First, Shed Seven two-nighter, now Jack Savoretti confirmed for July 18 at Museum Gardens. Fourth gig to be announced soon

Jack Savoretti: First York appearance since 2017. Picture: Supplied

JACK Savoretti is to headline July 18’s triple bill at York Museum Gardens with support from special guests Foy Vance and York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

General ticket sales open at 9am this morning at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/jack-savoretti/york-museum-gardens/2929799.

London-born acoustic singer-songwriter Savoretti, 40, has released seven studio albums and one compilation, Songs From Different Times, since 2007.

Savoretti, whose exotic full name is Giovanni Edgar Charles Galletto-Savoretti, previously played York in an intimate gig at Fibbers on July 16 2017, when promoter Mr H, alias legendary York club boss Tim Hornsby, enthused: “He’s a class act, a modern-day troubadour, a thrilling performer, a giant.

“Our hero may have started as a lonely acoustic troubadour, relying on not much more than his songs and that careworn growl, but we’re now witnessing a gorgeous widescreen sweep, drawing on a rich Italian heritage, with Morricone-like flourishes and battlefield last stands.”

Storytelling Bangor bluesman Foy Vance

Such sentiments still stand, rubber-stamped by the chart accolade of Savoretti hitting number one with his past two studio albums, March 2019’s Singing To Strangers, recorded at Ennio Morricone’s studio in Rome, and June 2021’s Europiana, conceived in lockdowns at Jack’s Oxfordshire home. A deluxe edition, Europiana Encore, followed in 2022.

In an Instagram post last November, Savoretti revealed he was “in the studio, where we are putting the final touches to the new album”.

The title and release date details are yet to be announced but CharlesHutchPress’s early request for an interview elicited this response from Chelsea Bakewell, marketing manager for concert promoters Futuresound: “Jack’s team mentioned they are pausing on interview until the album is out so this isn’t something which can be facilitated at this moment in time I’m afraid.” Watch this space!

Northern Irish storytelling bluesman, survivor, rocker and folk hero Foy Vance, 49, will be returning to York for the first time since headlining York Barbican on his Signs Of Life tour in August 2022.

Now living in Tottenham, London, York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich, 34, will release his fifth studio album, Some Things Break, next Friday on Dirty Hit Records, his regular home since becoming the label’s first signing at the age of 21 in 2011.

Composed over the past two years at locations across the globe, from London to Nashville, Washington to Stockholm, Some Things Break was produced by Grammy Award-winning Jimmy Hogarth and features collaborations with fellow songwriters Mikky Ekko, Jamie Squire and Jon Green.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich: New album to be released on February 9. Picture: Harry Pearson

The track listing will be:  I’m Always Saying Sorry; Moon Landing Hoax; Break In The Weather; New York; Some Things Break; Spokane, Washington; God’s Best; A Love Like That; Only You and Don’t Give Up on The Light.

“Learning to hold onto certain things and let go of others, with as much grace as possible, I feel like I’m hiding less on this record,” says Leftwich. “Ultimately, I think it’s a record about a kind of slow acceptance that some things break and, for me, sometimes that’s necessary for healing.”

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Leftwich will open his eight-date spring tour at Leeds Brudenell Social Club on April 4, where he will be accompanied by The 1975’s Jamie Squire on piano. For tickets, head to:  www.benjaminfrancisleftwich.com

Leftwich has played myriad concerts in York over the past 15 years, none more contrasting than an exclusive, intimate album launch gig for Gratitude at the 50-capacity FortyFive Vinyl Café, Micklegate, on March 15 2019, followed only a fortnight later by York Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe.

Savoretti’s concert will be part of a four-night run of Futuresound promotions at York Museum Gardens. York’s revitalised Britpop survivors, Shed Seven, will ride in on a crest of a wave for sold-out 30th anniversary gigs on July 19 and 20, with The Libertines’ Peter Doherty in support, after topping the album charts for the first time with A Matter Of Time on January 12.

The fourth concert will be announced soon.

The poster for Jack Savoretti’s July 18 concert at York Museum Gardens

More Things To Do in York and beyond for rebels and revellers alike. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 10 for 2023, from The Press, York

On the run: Pilot Theatre in Manjeet Mann’s teenage drama Run, Rebel. Picture: Pamela Raith

A TEENAGE rebel,  a vintage murder mystery, panel games, circus and singing feats and a diverse women’s festival command Charles Hutchinson’s attention. 

