Stephen William Bragg is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is heavily centred on bringing about change and involving the younger generation in activist causes.
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish vocalist and recording artist, best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He was also a member of the Nipple Erectors and Shane MacGowan and the Popes, as well as producing his own solo material and working on collaborations with artists such as Kirsty MacColl, Joe Strummer, Nick Cave, Steve Earle, Sinéad O'Connor, and Ronnie Drew.
Eliza Carthy, MBE is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2.
Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true 'indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era". It released some of the earliest records recorded by Motörhead, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Kirsty MacColl, and Shane MacGowan.
Live Heroes is a compilation album recorded by Nico with the Blue Orchids partially at the København Saltlagertet, Rotterdam, Netherlands, on October 5, 1982. The two tracks "Procession" and "All Tomorrow's Parties" come from a studio session recorded with the Invisible Girls and Martin Hannett.
B-Sides & Rarities is a 3CD compilation by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in March 2005. It features over 20 years of the band's B-sides and previously unreleased tracks, including tracks performed with Shane MacGowan and acoustic versions of "Deanna" and "The Mercy Seat". It is also the first recording to include all members of The Bad Seeds, past and present: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Thomas Wydler, Martyn P. Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, Barry Adamson, Kid Congo Powers, James Johnston, Roland Wolf and Hugo Race.
Kate St John is a composer, arranger, producer and instrumentalist. She was born in London in 1957 and was classically trained on oboe. She gained a music degree at City University London. Her first band was The Ravishing Beauties with Virginia Astley and Nicky Holland. The trio joined The Teardrop Explodes in Liverpool during the winter of 1981 for a series of dates at a small clubs and a UK tour in early 1982. During the 1980s and early 1990s she was a member of The Dream Academy with Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel. In 1985 they had a worldwide hit with "Life In A Northern Town" and produced three albums: The Dream Academy (1985), Remembrance Days (1987) and A Different Kind Of Weather (1990). In the 1990s St. John was a member of Van Morrison's live band playing oboe and saxophone. She played on 5 Van Morrison albums. In 1994 she co-wrote and sang on 4 tracks with Roger Eno on the album The Familiar on the All Saints Label. This led to the formation of Channel Light Vessel, a band with Kate, Roger Eno, Bill Nelson, Laraaji and Mayumi Tachibana. St John has released two solo albums: Indescribable Night (1995) and Second Sight (1997).
Peace and Love is the fourth studio album by The Pogues, released in July 1989.
The Men They Couldn't Hang (TMTCH) are a British folk punk group. The original group consisted of Stefan Cush, Paul Simmonds, Philip "Swill" Odgers, Jon Odgers and Shanne Bradley.
"Sunday Morning" is a song by the Velvet Underground. It is the opening track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It was also released as a single in 1966.
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, The Velvet Underground & Nico.
The Best of the Pogues is a greatest hits album by The Pogues, released in September 1991. The album was dedicated to the memory of Deborah Korner.
Roesy, from Birr, County Offaly, is an Irish singer-songwriter. His debut album "Sketch the Day, Paint the Night" (2001) was followed by "The Spirit Store" in 2003 and "Only Love is Real" in 2004. These albums were released on his Birr-based label Blue Cloak Records.
Poguetry in Motion is an EP by The Pogues, released on Stiff Records in the UK on 24 February 1986, and in North America on MCA Records. It was the band's first single to make the UK Top 40, peaking at number 29 and the first Pogues recording to feature Philip Chevron and Terry Woods.
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in 1964 in New York City by singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. The band was initially active between 1965 and 1973, and was briefly managed by the pop artist Andy Warhol, serving as the house band at the Factory and Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable events from 1966 to 1967. Their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, was released in 1967 to critical indifference and poor sales but has become critically acclaimed; in 2003, Rolling Stone called it the "most prophetic rock album ever made."
Home at Last combines No More Night (1985) and Favorite Hymns (1989). As No More Night was not released on CD at the time, this compilation album is the only available CD release of that album.
Folk Dranouter is a yearly folk festival spanning four days at the beginning of August in the Belgian village Dranouter. Since 2005, a second, smaller festival, Dranouter aan zee is organised in De Panne on the beach near the end of April.
Kirsty Anna MacColl was a British singer and songwriter. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" and cover versions of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and The Kinks' "Days". Her song "They Don't Know" was covered with great success by Tracey Ullman. MacColl also sang on recordings produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite, most notably "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues.
Shrewsbury Folk Festival is an annual festival of folk and world music and traditional dance held in the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.
