Steve Tilston & Jez Lowe in Hebden Bridge

Steve Tilston is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Liverpool in 1950. His debut album, An Acoustic Confusion, appeared in 1971, beginning a catalogue rooted in traditional folk and his own narrative songs. His best-known compositions include “Slip Jigs and Reels,” “Here’s to Tom Paine” and “The Reckoning.” Steve Tilston has performed on the British folk circuit since the early 1970s, usually singing with acoustic guitar. In the late 1980s he performed with John Renbourn’s group Ship of Fools, whose members also included Maggie Boyle and Tony Roberts. He subsequently returned to solo concerts and has presented his songs in a band setting with the Steve Tilston Trio.

Jez Lowe is an English folk singer-songwriter from Easington in County Durham, born in 1955. His writing draws closely on North East England, particularly mining communities and working life; songs including “Back in Durham Gaol,” “The Bergen” and “These Coal Town Days” became staples of the British folk repertoire. Jez Lowe has toured extensively as a solo performer and with his band The Bad Pennies, appearing in folk clubs, theatres and festivals in Britain and abroad. He later joined Billy Mitchell, Bob Fox and Benny Graham for The Pitmen Poets, a touring concert built around the songs, stories and humour of the North East coalfield.