THE former lead singer of the folk supergroup Bellowhead is coming to Mid Wales next week for concerts as part of his ‘Afterglow’ album tour.

Jon Boden will be at Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon, on Tuesday night, April 17; and at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, on Thursday, April 19.

Since 2009 Jon has also performed with his own band The Remnant Kings and he will be bringing them to Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, on Sunday, May 6; providing a taster for this year’s Shrewsbury Folk Festival which they will be returning to play at on Sunday, August 26. They perform both traditional folk music and Jon’s own work.

Jon has become the stand out performer of his generation of traditional folk artists, but one whose repertoire extends far beyond the boundaries of the genre.

Most recognisably he was the lead singer (and one of the principal arrangers) of the multi-award winning Bellowhead, one of the most exciting live acts of recent years. Over 12 years Bellowhead achieved a level of critical and commercial success unmatched by any other band working in English traditional music in the last three decades. In 2015 Jon announced that he had decided to leave the band and on May 1, 2016 Bellowhead played their final gig.

Jon has also played in a duo with fellow Bellowhead member John Spiers for over a decade within the traditional folk scene and outside the folk world he has composed music for TV, theatre and film, most notably two Royal Shakespeare productions at Stratford as well as working with the Sacconi Quartet.

His first new album since leaving Bellowhead, ‘Afterglow’ returns to the theme of his second solo album ‘Songs from the Floodplain’ in exploring a bleak post-apocalyptic world still with hope.

The Remnant Kings re-formed in July 2017 in an expanded 10 piece line-up to debut Afterglow at Cambridge Folk Festival.

‘AFTERGLOW’, by JON BODEN, on Hudson Records

JON Boden’s ‘Afterglow’ has a theatrical folk opera feel with more than a hint of ‘Diamond Dogs’ era Bowie to it with its apocalyptic vision; assembling a mighty cast of strings and brass to add to more conventional folk rock instruments.

There’s a decidedly unfolky opening with ‘Moths in the Gas Light’ with its bluesy sound, emotional vocals and complex instrumentation giving way to the almost marching music of ‘Afterglow Itself’. Swirling strings add to the drama notched up on ‘Bee Sting’ and ‘Wrong Side of Town’ before ‘Fires at Midnight’ bids for classic status quietly unfolding with rich melodies.

Things become positively perky on ‘All the Stars are Coming Out Tonight’, before ‘Dancing In the Rain’ with its ominous slinky intro, and the drama mounts again running through ‘Burning Streets’.

Paul Sartin’s oboe adds to the sombre pathos of ‘Yellow Lights’ before emerging into the dawn of a new day with birds twittering and a much more folky sound returning on ‘Aubode’ bringing to an end a powerful album which should win new fans as it crossing over a variety of genres.