Salut! Talks

Words from Christy Moore as the Clock Winds Down to climate change disaster

The thoughts of Christy Moore are invariably worth a look or a listen. Those he has shared with me are no exception. A man I have known for more than half a century will be fully aware of the limited... Read more →


Photography and folk music: Roger Liptrot's life in focus

The power of photography is well known. From the Northern Echo's curmudgeonly old Bill Oliver, with his huge box camera, to the brilliant men and women who capture war, humanity and style on film, probably every photographer I have worked... Read more →


Potted Jez Lowe: on Dylan and Durham Cathedral, Europe and getting older

It's the Jez Lowe mini-series. Today, another outing for the Salut! Live tradition of posing a set of quick-ask, quick-reply questions as a companion to the main interview. We heard from Jez at length at this link. Here, the questions... Read more →


The Big Interview. Jez Lowe: 160(+) covers of his songs, 160 gigs lost to Covid

Necessarily, and without apology, this mini-series of articles concerning Jez Lowe is dominated by the North East of England. That is where Jez is from and, but for the first few months of my life after my birth on the... Read more →


Coming soon: The Big Interview with Jez Lowe, unsilenced by the pandemic

UPDATE: The main interview can now be seen at https://www.salutlive.com/2020/11/the-big-interview-jez-lowe.html Few artists, if any, capture the nuances, trials and tribulations of North-eastern life as incisively and thoughtfully as Jez Lowe. He writes about people and events far from that corner... Read more →


Barbara Dickson briefly: Scottish independence, Marcus & Rishi and a question of pride

Photo: Brian Aris UPDATE: My review of Barbara Dickson's new album, Time is Going Faster, appears at https://www.salutlive.com/2020/10/time-is-going-faster.html The Big Interview with Barbara Dickson, as I like to call it, appears at this Salut! Live link: https://www.salutlive.com/2020/10/the-big-interview-barbara-dickson.html. In keeping with... Read more →


The Big Interview: Barbara Dickson, hating lockdown, rejecting celebrity, loving her music

Photo: Brian Aris UPDATE: My review of Barbara Dickson's new album, Time is Going Faster, appears at https://www.salutlive.com/2020/10/time-is-going-faster.html Twice so far this century, I have mistakenly remembered Barbara Dickson as a member of the Scottish folk trio Bitter Withy, who... Read more →