London

Phil Odgers & John Kettle: The War is Over - Album Launch - Matinee Sho

Back in April 2020, as lockdown brought normal life to a standstill, Phil Odgers — singer and acoustic guitarist with The Men They Couldn’t Hang — finally found time to embark on a project he’d long been considering: a collection of Phil Ochs songs. Teaming up remotely with John Kettle (Merry Hell guitarist and producer), the pair created Far Rockaway, a critically acclaimed album that became a folk favourite, earning radio play across the US and Europe and introducing Ochs’ work to new listeners.

With that mission accomplished, Odgers returned to his own writing and touring, with no plans to revisit the idea. But four years and seven months later, on the morning of 6 November 2024, hearing the newsreader announce Donald Trump’s second presidential victory, he felt compelled to return to Ochs’ catalogue. The result is The War Is Over — a collection shaped by world events, steeped in anti‑war themes, and filled with stories of struggle and resistance.