A collection of songs inspired by Loss & Hope. Every challenge we face, a tightrope walked.

Joe Tilston is the bass player in punk band Random Hand.

But this release is a very different animal. In a good way.

Joe has a punk heart, but his solo music has a different heartbeat.

It’s Folkish, it’s beautiful, and at times cutting and direct.

Tightrope is full of songs of death & hope, and is unashamed to bare all. The music takes influence from a childhood brought up in smokey, beer swilled folk clubs, where his parents, renowned folk artists Maggie Boyle and Steve Tilston held court and shared their music.

This is a man with a seriously good pedigree and it shows in his work. We can’t help comparisons with Steve Gunn and, at times, Brian Fallon. But they’re American and this isn’t a Route 66 soundtrack. It’d be good on the ferry to a Scottish island, though. Or just enjoyed as you like, with a large glass of whiskey.

Offering echoes of his roots and a nod to his previous album Embers, new album Tightrope still bears the mark of teenage rebellion, that has taken Joe on a journey through the world’s punk and ska scenes, for nearly two decades.

The single, Flowers, is out now. The album will be released on 8 November 2021 by Bomber Music.