Play premiere of the week: Pilot Theatre in Run, Rebel, York Theatre Royal, 7pm, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 1pm, Wednesday to Friday; 2pm, Saturday

SCHOOLGIRL Amber Rai is trapped by her family’s rules, their expectations, her own fears, but on the running track she is completely free. As her body speeds up, the world slows down, the tangled lines in her head becoming straighter.

York company Pilot Theatre combine physical theatre and mesmerising visuals in Manjeet Mann’s stage adaptation of her verse novel, suitable for age 11 upwards, as she addresses domestic violence, alcoholism, bullying and discrimination. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Blue diamond ceramic by Ilona Sulikova at Pyramid Gallery, York

Exhibition of the week: Abstract, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until March 28, open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday; 10am to 5.30pm, Saturdays

CZECH-BORN York ceramacist Ilona Sulikova will be at Pyramid Gallery today from 12 noon to 2pm to meet gallery visitors and give an insight to her large, full-bodied raku-fired vessels , decorated with intricate geometric patterns that repeat, expand and contract as they progress. “The intention is to create sequences of rhythm and movement,” she says.

Abstract complements ceramics by Sulikova and Carolyn Genders with oil paintings by Kimbal Bumstead and glass sculptures by Crispian Heath, Yuki Kokai and Jon Lewis. 

Elysian Singers: Psalms, sonnets and songs at the Unitarian Chapel

Concerts at the double: Late Music presents Ruth Lee, Harp Recital, March 4, 1pm to 2pm; Elysian Singers, Psalms, Sonnets And Songs, March 4, 7.30pm; both at St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York

IN an afternoon concert of folk-inspired new music for harp, Ruth Lee premieres a David Lancaster work, visits Eleanor Turner’s Alice In Escher’s Wonderland and gives a rare performance of Hindemith’s Sonata for Harp (First Movement).

At night, the Elysian Singers present a tripartite modern take on the milestone publication of William Byrd’s Psalmes, Sonnets and Songs Of Sadness and Piety in 1588. Composer Nick Williams gives a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm ahead of the premiere of his new work. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.

Rachael Maskell MP: Taking part in York International Women’s Week

Festival of the week: York International Women’s Week, March 4 until March 12

UNDER the theme of Solidarity, York International Women’s Week embraces live and online events. A full programme is available at yorkinternationalwomensweek.wordpress.com or in print from community venues, libraries, cafés and independent shops.

Among the highlights will be End Period Poverty: A Community Conversation in the Priory Street Centre on March 10 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Confirmed for the panel are chair Justine Hughes, activist and period queen Anna Johnston, York Central MP Rachael Maskell, Freedom4Girls’ Tina Leslie and YorKits’ Janice Lawson.

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue: Host Jack Dee and his panellists Tony Hawks, Pippa Evans, Marcus Brigstocke and Milton Jones at York Barbican

Spoilt for choice at York Barbican: Cirque, The Greatest Show, March 5, 1pm and 5pm; I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, March 6, 8pm; Giovanni Pernice: Made In Italy, March 9, 7.30pm

MUSICAL theatre meets circus spectacle in Cirque, where West End and Broadway hits combine with aerialists, contortionists, and feats of agility and flair.

Droll Jack Dee hosts BBC Radio 4’s antidote to panel games, setting the challenges to Tony Hawks, Pippa Evans, Milton Jones and Marcus Brigstocke. Cue inspired nonsense, Mornington Crescent and musical accompaniment from Colin Sell.

Strictly Come Dancing 2021 professional champ Giovanni Pernice journeys to his homeland in Made In Italy, promising hot, hot, hot action with his ensemble of ballroom dancers and singers.  Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Giovanni Pernice: Made in Italy, performing in York

Murder mystery in York: The Mousetrap, Grand Opera House, York, March 6 to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

AGATHA Christie’s mystery The Mousetrap, “the longest running play in the world”, takes in a return to York’s Grand Opera House on its 70th anniversary tour.

