Billy Bragg fights ‘tooth and nail’ for Sheffield show

BILLY Bragg, winner of The Roots Award 2013 at the BBC Radio2 Folk Awards, brings his Tooth and Nail tour to Sheffield City Hall tomorrow.

The tour is aptly named after his first new studio album in five years “Tooth & Nail” which is due to be released on Cooking Vinyl Records on March 18 2014.

Drawing on personal rather than political themes, the album was recorded over a whirlwind five-day session with Grammy Award winning producer Joe Henry whose production credits include Solomon Burke, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello and Hugh Laurie. Joe took Billy out of his comfort zone to record the album as all vocals were recorded live without retakes or overdubs.

Tracks feature an accomplished crew of musicians, including Greg Leisz (Bon Iver), Patrick Warren (Lana Del Rey), Jay Bellerose (Regina Spektor) and David Piltch (Ramblin' Jack Eliot).

The spontaneous results are, according to Billy, a return to the rootsy sound of 1998’s Mermaid Avenue sessions drawing on soul, country and folk music influences to explore the ups and downs of relationships that have stood the test of time.