About
Biography
Jess Silk is a guitarist, singer and songwriter from the Black Country. Her shouty but melodic brand of folk/punk music often has her being likened to a female Frank Turner or Billy Bragg, and it gets people sitting up and listening. Armed only with an increasingly sticker-covered acoustic guitar and a distinctive, gravelly voice that many don’t expect, Jess plays to audiences up and down the UK and has shared stages with many well known names among the folk/punk scene.
Jess released her debut album, Break the Bottle, in May 2018 with a packed out show at her spiritual home of Katie Fitzgerald’s in Stourbridge. Since then she’s shared a number of other releases including two live EP’s with tracks taken from shows at Katie’s and HMV Merry Hill. 2020 saw the world shut down and Jess release two (almost completely) self produced EPs, the first of which, If We’re Damned, was put together from songs that had been gathering metaphorical dust on her hard drive, and the second, There’s A Bar At the End Of the World, a collection of songs written between March and August taking their inspiration from the events of the year. At the end of August 2021 Jess released her second full-length album Blitz Spirit and is currently working on her third studio album.
In recent years Jess has appeared at a number of festivals including Bearded Theory, Rebellion, Beautiful Days and Glastonbury where she shared a stage with Billy Bragg as part of his Radical Roundup on the Left Field stage. Jess continues to tour around the UK playing festivals, supports and headline shows and in March of 2023 played six dates supporting the Levellers.
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Press
"...Another musician who always makes Rebellion for me, punk balladeer Jess Silk. Her songs are gripping, emotional and so very relatable, sung by the very down-to-earth Jess, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. Gathering one of the biggest audiences for an acoustic show, and longest lines of people around the room with arms around each other’s shoulders singing to ‘If Home Is Where The Heart Is‘, you could feel the camaraderie and love fill the space. Jess’s voice gets better and better and is as powerful as her lyrics..." - Ruth Rae, Punktuation Magazine Saturday 3rd August 2024 https://www.punktuationmag.com/review-rebellion-festival-2024-day-2/
“...Alone on such a big stage with just an acoustic guitar, we did wonder how Jess would fill the hall with her music, but hell did she do that! Her massive voice and skill on the guitar more than filled the space she had and the early punters got to see how it’s done solo in fine style. Her political/protest lyrical content in her songs did resonate with the Liverpool audience. Contrasting highs and lows in each song just added to the enjoyment of her short but most expertly delivered set. We loved her version of the Italian protest folk song “Bella Ciao” from the late 19th century that was used on the Spanish hit series Money Heist. All in all a great opening to the night…” - Warren Millar, All Music Magazine 5th March 2023
https://allmusicmagazine.com/the-levellers-acoustic-tour-philharmonic-hall-liverpool-3rd-march-2023/
"[Is Pop still political?] It has its moments...People coming through like Jess Silk...a young woman who writes very powerfully about her own political perspective..." - Billy Bragg, Glastonbury Free Press Thursday 23rd June 2022
https://cdn.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GFP2022_thursday-digi.pdf