‘Always a good day when I find a new song by John Meed.’ Charlie Steppe, WLSO FM

John Meed is a musician, writer, researcher and naturalist based in Cambridge, UK. He writes and performs songs in the folk and acoustic traditions and has released nine albums. He also conducts ecological surveys on behalf of the British Trust for Ornithology and has published A haven for farmland birds in which describes he wildlife on a square kilometre of farmland just outside Cambridge.

John was born in Manchester, England, and grew up in Rochdale, Lancashire, where he developed a life-long love of the pennine moorlands and their wildlife. His song Spotland Road describes the town, while Cotton Famine Road reflects on the response of the Rochdale millworkers to the American civil war.

His family then moved to a small village just outside Milton Keynes, where he began playing and writing songs in his teenage years. He studied Sociology in Leeds, renewing his love for the northern hills and missing the Last bus to Leeds.

John began work as a research assistant at the recently established Open University, before moving on to work at the National Extension College until he became self employed and collaborated closely with Learners First as a writer and researcher of learning materials. He lives in Cambridge, and spends time in France and Spain, both of which have had a profound influence on his songwriting.

For example, Rocks and stones was inspired by French artist Charly Devarennes, a good friend from the southern French town of Collioure. And The Children of the Sea describes the flight to exile during the Spanish civil war of the Spanish poet Antonio Machado and the title is a loose translation of the final line of Machado’s poem, Retrato.

R2 Rock’n’Reel commented in 2012 that ‘there is a political edge to John Meed’s songwriting’  which reflects his life-long commitments. Pavilion Parade talks about the 2010 student protests against the increase in tuition fees, and in particular the occupation of the Pavilion Parade building of Brighton University, in which his son took part – it is the focus of a short film by Greek documentary filmmaker Alexandros Papathansiou. Thesalonika describes the life of Greek resistance fighter Zoe Kaltaki whose struggle and exile in  Czechoslovakia reflected the turbulent events of the twentieth century. Rue Mouffetard draws on the tradition of the Chanson française to describe a street in the Latin Quarter of Paris and to reflect on the events of the 1871 Paris Commune.

John has collaborated with a wide range of musicians including Stu Hanna from Megson, Cliff Ward from The Willows, Lester-Lloyd Reason from The Lights, Rhys Wilson, Matt Kelly and Lucinda Fudge from Thursdays Band and flamenco guitarist Miguel Moreno, and writer and singer Tara Westover.

His songwriting has been compared to that of Al Stewart, Leonard Cohen, Christy Moore, Jacques Brel and Richard Thompson. His other influences also include John Lennon, Ray Davies and Eric Bogle. He has played at folk and acoustic clubs across the country and at Cambridge Folk Festival, Cromer Festival and Woodfest, and has shared stages with Waterson:Carthy, Philip Henry and Hannah Martin, Megson, Brooks Williams, Al Parrish, Martyn Wyndham-Reed, The Willows and Joe Solo.

His music has been played on several radio programmes including BBC Radio Wales’ Celtic Heartbeat and BBC Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson show, as well as several local radio programmes in England.

Discography

Albums
* Children of the sea (2005)
* Powder of the stars (2006)
* When the music ends (2009)
* Pavilion Parade (2011)
* The dust of time (2013)
* The Hills of Arran (2015)
* Never enough (2018)

Singles
* Na Zdrovye (2011)
* Rue Mouffetard (2013)
* Side by side (2018)