Robb Johnson

Saturday, The Big Club

Robb’s widely recognised as one of the UK’s finest songwriters. “An English original”, (Robin Denselow, the Guardian) ... “a national treasure”(Mike Harding)… “one of this country’s most important songwriters (no argument!)” (fROOTS). He enjoys playing pubs, clubs, the occasional festival, art centres, benefits & picket lines. Before Brexit he toured regularly in Europe, & he has also visited the USA a couple of times.

Robb has been releasing albums on his Irregular Records label since 1985. Particular highlights have been the song suite Gentle Men, a family history of the First World War told through the lives of his grandfathers, which received widespread praise in 1997 & again when it was re-recorded in 2013, with Roy Bailey singing the grandfathers’ songs in both versions. In 2018 Robb released Ordinary Giants, a critically acclaimed 3 CD song suite based on his father’s life & times - “A masterwork” (fROOTS)…“A remarkable achievement” (Songlines)… “Monumental”-(FATEA)

& in 2019 he was commissioned to write the songs for Hartlepool Festival’s original concert Your Affectionate Son. Robb’s single celebrating the life & work of Dennis Skinner, Tony Skinner’s Lad, topped the Amazon download single chart for a week in 2020 (ahead of Kylie Minogue & Bruce Springsteen) & raised over £1000 for the Justice For Orgreave campaign.

Recent albums include Minimum Wages & Murder At The Grange. Minimum Wages appeared first as an LP, then on CD in October 2022 as part of a double album with Bodger: My Part In His Downfall, a collection of songs chronicling the events of 2019 – 2022, the years of the Bodgerment. Murder At The Grange is the soundtrack album of Robb’s acclaimed festive whodunnit. In summer 2024 Robb releases Pennypot Lane, new recordings of 8 songs that haven’t previously appeared on vinyl.