FolkeSong Sessions are delighted to present a night of outstanding music with two seriously good songwriters Pete Astor and Jo Hook and this promises to be something really special.
As ever, these nights are intimate with limited space ( 34 max) to create that Greenwich Village folk club vibe although we are not a folk club…just for folk who appreciate the fine art of making music.
Pete Astor:
A songwriter who never falters and is maybe even getting better with age.’ All Music
‘The master of less is more’ The Guardian
Pete Astor led Creation Records’ groups The Loft and The Weather Prophets, writing songs and releasing records that helped define the sound of the label and the emerging Indie genre. He has gone on to a lengthy solo career since then; writing, recording and releasing music on a range of labels including Matador, Heavenly, Warp, EMI and Fortuna Pop. Since 2017 Astor has been signed to Tapete Records, home to Robert Forster, Lloyd Cole and Comet Gain among many reputable others.
A lifetime of listening has led me to believe that Pete Astor’s songs would have always found a way to reach an audience. If he’d been a Californian baby boomer, he’d have ended up in the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles, laying down late-night grooves with the Wrecking Crew for a largely-neglected, slightly gloomy, pop album that’d now be worth a fortune. If he’d been born into post-War Britain, earnest girls in sweaters would’ve fallen in love with him, and his songs, in Embassy-fogged folk clubs. – Danny Kelly, NME
Jo Hook
Jo Hook is a Kent based prolific songwriter, musician and seasoned performer.
As a performer, and songwriter, Jo is wonderfully self-deprecating, witty and down to earth. She combines poignant observations and lyrical hooks with sensitive simplicity and honesty.
Her songs, despite often being hard hitting, are lined with mischief both lyrically and musically. Jo makes music sound in the way she experiences life, with use of repetition and interruption intermingled with beautiful accompaniment and mischievous extensions.
Over the course of her musical career, Jo has collaborated with many musicians, producers and arrangers exploring different styles and genres of music within performances and recorded material.
This was followed in 2005 by Settle Down which she recorded as the lead singer, guitarist and writer for the Folk-rock- indie influenced band “Hook”.
Eight years later, she collaborated with Geoffrey Richardson (Caravan and Penguin Café Orchestra) for Silence Surrounds Me, described by For Folk’s Sake as “eleven tracks of lush folk-pop”.
Shiny Disposable Things is Jo’s fourth album, which she considers her most personal work yet. Shiny Disposable Things brings together a stellar cast of musicians to create a stunning piece of work.