Ian Talbot directs this twisting, turning tale of intrigue and suspense set at Monkswell Manor, a stately countryside guesthouse where seven strangers find themselves snowed in as news spreads of a murder in London. When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst, but whodunnit? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Conducting enquiries: Joseph Reed as Detective Sergeant Trotter in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Matt Crockett

Soulful musical journey of the week: Arsen Petrosyan, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, March 10, 7.30pm

ARMENIAN duduk specialist Arsen Petrosyan returns to the NCEM after his Making Tracks showcase there. This time he leads his quartet, featuring Astghik Snetsunts (on qanun), Avetis Keoseyan (dhol/percussion) and Vladimir Papikyan (santur), through Armenian traditional, early, classical and sacred music. 

Hokin Janapar: My Soul’s Journey is his nostalgic exploration of the  music that has stirred his soul in turbulent times, reflecting the continued odyssey of his nation on the border between Europe and Asia. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Arsen Petrosyan: Playing Armenian duduk music at NCEM, York

The great gig in the café: 50 Years of Dark Side Of The Moon: Vinyl Listening Party, FortyFive Vinyl Café, Micklegate, York, March 23, 6pm to 7pm

CELEBRATING 50 years of one of the greatest albums of all time, FortyFive Vinyl Cafe is marking this momentous occasion by inviting you to bask in an early second issue of the original 1973 pressing of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon.

“These copies were produced for a short time only, between first pressing and first repress,” explains Dom White, from FortyFive. A short break for drinks will bridge the gap between Sides 1 and 2, the other side of the ‘Moon’. Reissued vinyl copies of the album will be for sale, along with a new book detailing the vinyl pressing history. Entry is free.

Dark Side Of The Moon: Welcome to the Pink Floyd Listening Party at FortyFive Vinyl Café, York

More Things To Do in York and beyond despite Killer Queen banning rock music. List No. 69, courtesy of The Press, York

Bohemians in rhapsody: We Will Rock You weaves its way through 24 Queen songs at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Johan Persson

FROM Queen’s “rock theatrical” to Britney fandom, a café’s mug exhibition to folk’s witching hour, outlaw cabaret with gin to confronting digital intrusiveness, Charles Hutchinson finds diversity aplenty to enjoy.

Musical of the week: We Will Rock You, Grand Opera House, York, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday

WRITER and comedian Ben Elton directs the 20th anniversary of We Will Rock You, the “guaranteed-to-blow-your-mind” Queen musical built around his dystopian futuristic storyline.

In a system that bans rock music, a handful of rebels, the Bohemians, vows to fight against an all-powerful global company and its boss, the Killer Queen.

Musical advisor Brian May says “the world’s first true Rock Theatrical” now has a state-of-the-art new look, with a story of breaking free from conformity more relevant than ever. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.

Reiko Kaneko: Taking part in the Cups and Such exhibition at FortyFive Vinyl Cafe. Picture: Cat Garcia

Cracking (or hopefully not) exhibition of the week: Cups and Such…or, A Hug In A Mug, FortyFive Vinyl Café, Micklegate, York, until March 6

“A HUG for you, or for someone else, Cups and Such is an exhibition of beautiful, handmade drinking vessels that promises to offer comfort and solace for all,” says curator Lotte Inch.

Working in tandem with FortyFive Vinyl Café, that welcoming haven of music, coffee and comfort food, Lotte Inch Gallery has selected cups, mugs, beakers, tea bowls and more, made by hand by Rebecca Callis, Reiko Kaneko, Ali Tomlin and the Leach Studios to “offer someone a moment of warmth, a sense of connection and an opportunity to embrace”. 

“This can’t be it,” ponders Mark Watson in Pocklington tonight. Picture: Matt Crockett

Topical comedy gig of the outside York: Mark Watson, This Can’t Be It, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm

AMID so much pandemic pondering about the fragility of life recently, don’t worry, comedian Mark Watson has it covered.  At 41 – he turns 42 tomorrow – he is halfway through his days on Earth, according to the life expectancy calculator app that cost him all of £1.49.

That life is in the best shape in living memory but one problem remains. A huge one. Spiritual enquiry meets high-octane observational comedy as the No More Jockeys cult leader strives to cram two years of pathological overthinking into an evening of stand-up. “Maybe we’ll even solve the huge problem,” says Watson. “Doubt it, though.” Box office for returns only: 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Shereen Roushbaiani in Saving Britney at Theatre@ 41, Monkgate, York

Noughties’ nostalgia of the week: Saving Britney, John Cooper Studio, Theatre@41 Monkgate, York, tomorrow (13/2/2022) at 8pm

MILLENNIALS such as Jean grew up with Britney Spears. Saving Britney recounts how the Princess of Pop influenced Jean’s life and how the connections shared between them led to an unbelievable moment of self-discovery.

