ANOTHER year, and another thrilling selection of great folk music coming our way over the next few months, starting on Saturday night when The Mighty Doonans make their annual appearance at Washington’s Davy Lamp, to start off their season.

Be sure to phone ahead for ticket availability on this one, as it’s always packed out.

On Sunday, my own year starts off with a solo gig at South Shields folk club, which starts at 7.30 pm, upstairs at The Customs House. For me, it’s always a great way to kick off another round of touring, at a friendly, long-established local club, more so since next week sees the start of our mammoth Pitmen Poets tour.

Listen out for the BBC Radio Tees afternoon show next Tuesday, when Billy Mitchell, Bob Fox, Benny Graham and I will be invading their studio to wreak havoc on their unsuspecting listening audience, prior to hitting the road for the long haul.

Looking further ahead, Gateshead’s Sage will be offering us an interesting selection of concerts this month, including American singer-songwriter Tom Russell on January 12, Australian guitar wizard Tommy Emmanuel on January 22, evergreen songwriter Tom Paxton on January 24, and a special presentation of Peter Bellamy’s folk-opera The Transports on January 26, featuring an all-star cast including The Young Uns, Fautus, Nancy Kerr, Rachel MacShane, Greg Russell and Matthew Crampton.

Meanwhile, please continue to send me details of any and all folk music events that are happening in your vicinity, and I’ll be happy to promote them here. Also, all you singers and musicians out there, please let me have details of your gigs and concerts, so I can help spread the word. As ever I’m at jez@jezlowe.com, just waiting for you to get in touch.