2 DVD Live Set Now Available!
Leon Rosselson and Robb Johnson
In this glorious 2 DVD set, Britain’s finest living songwriters are captured
live (on tour in Berkeley, CA), presenting two nights of their original songs,
words, and inimitable performance.
Turning Silence into Song (Disc One) showcases a pair of career-spanning
“greatest hits,” with a suitable sprinkling of new and previously unreleased
material. All introduced and contextualized with a large helping of trade-
mark wit and dry irony.
The Liberty Tree (Disc Two) tells the story of Tom Paine’s extraordinary life,
interweaving Paine’s own words, from his letters and the pamphlets which
made him one of the most influential and dangerous writers of his age, with
extracts from newspaper reports, diaries, letters, and other documents of
the times. The songs of Robb Johnson and Leon Rosselson add another di-
mension to the story, reflecting Paine’s radical ideas and evaluating them
in the context of the 21st century. This unique blend of words and music
challenges received opinion in the same way Paine’s writings did.
Together, herein you’ll find over four hours of the finest contemporary songs,
stories, humor, and observation from the greatest practitioners of the craft.
In the U.S.A. & Canada, this CD can be bought via the PM Press website
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Leon Rosselson has been at the forefront of songwriting in England for 50
years. His songs range from the lyrical to the satirical, from the personal
to the political, from the humorous to the poignant. His best known song,
“The World Turned Upside Down,” has been recorded by, amongst oth-
ers, Dick Gaughan, John McCutcheon, and Billy Bragg (who took it into
the pop charts in 1985) and has been sung on numerous demonstrations
in Britain and the U.S.
Robb Johnson is now widely recognized as one of the finest songwriters
working in the UK today. His songs feature in the repertoires of a wide va-
riety of musicians, from folk legend Roy Bailey to acclaimed cabaret diva
Barb Jungr, and he enjoys a similarly diverse spectrum of critical acclaim.
ACCOLADES
“. . . some of the most literate and well-made topical songs now being
written” —The New York Times [on Leon Rosselson]
“Britain’s finest songwriter since Richard Thompson.” —Venue [on Robb Johnson]
“A highly subversive pairing of two of the left’s most eloquent songwriters.” —Daily Telegraph