Jon Wilks

“One of the driving forces of the London folk scene.” — The Quietus

Jon Wilks is a singer and fingerpicking guitarist rooted in the English folk tradition. His work moves between traditional song and original writing, shaped by memory, place and lived experience.

He first explored songs from Birmingham and the wider Midlands on Midlife (2018) and Up the Cut (2021). His fourth album, Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost (2023) was named Folk Album of the Month in The Guardian. Needless Alley (2025) marked a shift towards autobiographical songwriting, and BONES (2026) gathered outtakes, demos and live recordings — stripped-back performances that sit between the studio albums.

A former journalist (Time Out, The Guardian, Dazed & Confused), Wilks founded Tradfolk.co and has appeared regularly on BBC Radio 2’s Folk Show. He performs solo and with his occasional band, The Grizzly Folk, and has shared stages with Graham Coxon, Billy Bragg, Martin Carthy and many others across the UK folk scene.