On Friday the 13th April 2012, Frank Turner took to the stage at Wembley’s vast Arena venue for the largest headline show of his life supported by Billy Bragg.
It’s a far cry from his tentative beginnings five years ago when, after the demise of previous band Million Dead, Frank took to the road as a fledgling solo artist armed only with an acoustic guitar. With a DIY work ethic, and a passion for plying his trade with integrity and honesty Frank toured up and down the country playing backs of pubs, people’s front rooms and anywhere else that would have him. With a handful of catchy folk/country/punk songs and enough charm and charisma to win over any crowd, he amassed more and more fans and a fevered cult following soon formed.
He started 2011 with two NME Award nominations, and a run of special intimate solo shows that harked back to his tentative beginnings six years ago. And then on 6th June, Frank stormed the UK Album Charts going in at Number 12, with the release of his fourth studio album ‘England Keep My Bones’. Recorded in Crouch End’s stunning Church Studios, Frank laid down fifteen tracks with his band The Sleeping Souls - Ben, Nigel, Tarrant and Matt - and producer Tristan Ivemy for a record with a quintessential English sound, a nostalgic homage to his homeland, friends and family.
With the acoustic guitar very much at its core, the album is more folk orientated than predecessor ‘Poetry Of The Deed’ and includes an a cappella song done in a traditional English style. Featuring contributions from ex-Hold Steady keyboardist Franz Nicolay, folk singers Emily Barker and Chris T-T, and Unbelievable Truth’s Andy Yorke, he covers themes of mortality, relationships and religion in what is a bold, ballsy yet beautiful album. Spawning 4 singles – ‘I Still Believe’, ‘Peggy Sang The Blues’, ‘If Ever I Stray’ and the current track ‘Wessex Boy’, it is Frank’s most successful album to date, selling over 50,000 copies worldwide.
If you’ve not yet discovered Frank Turner and like Billy Bragg then do yourself a treat.
