May Day Festival of Solidarity is BACK. The event which is put together by Tony Peter Wright of The Hurriers and myself was set up last year as a way of bringing together voices from music, poetry and politics to celebrate International Worker’s Day and establish an annual festival in Barnsley to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and Wigan Diggers festivals we both love so much. Last year’s event was an incredible day and I remember spending the whole time in awe of the incredible talent out there and how we’d managed to pull so many of them together. This year we’ve gone one better and we’re running TWO days, the weekend of Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th of April. The venue is the same, The Old School House (formerly Polish Club), but this time round our acoustic stage has been enlarged to fill the whole bar area so no-one will miss a single note.
As you can see from the poster we have a bill to be proud of, from our incredible headline acts The Men They Couldn’t Hang and Steve Mason, through a supporting cast consisting of legends like Blyth Power, Robb Johnson, Interrobang, Naomi Bedford and Thee Faction, through soon-to-be legends like Efa Supertramp and Lilith Ai….this is two days you do not want to miss.
We have full weekend tickets available, or single day tickets if you’d rather; but we want you to stay the whole time and soak up the spirit of community and solidarity, listen to the music and the poems, cheer the speeches, and recharge those batteries for the times ahead.
Jack Atkinson, whose story is the backdrop to my song ‘No Pasaran!’, was killed at Jarama exactly 80 years ago today. He’d travelled to Spain to fight fascism, and gave his life to the cause. Tonight I want to tell his story and a little of how we came to be such firm friends.
John Joseph Atkinson was born in Hull in April 1911.
In 2009 and again in 2011 I wrote and recorded two albums under the header ‘Music From Potter’s Field’. I planned this as a series of five. The first had been set in the trenches of the First World War, the second in the aftermath. I had planned the third to be set in the Spanish Civil War, but fictional characters weren’t enough and despite the fact I had some songs written, they weren’t getting to the heart of the story.
Then my old mate Andy Wilson suggested I approach our mutual friend Giles Stevens as his Great, Great Uncle had died out there, and he might have a story or two passed through the family. I got in touch, and Giles kindly wrote me a letter telling Jack’s story and loaned me a book by Tommy James- another volunteer- who referred to him in a couple of passages. By the time I put the letter and book down I had half an album written in my head.
Giles wrote:
“Here is the book and what little info I know about Uncle Jack. He was an only child (a rare thing in Romani Gypsy families). His father was killed fighting in the First World War. When Jack was fourteen he was in Sydney, Australia fighting with armed police in the eviction wars. We don’t know how he got to Oz, only that he liked to scrap against coppers. After he fought the law he stowed away on a ship bound for Scotland, made the trip no bother and returned home. He worked as a lorry driver in Hull.”
Already you can’t help but like him. Giles went on:
“He was 6’4”, same as me (my Nana and my Uncle Tom both said he looked dead like me and was quiet like I am). He was a well-liked fella on the estate, all the kids liked him, but when he went in his local pub everyone would wonder if his mood was good or bad, as it is said he could swing cast-iron bar stools one in each hand. No power-steering on them old lorries you see.
When he went to Spain he told Granny (his Mam, locals and family called her Granny) that he was off to drive lorries and not to fight. I don’t think anyone believed him. Just before he left Mosley and his wankers came to Park Street (Corporation Fields) which is now St. Stephen’s Shopping Centre. They got a worse hiding than at Cable Street. My family reckon Jack was at the scrap, and it is certain he would have been cos if you can be arsed to go all the way to Australia to bray ’em you are sure to cross Anlaby Road after your tea to do it.”
Totally agree.
“Granny baked a cake for Jack while he was on the way to Spain. When she found he had been killed she put it in the pantry in a tin, where it stayed until Granny died.
This is all we know really, mate. He was a very wild man, but a very good one.”
I type these words with a tinge of sadness as Giles sadly passed away before I’d finished the album, though I know he heard all but the final track ‘My Comrade and My Friend’ which I wrote in his memory. I know he’d have loved Rebekah Findlay’s fiddle on those songs, and wherever he is now, out there with Jack, I know the fascists are having a hard time of it.
