Description

Musically, Jason is influenced by the British acoustic guitarists (Jansch, Graham, Wizz Jones) and the
great folk/rock troubadours of the 60s and 70s. He loves Mark Knopfler in the early days; the English
teacher turned reluctant rock star, singing about Leeds and Newcastle and sounding like JJ Cale. For
McNiff, the lyrics are central, and he has been especially captivated by those considered poets and
writers as well as musicians. He loves literature and cites Hemingway, Chekhov and the
aforementioned Cavafy, as major influences in his work. (He has 'translated' Hemingway's 'For
Whom the Bell Tolls' into a song on a previous album, 'Nobody's Son?.)

Jason McNiff was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1974 to an Irish father and Polish mother.
Academically gifted, he did well at school and went to the University of Nottingham to study French
and Russian. He fell in with the Folk & Blues scene in that city before moving to London in the mid-
nineties to do another degree in English Lit. He was just in time to catch the Bert Jansch residency at
the 12 Bar club. For 6 months, every Wednesday night, McNiff would be in the front row of Soho's
tiny club learning fingerstyle from the master. He would later sign his first record deal with
Snowstorm Records, a label run by Bert's brother-in-law and found himself opening for Bert on
numerous occasions.
There followed a string of albums on various labels, including 2003's Nobody's Son (Americana UK
album of the year) and 2011's April Cruel (nominated for best alt-country album at the Independent
Music Awards in the US.) He became interested in Italian music around this time and played all over
Italy with the combat folk group, Modena City Ramblers. His brother is a tour guide in Vatican City,
and for a spell, Rome was called home. He recently moved to Hastings in Sussex where he runs the
popular Sundowner music event. Since March 2020 he has taken this online and is, at the time of
writing, on show No.42.

Description

he Plough in Shepreth is a village pub with big ideas. After being closed completely for almost four years, the pub underwent an extensive transformation under its new owners, before re-opening its doors on Saturday 5th July 2014.

Here at The Plough, we aim to provide a friendly and welcoming atmosphere whilst offering a variety of services to be enjoyed by both the local community and visitors from the wider surrounding area.

The “Traditional Village Pub” plays an important part in our design and mentality, yet we also recognise that the licensed trade faces many challenges in the current economic climate. Therefore The Plough offers much more than might be considered usual in a village pub. “Traditional Plus” is a phrase we find ourselves returning to frequently, and probably best sums up our overall outlook.

The Plough is a five-minute walk from Shepreth Railway Station, which itself is just a ten-minute train journey from Cambridge.

12 High Street,

Shepreth,

Cambridgeshire,

England,

SG8 6PP.

01763 290348