see The King Blues for free

just buy a copy of The Big Issue and go to a show

news: Thursday 15th January 2009

The new year is always a pretty bad time to be homeless. It's cold, it's wet and everyone's skint. The lead singer of The King Blues, Jonny 'Itch' Fox, found himself homeless in London at the age of 18 and like lots of other people in that situation he turned to selling The Big Issue.

Now a few years later, Fox, has again teamed up with The Big Issue for a February tour. Fox has said, "As many of you know, I was homeless as a teenager and I was thrown a real lifeline by The Big Issue, it not only made it possible for me to no longer have to beg but also cut down massively on police harassment - I couldn't be moved on from my designated area for no reason. When times were at their toughest, The Big Issue really helped me out."

All you need to do to get in to the gigs for free is to buy a copy of The Big Issue - this will act as your ticket and you can be satisfied in the knowledge that your money is going directly to the vendor rather than on chuggers and admin. The Big Issue costs £1.50 but we wholeheartedly recommend you let the vendor keep the change.

From his hoemeless beginnings Fox found himself and his band The King Blues signed to Field Recordings/Island Records, with their songs being played on Radio 1 and their videos being shown on television.

Coming from this background of homelessness and activism The King Blues are one of the few modern bands who have a political edge to both their songs and their lives, and it was after doing an interview with The Big Issue that conversation led to the idea of The King Blues and the magazine teaming up for the band's tour in February 2009. This year will also see The King Blues release their next single 'Save The World, Get The Girl' on Monday 16th February.

The 'Big Issue' Tour dates are as follows:
Thu 05 February London, launch in the vendors area of the Big Issue offices followed by a full show at Fire, Vauxhall
Sun 08 February Barfly, Birmingham
Mon 09 February Barfly, Cardiff
Tue 10 February The Croft, Bristol
Wed 11 February Barfly, Liverpool
Sat 14 February Barfly, Glasgow

The King Blues

article by: Scott Williams

photos by: Gary Stafford

published: 15/01/2009 10:07



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