Jack travelled through England by train. Five men shared a carriage, each with the same destination- Jack; Tommy James; a man called Arnold, from Leeds; and two others whose names remain a mystery. He left Newhaven for Dieppe on 6th February 1937. We know this because the security services clocked him but made no effort to detain him. From there to Paris and from Paris to the border and into Spain.
They went straight into the front line at the Battle of Jarama as the fascists threatened to take Madrid. He was killed as the British Battalion launched an attack on the Madrid-Valencia road. Tommy James writes:
“He fell before he had run many yards; a bullet through the eyes killed him instantly. When I saw Jack fall, I ran to him, lifted his head, and saw that he was dead.”
Would Jack have stayed crouched in his trench had he known what fate lay before him?
Not a hope in hell.
A comrade wrote back from the front that Jack was:
“…..eager to get at them.”
and it was noted that:
“He died for a cause he held dearer than life.”
I tried to write all of this into those songs, to make sure that when I sang:
“My name is Jack Atkinson, I’m not afraid.”
That it was his voice you were hearing. I hope I got it right.
‘No Pasaran!’ has gone on to become my most recognised song. It is certainly my most requested and will probably go on to become my most enduring. I owe that to Giles Stevens for taking the time to pass on the family story he was justifiably proud of, and to Jack Atkinson, an anti-fascist hero who would climb over a parapet and walk into a storm of machine gun bullets for what he believed in.
If anyone ever wonders why I sing it the way I do, then that is why.
Cracking weekend of gigs finally giving 2017 the kick-start it needed after a month or so of downtime writing and recording.
Thursday night I was proud to play a part in the Rainbow Centre/SNUG Benefit at L’Amour in Scarborough put together by the brilliant Mark Gordon. Massive donations of food and warm clothing, plus well over £2000 in cash will certainly go a long way to helping the homeless and incoming refugees much in need of a warm welcome to our town. Great work by all involved and a massive turn-out.
Then on Friday I hauled over the Pennines to the fantastic Kings Arms in Salford to help launch Trade Union Pale Ale with Boss Caine and Conor Molloy. Another packed house and the pub was literally drunk dry before the singing started….and boy, was there singing! An amazing response from the crowd on what is already sure to be one of my favourite nights when I look back on 2017.
Plenty of highlights, but sharing a stage with Dan Lucas aka Boss Caine, especially after one of our Road Trips, is always very special and to sing ‘Halo’ with him is a magical thing indeed.
Great to see comrades from up and down the country turning out to give the beer its northern launch, and especially great to see Big Sis Pauline Town allowing herself a couple of hours off saving the world one life at a time so I can serenade her with her anthem.
From Salford it was The Red Shed in Wakefield with Bard Company and Simon Widdop. Another top night, and another great turn-out….plus bags and bags of stuff for the homeless as part of my ongoing #SocksAppeal so a MASSIVE thank you to everyone helping with that, especially to my Mum, Mama Solo, who has taken to knitting gloves and hats and socks for Pauline and whose first pair were handed to a young lad called Scotty rough sleeping in Ashton-under-Lyne, who couldn’t believe someone would care enough to go to all that effort. Scotty, you are more than welcome, and when you’re back on your feet I hope you always remember there are plenty who aren’t and hold out a helping hand yourself.
Right. Next stop Coastival, then Dewsbury and then into March….
WOOL SHALL OVERCOME is an incredible new initiative started by Lindsay Rutland and spreading fast. It is precisely the kind of thing we hoped would arise from our work with We Shall Overcome, people bringing what skills they have to the table and turning them into something revolutionary, imaginative and genuinely incredible.
I’ll let Lindsay spell it out:
“So, Wool Shall Overcome™ is now really a thing!
We have no logo as yet – yes that is a hint – and only one knitter (me), but we hope to follow in the footsteps of our much bigger and louder sibling, We Shall Overcome and…er…grow a bit.
What we do need are knitters.
And crocheters.
And buyers.
