Image by Michael Hughes.
Acclaimed North East folk act The Young’uns are celebrating two decades of singing together with a spring 2025 UK tour, bringing them to Southampton’s Turner Sims this month.
The much-loved trio – comprising Sean Cooney, Michael Hughes & David Eagle – will also each be celebrating their own individual 40th birthdays during the UK tour in addition to the 20th anniversary of the band.
Twenty years ago you might have thought it a far-fetched prediction. But today there’s no denying it – The Young’uns have become one of UK folk music’s hottest properties and best-loved acts.
The then teenage friends had stumbled over folk music in 2003 in the back room of The Sun Inn in their native Stockton-on-Tees, never knowing that such music existed. They heard people singing songs they’d never heard before. Songs without instruments. Songs in their own accents. Songs about places they knew. Folk songs. They joined in, became regulars and, as the youngest people in the room, were dubbed ‘The Young’uns’ – a name that, for better or worse, has stuck.
20 years since that fateful night, they’ve carried that unfortunate name around the globe, from Sydney to Vancouver, from Radio Tees to BBC Radio 4, won three coveted BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, played Glastonbury Festival and gained a reputation for singing life affirming songs of social conscience in immaculate three part harmony.
In recent years they have touched audiences on both sides of the Atlantic via their acclaimed stage show (and album) The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff, based on the life of a Teesside local hero, and released the powerful, socially aware follow-up Tiny Notes in April 2023. Their narrative songs – often moving, never mawkish – cut through the noise and get straight to the heart of the matter, be they personal stories that triggered global headlines or more intimate tales of everyday heroes closer to home.
With their strong songwriting, spellbinding harmonies and rapid fire humour (the band’s David Eagle is also an award-winning stand-up comedian), they have achieved one of the trickiest balancing acts – an ability to truly ‘make ‘em laugh and make ‘em cry.’
Talking about the 20th anniversary UK tour announcement, Sean Cooney said “It’s been quite a journey. From the back room of a pub in Stockton to the Albert Hall. We’ll be paying tribute to the singers who’ve inspired us and the songs that have taken us around the world and back.“
The Young’uns ongoing 20th anniversary tour will stop at the following UK venues in spring 2025;
17 April Glasgow Oran Mor
18 April Liverpool – The Tung Auditorium
19 April Lytham St Annes Lowther Pavilion
20 April Stroud Subscription Rooms
22 April Folkestone Quarterhouse
23 April London Union Chapel
24 April Southampton Turner Sims
25 April Lyme Regis Marine Theatre
26 April Pontardawe Arts Centre
23 May Buxton Arts Centre
24 May Snape Maltings
25 May Milton Keynes – The Stables
26 May Cardiff Acapela
27 May Frome Cheese & Grain
28 May Brighton Komedia
29 May Worcester Huntingdon Hall
30 May Shrewsbury Theatre Severn
31 May Scunthorpe Plowright Theatre
Tickets for all shows available now here
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