This Sunday, 6th October, at 7.15 pm UK time, The Suitcase will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the UK and worldwide on BBC Sounds. The programme, presented by Sean Cooney of the The Young’uns, follows on from an inspired idea the award-winning folk trio came up with while touring last year.
They left a suitcase in the foyer, encouraging audience members to leave them ideas for songs on luggage tags – the idea was very in keeping with their last album, which you may recall was titled Tiny Notes. It made a remarkable impact on many, not just because of those great voices but also because of the stories they told. They made a clear impression on KLOF’s Danny Neill at the time:
Those three vocalists, singing unaccompanied and in unison, make a sound that is elemental; it pins you to the wall. Then, after the primal thrill of the sound has bedded, your thoughts turn to those words.
Those words included the stories of Jack Merritt, who was working at a prisoner rehabilitation event in 2019 when he was killed at the London Bridge terror attack, and Lyra McKee (Lyra), the Belfast journalist who was killed in 2019 whilst observing a riot in Derry.
That album was an emotional experience to listen to on CD, so imagine the impact of listening live. It’s no surprise, therefore, that The Young’uns received so many tiny notes from audience members that included stories of hope, remembrance, love, grief and joy.
In The Suitcase, Sean opens the case to find a myriad of voices, all waiting…wanting to be heard.
He follows three stories of love… from a couple who found each other in their 70s through their shared passion of Middlesbrough Football Club, to a story of love, loss and renewal on the banks of the Thames. He meets up with Angela to hear a tale of how some borrowed boots outside a disco led to several dates, a marriage and three children. Inspired by this wonderful story, Sean writes a song to surprise the man with the borrowed boots – Angela’s now-husband.
Following the release of Tiny Notes, Danny spoke to Sean about the album and his passion for writing about real, ordinary heroes. He shared the roots of that passion:
I think when I first got into folk music and when we as a group discovered folk music in a pub in Stockton in 2003, it was just an amazing revelation to know that there was this whole world of songs and stories and tradition. Lots of it was rooted in the area we called home, and the most amazing thing was that we had no idea this thing existed, that there were songs about where we came from. Entering that world and being welcomed so warmly in that world, we just sort of immersed ourselves, breathed it all in and learned as many songs as possible. Personally, I got so obsessed with the old and traditional songs because they opened up a whole other world. I’d had forays into writing as a teenager, but once I discovered folk music and traditional song, I remember thinking to myself, there’s no point in me trying to write songs because these traditional songs, hundreds and hundreds of them, say everything I want to say or might say about the world around me. They cover so many emotions and feelings and stories, so for years, I just thought my musical life will be dedicated to preserving and singing these old songs, and then, at one point, we started our own folk club in Hartlepool, in this pub called The Harbour Of Refuge which overlooks the sea, and it was whilst we were there that we realised there weren’t actually many old songs about Hartlepool, so that kind of felt like a good point to say we know lots about folk songs now, let’s try and write some songs about the history of Hartlepool, its legends and its myths, its tragedies and triumphs. So that became our thing, writing songs about Hartlepool, singing sea shanties and mining songs. Folk music being something that was rooted in the past but could say a lot about today. It was actually one review we got from an album called ‘When Our Grandfather’s Said No’ in 2012, that said, “folk singers often fight yesterday’s battles, but today’s problems deserve their attention too,” and I thought, yeah, absolutely. It was almost like that was the thing that made me think, why not? Folk songs of the past were always telling the stories of the time in which they were written, so why not try and do that today? After having so many years learning all these songs and having that vocabulary and that repertoire, what Karine Polwart called an old jukebox of English and British Traditional song, available to you to borrow from and be inspired by, it felt a natural progression to start writing those songs.
Sean then revealed how some respond to those songs…
I think what drives me forward to keep doing it is the response I have had to certain songs I have written about real people. In particular, a song called ‘Be The Man’, which is the story of Matt Ogston, who lost his fiancé Naz to suicide because of his family’s reaction to discovering he was gay. Singing this song and having this beautiful relationship now with Matt, who uses the song when he goes around the country talking about his story and his mission to help people who are in this situation. I received several emails and messages from people saying directly that this song has really helped me. “Really helped me rebuild a relationship with my son,” said one person, “it helped me find the courage to come out,” said another person, and so in that sense, that is why I continue to do it because I know these things can make a difference. I suppose that is different from talking about political change or the world of protest song, but these are individual differences in people’s lives, and I suppose that is just as important to some people.
Don’t miss The Suitcase on BBC Radio 4. Details here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023phq
New Single and Song of the Day: Borrowed Boots
The Young’uns have also shared their new single, Borrowed Boots, which is also our Song of the Day.
Stream here: https://hudsonrecords.ffm.to/borrowedboots
You can catch The Young’uns performing The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff at London’s Kings Place on 11th October (tickets), followed by their Christmas Show:
The Young’uns at Christmas
Sat 07, Dec 2024
Kendal, Brewery Arts Centre
Wed 11, Dec 2024
Sunderland, The Fire Station
Fri 20, Dec 2024
Sheffield, Firth Hall
Sat 21, Dec 2024
London, Conway Hall
Sun 22, Dec 2024
Bristol, Beacon
Mon 23, Dec 2024
Manchester, Halle St Peter’s
Tickets: https://www.theyounguns.co.uk/live