Bones

Over the last few years I’ve gigged a lot, done a few sessions, recorded a handful of albums, and made some musical friends along the way. Inevitably, that process leaves things behind. Outtakes. Alternative takes. Live recordings. Songs that slipped between projects or arrived a little too late. In another musical era, some of these might have been B-sides.

This collection gathers those pieces together. Not as curiosities, and not as a clearing of the attic, but as recordings that felt worth keeping. They document a period of work, movement, and conversation — between stages, studios, and people — without trying to tidy it up after the fact.

Looking ahead to 2026 and 2027, there are other things that need space: a book to write, a composition project taking shape in the shadow of Stanley Spencer, and new work with my band, The Grizzly Folk. Could you call BONES a 6th album? In a sense. This felt like the right moment to draw a line under this particular stretch of time, and to let these recordings stand as they are.

They’re presented without revision or embellishment — excavated bones, left intact.

Track notes

My Lover’s Eyes in Song (outtake)
Recorded at Wildgoose Studios during the main Needless Alley sessions. I’m on guitars and vocals, with my son, Kai, on piano. Joe Sartin produced the session and Albert Hansell engineered it. When placed alongside the other album tracks it didn’t quite belong, but I’ve grown fond of it since.

Gotta Keep an Eye on My Lover (demo)
A demo of a song that later appeared on Needless Alley. Recorded on my phone in December 2024 during a writing retreat in Wales. Just me, my guitar, and an empty room.

Greek Street (live at the Albion Rooms)
Recorded in the Wasteland Bar at the Albion Rooms, Margate, during the same sessions that produced other recordings here. We were hoping to capture a slightly different atmosphere. Why are there two versions of Greek Street on this collection? Truth be told, I’m never entirely convinced I’ve got it right. I’ll let you decide. A filmed version of this performance can be found on YouTube.

Tell Old Bill (demo)
I released a download-only version of Tell Old Bill [Roud 7876] in 2020, then spent the next few years playing it into much better shape on the road. It cropped up in several sessions but never made it onto an album. This demo, recorded in April 2024, suggests it was briefly in contention for Needless Alley before that record took a different direction.

Scarborough Fair (live at Green Note, Camden – 6 October 2025, featuring Graham Coxon)
Graham Coxon and I met while preparing for The Life and Songs of Martin Carthy tribute concert in autumn 2025, where we first performed this together. A week or so later he joined me again at Green Note in Camden for a much smaller but no less attentive audience. The first half follows the version Martin Carthy sings today; the second is the one he popularised in the 1960s. They’re connected by an incendiary piece of guitar playing from Graham that sounds to me like aerial bombardment from the folk gods themselves. A filmed version of this performance can also be found on YouTube.

Napoleon’s Farewell to Paris (live at the Albion Rooms)
Recorded in July 2024 at the Albion Rooms in Margate for Hudson Records’ Hudson Club series. This song was common in my set around this time. I learnt it while touring with Martin Carthy in 2023 — not from him, though he was talking about and singing Napoleonic ballads a great deal. I decided I needed one of my own and found this, hoping he didn’t know it. He did, of course. He knows them all. A filmed version of this performance can also be found on YouTube.

Shake It and Break It (But Don’t Let It Fall Mama) (After Hours Sessions with Turnstone)
Recorded at the Turnstone Guitars workshop in East Sussex for their After Hours Sessions series. I learnt the song during the Covid years and brought it into my set around that time. Hearing Charley Patton’s original again more recently, I realised I’d rewritten it almost entirely by accident. Such is the folk process. A filmed version of the session is available on YouTube.

The Banks of the Silvery Tide [Roud 561]
A traditional song demoed in 2021 for what became Up the Cut. I don’t recall how I came to know it, or the process of arranging it. The recording itself is a bit of a mystery — I assume it was made during those darker Covid days and promptly forgotten. There are no other takes. It probably didn’t make the album because it isn’t especially rooted in Birmingham or the Midlands.

From a Lullaby Kiss (live at the Albion Rooms)
Recorded in a single take at the Albion Rooms, Margate. I first released this song in 2020, having learnt it from Peter Knight’s performance at Whitchurch Folk Club — it’s Peter’s song. I’ve played it a great deal since. A filmed version of this performance can be found on YouTube.

October Song (live at the Albion Rooms)
Written by Robin Williamson. I’ve performed this song at nearly every show I’ve played for the past fifteen years. I previously recorded it with The Grizzly Folk; this is the live, solo version, also released on the Live at the Albion Rooms EP. A filmed version of this performance can be found on YouTube.

