James Bar Bowen

James Bar Bowen Tour of New Zealand.

In October and November 2019, original acoustic folk-punk singer songwriter James Bar Bowen will be packing his trusty old guitar and songbook for a much anticipated tour of gigs in New Zealand. James will be wielding his original folksongs-with-a-punkrock-attitude and his six-string acoustic guitar from Whangarei to Christchurch over the course of six weeks.

Hailing from the north of England, James Bar Bowen’s original, poetic and thought-provoking songs tell personal and political stories from a variety of perspectives, with an enthusiastic (and at times even optimistic) engagement with bigger social, political and philosophical ideas.

A veteran of the European acoustic, folk and punk gig and festival circuits, his songs recount tales of celebration and heartache, the human condition, the righting of wrongs, and the fight for social justice.

Playing an individual guitar style (strumming, flat-picking and finger-picking) combined with a powerful, evocative and individual voice, James Bar Bowen’s performance is a powerful combination of intelligently worked lyrics, engaging melodies and dynamic atmospherics (from gobsmacking to goosebumps, sensitive to singalong, heartfelt to humourous). He has been known to reduce audiences to tears, mostly for the right reasons!

James Bar Bowen’s latest (collaborative) album The Lie of the Land, released early in 2019, was acclaimed in Fatea Magazine as “…a ten track slice of Folk/Punk with everything in between from Italian Anti-Fascist traditional folk song, Country, straight-up in-yer-face acoustic punk and even a shanty... an eyebrow raising eclectic smőrgåsbord of genres… it manages to remain focused and cohesive throughout the album.” http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/reviews/JamesBarBowen/
He will also be playing songs from solo album Are you thinking what I’m thinking? and collaborative release Heresy and Hearsay.

Deeply rooted in punkrock culture and antifascist politics as well as folk traditions of the British Isles and beyond, James Bar Bowen is a charismatic perfomer who takes you on a journey deeper into the heart of poetic songwriting and entertaining musicianship – and there are even a few laughs to be had!