BONA fide folk legend Julie Felix will be sharing tales from a stellar career that spans more than 50 years when she plays for Ringwood Folk Club on June 21.

Born in California, she moved to the UK as a teenager in the late 1950s and was immediately drawn into Britain’s burgeoning folk music scene, playing clubs up and down the land. In 1964 she became the first folk artist to sign to a UK major record label, releasing her self-titled debut album on Decca. A year later she was the first folk singer to sell out the Royal Albert Hall, prompting The Times to dub her Britain’s First Lady of Folk.

David Frost hired her as resident singer for landmark TV show The Frost Report and she went on to host a series of TV specials for the BBC, including the series Once More With Felix with guests including The Kinks, Leonard Cohen and Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. She played the famous 1969 Isle of Wight Festival with Bob Dylan, The Band and The Who among others, notching up two hit singles in 1970 with If I Could (El Condor Pasa) and Heaven Is Here.

As committed to her craft today as she ever was, Julie Felix has never stopped touring, recording and campaigning on a range of issues. Her most recent album, In the Spotlight, is her first live album for 15 years.

Support act, Ian W Brown is no stranger to Ringwood Folk Club, although he’s more usually found steering other singer songwriters to the top of the charts, or writing hit songs for others to perform. A modest man of manifest skill and talent with his own record company, he also has interests in publishing, management, film and television. Fresh from a support tour with Rita Coolidge and ahead of appearances at Glastonbury and Cornbury festivals, his debut single, Me Too, was released earlier this year.

See ringwoodfolk.org.uk