We know there are a lot of you out there who are already knitting and crocheting scarves, hats, gloves and socks for people who need them – mainly homeless people. And a lot of these woolly items of loveliness are being distributed by Pauline Town. We want you to carry on doing this as it is already making a huge difference. Most of the stuff we make to give away is made from leftover yarn, and therefore costs us nothing but our time to make. Some of us buy yarn to make the stuff we give away, just because we can and it is a nice way to donate. Not all of us can afford to do that indefinitely, but we need to feed our woolly crafting habits somehow.
But here’s where we are veering off slightly.
Sometimes a warm woolly isn’t quite enough; sometimes some cold hard cash is needed, and this is where we are going to step in to to help Pauline keep helping the people who need it badly.
The sheer talent amongst our woolly crafters (from here they will be known as WSOCs) is quite astounding, so we would like the WSO family to be given the opportunity to purchase unique, lovingly crafted woolly stuff of their very own.
We aim to sell items that have been made on spec as well as commissioned items.
So…if you would like to commission a hat, scarf or pair of gloves (or maybe socks if we get anyone talented enough to be able to make them, all you need to do is post a photo of what you would like here. Our WSOCs will then respond with a price and a timeframe (please do bear in mind that we can’t breach copyright, so some logos or designs might not be possible). The price offered will most likely include the cost of the yarn as well as the donation – we aim to make the donation part £5 or £10, depending on the time each item will take to make. If you are happy with the price – and any alterations to the design that might have to be made, then the WSOC will get to work. Once your item is finished, send the money to the woolly WSOCs and they will send you the goods and the donation to Pauline.
Postal costs may be a problem as we go forward, so we may ask our friends and families to help us with that – a lot of supporters travel regularly, and we might be able to put together some sort of door-to-door relay type thing, if anyone can suggest a good way of managing this?”
If anyone can help, or would like to get involved, then please contact Lindsay and the team on the Facebook page:
Great support so far for ‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’, and it matters. The world is a dark place right now and even voices normally calling for positivity are being drawn into internal fighting and squabbling. Hopefully this album lights a candle for some and helps us find a path forward. That was its intention.
The first review came from the brilliant Bob Oram at The Morning Star:
“If you value intelligent, thoughtful and political songs sung with honest and raw passion and genuine emotion, then this is an absolute gem.”
That’ll do for me! Read the full review online at:
Also amazing support from radio stations up and down the land. I have for many years valued independent and internet radio as a means of getting the word out and once again I’ve had great support for the album from the bedroom broadcasters and smaller stations out there giving artists some airtime and supporting local and independent music. Also had some great support from both Mike Harding on his weekly Folk Show (‘Judgement Day’ a couple of weeks back, ‘Care Out Loud’ tonight!); and Tom Robinson on BBC 6Music who has played the title track twice in a week as part of both his Mixtape Show and his regular Saturday night programme. There are i-player versions of both on these links:
Great to have the support of such radio legends as Mssrs Harding and Robinson, but equally great to receive messages from ANYONE out there giving these songs some airtime and helping spread their message around the world.
Sadly, too many of us have given up on it. We’ve allowed it to be slowly eroded by decade after decade of the Politics of Despair where nothing can ever get any better because this is the only possible path to follow, and change only ever makes things worse.
For too long our outpourings have been wholly negative ones. We see a problem and make no attempt to solve it, we just latch on to the nearest scapegoat and take our frustrations out on them because this is the way we have long been encouraged to behave. It is cathartic, it is easy, and it keeps us EXACTLY where we are.
In this way we have become aggressive defenders of the status quo. We don’t want change. We SAY we do, but all we REALLY want is for the status quo to give us a passing nod from time to time all the while cowering from the idea that change can influence the path ahead in any positive way, because we no longer believe in our heart of hearts that it ever can. We do all we can to reject change while still demanding it of our masters. We join in with the catcalls of the Establishment when anyone comes along suggesting the possibility of a different path, because we have been taught all our lives that there is only one, and we are on it.
