WITH the recent announcement of a double nomination in the 2015 BBC Folk Awards (Folksinger of the Year and Best Song), Jez Lowe strides through his third decade as a song-writing troubadour, on the back of a new and much-acclaimed album – his 19th – entitled The Ballad Beyond.

The year ahead will see him in front of audiences right across the UK, as well as in Canada, America, Spain and Holland, not only solo or with his long-standing backing band The Bad Pennies, but in new musical company, on new musical journeys.

It took the release of the compilation CD entitled Heads Up – 18 Essential Jez Lowe Songs, in 2012 for the acoustic/folk world to be jolted into realising that this North-East-based singer-songwriter is rapidly gaining ground as the most “covered” songwriter on the UK circuit. Over the past couple of decades, the likes of Fairport Convention, The Dubliners, The Unthanks, Wizz Jones, The McCalmans, Mary Black, The Duhks, Bob Fox, The Young Un’s, Enda Kenny, Cherish The Ladies, Tom McConville and The Clancys have added his songs for their repertoires. No wonder no less than Richard Thompson has called him “The best singer songwriter to come out of the UK for a long time”, and personally invited him to play at Thompson’s Meltdown Festival at London’s South Bank Centre in 2010.

Lowe’s contributions to the on-going BBC series The Radio Ballads has cemented this reputation, with a Sony Radio Award among the many accolades coming its way.

Half of the 15 songs on the new album The Ballad Beyond are Radio Ballads songs recorded by their composer for the first time, revealing not only the breadth of the radio series itself, but also that of the writing and subject matter that Lowe has striven to reach.

The bulk of his time is spent on the road. He’s long been one of the UK’s busiest folk performers, playing for audiences the world over, either solo, (with guitar, cittern and harmonica accompaniment), or with his band. A highlight of this year’s schedule is the Men At Words tour of North America, which saw Lowe joining forces with James Keelaghan and Archie Fisher for joint appearances throughout this month. There is also a collaboration with leading songwriter Steve Tilston lined up for later in the year, and an ongoing involvement with the quirky “supergroup” The Broonzies, who will be popping up at UK festivals throughout the summer.

As BBC Radio DJ Mike Harding said recently: “No-one else writes or sounds like Jez Lowe.” Chances are, even if you’ve never heard the man himself, you’ll have heard his songs, sung at festivals, club gigs, open mikes or on CD, by the great and good, the professional and the enthusiast, the young and not-so-young. What higher accolade could a songwriter hope for?

Twitter @LoweJez jezlowe.com