Britain’s foremost folk trio, The Young’uns, are dedicating their spring 2018 tour to a suite of songs inspired by the International Brigades, in particular by Johnny Longstaff, a fellow Teessider who as an 18-year-old travelled from Stockton-on-Tees to fight fascism in Spain.
The two-time winners of BBC Radio 2’s prestigious Folk Award are naming their 19-date tour ‘The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff’.
The tour opens at Leicester Guildhall on 20 March and ends at The Forum, Barrow, on 12 April. A highlight will be the home-town gig on 7 April at the ARC arts centre in Stockton.
Other dates for The Young’uns are at venues in Bath (21 March), Hastings (22 March), Maldon (23 March), Reading (24 March), Exeter (25 March), Cardiff (26 March), Birmingham (27 March), Halesworth (28 March), Wem (30 March), New Galloway (31 March), Manchester (3 April), London (5 April), Barton upon Humber (6 April), Clitheroe (8 April), Pocklington (10 April) and Carlisle (11 April).
According to the group, their new tour presents ‘a timely tale of a boy who walked out of poverty, a teenager who stood up to racism, a soldier who fought fascism and an old man who inspired a new generation’.
The Young’uns add: ‘From the shadow of the Teesside shipyards, to the banks of the Thames, from Cable Street to the Spanish Civil War, Johnny Longstaff bore witness to some of the most defining moments of the early 20th century. Before he died, he recorded his story in words which were harrowing, hilarious, poignant, proud and ultimately uplifting.’
With their trademark harmony and humour, the Teesside trio present an urgent suite of songs interwoven with Johnny’s own voice and rare images to tell an amazing story.
On the latest album from The Young’uns, ‘Strangers’, there are tracks inspired by the deeds Longstaff and another International Brigader, Bob Cooney, from Aberdeen.
For more information and bookings go to:
Posted on 28 December 2017.