Can you guess who’s headlining the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver B.C. on Friday, September 20? It’s none other than Billy Bragg. The location is 868 Granville Street and the ticket prices range from $63 – $78. “Who’s that”? Well, I’ll explain, he goes by Stephen William Bragg and he’s an English singer, songwriter and musician. He can also be considered an author and political activist. His music genres consist of folk music, punk rock and protest songs which is very Interesting. Being a super political artist can hinder your career and prevent you from growing since people can be stubborn and not accept others opinions and views. Do you think that publicly showing your political views as an artist is a good move? His lyrics also consist of romantic themes. Most of his political views center around social change and left-wing political causes.
His love for music started a while back when he developed an interest for poetry at age twelve. He also learned and practiced the guitar which I feel definitely gave him the confidence to evolve and innovate his talents to singing and even more songwriting with his skills from poem writing. He was also exposed to folk and folk rock music during his teenage years which could’ve inspired him to make music of that kind.
As for his career, Bragg formed a punk rock band called Riff Raff with the Wiggy which is definitely a goofy name and is hard to take seriously but since this was his first time doing this, it was all good. They recorded their first series of singles in 1978 which didn’t receive that much success, or at least not as much as they wanted. Bragg then rebranded himself quite a bit even changing up his hair and became a solo artist which then, he found success. He became more of himself and his fans love him for being his true, authentic self.
