THE KEEKER SEAM – a new novel by Jez Lowe

The Keeker Seam

A new book by award-winning North-Eastern singer and songwriter Jez Lowe, entitled The Keeker Seam is published by Badapple Books on May 1st 2024.

It’s Jez’s fourth novel, following on from The Dillen Doll in 2017, The Corly Croons in 2019 and Piper’s Lonnen in 2022, and continues the adventures of Evan Piper, as he returns to mid-19th Century Tyneside with all its curious characters and outlandish ways, plus of course the rich tradition of music and song that erstwhile “Stranger from the South” finds so captivating.

A quote from the rear cover text –

“A 19th Century village in County Durham is blighted by an all-too familiar tragedy, an explosion down the mine, but this time with a curious twist that sends waves of surprise and confusion across the region. It is left to a newly arrived young policeman to solve the mystery, in the face of hostility from the mine-owners, suspicion from the miners and their families and an over- arching web of prejudice that reaches out from a distant foreign land. Only a scattering of odd characters and Tyneside eccentrics reach out to help him, along with a mysterious woman who captivates all those who come in contact with her.”

Jez Lowe has released more than twenty five albums of original songs in his forty-year career and is one of the UK’s most “covered” songwriters on the acoustic circuit, with artists such as Fairport Convention, The Unthanks, The Dubliners, TheYoung Uns, Bob Fox, Megson and scores more having recorded his songs. He was also one of the principal writers for the award-winning BBC Radio Ballads series, and first ventured into a career as a novelist as that series came to an end in 2016. As one reviewer has said, “Jez Lowe’s talent for writing isn’t limited to folk songs!”

Each copy of the book comes with a presentation bookmark that has a special link to some downloadable mp3 tracks of new recordings by Jez of some of the songs that appear in the story, plus a new original song by Jez based on the title of the book itself.

Copies of The Keeker Seam are now available via mail-order WORLD-WIDE from www.jezlowe.com and from Jez himself at his upcoming live appearances.

Jez will be doing some workshop-style performances based on the new book in the near future, notably at Sidmouth Folk Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August. There will also be special “Writer’s Workshop” events in September and October, details of which will be announced soon.

Artist’s (and author’s) website: www.jezlowe.com

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