Hello, I'm back!

Apologies for the woefully infrequent updates on this site but I’ve been busy baking bread, brewing beer, and then having a little lie down (Long Covid? I suspect so, but I’ve not had an official diagnosis). I’m now back on tour as my alter ego John Shuttleworth - for all the dates please visit www.shuttleworths.co.uk

I’ve also spent some of the last year editing a new film called Father Earth. Most of the footage was shot in 2010 when I was living in London and owned a G Wizz electric car. At the time I’d recently bought a derelict church in the Orkney Isles, and had a crazy plan to drive the car (with a range of 30 miles and a top speed of 25 MPH) all the way from London to Orkney. 

The unfinished film was abandoned in 2012 and only revisited last year with newer footage added. After months of editing and now nearing completion, Father Earth has already had a couple of previews in Leicester and Beverley, with a third and final preview at Whitby’s MusicPort Festival this weekend. https://www.musicportfestival.com/. Tickets are still available for the festival, and the lineup looks amazing. Try and make it if you can. 

Father Earth is the true story of one man’s attempt to help save the planet, by converting a derelict church on the Orkney Isles into an eco friendly recording studio, complete with G Wiz electric car driven all the way from London. 

That’s the plan, but Life and relationships - specifically between fathers and sons - soon get in the way, becoming more important than the future of the planet.

Funny yet deeply moving, and filmed mainly in the Orkney Isles over a 10 year period, Father Earth is Graham Fellows’ most thoughtful and accomplished movie to date. 

With guest appearances from Graham’s comic alter ego John Shuttleworth and Kids’ TV legends Sooty and Sweep, not to mention Graham’s eccentric and mathematically driven father Derek, this 83 minute documentary will be previewed in selected venues before a full theatrical release in 2022. 

Father Earth is Graham’s first movie since Southern Softies (2008)  This was preceded by It’s Nice Up North (2004) a collaboration with renowned photographer Martin Parr. Both films were distributed by Picture House and screened on Sky Arts TV 

Thanks for reading this, and I’ll try and update this site a bit more frequently in future!

Cheers, Graham x

 
 

My nose is growing! I don’t think I’ve been telling any porky pies.. it’s just a combination of ageing and the lighting conditions that prevailed when this little snap was taken on my new iPhone. But I WOULD be lying if I said I had any news... apart from that I recently splashed out on a new phone!  

Well, let’s think... I’m about to go on tour as John Shuttleworth, and release a Shuttleworth book on Omnibus Press - Two Margarines and Other Domestic Dilemmas. But sadly, my solo song output has been sluggish over the last year. While Gideon Coe continues to give Diary of a Skinbird from Weird Town an occasional spin on 6 Music (thanks mate!), my character comedy duties have prevented that difficult third album from progressing any further than a few scribbles and ‘la la las‘ on my erm... new phone, which I’ll get back to now, if you don’t mind!

Oh, I’ve just remembered -  I recorded  a podcast recently in which I discuss this and that with Richard Herring https://aca.st/e91b9b. Have a listen if you get a moment, and I’ll be back with some really exciting GF news by the second half of 2020 (I don’t know what it is yet, but I’m sure it will be more interesting than a new phone...).

Happy Christmas and a crazily peaceful New Year!  X 

My latest (lamp) post

 
 

Well, my latest jaunt gigging around the UK has sadly almost come to an end. I’ve met some smashing people and been reminded of how wonderful Britain’s art centres are, especially when this involves setting up my harmonium while a Chocolate Fair is dismantling its stalls around me (Exeter)! In Calstock (pictured above) I even got to stack my own chairs post gig, and sharing poster space with a local jumble sale feels good for the soul.

In the New Year I shall set off again for a short final tour of my show Completely out of Character. All the dates can now be found on the gigs page, and I hope to see you at one of them.

Bye for now! Graham x 

Out of Sorts and Out of Character - again!

 
GrahamColdy
 

I had a fantastic time on Jilted John’s recent 40th Anniversary tour and thanks to everyone who came along. But it’s now over, and once I’ve overcome a shocking head cold, I’ll be dusting down my pedal harmonium and getting back on the road with my solo show, Completely Out Of Character. It kicks off this Saturday (November 3rd) in Hemel Hempstead, then heads over to Newport on the Isle of Wight before ending up in Bromsgrove on November 30th. Go to my gigs page to see the full run of dates. 

I’m really looking forward to it and if you didn’t catch the show back in February or this Summer at the Edinburgh Fringe, I hope you’ll manage to pop along this time.

If you can’t - don’t despair as there will be a further clutch of (soon to be announced) dates in January and February 2019, before I disappear up to Orkney to write a John Shuttleworth book for publication in early 2020 to coincide with a big live Shuttleworth tour. Happy Halloween and bonfire night. Time for another Lemsip! GF x 

Flyering at the Fringe

 
 

On the home straight now at the Edinburgh Fringe where I’ve been performing my Completely Out of Character show. I’ve also been learning how to flyer my own shows which I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never done before. It’s a rewarding and humbling experience, as is performing the show itself - especially when people walk out midway through my big hit ‘Jilted John’! Mind you, they were from Holland and aged about 19. 

