Shrewsbury Folk Festival headliner Billy Bragg talks to What’s On about the 40th anniversary of his debut album, playing festival shows and hobnobbing with rock royalty...

It’s been a pretty good year for Billy Bragg so far. He’s been in rude health, hanging out with Michael Stipe, revelling in the nostalgia that comes with the 40th anniversary of his first album and basking in the glory of his beloved West Ham’s success in winning the Europa Conference League. His enthusiasm for the latter gives the impression that it could well be the highlight.

The singer is delightful company as he revels in his team’s success, and just as cheery when I point out my surprise at seeing a selfie of him on social media ligging with Michael Stipe at a Bono show in New York, which all seems a bit showbiz for the typically down-to-earth Essex boy. 

“I found it weird as well, particularly because Michael took the photo!” he admits. “I wouldn’t be so rude as to spread the word that I was out with Michael - I’d feel a bit awkward about that.”
He naturally plays the whole thing down, pointing out that the celebrity night out was more by accident - or at least coincidence - than design.
“I had a night in New York and wondered if Michael was in town cos we’ve been trying to connect with each other since before the pandemic. I thought we’d just go for a beer or something, but it turns out he was going to see Bono at the Beacon Theatre, so he blagged me a seat and we watched the show, which was cool. Then we ended up in a piano bar on the East Side drinking beer, cracking peanuts and talking about music, the world and everything.

“The great thing about Michael is that I’ve known him for years, from the early days, when it felt like we were all in it together. There was myself, REM, 10,000 Maniacs, The Smiths - those kind of figures. The ones I’ve worked with - like Michael, Natalie Merchant, Johnny Marr - I still feel quite close to them. And the lovely thing is that when I bump into them, it’s like I’ve known them for years. They’re all really good people, and listening to the 365 tracks reminded me of the opportunities I had to work with some lovely people.”

Ah yes, the 365 tracks. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of his debut album, Life’s A Riot With Spy vs Spy, Billy’s delved into his insanely deep (and apparently chaotic) archive to come up with a 14-CD box set containing a bewildering number of alternative versions, B-sides and rarities. The undertaking seems even more ridiculous when you consider the original album lasted less than 16 minutes and featured just seven songs, but there’s been a method, or at least a measure of enjoyment, to the madness of collating the 365 tracks.

“One for every day of the year,” laughs Billy. “The trouble is some poor bugger had to listen to all those, to make sure they were the right tracks, and the catch is there’s only one person who knows, and who has been around since the beginning. And that poor sod had to listen to everything.
“So I spent a six-hour train ride from New Hampshire to New York City going through the CDs, and even then I had to listen to some more tracks on the plane on the way home to ensure they were all the right ones. I’m glad I did because I caught one of them out - it was an obscure B-side but somehow the name had got attached to the wrong track - so I’m really glad I did. And it was nice to reflect on the things we did. It made me think of all the people I’ve worked with over the years, how great they were and what a huge contribution they made to my career. 

“I’m not a particularly musical geezer, you know what I mean? I’m just a guitar player, and those people - like Cara Tivey, Dave Woodhead, Johnny Marr - brought their amazing musical skills to my records and made them sound really, really special; to me anyway.”

He won’t have any star names backing him when he returns to headline the Sunday night of the Shrewsbury Folk Festival this month, but the old hand has a routine - which he claims is effectively a glorified busk - to ensure a successful festival gig...
“When I turn up at a festival and we’re all plumbed in, I tend to go for a walk, usually to try and find a decent coffee stall or a bacon buttie, and I’ll walk through the audience and suss them out.
“I’ll go right to the back and get a look at the sight lines and think about how I’m gonna make sure I’m not just singing to those people in the front row who know me but also to the people in the queue for a Cornetto, cos there’s a chance you might get their attention.

“There’s a bit of a craft to playing a festival - there’s potentially people there that you’re going to play to who haven’t seen you before, so how do you connect with them, what have you got to draw them in? You’re often relying on your big hits - you’ve only got an hour - but what can you put in the mix that makes what you’re doing contemporary so that you’re not just doing a ‘back in the ’80s’ type thing? 
“I am a heritage artist, I can’t escape from that, and most of the people coming to see me originally came to see me in the 1980s, but the music I’ve played over the years, an element of it was topical, and that’s always what attracted me.”

And 40 years on (longer if you go back to his early days with pub rock outfit Riff Raff) he’s delighted to be “still getting away with it”, even though he admits there are times when he feels his age a bit - he turned 65 last year.
“It’s not so great when I’m stuck on a bus all day or I’ve got to fly somewhere really early in the morning, waking up at the airport at six o’clock with no breakfast.

“But getting out on the stage, I still get that same feeling, whether it’s a big festival or some little place round the back somewhere. I’m ever so pleased to be still doing my job and really enjoying it.”

By Steve Adams