Inspired by the #FreeBritney movement, Shereen Roushbaiani takes a humorous yet heart-breaking look at celebrity obsession, sexuality and growing up in the early Noughties. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Heal & Harrow’s Rachel Newton and Lauren MacColl

Folk concert of the week: Heal & Harrow, National Centre for Early Music, York, Monday, 7.30pm

HEAL & Harrow are folk musicians Rachel Newton, from The Shee, The Furrow Collective and Spell Songs, and Lauren MacColl, of Rant and Salt House.

Working as duo for the first time, they combine newly composed music and accompanying visuals in a tribute to those persecuted in the 16th and 17th century Scottish Witch Trials, 80 per cent of them women.

The project also explores historical beliefs in the supernatural and modern-day parallels, each piece being based on commissioned works by author Mairi Kidd. Box office: 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk.

Reality check: Corinne Kilvington’s Polly in The Girl In The Machine

Premiere of the week: Theatre Space North-East in Girl In The Machine, John Cooper Studio, Theatre@41 Monkgate, York, February 17, 7.30pm

STEF Smith’s ground-breaking play Girl In The Machine explores our unease over digital intrusiveness, then pushes it a step into the future in Jamie Brown’s touring production.

In brief: Owen (Lawrence Neale) and Polly (Corinne Kilvington) are in successful careers and wildly in love, feeling ready to take on the world, but when a mysterious new technology, promising a break from the daily grind, creeps into everyone’s phones, their world is turned upside down.

As the line between physical and digital dissipates, Owen and Polly are forced to question whether their definitions of reality and freedom are the same. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Back on the Chain Gang: Miles Salter lines up new band members for Black Swan gig

Meet the new Gang: Miles And The Chain Gang, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, February 19, 8pm to 11.30pm

YORK writer, musician and storyteller Miles Salter is back with a new Chain Gang for a headline show at the Black Swan.

“This is the first gig with the new line-up and it’s sounding great,” says Salter, introducing Daniel Bowater on keyboards, Steve Purton on drums, Mat Watt on bass and Mark Hawkins on lead guitar.

Miles And The Chain Gang will be supported by Sarah Louise Boyle, Lee Moore and Monkey Paw. “It’ll be a diverse and fun evening, so do come along,” says Salter. Tickets: at prime4.bandcamp.com/merch/miles or on the door.

Sax Forte: First concert of York Unitarians’ 2022 lunchtime series

Sax to the max: Sax Forte, York Unitarians Friday Lunchtime Concerts, St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, March 11, 12.30pm

CELEBRATING their 350th anniversary in 2022, York Unitarians open their 11th season of  Friday lunchtime concerts with the return of York saxophone quartet Sax Forte.

Playing together since 2016, Chris Hayes, Keith Schooling, Jane Parkin and David Badcock all have extensive experience with other quartets, bands and orchestras. They are equally at home playing programmes of serious and light classical music or jazz and swing standards. Tickets cost £6 (cash) on the door.

Gin up: Drag diva Velma Celli hosts Outlaw Live cabaret night with a dash of York Gin

Not just the tonic: Velma Celli and York Gin’s Outlaw Live cabaret night, National Centre for Early Music, York, March 25, 8pm to 10.30pm

YORK drag diva Velma Celli invites you to “celebrate your inner outlaw” at York Gin’s cabaret soiree at the NCEM.

For one night only, glamorous Velma and friends will be celebrating all that’s naughty, villainous and defiantly outrageous about York and its outlaws, from Guy Fawkes to Dick Turpin, with a combination of song, laughter and York Gin.

Tickets are on sale at tickettailor.com/events/yorkgin/590817/ and admission includes a gin cocktail on arrival.

FortyFive Vinyl Café has 30 free tickets for John & Yoko’s Imagine film screening

The poster for the remastered Imagine, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s film

IMAGINE there are free tickets to see the 50th anniversary screening of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Imagine film.

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one, I hope someday you’ll join us for an exclusive show at FortyFive Vinyl Café, the Micklegate café bar, record store and music venue in York.

That day will be Thursday, September 9, but hurry, hurry, because only 30 tickets for the 7.30pm event are available to reserve via fortyfive.uk.com/events/imagine-50th-anniversary-screening.

