Billy Bragg and Joe Henry at York

BILLY Bragg and Joe Henry play York Opera House on Tuesday, January 24, and tickets may be in short supply soon because a performance at Whitley Bay Playhouse the following day has already sold out.

In March 2016, Billy Bragg and Joe Henry, guitars in hand, boarded a Los Angeles-bound train at Chicago’s Union Station looking to reconnect with the culture of railroad travel and the music it inspired. Winding along 2,728 miles of track over four days, the pair recorded classic railroad songs in waiting rooms and at trackside while the train paused to pick up passengers. The four-day trip covered more than 2,700 miles and features songs made famous by Lead Belly, Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Doc Watson and Woody Guthrie. It also features covers of songs written by Gordon Lightfoot, John Hartford and Jean Ritchie.

Bragg, the politically-minded British artist and activist, has long combined equal elements of folk and punk with lyrics that swing from political to romantic themes. Henry, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina who eventually made his way to New York City, released his first album 30 years ago. By the late 1990s, he was starting to make a name for himself not only as a recording artist, but as an in-demand producer – Henry produced Bragg's most recent album, 2013’s Tooth & Nail.

On the Shine A Light tour, they’ll be playing songs from the journey, along with favourites from their own back catalogues.

Box Office: 0844-871-3024 or atgtickets.com/York

Viv Hardwick