English folk rock band Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit are fronted by actor, poet, songwriter and musician Johnny Flynn, who was initially a member of the Sussex Wit before moving up to become the group’s front man.

Flynn cites both W.B Yeats and Shakespeare as influences, as well as musicians such as John Fahey, Vaughan Williams and Langhorne Slim.

Flynn’s debut album A Larum, released in 2008 received critical acclaim from such major publications as Rolling Stone magazine and the London Times. A lo-fi production aesthetic and a tendency toward traditional-sounding folk and blues flavours (fiddles, banjos and acoustic guitars abound) prove to be a perfect match with Flynn’s poetic but unpretentious lyrics and punk meets folk edge.

Flynn released the full band record, The Sweet William EP on 30th November 2009. The EP is an enchanting four track, which sees the band experiment with more instrumentally complex arrangements than their previous sound.

Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit are Johnny Flynn, David Beauchamp, Adam Beach, Joe Zeitlin, James Mathe, Lillie Flynn and Matt Edmonds.

Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit will be performing live at Manchester Club Academy on Sunday 5th Dec.