One electric guitar can be more than enough to make a lot of noise. Since the early ’80s, Billy Bragg has used his to bring together punk, folk and protest song, turning stories about love, working-class life and politics into songs that are direct, intelligent and often laced with humour. Emerging from the energy of British punk, he found his own language somewhere between the tradition of Woody Guthrie and the urgency of The Clash, producing songs such as A New England and Between the Wars and landmark records including Talking with the Taxman About Poetry. Four decades on, he continues to treat music as a space for both personal stories and collective debate
