Will Hodgkinson

Will Hodgkinson is a journalist and author from London (born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne), England. He is the chief rock & pop critic for The Times newspaper and contributes to Mojo magazine. He has written for The Guardian, The Independent and Vogue. Hodgkinson presents the Sky Arts TV show Songbook, in which he interviews contemporary songwriters.

His 2014 memoir "The House Is Full Of Yogis" tells the story of Hodgkinson's father joining an Indian spiritual group called the Brahma Kumaris and embracing celibacy, meditation and a radical, non-evolutionary world view, while his mother became a radical feminist and published "Sex Is Not Compulsory", her case for the sexless marriage, just as Hodgkinson was trying to meet girls for the first time. His book The Ballad Of Britain (2009) (Portico) is a travelogue for which he travelled through Britain making field recordings in an attempt to capture the spirit of the place and its people. Guitar Man (2006) and Song Man (2007) (Bloomsbury) are narrative non-fiction in a comic style. In Guitar Man, Hodgkinson picked up the guitar for the first time aged 34 with the aim of playing a concert six months later. He received lessons and advice from the Scottish folk guitarist Bert Jansch, Johnny Marr, former guitarist of The Smiths, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, PJ Harvey and the pioneering guitarist Davey Graham. For Song Man he learned the basics of songwriting with the goal of recording a single at Toe-Rag Studios in London, this time picking up tips from Keith Richards, Andy Partridge of XTC, folk queen Shirley Collins and the hippy era songwriter Bridget St John. Guitar Man and Song Man are published in the US by Da Capo.

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