FortyFive Vinyl Café will present this in-person screening of the remastered 1972 film in surround sound in collaboration with the Music Venue Trust, in celebration of the song, album and film.

Meanwhile, Charlatans’ frontman Tim Burgess’s Tim’s Twitter Listening Party will host a simultaneous online Listening Party event, where the experience of watching and listening to the music of John & Yoko’s film will be enhanced by a second-screen Twitter experience.

Jonny Hannah’s Songs For Darktown Lovers have their Valentine swansong at Lotte Inch Gallery and FortyFive Vinyl Cafe this week

Dead Men’s Suits, 2019, by Jonny Hannah

JONNY Hannah’s Songs For Darktown Lovers is the Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever of exhibitions.

His music-inspired Double A-sides show is split between two independent York businesses: Lotte Inch Gallery, at 14 Bootham, and gallery curator Lotte’s friends Dan Kentley and Dom White’s FortyFive Vinyl Café in Micklegate.

“Songs For Darktown Lovers roots itself in all things music, and of course, love,” says Lotte. “With Sinatra’s Songs For Swinging Lovers playing in the background, this exhibition is an alternative Valentine for the creatively minded.

“It’s also a love letter to ‘Darktown’, a fictional place that Jonny refers to when modern life becomes too much, a place with countless retreats, all revealed in his book Greetings From Darktown, published by Merrell Publishers in 2014.”

One-of-a-kind Scottish artist, designer, illustrator, lecturer and all-round creative spark Hannah has exhibited previously at Lotte’s gallery, and she contacted him last spring with a view to him doing a show for FortyFive.

“She told me about this vinyl café because I like to go to charity shops and buy old vinyl albums that I know will be awful but have striking covers, and then I create my own newly reinterpreted vinyl sleeves from that,” says culture-vulture Jonny, who attended the exhibition openings at FortyFive, where he span vintage discs and played an acoustic guitar set with fellow artist Jonathan Gibbs, and at Lotte’s gallery amid the aroma of morning-after coffee the next day.

Dance Stance Shoe, by Jonny Hannah

“What’s been nice with this show is having the chance to do the more informal works for the café and the formal pieces, such as hand-painted wooden cut-outs, for the gallery.”

Happenstance led to the Darktown Lovers theme. “Originally, I was going to do the show before Christmas but time ran out, and then I thought Valentine’s Day would be a good setting,” says Jonny.

“So, the work is inspired by love songs and songs I love – as they’re not all love songs. Country rock; a bit of classical; some French chanson; rockabilly. The café exhibition has become this imagined playlist of vinyl that never will be, but I’ve made it as the perfect playlist in my head.”

Growing up in Dunfermline, before studying at Cowdenbeath College of Knowledge, Liverpool School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London, Jonny recalls how he would pick out album covers such as Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell.

“Everyone had that album in Dunfermline! Then, as I became older, and I like to think more sophisticated, I was drawn to those wonderful Blue Note jazz covers. I loved the 12-inch format; going to the record shop on Saturdays with your pocket money was so exciting,” he says.

“Then it became CDs, and now downloads, but it’s great that vinyl has made a comeback. My sons play music, but I’ve no idea what, because it’s all on headphones. In fact, they complain I play my music too loud, which is surely the wrong way round! But music should be a social thing, bringing you together to see a band or enjoy a DJ set.

“Music that matters to you is as important as buying clothes or a pair of shoes or the first time you saw a film like Kes. You remember the mood you were in when you first heard it.”

Harmonium, by Jonny Hannah

Since graduating in 1998, Jonny has worked both as a commercial designer and an illustrator and printmaker. He lives by the sea in Southampton, where he lectures in illustration at Southampton Solent University.

He boasts an impressive list of exhibitions, advertising projects and clients, such as Royal Mail, the New York Times, the Guardian and Conde Nast, and he has published a series of “undeniably Hannah-esque” books with Merrell Publishers, Mainstone Press and Design For Today.

You may recall his Darktown Turbo Taxi solo exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, in 2018, and Darktown lies at the heart of his latest works too, but what is Darktown, Jonny?

“It started off as my idea that it was on the edge of any city that had a collection of odd characters, that had places they frequented, maybe shops too,” he says.

