Billy Bragg

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accepted an invitation to speak at this year’s Glastonbury Festival from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Mr Corbyn will speak out against plans to renew the controversial Trident programme and call on the government to ban the bomb in front of the crowd of 135,000 music fans.

Jeremy Corbyn will appear at this year’s Glastonbury festival.

A Glastonbury source told The Mirror: “Jeremy has accepted the invitation from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament to speak. It’s a fabulous coup for them.” Corbyn will appear alongside festival regular and political activist Billy Bragg on his Left Field stage.

Continue reading: Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn Is Headed To Glastonbury To Speak Out Against Nuclear Weapons

Taylor Swift's representatives have been forced to deny that the superstar pulled her music from Spotify after signing a megabucks deal with Google. Swift removed her entire back catalogue from the streaming service earlier this month, arguing that musicians should not "undervalue their art", however, speculation suggest there may have been darker forces at play.

Taylor Swift has reportedly signed a deal with Google Music - though her spokespeople deny it

The British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg has criticized the decision as "corporate power play" and claimed Swift's new songs will soon be available on Google's new service.

Continue reading: Has Taylor Swift Been Given A Sack Full Of Cash From Sergey Brin?

Musical campaigners have successfully reversed a ban that had prevented inmates of British prisons from being able to use steel strings on guitars.

Billy Bragg had led the campaign to reverse the steel guitar string ban in British prisons

The ban had meant that the only strings available to inmates were nylon ones, used primarily for classical and Spanish styles and largely unsuitable for steel-strung acoustic guitars due to the way that they’re attached. But now steel strings will be available again, to be paid for out of prisoners’ wages and earned on a privileges basis at the discretion of individual governors.

Continue reading: Musicians Succeed In Reversing Prison Guitar String Ban

Kasabian were the subject of derision when they chose to divulge the lyrics, "Horsemeat in the burgers, people commit murders, everyone’s on bugle, we’re being watched by Google" early. They eventually revised those lyrics for their current single, ‘Eez-eh’, but Billy Brag still thinks they’re the Spinal Tap of modern music.

Serge Pizzorno performing at Hard Rock Calling in 2013

"They have an important role to play: they are there to remind us how true Spinal Tap was. I'm not a fan, but if you read their interviews as if it was dialogue from Spinal Tap, it's very entertaining," says Bragg. Only trouble is, high-maintenance lead-singer Serge isn’t really going for satire; he’s genuinely making what he believes to be a comment on the socio-political state of the United Kingdom.

More: British Rockers Hit Out At Prison Guitar Ban

Continue reading: Billy Bragg Likens Kasabian's Swagger To Spinal Tap's Satire

Richard Hawley plays one of his many splendid guitars.

Camp Bestival 2013 took over the weekend (August 2nd - 4th) at Lulworth Castle in Dorset last week, with some superb live headline and DJ sets each day. 

It was an eclectic line-up of artists both legendary and newly emerging and ranging from the underground cult favourites to the more chartworthy pop stars. Richard Hawley, formerly of Britpop band Longpigs and Pulp, played an awesome headline set on day one with an array of different electric guitars. He shared the stage with 'I'm Gonne Be (500 Miles)' hitmakers The Proclaimers as well as reggae veteran Max Romeo, Manchester trio I Am Kloot and folk punk activist Billy Bragg.

Continue reading: Richard Hawley And Grandmaster Flash Among Camp Bestival 2013 Highlights [Photos]

One of the biggest politically-minded voices left in music has announced a move away from his previous statement-laden songs to focus more on personal relationships. Billy Bragg has been outspoken about political and societal ills for 30 years now as a performer, but he told Reuters that new album Tooth & Nail – his first in five years – will be more of a relationship-based record.

"This album became a way of moving to the next thing, of moving on," Bragg he said to the news service. He said that he felt he had something to prove by returning with a new release, saying "I felt if I didn't come back to the recording industry I would be surrendering, saying I am too old, too political."

However, he did say that the politics of the time are so hard to gauge now, and that the defined Left and Right side of politics in his heyday allowed him to make his own firm decision on where he stood. "Today I have no idea where (Prime Minister) David Cameron stands," he said. "On one hand he is cutting money for disabled people but at the same time he is arguing for equal marriage. If I am confused then imagine how a 20-year-old feels today."

Continue reading: A New England Means A New Personal Direction For Billy Bragg On New Album