English journalist and author
Will Hodgkinson
is a journalist and author from London (born in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
),
[1]
England. He is the chief rock and pop critic for
The Times
newspaper and contributes to
Mojo
magazine.
[2]
He has written for
The Guardian
,
[2]
The Independent
and
Vogue
.
[2]
Hodgkinson presents the
Sky Arts
TV show
Songbook
, in which he interviews contemporary songwriters.
His 2014 memoir
The House Is Full Of Yogis
tells the story of Hodgkinson's father joining an Indian spiritual group called the Brahma Kumaris and embracing celibacy, meditation and a radical, non-evolutionary world view, while his mother became a radical feminist and published
Sex Is Not Compulsory
, her case for the sexless marriage, just as Hodgkinson was trying to meet girls for the first time. His book,
The Ballad Of Britain (2009)
(Portico), is a travelogue for which he travelled through Britain making field recordings in an attempt to capture the spirit of the place and its people.
Guitar Man
(2006) and
Song Man
(2007) (
Bloomsbury
) are narrative non-fiction in a comic style. In
Guitar Man
, Hodgkinson picked up the guitar for the first time aged 34 with the aim of playing a concert six months later. He received lessons and advice from the Scottish folk guitarist
Bert Jansch
,
Johnny Marr
, former guitarist of
The Smiths
,
Roger McGuinn
of
The Byrds
,
PJ Harvey
and the pioneering guitarist
Davey Graham
. For
Song Man
he learned the basics of songwriting with the goal of recording a single at Toe-Rag Studios in London, this time picking up tips from
Keith Richards
,
Andy Partridge
of
XTC
, folk queen
Shirley Collins
and the hippy era songwriter
Bridget St John
.
Guitar Man
and
Song Man
are published in the US by
Da Capo
.
In 2007, Hodgkinson launched a project in conjunction with
The Guardian
newspaper to create and run a record label, Big Bertha, which he wrote about in a monthly column.
[3]
Acts signed to the label were the Cornish folk band
Thistletown
and
Pete Molinari
.
[4]
Hodgkinson is the brother of
Tom Hodgkinson
, the editor of
The Idler
. Their father is the science writer Neville Hodgkinson and their mother is the non-fiction writer and journalist
Liz Hodgkinson
.
[5]
Hodgkinson is married and has two children.
[2]
According to an article in
The Times
(12 November 2015) took his first and so far only trip with LSD when he was 17 years old. On a sunny day in 1988 he and a friend went to a hilltop in
Richmond Park
to try the drug. His initial effect of the drugs were "magical".
[6]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
Books
[
edit
]
- Hodgkinson, Will (2009).
The ballad of Britain : how music captured the soul of a nation
. London: Portico.
- — (2014).
The house is full of Yogis
. London: Blue Door.
- —.
Guitar Man
. London: Bloomsbury.
Da Capo, US
- —.
Song Man
. London: Bloomsbury.
Da Capo, US
Essays and reporting
[
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]
- Hodgkinson, Will (December 2014). "Old School Neil Diamond". What Goes On!.
Mojo
.
253
: 12?13.
- — (December 2014). "Stetson the city : Americana 2014, the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee". Filter. Lives.
Mojo
.
253
: 126?127.
References
[
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]
Sources
[
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]
- Guitar Man
(Bloomsbury, 2006)
- Song Man
(Bloomsbury, 2007)
External links
[
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]