Homeplace to welcome Wilko

Probably best known to many as a member of the pub rock/rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s, Wilko Johnson will be “IN CONVERSION With Zoë Howe” on April 14 at 8pm.

Those who attend may expect to discover more about him.

For instance, like Seamus Heaney, Wilko Johnson studied English Literature and planned to become a teacher. While Heaney became a poet, Johnson was lured into a life of into a life of rock and roll as the strutting, grimacing, six-string rhythmic powerhouse behind Lee Brilleaux in seminal 1970s band Dr Feelgood.

All through the 1980s, 1990s and into the new millennium he continued to gig in the UK, Europe and Japan.

However, it was when Julien Temple’s award-winning Oil City Confidential came out in 2009, with Wilko emerging as the film’s star, that the world once again sat up and paid attention to his extraordinary talent. Since then, he has appeared in Game of Thrones, recorded with Roger Daltry, written his autobiography, beaten his 2012 diagnosis of terminal cancer and never stopped performing.

Wilko will be in conversation with Zoë Howe, a musician, artist and author who has written books on Lee Brilleaux, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Stevie Nicks. Zoë co-authored Wilko’s autobiography, Looking Back at Me.

Admission is £12. To book or find out more telephone: 028 7938 7444 or visit the website: seamusheaneyhome.ticketsolve.com/shows/873582474

There’s lots more going on over the coming weeks at the HomePlace arts and literary centre which celebrates the life and literature of the late poet and Nobel Laureate. The building has a permanent interactive exhibition about the life and literature of Seamus Heaney, arranged over two floors and includes a recreation of the poet’s Dublin study. There is also a performing arts space, a café and shop.