Robb Johnson
Right c lick on the image above for a high res copy
-
Robb Johnson's Acoustic Irregulars (3 piece)
-
Murder at the Grange
A festive whodunnit featuring a cast of Irregulars (5 piece) available throughout late November and December.
Robb Johnson says he’s just a bloke with a guitar. He is. But he’s one who has chronicled our times: painting the less-than-sunny political landscape in the moonlight of the personal. Just like a folk singer should.
"Britain's finest songwriter since Richard Thompson"- Venue \ "An English original" - Robin Denselow, The Guardian \ "Love songs as touching as the political material is sharp." - Red Pepper \ "The real deal when it comes to songwriting" - Mike Harding, BBC Radio2 \ “One of this country’s most important songwriters (no argument!)” -(fRoots) \ "One of the best" - Maverick
"There is no songwriter to compare with Robb Johnson operating in the UK" - R2
Robb Johnson - The Future Starts Here from Tony Judge on Vimeo.
Robb Johnson is widely recognised as one of the UK’s finest songwriters. “one of our best singer-songwriters ever” (Mike Harding). He gigs in the UK, Belgium, Germany & the USA, & his songs have been covered by many singers, from folk legend Roy Bailey to acclaimed cabaret diva Barb Jungr, & he enjoys a similarly diverse spectrum of critical acclaim – “a modern-day Dostoyevsky” said the USA’s Dirty Linen, Mojo made the double CD Gentle Men Folk Album Of The Month & Tony Benn said Johnson’s “Winter Turns To Spring” was his favourite song.
He has played pubs, clubs, pavements, pickets & benefits, arts centres & festivals, local radio, BBC Radio 3 & 4, Belgian Radio 1, Nicaraguan TV & Channel 4, the Albert Hole in Bristol &, the Albert Hall in London. In February 2006 Robb appeared at the Barbican as part of the prestigious BBC “Folk Britannia” series, where “for the encore, Robb Johnson leads all the artists (and the audience) in the World War I song ‘Hanging On The Old Barbed Wire’ in a concert that was screened on BBC4. Robb has been the featured guest on Andy Kershaw’s Radio 3 programme.
In autumn 2025 Robb will be releasing an album of new songs, recorded at Room 13 in Gent. Optimist Hotel consists of 9 songs (the CD has a bonus 10th song) that tell a variety of stories and a cast of characters that include a Big Issue vendor, the legendary guitarist Wizz Jones, and a woman who feeds the king of the foxes. They don’t all end happily, but the songs share a celebration of hopefulness in dark times.
Robb will be looking for solo gigs to celebrate the release of this album in the latter half of 2025 through 2026.
Gentle Men and Ordinary Giants - details of Robb's 2 song suites about the First and the Second World war respectively, based on the experiences of his grandfather and his father
Dates 2025
See Robb's own website for a full gig-list including those with the Irregulars.
Wed 16 Apr
Bury St Edmunds
with Acoustic Irregulars
Thu 17 Apr
Lowestoft with Acoustic Irregulars
Sat 26 April
London
Thu 1 May
Railway Inn
2 Station Road
Portslade, BN41 1GA With Roger Watson
Sun 4 May
Oldham
Thu 22 May
Islington Folk Club
Brewhouse & Kitchen,
2a Corsica Street, London, N5 1JJ
Sun 25 May
Hove, Neptune Inn
Fri 30 May
Number 28, Belper with the Acoustic Irregulars
Sun 8 June
Bath, The Bell
with the Acoustic Irregulars
Sat 21st June
Forest of Dean TBC
18-20 July
Tolpuddle Festival
Dorset
Fri 6 Sep
London, Aces & Eights, Tufnell Park with the Acoustic Irregulars
Sun 14 Sep
Live to Your Living Room with Leon Rosselson
Sat 27 Sep
Middlesborough, Toft House
with Acoustic Irregulars
3 - 5 Oct
Hartlepool Festival
Mon 6 Oct
Margate
Fri 17 Oct
London
Th 6 Nov
Margate - Rosslyn Court,. Cliftonville
Mon 17 Nov
London, Cellar Club
Sat 6 Dec
Lewes (With Roger Watson)
Sun 21 Dec
Brighton
2026
Sun 25 Jan
London, Green Note
(Afternoon)
Green Note, 106 Parkway, London NW1 7AN
Wed 25 Feb
Dorking Folk Club
Dorking Golf Club, Deepdene Avenue, Dorking, RH5 4BX