We have become conditioned to acceptance and despair. We have become institutionalized by the three-headed beast of injure, deflect and blame. This is the way neo-liberalism plays out on our streets.
But to give up on hope is to give up on the future; and not just our own future, but that of our children and our children’s children. To give up on hope is to commit the ultimate act of selfishness.
Don’t lose faith.
Don’t give up on hope.
We CAN change things for the better. This is NOT the only possible path forward from here.
This year I am shifting up a gear. I am sick of petty nationalism and poverty-hatred being the loudest voice on the planet. We are better than this and now is the time to prove it.
Throughout 2017 and beyond if needs be, ALL Joe Solo gigs will be We Shall Overcome gigs in one form or another. My #SocksAppeal will continue until the warmer weather arrives so please continue to turn up with socks and gloves and hats and scarves as I will make sure these are keeping homeless people warm somewhere within days. I will also do my best to hook up with local causes for food or cash collections at gigs and where this is not possible I will donate anything collected to the point of greater need, either here in Scarborough or wherever people are crying out for help.
My downloads will continue to feed and clothe and house people this year with all Bandcamp money going to Pauline Town and all Amazon/itunes money going to the new Hatfield Brigade Hardship Fund.
We have to start looking at gigs as something more than a showcase for CDs and a night out. People do not gather in communities like they used to, yet a gig is just that, a communal gathering of good people who by and large would not cross the road if they saw someone in trouble. We Shall Overcome has shown us the good will and compassion there is out there, and we have to expand that now to counter this horrific media narrative that we are a selfish nation of haters. We are not, and we never will be.
So please, help if you can and speak out, OR if you need help speak UP. We are not the failures, we are being failed.
We CAN do this. Our own individual efforts are no longer meaningless when added to thousands of others doing the same. So, much as one voice of hatred in the media can influence many, the opposite is true, our individual voices added up become a chorus for change. Make yours count.
As we wave goodbye to 2016 there are many who will be glad to see its back. It has been a tough year politically, and we have lost several iconic names from music and the arts, many far too young and their passing takes a part of us too; but life, just as the times we live in, moves on and so must we, into new struggles as we do battle for the future.
I remember thinking 2015 had been such an incredible year it couldn’t possibly be topped. I spoke to a handful of people telling them I thought the new year would be quiet musically because who could possibly want to hear me again after all the miles I did…..how wrong I was.
I find, as I try to summarise the last 12 months, that I’m struggling to work out how it actually all fitted in! I know it did….I mean, I was there…..but when you add a full-time job, a wife and two teenage sons into the equation, it starts to look like I’m making it up! I assure you though, I’m not.
January started gently enough, its highlight being an incredible night with the young people of Hartlepool Holocaust Memorial Group as they put on an evening of speeches and presentations capped off with a performance from Sara Dennis, Gary Miller, Brian Barnes and myself together with the choir, of ‘Through The Wire’, a song we’d co-written and recorded especially for them. They demonstrated wisdom way beyond their years and could teach many people a thing or two about tolerance and understanding as they compared the Jews fleeing Nazi Germany to the plight of refugees seeking shelter in a Europe all too ready to shut its doors and guard its borders. Thought-provoking and inspirational. You can hear the song here:
February began with some filming at Corporation Club in Scarborough, as Michael Lee Toas travelled down from Durham to make a short documentary film called ‘Man Of The Left’, part of an ongoing project on community activism in the north east and soon to be a full-length documentary. You can see that here:
The following night was unforgettable, as Rebekah Findlay joined me to officially launch my album on the 1984-85 Miner’s Strike, ‘NEVER BE DEFEATED’, just yards away from where many of its set-pieces took place, and singing it to the lads and lasses whose stories it tells. To say it was emotional doesn’t begin to cover it. Great to see so many people who’d travelled some fair old distances to pack the place out (“Hasn’t been this full since Thatcher died.”) and a fitting send-off for a record I am tremendously proud of.
