| Jez Lowe | |
|---|---|
| Born | Easington Colliery, 1955 |
| Occupations | folk singer and songwriter |
| Years active | ca. 1979- |
| Associated acts | The Bad Pennies; Jake Walton |
| Website | http://www.jezlowe.com/ |
Jez Lowe (born 1955) is an English folk singer-songwriter. Lowe was born and raised in County Durham, in a coal mining family with Irish roots. He is known primarily for his compositions dealing with daily life in North-East England, particularly in his hometown of Easington Colliery. He performs both as a solo artist and with his backing band, The Bad Pennies. In addition to singing his songs, Lowe accompanies himself and The Bad Pennies on guitar, harmonica, cittern, and piano.
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He grew up witnessing the decline of the coal-mining industry that had defined the region's economic profile for generations. A great many of Lowe's compositions address the economic distress that the North Country has suffered as a result of this industrial decline, and the social repercussions thereof. "Galloways," "Nearer to Nettles," and "These Coal Town Days" are among the songs that directly address economic conditions. In the much larger category of social impact songs, well known Lowe compositions are "Big Meeting Day," "Greek Lightning," and "Last of the Widows." (His song, "Last of the Widows", was written in 1991 to mark the fortieth anniversary of the pit disaster at Easington Colliery.) Numerous other songs by Lowe deal with the general issues of poverty and limited social opportunity in the region. This may give the impression that Lowe is a deadly serious singer-songwriter and he is, but the seriousness is leavened by an ever-present sense of humour.
In 2006 Lowe contributed to the BBC Radio 2 'Radio Ballads' documentary series broadcast on Radio 2 as a homage to the original series of the same title pioneered by Ewan MacColl and Charles Parker in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Jez Lowe was commissioned to write 22 new songs for the documentary-folk series, which were not all performed by Lowe but featured guest vocals from the likes of Barry Coope, Bob Fox and many more. The series went on to win two Sony Radio Academy Awards.
In 2008 Lowe was nominated as 'Folksinger of the Year'in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, but ultimately lost the category to young Scottish singer and instrumentalist Julie Fowlis.
Most recently in March 2009 Lowe was invited to collaborate with seven other songwriters on the prestigious 'Darwin Song Project' co-ordinated by Shrewsbury Folk Festival in celebration of local connections to Darwin's birthplace in the bi-centennial year of his birth. The songwriting project has been the subject of a featured documentary programme on BBC Radio 4 and Mike Harding hosted folk programme on BBC Radio 2.
(N.B. This list is not yet comprehensive. Dates given are for original releases.)
As Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies
As Jez Lowe
Collaborative albums
DVDs