’- ‘One Life At A Time’ and ‘Blue Town’- followed by an interview covering subjects as varied as the 25th anniversary of the first Lithium Joe demo, and the forthcoming centenary of the Hull Pals attacking Oppy Wood.

Worth a listen.

Here’s the link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04vjv2x

Enjoy x

May Day Festival of Solidarity, the event started last year by Tony Wright and meself to bring together voices from music, poetry and politics to celebrate International Worker’s Day returns over the weekend of April 29/30 and we’d dearly love you to be there.

As you can see from the poster, we have some amazing acts, and anyone who tunes in regularly to The Joe Solo Show will be familiar with the likes of The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Steve Mason, Thee Faction, Efa Supertramp, Lily Gaskell, Blyth Power, Interrobang, Lilith Ai and Robb Johnson even if you weren’t already! The venue is The Old School House in Barnsley and the alternating twin stage set-up from last year returns meaning there’s non-stop music from start to finish; and with a capacity of only 200 it is a chance to get properly up close and personal with some genuine legends of the live music.

We will have speeches from unions and campaigning groups too with more on that to be announced soon.

Tickets are £25 for a full weekend pass and £15 for a single day, an absolute bargain in comparison to the farm-em-in-farm-em-out summer festivals, and the vibe alone will be worth the entrance fee.

You can get em from:

http://www.seetickets.com/event/may-day-festival-of-solidarity-weekend-ticket/old-school-house-venue-barnsley/1065030

…but BE QUICK!!

We launched a campaign today to Save The Station. We Shall Overcome‘s beating heart is under threat from a certain industry body which sells itself as the musician’s friend and is anything but, and it being not only our hub, but also home to our Big Sis Pauline Town, we will defend it heart, spirit and soul to our last breath. For months now they have been making Pauline’s life a misery threatening to close yet another grassroots venue, but today we stand together and fight back. You come for one of us, you come for ALL of us.

Pauline, true to her big big heart has been carrying this burden alone channeling all funds raised at The Station into their usual task, that of feeding and housing the growing number of homeless in the town; but thanks to some incredible work by Gemma Louise of Infinity Initiatives and our very own Val Colvin, we have launched a campaign to rid The Station of this spectre and help our Big Sis turn her energies to what she does best, saving the world one life at a time.

If you want to help our campaign you can donate via paypal at:

infinity.initiatives@outlook.com

marking your donation ‘For The Station’ so it can be counted and allocated properly.

Every last penny counts so please do not feel it isn’t worth donating if you can only spare a small sum. In the spirit of We Shall Overcome, it is the gesture and the solidarity that counts here, not the headlines, what matters is what we can do TOGETHER.

We will continue our fight to help those falling victim to government policy, but for now at least, we must also defend one of our own. One of our number needs us, and we will not let her down.

One unforgettable moment captured on camera. The first time the original Gang of Five, who created We Shall Overcome, had ever been in the same place at the same time. And it had to be our spiritual home, The Station in Ashton-under-Lyne, the beating heart of our movement.

Left to right that’s me, Ste Goodall, Tony Wright, Matt Hill and Jamie Bramwell. A finer band of brothers I could not hope to have. Many rivers have been crossed and there are many more to come, but this picture will remain with me until the day I die.

We were joined soon after by Pauline Town, Pete Yen and Val Colvin making 8 of our current committee of 9 (Steve White couldn’t make it) and together with the thousands of people up and down this land and beyond we will fight to make #WSO2017 a success and continue our collective struggle against the ideological attack on our communities austerity represents.

Dark times are ahead, but days like yesterday restore your faith in humanity and light a path to a better future.

Bring it on.

After months of trying to fit it around music and work commitments I finally got to see Townsend Productions latest play ‘Dare Devil Rides To Jarama’ about the life and death of Clem Beckett.

Beckett was a speedway star and wall-of-death pioneer who helped unionize the sport to save lives and travelled Europe demonstrating the incredible bravery and skills which had him dubbed ‘Dare Devil Beckett’.

An active Communist he volunteered to fight the fascists in Spain and was killed alongside his friend, the poet Christopher Caudwell, at Suicide Hill in the Jarama Valley on 12th February 1937. The pair had held on to the last bullet covering the retreat of their comrades behind, and their actions helped save countless lives. Neil Gore’s amazing play has finally helped me keep a promise to ASLEF President Tosh McDonald who asked me to write a song about Beckett some months ago.

I would heartily recommend you catch the play before the tour ends.The remaining dates are here:

26th The Players Theatre, Thame

For more info on Clem Beckett, click here:

http://spartacus-educational.com/SPbeckett.htm

…..and to hear my new song ‘Adelante (The Ballad of Clem Beckett)’ click here:

https://joesolomusic.bandcamp.com/track/adelante-the-ballad-of-clem-beckett