Aquileo | Billy Bragg • singer songwriter and activist

“The frustration of seeing nothing that spoke to me on Top Of The Pops in the early 80’s made me realise if I wanted to hear music that had something to say about the state of the world and real life, I’d have to make it myself. 18 months later I recorded my first LP. To mark the 40th anniversary of Life’s A Riot with Spy vs Spy, I’ve compiled a number of commemorative releases that trace the arc of my career since those fateful Thursday nights.” Billy Bragg

‘The music of Britain’s foremost protest singer gets an evocative overview in this nuanced compilation’

Album Of The Week

The Guardian

‘…a musically mature, international artist who is still bursting with energy.’

Rolling Stone

‘A British institution.’

Clash

‘One of the great human beings of Planet Earth…while the world changes by the minute, Billy’s empathy remains steadfast.’

Brooklyn Vegan

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“It’s been over a decade since I had a run of Canadian dates, so I’m excited to be playing shows from Halifax to Winnipeg this summer – with a short excursion down to the US to play a set of Mermaid Avenue songs with Wilco at Solid Sound. Hope and empathy are in short supply at the moment so seems like a good time to reconnect” Billy Bragg

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Billy Bragg

Thu Jul 30th, 2026

Really hoping that the new broom that Andy Burnham is wielding to sweep away the calamitous mistakes of the Starmer government will extend to reviewing the permission given to Powerfuel to build a waste incinerator on the Isle of Portland. The previous minister ignored the objections of the local town and county councils and evidence that the UK already has over-capacity in waste incinerators and that they are now considered the dirtiest form of power generation in the UK, producing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy comparable to coal.Aware that they will not be able to make a profit on the operating licence they were given, Powerfuel have applied for permission to burn 67 more types of toxic waste, with no regard to the damage such a business plan will do to the local environment. That application is before the Environmental Agency and the deadline for raising objections is tomorrow. The community on Portland and in Weymouth are concerned that evidence is being ignored and call upon the new Secretary of State to take into account the over capacity in the waste incinerator sector when considering this application. ... See MoreSee Less

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Billy Bragg

Sat Jul 25th, 2026

My first record deal in the United States was on the CD Presents label, based in San Francisco and run by larger than life character David Ferguson, who released ‘Brewing Up’ in 1985. CD Presents was founded in 1979 and its name is derived not from the compact disc, which did not appear until a decade later, but from the US civil defence programme. The label’s logo was taken from the symbol that identified places where citizens could shelter during a nuclear attack. Ferguson only had a licence for ‘Brewing Up’ and my subsequent releases in the US appeared on the Elektra label.Last year, a dear friend of mine, Vaughn Martinian moved with his wife Merrie, from his home on Long Island to somewhere more leafy in South Carolina. As anyone who has read his brilliant contributions to Billy Bragg: A People’s History will be aware, Vaughn worked with me on the road in North America in the 1980s and 90s. As a result, he had a pile of Bragg stuff stored in his basement. There were a couple of my old Fender amps, boxes of books containing copies of the Back to Basics Songbook, Midnights in Moscow and the red Italian book, and several boxes of the CD Presents vinyl LP of ‘Brewing Up’. The sleeves are identical to the UK version, except it doesn’t have Pay No More Than £3.99 on the cover and the CD Presents logo appears above that of Go! Discs on the back. Some were still shrink wrapped and each sleeve contained a xeroxed flyer from CD Presents offering their other albums to buy mail order. Their big hit was a compilation of US punk bands entitled Rat Music for Rat People. We decided to sell the hoard off on my next North American tour.And so it was in mid-June, as JJ Stoney and I flew into Halifax, Nova Scotia, for a trans-Canadian tour (with a few US dates too), that my tour manager/sound engineer Rubes Harman left New York driving our touring van up to the Canadian Maritimes. On board was our general merchandise along with the swag from Vaughn’s basement. However, on reaching the Canadian border, the customs officer refused to allow the vintage stuff into Canada as it was not listed on the detailed inventory. “You’ll have to dump it” he unkindly suggested.Outraged at the prospect of taking such a course, Rubes used his initiative. Recalling that he’d passed cannabis dispensary beside a wooded stretch of road ten minutes before the border, he wheeled back around and went to ask for help. Would the owners of the weed shack be willing to store some boxes of vinyl for a week while he was in Canada. They were happy to oblige, but there simply wasn’t enough room in the office to hold all of the swag. Not to be outdone, Rubes drove into town, purchased some heavy duty black bin bags and stashed the remaining boxes behind a dumpster in the dispensary car park, facing into the woods.A week later when we returned after playing shows in Halifax and New Brunswick, we found to our delight that the bin-bagged boxes were still there. The bags had been investigated by wildlife, as one area of one bag had a series of small tears maybe made by a racoon or squirrel, but otherwise everything was fine. We celebrated by enjoying quesadillas from the taco stand next to the weed shack, expressed our gratitude to the owner of the dispensary and went on our way. The vintage vinyl was a huge hit at the Solid Sound Festival. Wilco’s fans are renowned vinyl hounds and were pleased to discover unplayed original releases on sale in the pop-up record store at MoCA. Playing the Mermaid Avenue songs with Wilco at Solid Sound was the highlight of the tour but I must confess that, up until we got there, I was a little concerned about whether of not I was going to be allowed into the US. Stories of artists being refused entry into seemingly because of comments they had made on social media had given me cause for concern. In the event, there was no problem at the border, although it did produce an odd moment.The crossing into Maine from New Brunswick was little more than you might find on any highway toll booth and the immigration officer processed us pretty quickly. However, before he gave us back our passports, he asked me where I lived. When I told him I lived in Dorset, he said “Wasn’t there a big Roman battle there once?” “Yes” I replied quick as a flash “Vespasian came through with the Second Legion in 44AD and attacked Maiden Castle”. “I though so” he said, handing Rubes back our passports and waving us on our way. It was a strange exchange. I’m no expert on the history of Dorset, but as someone who has lived here for over 25 years, I’m well aware that the Romans left a huge legacy in the county. Maybe our border guy was a history buff like me and recognised the name Dorset from his studies? Or maybe it was proof that, like the meme says, half of all men think about the Roman Empire everyday? ... See MoreSee Less

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Billy Bragg

Sat Jul 18th, 2026

The wonderful Yvonne Tsang, who posted ‘Garageland’ last week was also in the front row at my show in London Ontario and has just posted this performance of God’s Footballer featuring Mary Ramsey, who played viola on the original recording of the song. Mary is now the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs and lives in Buffalo NY, just around the lake from London. We shared the bill at the River Roads Festival earlier in the tour and she offered to come along and play on God’s Footballer, which was a real treat for everyone at the show, myself included. ... See MoreSee Less

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