Mary L. Shannon

Delighted to announce that more tickets for Jump Billy! have been released by the venue after we sold out in the smaller room. We’re now in the beautiful big room upstairs at Cecil Sharp House. Do come along if you’re free and you fancy some live music.

And if you’ve got a ticket: can’t wait to see you. There is likely to be a production crew recording bits of the show for a BBC radio documentary, but don’t worry, it’s the performers they are recording!

‘Jump Billy!’, Wed. 25th March 2026, Cecil Sharp House London, 8pm

A celebration of English folk’s diverse history, through the life of celebrity Black Regency busker Billy Waters.

A one-off concert to mark the 250th anniversary of Billy Waters’ birth, with live music from Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, Clarke Camilleri, Hamilton Gross, and Angeline Morrison, and also featuring Maz O’Connor and Martin Simpson. There’ll be a mix of solo and band performances with music from the artists’ own repertoires – old and new – as well as trad.

The show is created and arranged by Mary L. Shannon, writer and author of Billy Waters Is Dancing, and narrated by Suchitra Chatterjee, of Brighton & Hove Black History. It draws together researchers and creatives who have worked together on various projects to highlight the life of this Black disabled Regency celebrity.

We are featured in Folk London magazine and afridiziak.com.

Tickets can be purchased here.