Their album Strangers was voted Best Album by the British public at the 2018 BBC Folk Awards (adding to the Best Group awards the band won consecutively in 2016 and 2015). Described as a ‘record for troubled times’ and ‘an antidote to Brexit,’ it is a bold, profound and resonant collection of songs showcasing the growing talents of Sean Cooney, fast becoming one of folk’s finest songwriters.
Together with Michael Hughes and David Eagle (who is also an award winning stand-up comedian) the Young’uns live performances achieve one of the trickiest balancing acts – an ability to truly ‘make them laugh and make them cry’, while cutting straight to the heart of some of today’s most topical issues.
Their latest release The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff is a unique musical account of the life of an extraordinary man from their native North East England. Soon to be a major theatre show (directed by Lorne Campbell – the Last Ship) it tells the extraordinary story of one working class hero’s journey through some of the most tumultuous events of the early 20th century – hunger marchers, anti-fascism demos, the Spanish Civil War – with warmth, passion and humour and, most movingly, features the real spoken voice of their eponymous hero.