I finish my trip up North with a gig on Monday at the Glasgow Stand at the very respectable time of 6pm. Glasgow fans please come as it’s your last chance to see this show north of the border.

On the way up to Edinburgh I did a show at the Newcastle Stand where I was joined on stage by the amazing Niopha Keegan (of the Unthanks) who played violin on Diary of a Skinbird (as she does on the CD version). You can watch the performance here.

It’s Jilted John rehearsals next for the ‘Ere We Go 2 3 40’ tour in October. I’m on the lookout for a vintage quilted anorak with a hood, if anyone has one going spare..?

Graham x

Hello, I'm back..

 
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...with news of a very busy Autumn coming up! Firstly, I’m touring as Jilted John with my brilliant 3 piece band in a short UK tour to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Jilted John, my big chart hit in 1978. This is my first (and last!) ever tour as JJ and I can reveal my special guest is the wonderful John Otway. Full gig details can be found at jiltedjohn.co.uk - Please don’t be a moron! Buy your tickets now and help celebrate this very special event! 

Then, after a couple of weeks off, I hit the road once more but this time solo - with my acoustic guitar and harmonium - to perform more gigs as myself Completely out of Character, discussing everything from the creation of John Shuttleworth to my experiences as a Co-Op milkman in the late 80s. This is the show I toured earlier this year, and the public response was favourable enough to make me risk booking a whole bunch of dates to those places I couldn’t get to first time round. I’m also performing at the Edinburgh free fringe in August with a shorter (55 minute) version of the show. Details of all these dates can be found on the gigs page.

Hope to see you there, Graham x

Gigs postponed, but not for long..

 
 

Snow forced the postponement of my final two shows in Reading and Fareham, but I'm delighted to announce these have now been rescheduled: Fareham on Thursday May 10th, and Reading on Friday May 11th.

Just to say, I had a wonderful time on my first solo Completely Out Of Character tour, met some fantastic people, and the feedback has been amazing; even about my ukelele playing! Indeed, there are now plans to add some further dates in November. On top of this, I have just agreed to perform a streamlined version of the show at the Edinburgh Fringe In August - details to follow.

Thanks to everyone who came to the first lot of gigs. Graham x

6 Music interview and Radio 4 debut for 'Mark Rylance Was My Lodger'..

 
 

Being Completely out of Character for a few weeks now, I can definitely say I'm not in several minds about it. That's to say - I'm having a wonderful time being myself! It seems like the audiences are enjoying it too. With the tour now more than half way through, here are links to a couple of recent radio appearances - an interview with Shaun Keaveney on 6 Music (2:07:53 in) and me performing Mark Rylance Was My Lodger on Loose Ends.

We.. or rather 'I' hope you like them!

x

Weird Town is released!

 
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We couldn’t hold it back any longer, and at 1 minute past midnight on January 26th 2018, my first solo LP for 32 years was unleashed on the unsuspecting world! 13 tracks of glorious jangly folk pop to brighten up the gloomy Winter months. It’s out there, it’s available. Buy it now!!! (I do hope you like it...).

Go to my shop at grahamfellows.bandcamp.com/album/weird-town to listen to the whole thing and get yourself a copy. x

Preorder my new album!

 
 

Preorder my new LP Weird Town and you'll get a signed photo free! You can also listen to two tracks for free on bandcamp - The Man Who Sits in a Chair and Diary of a Skinbird. Both feature the gorgeous violin playing of the Unthanks' Niopha Keegan.

All the songs are mine except one that I really wish I had written (and maybe one day I would have done!), but urban poet Mik Artistik thought of it first. It's so good that I just had to record it. It's called Car That Makes a Bus Sound, and it's one of the 13 tracks that go to make Weird Town. Preorder now for delivery as soon as it's released on January 26th!

grahamfellows.bandcamp.com/album/weird-town

Weird way of recording Weird Town

 
 
 
 

You can finally enjoy a sneak preview of a track from my new LP, Weird Town. THE MAN WHO SITS IN A CHAIR stars the brilliant Niopha Keegan - violinist from The Unthanks - and the unmistakable guitar playing of folk legend Chris Wood. Chris was on tour at the time and I was in the studio, so we decided the only solution was for him to record into his mobile phone before emailing me the guitar part. It sounds great but if you listen carefully I’m sure you can just hear the sound of someone washing up in the background! Weird Town will be released on January 26th but you will be able to preorder it here shortly.

Cheers, Graham. x

I'm going on tour..

 
 

I've never played Glastonbury (I've never been asked, Michael!) but last summer I had the massive pleasure of playing a solo acoustic set at Glastonwick - the legendary real ale festival run by Attila the Stockbroker. I loved it, and remembered that I'd also enjoyed a similar experience the previous year at punk festival Rebellion in Blackpool. And the audience weren't throwing things at me but making encouraging noises. It was perhaps time to do a tour and reveal to the world the man behind John Shuttleworth and Jilted John. So now it's happening - nineteen gigs around England with me and a harmonium (and a ukulele!) and I do hope you'll come along. Not all the dates are yet on sale but most are and the rest soon will be. See you there!