After that, the year went and got itself a bit amazing. I burned through gigs in Dewsbury and Bradford, With Banners Held High in Wakefield, a BFAWU event in Scarborough (where I met Jeremy Corbyn for the first of three times in 9 months….), Bury (where Andy Kershaw was among the punters), a lovely day over at The Station in Ashton-under-Lyne giving Big Sis Pauline Town a hug, and a People’s Assembly fundraiser in Doncaster for ASLEF President Tosh McDonald, then Bacup Folk Club, Belper and Hull. So far, so knackering, but 2016 hadn’t even got out of first gear.
Looking back I think it REALLY started on 25th April at 100 Club in London, my first trip to our nation’s capital in 18 years. I was delighted to have been asked by The Morning Star to play their 50th Anniversary birthday party, and duly obliged on a stellar bill featuring Thee Faction, The Hurriers, Grace Petrie, Attila the Stockbroker and Comrade X. An unforgettable night of incredible music and friendship and handshakes from people I’d never met but who had latched on to my music over the last year or two, or who had been a part of We Shall Overcome and wanted to introduce themselves. Genuinely moving night, and it made me feel a part of something very special indeed.
From there it was 0161 Festival in Manchester, always a great night, and on to May Day Festival of Solidarity a new event to celebrate International Worker’s Day, the brainchild of Tony Peter Wright, and put together by us both over the first months of the year. That was an unbelievable day of music and poetry and speeches as set after set the artists delivered and you couldn’t miss a moment. I think I just spent the entire day with a faraway look in my eye and a strange smile on my face. It was like dying and going to heaven, and I’ll never forget it as long as I live.
From there it was back up to Hartlepool; then the launch of Brigadista Ale at The King’s Arms in Salford; a set at the UCATT conference in Scarborough; the Labour Rooms in Rochdale; The Adelphi in Hull with TV Smith; then Leeds, Apollo Festival in York….
The only heartbreak was my eldest son being taken seriously ill following a collapse and being rushed to hospital, which caused us an awful lot of worry and forced me to cancel my first appearance at Glastonwick Festival at the 11th hour. After four days of tests Little Solo Snr was released and appears to be fine, though we are waiting on a specialist. Big thanks to the NHS for taking such good care of him, and to Attila the Stockbroker for being so kind when I was letting him down badly so late in the day.
Thankfully, from there it was the stuff of dreams.
I marched with the Hatfield Brigade at Durham Miner’s Gala before playing a post-gala gig to an amazing crowd thanks to the hard work of good folk who run The People’s Bookshop; and the following weekend I had an absolute BLAST at Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival where I met Tom Robinson and Maxine Peake as well as hollering on two stages and being accompanied on ‘We Will Be Free’ by Steve White and the Protest Family before joining Steve and the band, Robb Johnson, Paddy Nash and Diane Greer on stage to close the night with ‘Which Side Are You On?’ Loved every last second, and slept on the backseat of my car staring up at the stars with a great big grin on my face.
If I thought July was done with amazingness I was wrong. On the 23rd I sang the ‘NO PASARAN!’ album with Rebekah at the Laurel and Hardy Museum in Ulverston as part of the 80th Anniversary commemorations for the Spanish Civil War. A wonderful night capped with the news that Tom Robinson had played ‘Summer Fields & Riot Shields’ on BBC 6Music, my first play on the station. And I thought I couldn’t smile any wider!
Then on the 30th, one of the year’s defining images in my head, was created in Hull. I’d been asked by Joe Francis to sing at the Corbyn Rally next to Queen’s Gardens and, mischief getting the better of me, I asked the 3500 people present to raise their fists in memory of the International Brigade volunteers from the city. I took photos on my phone which were quickly doctored and the internet did the rest. Unforgettable scenes, and the chorus of ‘NO PASARAN’ ringing out from all those voices crackled with electricity. You had to be there. If you were, then thank you. I could have probably died happy right there on that stage.
From there is was Filey, Tottington, Ashton again, Cleethorpes; a wonderful day at Wigan Diggers Festival, where I met Ken Loach and Jimmy McGovern; Howden, Scarborough….the miles were clocking up.
So were the memories.