“The inspiration came from Fats Waller, the jazz singer, singing Darktown Strutter’s Ball, and C W Stoneking replying Don’t Go Dancin’ Down The Darktown Strutter’s Ball. So, Fats is saying ‘go’; Stoneking is saying ‘don’t go’, and you think, ‘oh god, what should I do?’!

“I decided I should go down there and it’s become my alternative reality to my reality, as opposed to one of my great hates: Star Wars fantasy.”

Defining that alternative reality, Jonny says: “It has to be urban, ever since I left home in Dunfermline; it has to have a lot of concrete, like there is in Southampton, my home now.

Pepe Le Moko by Jonny Hannah

“You’re cherry picking from what you do and don’t want to experience, including shops, characters, streets.”

One street, in particular: Shirley High Street, where Jonny lives in Southampton. “I take some of the characters from there and mix them in my head with historical characters,” he says. “But it all has to have that dollop of reality; if you go too far off on fantastical bent, it isn’t Darktown.”

How did Jonny develop his distinctive style? “You have to be patient, to make things work, for your style to appear. I’d start from other artists and do my own versions, and after a decade, maybe a couple of decades, I’ve found my own style with life’s experience feeding into it: who you are, where you live. Whereas if you force it, that’s when it becomes disingenuous.

“The more you do it, the more those things inside you, what’s internal, becomes external and is expressed in your art. That’s when you overtake your influences and your voice becomes the significant voice, not the ones that inspired you.”

Jonny Hannah’s pricing policy is admirable. “The idea of my work being available potentially to almost anyone is exciting, so I’ve sold it for as little as £5. I price it for what I think it’s worth; even if people say I undervalue it, I don’t think I do,” he says.

“I love the idea that my art is distributed rather than being stuck in my lock-up, so the possibility of it being someone’s home, office, or place of work, is important to me.

“I also like to think of myself as being like a medium holding a séance, where my art is telling you about Fats Waller and Jacques Brel, if you don’t know who Jacques Brel is; I’m contacting their spirit, so I’m doing my job as a conveyor of popular culture that you can connect with.”

Cakes & Ale Shoe, by Jonny Hannah

Jonny acknowledges the significance of art that provokes and can change opinions in the world, “but I don’t need to be one of those people”, he says. “I like the idea that art is entertaining. I’ve always opted for entertainment, for enjoyment, for making people happy with what I create. I have fun making them, and that notion of enjoyment is so important to me.”

Jonny’s palette of colours exudes that element of enjoyment and fun too. “I don’t say that it’s specifically down to my colour blindness – I’m colour blind for green and blue – but I did start by using primary colours, then varying their brightness,” he says.

“You can try out endless variations and for me now it’s always blue, red, yellow, black and white and variations on that,” he says. “I’ve tried to be subtle with colour but it just doesn’t work for me!”

His Darktown Turbo Taxi, first exhibited in his Yorkshire Sculpture Park show, and now acquired by Southampton Solent University for permanent display there, is a case in point. “It was my agent’s idea that I should buy this Saab 9-3 Turbo off Gumtree and paint it. Afterwards, someone said ‘you can’t miss it in a car park’, and he was right! That notion of not being able to miss it is part of my painting philosophy.”

That said, Jonny reveals: “I don’t think too much. I say to my students thinking can be a bad thing. If you face a blank canvas, then start creating, you come up with something better. Drawing is a form of thinking in itself; you start drawing, you are thinking.

A Confederacy Of Dunces, by Jonny Hannah

“You find that certain things keep coming back in your work, and what I know I can be guilty of is laziness, when I need to find new inspiration or find new ways of expressing things. It’s always that thing of challenging yourself creatively. There’s nothing worse than repetition.”

After releasing his latest book, A Confederacy Of Dunces, for The Folio Society, Jonny is now working on a commission for Museums Northumberland on Northumberland folklore that will run from May to September at Woodhorn Museum, Ashington, Hexham Old Gaol, Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum and Berwick Museum and Art Gallery.

He is also creating a set of woodcuts for The Skids’ frontman Richard Jobson’s book of short stories set in an imaginary bar in Berlin called The Alabama Song. “Richard lives in Berlin for half the year now, and the woodcuts will go on show in an exhibition at events where he’ll sing and I’ll play guitar,” says Jonny.

Also bubbling up is a book on the history of pop culture, as his prodigious productivity continues unabated, with a mischievous spirit at play. “When you’re young, you get told to tidy up, but as you get older, mess is a creative thing,” reckons Jonny.

