+ Chuck Ragan + Crazy Arm

Frank Turner is a multi talented musician, originally from Bahrain though currently based in London. Since the demise of his former punk rock band Million Dead he has pursued a solo career in folk music.

His solo performances were initially a side project to Million Dead, allowing Turner to showcase some of his own song-writing capabilities and also to help bolster or expose Million Dead to new audiences. When Million Dead disbanded in September 2005, Frank Turner went solo full time.

May 2006 saw the release of his debut solo EP ‘Campfire Punkrock’, with three of the tracks accompanied by Dive Dive as the backing band. The EP sold out after a matter of weeks and had to be re-pressed in order to meet demand.

Turner’s debut ‘Sleep Is For The Week’ was released in January 2007 via Xtra Mile recordings. The album also features contributions from Dive Dive on a number of tracks. The last track ‘The Ballad of Me and My Friends’ is a live recording from a sold out show at the London Barfly and includes the vocal contribution of the 200 strong audience.

Turner then went on to complete an extensive UK tour in support of his debut and also toured as the support act for Biffy Clyro and Yourcodenameis:Milo. He also completed two US tours (including shows at SXSW) and a further UK band headlining tour.

He then released ‘The Real Damage’ EP in May 2007, which was followed by another tour, this time with Jonah Matranga, Joshua English and Jacob Golden.

Turner’s sophomore album ‘Love, Ire and Song’ was released in March 2008. To record the album Turner returned to the valley where he grew up and recorded the whole of it in a converted barn. Turner speaks of the album saying, “two different themes run through this album, distance and optimism. I’ve been far away from my loved ones, touring more than ever, but I’m also more confident in my worldview. And angry: definitely more angry”.

“After I finish writing an album, I often feel like a maniac at the end of a killing spree – I can see all this carnage around me, and it was obviously me who did it, but I can’t for the life of me remember how. So this batch of songs, my second record, is much like the others – I can remember these songs not being written, and now they are, but the details of how I got from one stage to another are a little hazy”.

September 2009 saw the release of Turner’s third album Poetry of the Deed. The album sees Turner return with another batch of quality songs, managing to capture the essence of his powerful and gritty live performances on record.