Songs of the People: Music from the English Radical Tradition - Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery

Musician Steve Knightley and historian Michael Wood are hitting the road once more in 2020 with a series of gigs around the country and we're delighted to be welcoming them to RAMM.

Taking the form of a chronological journey over 800 years of the English radical tradition in song, the concert will feature a mixture of history, storytelling and song with rousing choruses.

These songs are the sound track to the People’s History; songs that shine a light on the lives of ordinary men and women through times of struggle and suffering, fighting for the rights that are ours today. Some will be well known favourites – ‘You noble Diggers All’ from the Civil War, and ‘They can’t break the oath of a Tolpuddle Man’ - while others have only recently been discovered,

For over thirty years now, historian and broadcaster Michael Wood has brought history alive for viewers and readers in Britain, the US and further afield. He is the author of several highly praised books on English history including In Search of the Dark Ages, Domesday and In Search of England along with over one hundred documentary films including: Michael Wood’s Story of England (2010), The Great British story: A People’s History (2012) and King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons (2013), all for the BBC.

Steve Knightley is a multi-award-winning singer-songwriter/musician and founder member of widely acclaimed folk/acoustic roots trail-blazers ‘Show of Hands’ described by Peter Gabriel as ‘one of the great English bands’. A constant throughout his work is his ability to root his songs in time and place, notably the West Country where he still lives. Informed by a love of narrative and English traditional folk music, Steve writes historically accurate songs that resonate with contemporary meaning. He has an extraordinary ability to bring the past vividly, smack bang into the present and his anti-banking rant ‘Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed’ picked up the gong for ‘Best Song’ at the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Previous performances together in 2019 include at Chalke Valley - Britain’s biggest history festival, the Glastonbury Festival and the Sam Wanamaker Theatre at the Globe in London.

Doors and bar at 18:45, performance at 19:30