Full Review

Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies – Northern Echoes CD & DVD

One of the finest and most well known folk singer/songwriters in the UK, Jez has been taking his songs of North East England all around the world, but earlier in 2008 he took time to take the songs home and played a set of shows around the North – the music CD from this release was taken from Gateshead in February.

The songs are mainly taken from his earlier albums, and being written in the 80s and early 90s, they represent a time of struggle, hope and change for the people of the region – it’s not only a fantastic collection of songs, but an interesting piece of contemporary social history.

The DVD is from the ‘A Song for Geordie’ shows in late 2007 where Jez and the Bad Pennies played a serious of concerts where Jez’s songs were placed into context with other songs from the tradition of the North East – the songs are intertwined with archive film and photographs that really brings the history of the area to life.

As a complete collection this represents a fantastic insight into the songs and social history of the area, but it also highlights the relevance and importance of socially aware writers of our own generation, and in Jez we have one of the very best.