Billy Bragg is an English singer-songwriter known for blending folk music, punk rock, and protest songs in his lyrics dealing with political and romantic themes. He began his career in 1977 with the punk band Riff Raff and later performed solo. His 1984 album Brewing Up introduced political and love songs. Between the Wars and Talking with the Taxman about Poetry achieved chart success in the UK in the 1980s. Bragg has also collaborated with other artists and written songs based on lyrics by Woody Guthrie. He actively promotes political and social causes through his music and uses social media and his website to connect with fans.

1. Modern Folk/Protest Singer
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BILLY BRAGG

2. Anthony Griffin Photo
THE ARTIST
• Stephen William "Billy" Bragg was born on December
20, 1957, in Barking, Essex, England. He is an English singersongwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of
folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly
deal with political or romantic themes (Wikipedia, 2014)

3. THE MUSIC
• Billy Bragg began his musical
career In 1977 when he formed the
punk rock/pub rock band Riff Raff.
The band released a series of
singles, which did not receive wide
exposure. Bragg later began
performing solo concerts and
busking around London with his
electric guitar.
• In 1984, he released Brewing Up
with Billy Bragg, a mixture of
political and love songs.
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4. THE MUSIC
• In 1985, Bragg released Between the
Wars, an EP of political songs that
made the top 20 of the UK Singles
Chart and earned Bragg an
appearance on the BBC’s Top of the
Pops show. His song "A New
England” became a Top 10 hit in the
UK for Kirsty MacColl.
• In 1986 Bragg released Talking with
the Taxman about Poetry, which
became his first Top 10 album.
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5. THE MUSIC
• In May 1990 Bragg released the
political mini-LP, The
Internationale.
• In 1991 the album Don't Try This
at Home was released and
included the
song, "Sexuality", which reached
the UK Singles Chart.
• After taking time off to help raise
his son, Bragg released the
album William Bloke in 1996.
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6. THE MUSIC
• Around the same time, Nora
Guthrie (daughter of American
folk legend Woody Guthrie) asked
Bragg to set some of her father's
unrecorded lyrics to music. The
resulting material, performed with
the band Wilco and Natalie
Merchant, became the album
Mermaid Avenue in 1998, and
Mermaid Avenue Vol. II in 2000.
Paul Slattery Photo

7. THE MUSIC
• On March 18, 2013, Bragg
released his latest studio album,
five years since Mr. Love &
Justice, titled Tooth And Nail. It
featured 11 original songs,
including one written for the Bush
Theatre, and a Woody Guthrie
cover.
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8. ACTIVISM
• Bragg has been involved with
grassroots, broadly leftist, political
movements and this is often reflected
in his lyrics.
• Bragg has recorded and performed
cover versions of famous socialist
anthems The Internationale and The
Red Flag.
• Bragg said in an interview: "My theory
is this; I'm not a political songwriter.
I'm an honest songwriter. I try and
write honestly about what I see around
me now.” (Wikipedia, 2014)

9. CONNECTING TO HIS FANS
• Billy Bragg makes extensive use
of social media, including
Facebook and Twitter to both
promote his music and his
political messages.
• Bragg maintains very active
accounts and posts on both
services regularly, sometimes
daily.

10. CONNECTING TO HIS FANS
• He has 180,000
followers on Twitter
and 163,000 likes on
Facebook.
• Bragg also makes use
of Myspace (50,000
followers) and puts his
music on Last.fm.

11. WEB PRESENCE
• Bragg maintains a busy website that also promotes his music
and activism. It also includes a fan forum (currently under
maintenance) where his followers can discuss both. Both his
Twitter feed and Facebook posts are prominently shown on the
site.

12. BRAGG SWAG
• Billy Bragg’s website also contains a well-stocked e-commerce
shop that sells directly to fans who might want to pick up his
latest CD, a t-shirt, concert poster, book or knick knack.

13. MEMBERS ONLY
• For an annual subscription, Bragg’s most ardent fans can also
view his video archives, get pre-sale alerts on tickets sales, gain
access to sound-checks, discounts in the Shop, free monthly
downloads and even talk to the man himself one-to-one on
Skype – all for just about $1 a month.

14. VIDEO PROMOTION
• Billy Bragg also uses YouTube and Vevo to share his latest
videos on the internet (click the image below to view his latest
video promoting his new album).

15. OWNERSHIP
• Billy Bragg believes strongly
in retaining ownership of his
material and continues to
sign record deals with
Cooking Vinyl. The record
company specializes in
“service only deals” that allow
Bragg to retain the copyright
for his music, a clause that is
still rare in the recording
industry
(billybragg.co.uk, 2013).