Acclaimed North East folk act The Young’uns will celebrate two decades of singing together when they hit Ponterdawe Arts Centre on Saturday 26th April, as part of their spring 2025 20th anniversary UK tour.
The much-loved trio – comprising Sean Cooney, Michael Hughes & David Eagle – will also each be celebrating their own individual 40th birthdays during the UK tour in addition to the 20th anniversary of the band.
Twenty years ago you might have thought it a far-fetched prediction. But today there’s no denying it – The Young’uns have become one of UK folk music’s hottest properties and best-loved acts.
The then teenage friends had literally stumbled over folk music in 2003 in the back room of The Sun Inn in their native Stockton-on-Tees, never knowing that such music existed. They heard people singing songs they’d never heard before. Songs without instruments. Songs in their own accents. Songs about places they knew. Folk songs. They joined in, became regulars and, as the youngest people in the room, were dubbed ‘The Young’uns’ – a name that, for better or worse, has stuck.
20 years since that fateful night, they’ve carried that unfortunate name around the globe, from Sydney to Vancouver, from Radio Tees to BBC Radio 4, won three coveted BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, played Glastonbury Festival and gained a reputation for singing life affirming songs of social conscience in immaculate three part harmony.
In recent years they have touched audiences on both sides of the Atlantic via their acclaimed stage show (and album) The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff, based on the life of a Teesside local hero, and released the powerful, socially aware follow-up Tiny Notes in April 2023. Their narrative songs – often moving, never mawkish – cut through the noise and get straight to the heart of the matter, be they personal stories that triggered global headlines or more intimate tales of everyday heroes closer to home.
With their strong songwriting, spellbinding harmonies and rapid fire humour (the band’s David Eagle is also an award-winning stand-up comedian), they have achieved one of the trickiest balancing acts – an ability to truly ‘make ‘em laugh and make ‘em cry.’
Talking about the 20th anniversary UK tour announcement, Sean Cooney said today; “It’s been quite a journey. From the back room of a pub in Stockton to the Albert Hall. We’ll be paying tribute to the singers who’ve inspired us and the songs that have taken us around the world and back.“
Last remaining tickets for The Young’uns 20th anniversary UK tour are available now via https://www.theyounguns.co.uk/live
