Lewis Burner - The Featherstone Massacre

by Julie Cruickshank

published: 5 / 12 / 2023

Lewis Burner - The Featherstone Massacre

Label: Shed Load Records
Format: Download

New single commemorating the Featherstone Massacre of 1893 from The Burner Band’s Lewis Burner.

Review

Lewis Burner, who heads Leeds’ The Burner Band, is also a solo artist with acclaimed albums ‘Dog Songs’ and ‘Dark Wheels Turn Above Our Heads’ to his name. Lewis has released a new single, ‘The Featherstone Massacre’ drawing attention to the 130th anniversary of the miner’s strike in West Yorkshire of 7th September 1893, the last time in England that guns were turned on working men fighting for fair pay. The single has a thoughtful, contemplative mood; Lewis plays most of the instruments and describes those terrible events through his gift as a story-teller. Banjo trickles throughout like a winding stream, and harmonica conveys the sadness and futility of this terrible tragedy. This is a fitting and heartfelt tribute to the men who lost their lives, and indeed draws attention to all workers still trying to win a decent standard of living today.