Montagu Whaler (demo)
The demo I sent to The Grizzly Folk while they were learning songs for Needless Alley. Recorded around the same time as Tell Old Bill, although this one made it through to the finished album.

Toryanse (remixed and remastered)
A traditional Japanese folk song originally recorded and released in August 2019. I was never fully satisfied with how it sounded, so I’ve taken the opportunity here to remix and remaster it.

Lofty Tall Ship (live at Temperance, Leamington Spa – 16 May 2023)
This was always the show opener on the tour for Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost. I stopped playing it while touring with Martin Carthy, feeling you couldn’t really put something like this in front of the master. It’s been good to hear it again — this is the only live recording I have.

Willow (After Hours Sessions with Turnstone)
Recorded at the Turnstone Guitars workshop on one of their Select Series guitars. A filmed version of the performance can be found on YouTube.

Greek Street (live at Whitchurch Folk Club – 4 October 2025)
Performed with Jon Nice on keyboards. We sang this together regularly during the Needless Alley tour, each night seeing how long we could hold the title line of the chorus. Jon had to watch me carefully to see when I was finally going to sing “Greek Street”. You can hear us grinning — almost giggling — on some of the choruses.

You’ll Do Right By Me (demo)
A genuine kick-yourself moment. The guitar line on this phone recording is far more interesting than the one that ended up on Needless Alley. I’ve no idea why I didn’t pursue it. Daft, really.

Hard Times of Old England (live at Ace Space, Newbury – 19 January 2019)
I’d forgotten this recording existed — and that I used to play the song live at all. It appeared on my debut solo album, Songs from the Attic, arranged in an odd minor-key version that I’ve regretted ever since. Listening back, I assume that when I did play it in front of an audience, I quietly moved it away from that bluesy detour. The performance here is rough and ready, with some nervousness in both the singing and playing — I was still getting used to the CGCGCD tuning that now underpins many of my arrangements. I include it as a kind of bookend.

Songwriting credits

·      My Lover’s Eyes in Song — Jon Wilks

·      Gotta Keep an Eye on My Lover — Jon Wilks

·      Greek Street — Jon Wilks

·      Tell Old Bill — Traditional (Roud 7876)

·      Scarborough Fair — Traditional (Roud 12)

·      Napoleon’s Farewell to Paris — Traditional (Roud 1626)

·      Shake It and Break It (But Don’t Let It Fall Mama) — Charley Patton, with rewrites by Jon Wilks

·      The Banks of the Silvery Tide — Traditional (Roud 561)

·      From a Lullaby Kiss — Peter Knight

·      October Song — Robin Williamson

·      Montagu Whaler — Nigel “Bernie” Bruen

·      Toryanse — Traditional (Japan)

·      Lofty Tall Ship — Traditional (Roud 104)

·      Willow — Jon Wilks

·      You’ll Do Right By Me — Jon Wilks

·      Hard Times of Old England — Traditional (Roud 1206)

Personnel & recording credits

My Lover’s Eyes in Song
Guitars, vocals — Jon Wilks
Piano — Kai Wilks
Producer — Joe Sartin
Engineer — Albert Hansell
Studio — Wildgoose Studios

Gotta Keep an Eye on My Lover
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks

Greek Street (Albion Rooms version)
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Keyboards, backing vocals — Jon Nice
Engineer — Albert Hansell
Studio — The Albion Rooms

Tell Old Bill
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks

Scarborough Fair
Acoustic guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Electric guitar — Graham Coxon
Engineer — Oscar Cainer

Napoleon’s Farewell to Paris
Acoustic guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Engineer — Jason Stafford
Studio — The Albion Rooms

Shake It and Break It (But Don’t Let It Fall Mama)
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Producer — Michael Watts
Engineer — Cole Yeates
Studio — Turnstone Guitars Workshop

The Banks of the Silvery Tide
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks

From a Lullaby Kiss
Acoustic guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Engineer — Jason Stafford
Studio — The Albion Rooms

October Song
Acoustic guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Engineer — Jason Stafford
Studio — The Albion Rooms

Montagu Whaler
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks

Toryanse
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks

Lofty Tall Ship
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Engineer — Adrian Gains

Willow
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Producer — Michael Watts
Engineer — Cole Yeates
Studio — Turnstone Guitars Workshop

Greek Street (Whitchurch Folk Club version)
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Keyboards, backing vocals — Jon Nice
Engineer — Albert Hansell

You’ll Do Right By Me
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks

Hard Times of Old England
Guitar, vocals — Jon Wilks
Engineer — Mark Stafford