Tom Robinson reunites with former bandmates at Shrewsbury Folk Festival

It’s been 40 years since Tom Robinson shot to chart success with his first single, 2-4-6-8 Motorway, an anniversary he’s set to celebrate with a new tour in October. 

Since 1977, the singer, songwriter and bassist has gone on to enjoy a varied and prolific career working on both sides of the music industry. Now a familiar voice on BBC Radio 6 as well as the founder of the pioneering Fresh On The Net blog, he’s spent the last few years cultivating a reputation for championing new music, though in 2015 he surprised fans by releasing his first studio album in nearly 20 years.

But it’s as part of a much more short-lived trio that he’s appearing at Shrewsbury Folk Festival this summer - a surprise rekindling of the Faith, Folk And Anarchy project that saw him collaborate with Martyn Joseph and Show Of Hands’ Steve Knightley in the early noughties. Initially unsure about a reunion, the group were eventually won over to the idea by the organisers’ enthusiasm.

“It was Shrewsbury’s idea,” says Robinson. “There was somebody in the management of the festival who thought, ‘I remember that - it was great!’”

Faith, Folk And Anarchy was the title given to the only album the trio ever recorded, in 2001. The accompanying 2002 tour was then followed by a brief reunion two years later.

“It was a very special project because it was three lead singers, and I hadn’t really been in that kind of situation since the early ’70s. Steve and Martyn are also both fantastic songwriters, and so we had the output of three songwriters’ brains instead of just one. There’s a big difference between that and singing backing vocals or playing bass on someone else’s songs. But almost immediately after that first tour, I got the job at 6 Music. Steve and Martyn both had busy schedules too, so it was hard to find time to put together any more dates. This is just a one-off, but in a way I think that’s quite nice because it makes it all the more special.”

Thirteen years after the band’s last outing, Robinson is looking forward not only to working with his former bandmates again, but also to enjoying a good catch-up.

“I’ve never been as relaxed and at home on stage as I was on that first tour with Faith, Folk And Anarchy because the whole thing was founded on our friendship. When you’re just on stage with your mates, none of you is trying to prove anything.

“Steve and I do bump into each other at folk events and occasionally get up and sing together, but I haven’t seen as much of Martyn because he works across the Atlantic so much. He’s gigging almost non-stop, except when he’s rescuing children in remote parts of the world. He’s an amazing man, Martyn - the activism and the charity work he does just puts the rest of us to shame.”

As a keen folk fan himself, Tom’s also hoping to check out some of the other acts appearing at Shrewsbury this year, though he confesses he hasn’t yet had time to properly investigate the line-up.

“Musically, most of the really interesting stuff I hear coming through at 6 Music is roots and acoustic. There’s a whole generation of folk artists in their 20s and 30s who are really innovating in terms of the noise they’re making - people like Sam Lee or Eliza Carthy. Even an apparently traditional duo like Will Pound and Eddy Jay - they play harmonica and accordion, and you think, what could be more of a finger-in-the-ear, folky cliché than that? But technically and stylistically, they’re really pushing the boundaries of those instruments, and it’s absolutely breathtaking.

“I think there’s a misperception and a great ignorance out in the wider world about what folk is and what it can be, partly because the BBC doesn’t cover it enough. It only gives us one hour a week of folk music on Radio Two, which is nothing when you consider that there are more folk festivals in this country than any other kind of music festival. I think there are just under 400 every year in England alone, and then another hundred or so in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, so there’s a phenomenal demand and appetite for this music out there, which the BBC should be paying more attention to.”

Fortunately, as a BBC Radio DJ himself, Robinson has gone some way towards plugging this gap on his own show, although with around 200 tracks a week to listen to from across all different genres, folk can only account for a fraction of the music that he plays.

“I feel a bit like a poacher turned gamekeeper, having spent a good 30 years on the outside, knocking on doors and trying to get my own music onto Radio One. But to now be on the other side and to be the person making the calls about what gets included and what doesn’t, I’ve learned so much about the mechanics of it, what’s needed and why some things work or don’t.”

Anyone can submit a track to Robinson for consideration both on his show and on the independent Fresh On The Net blog he runs with a growing team of enthusiastic contributors.

“It’s really nice having a separate outlet where we can get behind stuff that the BBC wouldn’t necessarily play. We have 20 moderators, and about a dozen active in any given week, so anyone who sends us a track between Monday and Thursday will be listened to by those 12. I don’t think there’s anywhere else on the web that guarantees submissions will be heard by that many people of all different tastes. It provides a safety net, so there’s little chance of anything getting missed in the deluge, and even if I don’t like something, someone else might go completely crazy for it.”

Not content with only operating a groundbreaking music blog, Robinson has fully embraced online media and its many tools, crowdfunding his last album, Only The Now, via PledgeMusic, as well as finding its graphic designer by networking on social media.

“It’s the future for all of us now - I don’t think music is different from anything else. We all have to find our way in a world where it’s getting harder and harder to get paid for your work, but at the same time, your potential for finding a worldwide audience is expanding exponentially.”

Promoting other people’s work might take up most of his time these days, but as his family has grown up and moved out, he’s found himself with more time to pursue new endeavours, leading to the release of his 2015 album. For now, however, he’s focusing on a completely different project.

“Recently I’ve been trying to write a memoir, but I’m not getting very far with it at the moment. I’ve had quite a strange, very blessed life over the years, from my first nervous breakdown at the age of 16 to living in East Germany in my 30s, plus all the bizarre and interesting people I’ve met. So there is a story there that I’d like to get written down before I shuffle off this mortal coil. But it’s hard because as you get into your 60s, it’s a race against declining memory!”

Tom Robinson performs with Faith, Folk & Anarchy at Shrewsbury Folk Festival on Monday 28 August.

For the full festival line-up, visit shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk

By Heather Kincaid