I played Hope Not Hate’s #MoreInCommon event in Manchester remembering the legacy of Jo Cox MP so tragically murdered by a fascist during the hateful EU Referendum campaign in June. I opened for Billy Bragg. I’d never met Billy before, but he was an inspiration from back in my youth so it was incredible to share a bill with him and even more so when he needed a loan of a guitar and borrowed mine.
There followed yet more magic. The #KeepCorbyn event at Cast Theatre in Doncaster; a performance of ‘NEVER BE DEFEATED’ at Glossop Labour Rooms; ‘NO PASARAN!’ in St Mary’s Church in Hull. Each unforgettable in their own ways, yet each so different.
I sang at a rally for UK Miners Pension Scheme for Justice and Fair Play Association in Liverpool on Tuesday September 27th helping spread the word about the systematic theft of millions by governments of all denominations.
BBC 6Music played my song ‘English Dreamer, American Dream’ after it was chosen by TV Smith as being one of his favourites during an interview with Tom Robinson, which meant one of my musical heroes choosing a song to be played by another of my musical heroes on national radio. If Cloud Nine had stairs, I was climbing them.
Then it was time for We Shall Overcome.
Since right back in January we had slowly being piecing together our second year of anti-austerity/pro-community events up and down the land and beyond; just as last year each was raising much needed help for those at the sharp end of austerity and struggling to make ends meet in #FoodBankBritain; and just as last year the response from people was just incredible. The ideas, the energy, the dedication, the mischief were inspiration itself. We ended up with 265 events in 115 towns and cities raising an estimated £110,000 worth of food, cash, clothing and bedding an everyone who was there and a part of what was a monumental week between October 3rd and 9th has my utmost respect and admiration for caring enough to lend a hand. Our committee this year was made up of Ste Goodall, Matt Hill, Jamie Bramwell, Val Colvin, Steve White, Pete Yen, Tony Peter Wright, the unstoppable Pauline Town and myself; and without a single one of them WSO wouldn’t happen; yet the hundreds of organisers running events under their own steam just to help their communities and to be a part of a movement for change are heroes all. I played Billingham, Hartlepool, Hebden Bridge, Barnsley, Stainforth and Liverpool in four days adding Scunthorpe, Middlebrough and Leeds over the coming weeks. It was really something.
Next year we’ll be back again, and the year after, and the year after that, until there is no longer a need for us. Sadly, there is little chance of that changing any time soon.
#WSO2017 is in planning.
From there I was proud and privileged to put on a presentation on political songwriting and activism through music for the RMT at the Bob Crow Education Centre in Doncaster. The union later donated £500 to WSO and saved lives in the run-up to Christmas through their generosity and solidarity. I had amazing support this year from the unions, with RMT, ASLEF, BFAWU and UCATT supporting me directly and plenty more helping sponsor events all over the country…..JOIN A UNION!!
And from there, if anything, the year went and got itself even more frantic. Having been unable to collect them because of WSO gig commitments I was presented with awards for ‘Outstanding Songwriting’ (for ‘NEVER BE DEFEATED’) and ‘Outstanding Contribution 2016’ (I was runner-up) by Joe Grint of Yorkshire Gig Guide Grassroots Music before going on stage for a storming set at the brilliant Musicport Festival in Whitby.
I burned through Scunthorpe with the amazing David Rovics (with Lorna McKinnon on harmony vocal…outstanding!) then Fulford Arms in York before arriving back in Stainforth for a day which shaped the remaining weeks of the year.
I’d been asked to write a Christmas song to help miners pay back a Debt of Honour they felt was owed the thousands who had fed them during the darkest days of the Strike in 84. I duly obliged and on Sunday October 30th we gathered at Central Club to record The Hatfield Brigade, a choir made up of former miners and their families. The song was released on November 28th and raised money for a new Hardship Fund to help those struggling to make ends meet in the South Yorkshire pit villages.
It was a magical few weeks in which we performed both ‘Merry Christmas From Hatfield Main’ and ‘No Pasaran!’ together twice, in Wakefield and Doncaster, the first as part of the #JC4PM Stand Up For Labour tour….
