It’s a pirate’s life for me, as Johnny Depp once famously said (and he should know!), and indeed there is something about a life of wine, plunder and daring deeds on the high seas of old that has an appeal on a grey English day with another bill to pay (as the line from Blackadder goes, “I feel like a pelican as everywhere I look I have a f great bill stuck in front of me). There was also that rather wonderful pirate in the film Dodge Ball that was very funny…so with a yo ho ho and a coke (I know it should be rum but I don’t drink) I approached the new single from this group of nautical folk/punk performers from Penzanze (home of the Pirates of Penzance AKA Gilbert and Sullivan !). Let me share with you the press release and then share my review of the single.
All For Jolly are:
Samantha Hannah – Vocals, Mandolin, Guitar
Steve Sampson – Vocals, Guitars
Jae Alice – Vocals, Guitars, Harmonica, Ukelele
Aubrey Blakeledge – Bass
Ian Arnold, Claudio Finelli, Bo Payne – Drums
Press Release: “This song is about survival — not just for us, but for the venues that keep live music alive. Without grassroots spaces, bands like ours simply wouldn’t exist.”
Penzance-based folk-punk band All For Jolly have announced their upcoming single “LIFEBLOOD” — a release that sits at the heart of a wider campaign highlighting the ongoing closure of grassroots music venues across the UK.
“Lifeblood” will be released via Patreon and Bandcamp on Monday 12 January 2026, ahead of a full release on all major streaming platforms on Saturday 17 January 2026. The track is both a tribute to independent venues and a frank reflection on the growing pressures facing the grassroots music scene, from rising operating costs and redevelopment to the increasing financial strain placed on DIY artists.
For All For Jolly, the issue is deeply personal. The band built their career touring the UK’s grassroots circuit and credit small, independent venues as the foundation of their journey — and as vital spaces where new artists can survive, develop, and connect with audiences.
“Grassroots venues are the lifeblood of bands like ours,” the band say. “They’re where scenes exist at all. Without them — and without proper support — making music becomes impossible for so many people.”
Following the release of “LIFEBLOOD”, All For Jolly will embark on a UK tour throughout February 2026. The run will also mark the band’s final tour as a full band for the foreseeable future, with rising costs and the realities of remaining fully independent making extended touring increasingly unsustainable.
Together, the single and tour underline the campaign’s central message: the fight to keep grassroots venues alive is inseparable from the fight faced by the artists who rely on them. Fans will be encouraged to support local venues, attend shows, and buy tickets in advance wherever possible.
Known for their high-energy live performances and socially conscious songwriting, All For Jolly continue to blend infectious folk-punk with meaningful causes — using their platform to speak openly about the realities of today’s grassroots music scene.
My Review: In previous editorials Benny and Mark (our editors) have raised several times the plight of grassroots smaller music venues. Essentially, although the headline tours of the likes of Oasis and Taylor Swift draw stadium sized audiences with tickets of hundreds of pounds a head, this does not mean the smaller bands and artists are finding it easy. Small live venues are struggling, but keeping them is the only way for the next big band to gain traction and experience connecting to their audience. So support your smaller venues. In my city of Newcastle The Cluny is a shining example of where so many wonderful new acts are able to break through.
“Lifeblood” is all about this. It’s a lyrical punk sea shanty to the loss of these little venues that keep the independent music scene alive. It is a track with a fast drumming beat, some harmony backing and enough ass kicking in the vocal delivery to slot this into the melodic punk feel that we do enjoy here. You have a serious theme with an upbeat feel, a lament for what we are losing with attitude.
Thus, we have a new single that is a raucous folk-punk sea shanty with its boots planted firmly in real-world struggle, “Lifeblood” is All For Jolly singing for the venues that raised them. It’s fast, loud, defiant, and strangely uplifting — a lament shouted with a grin and a raised fist. Proof that you can drink, dance, and still fight for something that matters.
I will also review, since I am here, an older track by the band called –
“Rum Song” which currently has 192k+ listens on Spotify…is a drinking song to be sung with passion while swaggering on deck after a late night trip to the grog store! It can also be sung at festivals and have the crowd running up the Jolly Roger and heading off for a life on the waves.
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Band Website here
Stream music from All for Jolly here
By Anna-Louise Burgess