Artist Profile: Beans On Toast

Name checked by Billy Bragg, adored by Frank Turner, there is little, it appears, this man can do wrong. He's been around since 2005 and has since rose from strength to strength in the London folk scene.

Beans rose to a certain level of respect and prominence when he released his 50 track album Standing On A Wooden Chair produced by Mumford and Sons Ben Lovett and featuring guest vocals from Emmy the Great and Frank Turner. The album featured his most known song to date MDMAmazing which he often ironically labels his one hit wonder, ironic because it isnt. Three albums later and countless tours including performances at Bestival, Boomtown and Blissfields among others, Beans is still a loved figure in the folk and acoustic scene.

His performances are often the stuff of legend. Often during sets hell perform a track potentially only a week or so old, mocking the current state of affairs of his own life, or ours. The most guaranteed thing is his signature outfit of ripped camouflage pants and his cap obscuring his often cited decreasing amount of hair.

His gruff tones and brash lyrics echo the traditions of many punk musicians, having been compared to John Cooper Clarke frequently. But with this comes a certain intimate, stripped back feeling, like many country and folk stars of past, such as Martin Carthy and Billy Bragg, whom he's frequently compared to in most music reviews of him. My personal favourite description was by Sunday Times, who labelled his music 'drunk folk'

But he doesn't just stick to folk, Beans has been known to employ his own gruff tones to whatever he feels, having dabbled in hip hop (collaborating with Kate Tempest for 'Can't take another earthquake' as well having his own rap during his live shows) and a full country band as well as his usual punk folk fare. His new album contains some brass as well as piano and a plethora of instruments and ol' Jay continues to elaborate his style throughout his career.

Beans On Toast will be touring the UK this March including stops at Kraak in Manchester and The Horn in St Albans. He also has released his album 'Fishing for a thank you.'

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