Galvanised in the late 70s by The Clash and an aversion to the austere policies of Margaret Thatcher, Billy Bragg set out to inspire political engagement and empathy, and he hasn’t deviated from that path. He has performed numerous benefit shows over the years-for the miners, the Labour party, CND, the jobless, the homeless and many more, and has run the Left Field political stage at Glastonbury for the las t15 years. 

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In 2023 Billy celebrated a remarkable 40 years as Britain’s favourite campaigning singer songwriter. To mark this significant landmark, he released an acclaimed career-spanning box set The Roaring Forty and played to sell-out crowds around theworld. Billy Bragg has released 11 solo studio albums, three albums of Woody Guthrie lyrics set to contemporary music by Billy and Wilco (the Mermaid Avenue albums) and one album with Joe Henry. His most recent studio album, The Million Things That Never Happened came out in 2021. 

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Billy Bragg added best-selling author to his CV with the success of his acclaimed 2017 book Roots, Radicals & Rockers–How Skiffle Changed The World. He has written two books of political analysis-The Progressive Patriot: A Search For Belonging (2006) and The Three Dimensions of Freedom (2019). Billy won the Outstanding Contribution To British Music Award at the Ivors Awards in 2018.

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Born and raised in Barking, East London, Billy has a street named after him in his home town–Bragg Close. In 2023 Billy was honoured with a pavement plaque on the Camden Music Walk Of Fame, adding his name to a prestigious roll call that includes Madness, Amy Winehouse, The Who, David Bowie, and The Kinks. In 2025 Spenwood Books published Billy Bragg–A People’s History, an oral history featuring fascinating photos and memorabilia with contributions from friends, associates and fans, who have been thrilled and inspired by the work of this unique artist. 

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To be expected from a career that has straddled many genres, Billy Bragg has worked with a wealth of celebrated musicians from different musical backgrounds including Eliza Carthy, Norman Cook, Paul Weller, Jeff Tweedy, Dick Gaughan, Joe Henry, Kirsty MacColl, Ian McLagan, Johnny Marr, R.E.M., Natalie Merchant, Romeo Stodart, Danny Thompson, Robert Wyatt, Pete Seeger, and The Philharmonic Orchestra.

DakhaBrakha is a music quartet from Kyiv, Ukraine. Their “ethno chaos” sound spans years of performances prior to Russia’s 2022 invasion, but war is in everything now. They masterfully blend Ukrainian traditional music with influences from around the world, resulting in an unexpected new music.

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They are troubadours, activists and educators. Though their name means Give/Take in the old language, DakhaBrakha is new Ukraine, both pre-colonial and post-Soviet, working within a global network of art and music. They aim to help audiences see Ukraine not as a monolith, but as a cosmopolitan culture that takes in other cultures, and gives in return. 

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In addition to their own performances, DakhaBrakha also performs their original live soundtrack alongside a screening of the classic 1930 film, “Earth”, by Aleksandr Dovzhenko (considered to be one of the most important films of the Soviet era). Dovzhenko is a master of composition, and the film—with its intense close-ups and the impressive expanses of the landscape—is a passionate tribute to the countryside, to nature, and to the people that work on it.

G. Love & Special Sauce is an American Hip-Hop Blues band known for its unique fusion of hip-hop, blues, funk, and soul. Formed in 1993 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the band originally featured Garrett Dutton, aka G. Love, as the lead vocalist and guitarist, Jeffrey Clemens on drums, and Jim Prescott on bass. The trio quickly gained attention for their laid-back, groovy style and G. Love’s unique vocal delivery, blending rap-like spoken word with bluesy singing.

 

Known for their energetic live performances, G. Love & Special Sauce has played at festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. Garrett Dutton also frequently collaborates with other artists, including Jack Johnson, with whom he shares a similar vibe, and has released solo projects that dive deeper into his blues influences. G. Love & Special Sauce remains a beloved name in the music scene, blending genres in a way that feels fresh and authentic.

Praised by the New York Times for his “genuine originality,” Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists, songwriters, and composers of his generation. The New York-born, Montreal-raised singer-songwriter has released ten studio albums to date, three DVDs, and three live albums including the GRAMMY® nominated Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall. He has collaborated with artists such as Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Miley Cyrus, David Byrne, Boy George, Joni Mitchell, Pet Shop Boys, Heart, Carly Rae Jepsen, Robbie Williams, Jessye Norman, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Sting, and producer Mark Ronson, among many others. He has written two operas and numerous songs for movies and TV.

His 2020 GRAMMY® nominated studio album of original songs, Unfollow the Rules, finds Wainwright at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty, and a new-found fearlessness. In 2023, he embarked on a journey to his family folk roots with his GRAMMY® nominated album Folkocracy featuring reinvented folk duets with artists like Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, John Legend and Anohni and many more.

His first musical of John Cassavetes’ Opening Night for the West End with Ivo van Hove premiered at the Gielgud Theater in March 2024. During this time he also completed his Dream Requiem, which premiered with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in June of 2024 and featured Meryl Streep as the narrator. The recording of the performance was released via Warner Classics in January 2025, which was followed by the US premiere at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles featuring Jane Fonda as the narrator. Co-commissioners for the Dream Requiem are the Master Chorale in Los Angeles, the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, the Helsinki Symphony Orchestra,
the RTE Orchestra in Ireland, and the Royal Ballet London.

