How would you describe your sound?

I would describe my sound as traditional folk with a bit of a twist. I'm a self taught player, so while I play a lot of very traditional songs, I put my own spin on them.

What genre/genres do you consider your music to be?

It's folk music, but that is a very broad spectrum. I play a lot of traditional Irish, English and Scottish songs, as well as some American folk and country. Most of it tends to be old traditional songs, but if a song by a modern artist takes my fancy, I'll play that as well. But again, with my own spin on it!

How long have you been performing?

I did my first live gig when I was 15. It was with my then band, The Ramblers, and we played two songs at the school Rockfest. Great fun! After that we would play at pubs and venues around Bedford and Luton.

What is your favourite song to play and why?

Very tough question that because it changes on a daily basis! At the minute I'm working hard on my version of the traditional song Raglan Road. It's one of my favourite songs and one I've been playing for years. I'm just working on playing it in an alternate tuning and it's challenging, but it's getting there! The reason I love playing it is because it's a song that has everything: beautiful lyrics and an amazing melody. It also takes me back to when I first started playing guitar and it was one of the first Irish songs my dad showed me and he used to play it.

What has been your biggest gig to date?

I used to play a lot of gigs and music festivals with my band Poor Old Dogs. The biggest gigs were probably when we played the Jolly Dodger stage at Boomtown Fair two years in a row. It was one of the main stages at the festival and it was done up like a pirate ship with people hanging from the rigging and the crows nest. We played Boomtown five or six years in a row and it is hands down one of the best festivals I've been to.

Any funny gig/rehearsal stories?

It was kind of more annoying than funny, but a samba band walked through the crowd and upstaged us at one of the gigs at Boomtown. They were supposed to just be passing through but there was a bit of a traffic jam so they just stopped and carried on playing in the middle of our set. It's quite hard to be heard over 50 people whacking drums and blowing vuvuzelas! Even when you're playing through a big PA rig! We did laugh about it afterwards... through gritted teeth.

Who are your major influences?

Too many to list really! Off the top of my head I would say The Pogues and The Sex Pistols in terms of originality and barefaced attitude. Luke Kelly in terms of singing. His is one of my absolute, all time favourite voices. I could listen to him all day and his version of Raglan Road is another reason I love that song so much. Martin Simpson in terms of guitar playing. The man is a genius. And I don't use that term lightly. A true troubadour musician who has been putting out consistently exquisite music since the early 80s. His passion and dedication to music is very inspiring and if I could play guitar to a fraction of the quality he can, I would be a very happy man!

Do you write your own songs?

I've been writing songs since I was about 10 or 11 and I've written countless songs over the years. Many have been lost or forgotten, but the best ones have stuck around. I've slowed down in my songwriting recently as I am focusing on my guitar playing. That being said, I've written three this year, so they are still popping into my head! I take inspiration from things that are around me and things that are happening in my life. In recent years I've started writing more fictional ballad stories which is great fun as well. A good piece of songwriting advice my dad gave me when I first started was "write about what you know". It's good advice because then what you write about can't help but be authentic and genuine.

What would be your dream gig?

I don't really have a specific venue in mind for a dream gig. A dream gig for me is having a good crowd who enjoy and respond to what you are playing. It's a fairly magical feeling when you manage to silence a whole room of people when playing a slow song that requires concentration from an audience. You could hear a pin drop and then the atmosphere erupts with the applause at the end. It is equally enjoyable getting a whole crowd dancing and singing along to a song! Especially if it's a song you've written.

Best moment as a musician so far?

That's a tough one too. I was very happy and proud when we got offered our first Boomtown slot. It was the first big festival we played and we opened up the Devil Dance Hall stage on the Thursday night. The crowd were trying to pull the gates down to get in because things were running a bit behind. When they eventually opened the gates hundreds of people poured in and we started playing straight away and the crowd went nuts. We were the first band they'd seen at the festival so people were obviously very up for it!

What is the most unusual venue you have played?

My band Poor Old Dogs played at a few pop-up venues in Bristol. One was a warehouse, another was an abandoned hotel. We also filmed a music video in a decommissioned army truck. Our lead guitarist was about six foot five so he had pretty severe neck ache afterwards!

What is your ‘go-to’ encore song?

I would usually finish on a bit of a foot stomper. So, 'Irish Rover', 'Jack Hall', 'All for Me Grog'... anything like that!

What's the best thing about performing?

When a crowd is really listening to and enjoying what you're playing. It's always great when someone comes up to you afterwards and tells you a song or a particular lyric or line that you've written has resonated with them. And performing is great fun! I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it.

Do you always perform solo or do you also play with a band?

I've always played in bands, as well as solo. I've started a band with James Cooke from Midnight Graffiti and Adam Cooke from Midnight Graffiti and The Hand Me Downs. We are called Painted Wolves. We're going to start looking for some gigs for next year as well so look out of us on social media. I really enjoy both solo and band playing. They're very different. Playing in a band generally feels more "fun" and there's that sense of camaraderie. Playing solo, you feel slightly more exposed as it's just you, the guitar and the crowd. But that can be fun in another way. When you manage to captivate a crowd as a solo performer then that's really exciting.

Have you got any gigs coming up?

I'm playing upstairs at Blakes on the 1st of November. It's going to be the first in a monthly instalment of gigs I'm going to be doing there. Get yourselves along!

Any last words?

Follow my social media pages for upcoming gigs (@jmurrayfrancis). I also post a video about once a week of me playing a song somewhere in my house. Recent additions have been Tramps and Hawkers (traditional), The Broad Majestic Shannon (The Pogues) and Never Any Good (Martin Simpson). Thanks for reading. Hopefully see you at a gig very soon!