John Smith

Jon Boden has become the stand-out performer of his generation of traditional folk artists, but one whose repertoire extends far beyond the boundaries of the genre. Most recognisably, he is the lead singer (and one of the principal arrangers) of the multi-award-winning Bellowhead, one of the most exciting live acts of the last twenty years in any genre. Bellowhead have achieved a level of critical and commercial success unmatched by any other band working in English traditional folk music with sell out performances at the Royal Albert Hall and regular plays on mainstream radio. Since 2009, he has also performed regularly with his own band, The Remnant Kings, focusing on Jon's own songs from a trilogy of post climate change concept albums, Songs From The Floodplain (2009), Afterglow (2017) and Last Mile Home (2021). Alongside this original material the Remnant Kings have also recorded two albums of older folk material including the epic traditional ballad Rose In June (on Rose in June 2019) and a selection of mostly nineteenth-century songs, reimagined for the twenty-first century, on Parlour Ballads (2022). In addition, within the traditional folk scene, he has continued to perform in his foundational duo with fellow Bellowhead member John Spiers for over a decade. In 2021 Spiers & Boden resumed touring and launched a new album of traditional English songs and tunes titled Fallow Ground.Throughout a long career Jon has embraced a huge variety of projects, including popping up as the singing busker in the Richard Curtis film About Time (2013). Jon's recording of the song, "How Long Will I Love You", from the soundtrack of the film has been streamed over 32 million times. Back in 2010 Jon embarked on an ambitious project to record 365 folk songs to be released one-a-day for a year. The resulting A Folk Song A Day project was hugely successful and influential, and has contributed to a resurgence in social folk singing. Jon's 2027 solo tour coincides with the publication of the book version of A Folk Song A Day by Faber Music, another huge undertaking which builds on the 2010 project, with 365 songs personally transcribed and introduced by Jon.