MFF2027: Jon Wilks & Rich Lines: Strange Heavens

Part of Manchester Folk Festival 2027. This show will take place in Carole Nash Hall within the Stoller Hall building. Strange Heavens is the name of an original musical work by acclaimed singer, songwriter and folk guitarist, Jon Wilks, and journalist and songwriter, Rich Lines. The musical work was inspired by the vast and luminous paintings by English artist Sir Stanley Spencer, found at the National Trust's Sandham Memorial Chapel near Newbury - one of the great achievements of twentieth-century British art. Spencer painted the chapel's interior between 1926 and 1932, inspired by his own experiences of the First World War. Created to honour the 'forgotten dead' who were not remembered on any official memorials, the series chronicles Spencer’s everyday experiences as a medical orderly and soldier on the Salonika front. With the support of the chapel team, the musicians were given rare time alone inside the chapel to develop a musical response to Spencer's work. They were struck by the intensity of the paintings and the quiet dignity found within the scenes of hospital life and military labour, and what was originally intended to be a single song soon developed into a song cycle. The tour and accompanying album mark the centenary of the chapel's dedication in 1927. Joined by an ensemble of folk musicians, Jon and Rich present a continuous, dreamlike performance that is part concert, part sound installation. This unique and immersive experience will feature original compositions, spoken fragments, found-sound and visual elements. As part of the concert, the ensemble will also perform traditional folk and music hall songs that would have been well known to First World War soldiers of the time. Jon Wilks is a highly regarded finger-picking guitarist and songwriter. To date, he has released five acclaimed solo albums, his most recent in 2025 received four star reviews from MOJO, RNR and Songlines. Rich Lines is a journalist and long-time collaborator of Jon’s. His writing is shaped by Spencer and the First World War poets, and he brings a parallel creative voice to the project.