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She shall overcome - folk-legend Joan Baez announces extensive 2012 UK tour

Posted: 12 years ago

The 1960's were synonymous with a powerful American folk movement that pre-empted punk's pithy protestations by a clear decade and a half. Key figures during these unstable times (particularly with the Vietnam War still raging) include Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs and Woody Guthrie's ongoing legacy. Basically, if you hadn't played at the Newport Folk Festival (that's Rhode Island, not South Wales), you weren't part of the gang.

Female protests came in the form of distinctively-voice folk-singer Joan Baez who, with her familiar vibrato and rousing self-penned compositions and familiar activist cover-versions, has successfully completed over 50 years of performance and human rights championing. The lady has guile - in the '60s, she certainly had balls. Standing up to the establishment was generally frowned upon by the US government and even more so when instigated by, God forbid, a woman. Thankfully, she hasn't stopped 'sticking it to the man (and woman)' and continues to act as a voice for race, sexuality and liberation. "We Shall Overcome", her first big song of note, has rarely sounded more poignant in these troubled times.

In 2012, Joan Baez will bring her exhaustive catalogue of anthems and lullabies to the UK, with dates to include rare stops in Tunbridge Wells (First night - 23rd Feb), Salisbury, Basingstoke and Poole, as well as the bigger destinations such as Liverpool, Bristol, London (Royal Festival Hall - two shows) and the final show in Brighton on 26th March. You have a couple of weeks before these go on sale - tickets will be available from next Friday (7th October) at 9am. More shows may be added before then - meanwhile, we'll post a reminder on the week of release - you won't want to miss this!

Paul Pledger