Bob Fox, Jez Lowe, Julie Matthew pay homage to Radio Ballads series in live Derbyshire concert

Their new show ‘In The Footsteps of Ewan McCall’ celebrates a ground-breaking radio series. The three artists, who individually sell out venues worldwide, will be presenting their collaboration at St Peter’s Church, Belper, on May 11.

Between 1957 and 1964 the BBC broadcast eight shows under the heading Radio Ballads. The recordings were created by Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker and Peggy Seeger. Many of the songs became folk classics, including Ewan MacColl’s creations The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Dirty Old Town.

In 2006, under the musical direction of John Tams, a new series of award winning Radio Ballads were created. Bob Fox, Jez Lowe and Julie Matthews were willing contributors.

Both born and raised in County Durham, multi-instrumentalists and songwriters Bob and Jez were the driving forces behind the hugely successful The Pitmen Poets. Bob took over the role of The Songman in War Horse for three years, including the West End, South Africa, Ireland and cities in the UK.

The daughter of a Sheffield steel worker, Julie Matthews, taught herself guitar when she was nine years old, shortly followed by teaching herself piano. A long-term collaboration with Chris While and extensive stints in the Albion Band, Daphne’s Flight and St Agnes Fountain are among Julie’s credits. Her songs have been recorded by many artists.

Tickets for ‘In The Footsteps of Ewan MacColl’ cost £21; go to www.livetickets.org. For general enquiries, email: [email protected] or call 07847 478251.