Teesside and Yorkshire folk singer and songwriter, Richard Grainger, is making a surprise visit to North Yorkshire’s famous ironstone museum, Land of Iron, in the coastal village of Skinningrove, near Loftus.
Born in Middlesbrough into a steel-working family, music was part of Richard’s life from an early age. He started singing in the Teesside folk scene in the 1970s, leaving his job in shipping in the mid-80s to follow his passion.
His first album, Herbs on the Heart, released in 1985, has been followed by 14 further albums over the intervening years. A new album is on the way for release in December 2025.
Richard’s songs tell the stories of the lives of working folk all over our region, from steelmaking and iron mining to fishing, whaling and farming… and everything in between. He has written plays and musical projects, including Eye of the Wind (the story of James Cook’s voyage on Endeavour), Town in Time (the history of Middlesbrough), Stormbound (the Rohilla disaster, 1914), and Ghosts of Heroes (Whitby in World War I).
Richard works extensively with folk instrumentalist, Chris Parkinson, performing and recording as a dynamic and entertaining duo. He has made numerous appearances on radio and TV and has collaborated with Sir David Attenborough, who narrated his Eye of the Wind when it was recorded by the BBC.
His songs are widely known and sung, and he regularly tours in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. This is a rare opportunity to catch Richard on his home turf and in a perfect setting for his songs - so we hope you’ll join him for this special night.