Jez Lowe and Jake Walton

‘Some of the greatest contemporary English folk songs since early Richard Thompson are coming from the pen of Jez Lowe’ Jez Lowe, best known for his songs describing the mining culture, society and people of his native Northeast England, is a busy performer in high demand, with annual tours to the United States and Canada and frequent tours to Australia and New Zealand. Aside from his regular busy tour schedule Jez was recently commissioned to write over 20 new songs for the BBC Radio 2 ‘Radio Ballads’ series, that airs in the UK in March 2006. Born to a coal mining family with Irish roots, Jez was raised in an area close to the English/Scottish border where coal mining was the dominant occupation, and the stories and characters of the region have shaped his work for many years. He served for a time Durham's Composer in Residence and has often been commissioned to write songs that chronicle important events in the locale. These have included the closing of the coal mines; the last Big Meeting Day (a gala fair in the mining community); the beginning of the new millennium; and most recently the reclaiming of coastal land from pollution & mining residue. He is a remarkable song-smith using wit, warmth, sensitivity, and keen perception, to paint colourful portraits of ordinary people with ordinary lives whom may be specific to Northeast England, but through Jez's eyes and verse become universal characters. His songs have been covered by The Fairport Convention, The Tanahill Weavers, The Black Family, The Dubliners, Gordon Bok, Cherish the Ladies, Bob Fox and a host of other acts in America, Canada, Australia and the UK. He has recently released ‘Doolally’, his 14th full length album which follows the success of his 2002 release ‘Honesty Box’ heralded as ‘one of the top ten albums of 2002’, BBC Radio 2 Folk show Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.