Bridget St John, Tilly Moses

Bridget St. John visits the UK in September 2018 for a short tour. The tour begins with an appearance at Moseley Folk Festival, Birmingham, on September 2nd. Bridget then visits some of the UK’s intimate acoustic venues, including the John Peel Centre, Stowmarket, before concluding the tour with two shows in Ireland.

The late John Peel helped to launch Bridget’s musical career and her first three albums were released on his Dandelion label in the late 1960s. Bridget and John’s widow, Sheila Ravenscroft, have been friends since 1969.

Accompanying Bridget for the first half of the tour, including here at the John Peel Centre, will be cellist Sarah Smout. They met for the first time when they were recording with Michael Chapman and BJ Cole in Wales earlier this year.

The two women immediately became friends and discovered a mutual appreciation for each other’s music and decided they would have to play together.

Mention of the legendary Bridget St John often seems to induce a misty-eyed, faraway look; many a student room in the Sixties and Seventies would have echoed to her distinctive voice.

Bridget’s impressive voice is deep and resonant. It’s a voice made for melancholy, and you can’t argue with her musical ability, whether it is singing Dylan, a tribute to her friend John Martyn, or her own work.

An accomplished guitar player, Bridget credits John Martyn and Michael Chapman as her ‘musical brothers’.

Bridget St John was born and raised in London. After graduating from Sheffield University in 1968, Bridget made her first demo with John Martyn’s help, on a reel to reel tape deck owned by singer/songwriter, Al Stewart. Within weeks Bridget was recording her first BBC radio broadcast for John Peel’s eclectic Wednesday evening BBC programme Night Ride. John Peel took Bridget under his wing and there followed various other BBC radio and TV sessions as well as live performances.

When Peel and business partner Clive Selwood formed their own record label, Dandelion, Bridget St. John was one of the first signings.

From 1969 she recorded 3 albums for the Dandelion label, Ask Me No Questions, Songs for the Gentle Man, and Thank You For… and became a mainstay of the booming UK college and club circuit. She continued touring in the UK until she made the decision to move to New York in the summer of 1976 – settling in Greenwich Village.

Bridget played prominent Village clubs – The Bottom Line, The Bitter End and Kenny’s Castaways – as well as college and club dates in the Tri-state area. She also appeared at Carnegie Hall and at Central Park opening for Robert Klein and Dion.

Bridget continues to write and perform solo, or with Galen Ayers reinterpreting songs written by her father, Kevin Ayers, and most recently forming a band in collaboration with David Nagler, Annie Nero and Ray Rizzo.

www.bridgetstjohn.co.uk

Support from Tilly Moses

Tilly Moses is a mandolin player and singer songwriter from Suffolk, now based in York. She has been performing all over the country since the age of just 13, supporting some of the best-loved folk acts in the UK, and recently released her long awaited debut album Alight & Adrift, to incredible critical acclaim.

Tilly’s carefully crafted songs address subjects as diverse as climate change, gender inequality, apathy, love, and leaving home, and she delivers them with an extraordinarily powerful, passionate vocal style, and a colourful stage presence.

www.tillymoses.com

Tickets are £8 in advance, £10 on the door. Available online from WeGotTickets (booking fee applies), or from the John Peel Centre Box Office on 01449 774678 (open 10am to 2pm weekdays).

Licensed bar.