For over a decade, John Craigie has made music that brings people in, not with spectacle but with sincerity and songs that feel like conversations.

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His new album I Swam Here, out February 6, 2026 on Zabriskie Point Records, was written and produced by Craigie and recorded between New Orleans and Astoria. Seven tracks were cut at Deslonde St Studios with musicians handpicked by Sam Doores of The Deslondes, including Howe Pearson, Max Bien Khan, Jonny Campos, and a guest appearance from Desiree Cannon. Longtime collaborator Anna Moss appears across much of the record. The remaining tracks were finished at the Rope Room in Astoria, carrying over the same spirit and palette. The cover art, painted by Brittany Schall, nods to the design of mid century samba and jazz records.

The album’s singles trace the path of its making. “Fire Season,” engineered by Bart Budwig, was one of the first songs written and features Cooper Trail, Nevada Sowle, Luke Ydstie, and Jamie Greenan. “Dry Land” was reworked in Astoria after early New Orleans sessions didn’t feel right. “Edna Strange,” inspired by Marty Robbins, is the only track where Craigie plays steel string acoustic, with Max Bien Khan on nylon string leads and a trio vocal arrangement in place of Moss’s harmonies.

Following 2024’s Pagan Church with TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, which spent six weeks at #1 on the Americana Albums chart, I Swam Here feels both expansive and intimate, shaped by the musical history of the Gulf Coast and the stillness of the Pacific Northwest.

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Craigie remains a tireless live performer, touring throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia, appearing at festivals like Newport Folk, Pickathon, Edmonton Folk Festival, and High Sierra, and sharing the stage with artists such as Langhorne Slim, Sierra Hull, Gregory Alan Isakov, Brett Dennen, and Jack Johnson. His annual #KeepItWarm Tour donates $1 from every ticket sold to regional nonprofits, and his John Craigie On The River trips on the Tuolumne and Rogue rivers have become cherished gatherings for fans.
 

About Humbird:

It feels good to be right. We crave the satisfaction, the ease. But what about when you’re not so sure? When you’re unsteady, angry, swayable, and doing your damned best anyway? There’s something refreshingly humane about that uncertainty; about having the guts to try, even if you might be wrong. This is the central tenant of Humbird’s third full-length album, Right On, a radical ethos in this soap-box age, and an effort worth turning up the amps for, resulting in the project’s most electric, playful, mettled record yet. Siri Undlin (the songwriter behind the moniker) and her collaborators tracked live and to tape over the course of two muggy weeks in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. For a collection of songs unafraid of ambiguity, it’s music that bares its teeth. Anger and dismay sizzle in response to current events. Heartbreak feels like sandpaper, while wildflowers bob and sway in an ever-expanding universe. Produced by Shane Leonard and featuring regular contributors Pat Keen (bass, synth, percussion) and Pete Quirsfeld (drums and percussion), the majority of the songs showcase the locked-in rock trio, a progression from the contemplative folk musings of Undlin’s previous releases. Even so, Right On incorporates friendly winks to the more whimsical, soundscape-y improvisations that audiences have come to expect from a Humbird performance - electrified, gritty, Midwest Americana with a little magic fairy dust thrown in.

“Right On,” the title track and first song of the album, opens the record with a tone of resigned tenacity. ‘I’m not mad, but I should be / since true love proved unlucky / I cast the dye, I stained my hands / on wrongful judgments and half-baked plans.’ As the song moves through time and space, “being wrong” feels less and less like a failure, and instead transforms into guiding wisdom. The warm tremolo of the guitar maps along the grooves of the rhythm section, creating an atmosphere of inviting imperfection, a clever catalyst for the chorus’ simple melody to launch and land right in the tender part of your sternum. Other notable tracks include “Child Of Violence,” complete with psych-rock phaser pedals, which explores the legacy and impact of white supremacy in middle America; “Cornfields and Roadkill” focuses in on land stolen for profit, and old-growth forests traded for mono-crops in a sonic landscape reminiscent of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. “Song For The Seeds” is a slow-burning synth number, imploring the listener to tear up their lawn. It wields a refrain that will germinate in your mind - a proper earworm.

Through observation and deft questioning, the lyrics land less like a political agenda and more like a hard conversation with a friend. All the while, you can hear the summertime pace where the recording took place, and the steady confidence of songs that have already traveled many miles on the road. And those miles - they’re hard-earned. For Undlin, growing up steeped in church choirs and traditional Irish ensembles eventually led to conducting extensive folklore and musical research around the world as a Watson Fellow. That work inspired years of DIY touring around North America, including performing around the twin cities one backyard at a time during the pandemic. Undlin continues to expand and experiment as a writer and bandleader in a way that is fluid with each season, and oddly suited for this particular moment. Following the surprise success of the self-released debut album Pharmakon and the pensive reflections of 2021’s Still Life, Right On is the next iteration in her process of witnessing the world in all its complexity and responding with candid consideration.

For loyal fans and new listeners alike, Right On is a mischievously kind offering: a whole heap of songs that are unafraid to bask in the perfectly ordinary and also excruciating possibility that sometimes we’re right, often we’re wrong, but no matter what, music can meet us where we’re at and keep us company along the way.