And the second as the ASLEF Annual Dinner where we were joined onstage by none other than Jeremy Corbyn himself….
In the meantime I’d burned through Cambridge, Scunthorpe and Sheffield again en route to a well-earned rest….or so I thought. I’d been running #SocksAppeal at all my gigs since the winter fell, and audiences were encouraged to bring gloves, hats, scarves and, yes, socks along which would be donated to those sleeping rough on our streets in the worst of conditions. The response, just like with WSO, was incredible and I have boxes and boxes and boxes flying out to Pauline’s teams in Ashton. So THANKS EVERYONE!
Let’s face it, that rest isn’t going to happen. Behind the scenes I’d been writing and recording a new album for 2017. ‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’ is 18 songs and poems for the times we live in, and I cannot WAIT to get back out there and play them. Plus the fact I’ve already started writing the next one.
Hehe.
So there we have it. That was the “quiet year” I’d anticipated back in January.
There is absolutely no chance 2017 could match that.
No chance at all.
Is there?
To everyone who cheered and sang and applauded; to everyone who shook and rattled and hollered; to everyone who booked and promoted; to everyone who ran lights and sound; who did artwork and posters; who took photos and film; to everyone who kept venues running against the odds; to everyone who had faith enough to run those festivals when they knew it was a gamble; to everyone who kept the faith in our politics and didn’t run and hide; to everyone who walked it like they talked it; to everyone who bought CDs; to everyone who downloaded; to everyone who watched the videos; who shared the links; who retweeted; who commented; who messaged when they knew I was down; who drove miles in the cold and rain to be there; who stood at our side during We Shall Overcome; who wrote articles and reviews; who donated food and cash and clothing and bedding and furniture; who offered lifts; who held out their hand; who hugged; who rebuilt; who slept in the cold for Pauline; who was there and wore the t-shirt; who couldn’t make it and STILL wore it; who cared enough to ask for help and then smashed it out of the ground.
ALL of you made magic happen this year; and because of you that magic will go on.
‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’ is my brand new album released 6th January 2017 on CD and download. It follows hot on the trail of the award-winning ‘NEVER BE DEFEATED’ and is a record I am very proud of.
It’s hard to write these press release-type blogs, which just end up sounding pretentious and forced, so I’ll spare you the self-importance and hyperbole. If you want it, buy it. It’s on this link:
What I can tell you is that my heart and soul went into this record and it contains all my hope and all my despair; all my determination to make the world a better place; and all my anger at those who stand in the way. It was written to lift spirits because I refuse to believe we can’t win the day.
‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’ is 18 songs and poems about where I am, where the country is, where it could be, and how we can ALL make it better.
‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’, my brand new album, has landed. I have…or rather I had….1048 copies here on CD ready to take out on the road in 2017 and they are available to pre-order on Bandcamp as of NOW. I mentioned this on Facebook last night and sold 50 copies before I went to bed which is unprecedented here at Solo Towers, so the early signs are very good indeed.
There’s nearly an hour of music and poetry making up this album and I hope you’ll find something on there to love.
The world seems to me to be at some kind of crossroads. There is much to be afraid of going into 2017 with an incompetent yet ever-vicious government steering the course; a rising tide of right wing hatred fuelled by a vindictive media narrative; the terms of Brexit being negotiated by the forces of self-interest and, of course, Trump; yet there is much to be hopeful for and I believe that compassion has never been closer to becoming a major force in political decision-making despite the world being seemingly set against it.
All of this hope and doubt and anger and love is woven into every stitch of ‘THE FUTURE NEEDS US NOW’.
and all orders will ship ready to land on or before the scheduled release date of 6th January 2017.
The download version will be available from that date, with all money raised going to help Pauline Town‘s network in Ashton-under-Lyne, fighting the effects of austerity at street level.
As ever, your support is greatly appreciated.
More info on the album and songs will follow in January, but suffice to say I am desperate to get this record out into the world.
Joe Solo 