JON WILKS is an acclaimed fingerpicking guitarist and singer of traditional folk songs and broadside ballads from the English repertoire. His background as a journalist means that he has a great eye and ear for a story, and this shows in his live shows – an amusing mix of folk song performance and storytelling. He throws in weird and wonderful tidbits about the original singers and collectors that he has unearthed during his substantial writing and podcasting research on traditional folk music in the UK, and his performance is often described as both entertaining and informative.
To date, Jon has recorded three full-length folk albums and one EP. He has also released three albums and one EP with his duo, The Grizzly Folk, and an album and EP with Japan-based indie band, Cut Flowers (in a former life). He has also co-arranged and performed tracks on Jackie Oates’s Gracious Wings album (2022), and was a key part of Slow Jane, the quartet (including Katherine Priddy, Lukas Drinkwater and Jon Nice) that created videos of Nick Drake songs during 2020 lockdown.