“If you’re creative, there’s an immaturity to you that never goes away. You don’t have to tidy up until it really does become too much!”

Jonny Hannah’s Songs For Darktown Lovers runs until March 7. Lotte Inch Gallery is open Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, or by appointment on 01904 848660. FortyFive Vinyl Café’s opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm; Saturday, 10am to 6pm; Sunday, 10am to 5pm.

Be good to see Jonny Hannah’s Valentine artwork in York, wouldn’t it? Now you can in his Songs For Darktown Lovers shows at FortyFive Vinyl Cafe and Lotte Inch Gallery. UPDATED

Dead Men’s Suits, 2019, by Jonny Hannah

CULTURE vulture artist Jonny Hannah is teaming up with Lotte Inch Gallery and FortyFive Vinyl Café to bring “a unique Valentine” bond of music and love to York.

Songs For Darktown Lovers, his exhibition of Double A-sides, will be split between the two independent York businesses, on show from February 8 to March 7.

Having exhibited with Lotte Inch Gallery, in Bootham, over the years, one-of-a-kind Scottish artist, designer, illustrator and all-round creative spark Hannah is returning to York for his music-inspired collaboration with gallery curator Lotte Inch and her friends Dan Kentley and Dom White at FortyFive Vinyl Café in Micklegate.

Shoe by Jonny Hannah

“Songs For Darktown Lovers roots itself in all things music, and of course, love,” says Lotte. “With Sinatra’s Songs For Swinging Lovers playing in the background, this exhibition is an alternative Valentine for the creatively minded.

“It’s also a love letter to ‘Darktown’, a fictional place that Jonny refers to when modern life becomes too much, a place with countless retreats, all revealed in his book Greetings From Darktown, published by Merrell Publishers in 2014.”

The exhibition in two places will combine newly reinterpreted vinyl sleeves on display at FortyFive Vinyl Café with prints and hand-painted wooden cut-outs at both venues.

Harmonium by Jonny Hannah

“This will be a rich double-exhibition of work by a highly respected and totally unique artist,” says Lotte, curator of both displays. “It will definitely not be your usual Valentine’s cliché,” she promises.

BAFTA award-winning Jonny Hannah was born and raised in Dunfermline, Scotland, and studied at the Cowdenbeath College of Knowledge, Liverpool Art School and then the Royal College of Art in London. 

Pepe Le Moko by Jonny Hannah

Since graduation in 1998, he has worked both as a commercial designer and an illustrator and printmaker. He lives by the sea in Southampton, where he is a senior lecturer in illustration at Southampton Solent University.

Hannah boasts an impressive list of exhibitions, advertising projects and clients, such as Royal Mail, the New York Times, the Guardian and Conde Nast, and he has published a series of “undeniably Hannah-esque” books with Merrell Publishers, Mainstone Press and Design For Today.

“Many local visitors to next month’s York shows will recall Jonny’s Darktown Turbo Taxi solo exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, in 2018,” says Lotte.

Shoe by Jonny Hannah

“For those curious to find out more, we recommend looking out for the Darktown Turbo Taxi  – a must see, even if only in retrospect, through the website for his London and New York illustration agency, Heart Agency.”

A preview evening to launch Songs For Darktown Lovers will be held from 6pm to 9pm on February 7 at FortyFive Vinyl Café. “You can join Jonny, who will perform an acoustic set with friend, artist and illustrator Jonathan Gibbs before taking to the decks to celebrate our exciting collaboration,” says Lotte.

“It’s a chance to get lost in a world filled with art, music and just plain lovely people, with tickets available at jonnyhannahpreview.eventbrite.com.”

Confederacy Of Dunces by Jonny Hannah

The exhibition’s Double A-side opens on February 8 at Lotte Inch Gallery, now moved to the first floor at 14 Bootham. “With coffee for those with sore heads, and art to further soothe the soul, the gallery will be offering up a selection of new and recently produced work from Jonny’s abounding studio in Southampton,” says Lotte.

“Coffee by FortyFive will be available that morning from 10am at the gallery for those needing some solace from the previous night’s escapades! Jonny Hannah will be in residence for the morning too, so be sure to drop by.”

Lotte Inch Gallery is open Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, or by appointment on 01904 848660. FortyFive Vinyl Café’s opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm; Saturday, 10am to 6pm; Sunday, 10am to 5pm.