Who's the Boy with the Lovely Hair? Jakko M Jakszyk in conversation

Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? The Unlikely Memoir of Jakko M Jakszyk

From reflecting on who he could have been after meeting his birth family and discovering their extreme beliefs to performing for 120,000 people in Rio de Janeiro…

This is the unique and incredible life of a successful musician who went on a journey of self-discovery to find out who he really was and found out much more than he ever bargained for. From revelations set against the backdrop of Nazi Germany, a mother with a previously unknown successful singing career, to finding a white supremacist in your current family line – and everything in-between…

Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? is, at first glance, a traditional rock’n’roll memoir, charting Jakko’s long and varied musical career, packed with eyebrow-raising and hilarious anecdotes about his encounters with everyone from Michael Jackson, Kate Bush, Cliff Richard and Gene Simmons, to Uri Geller, Jack Charlton, Audrey Hepburn, the Dalai Lama and crossing swords with Millwall Football Club’s dodgy director Reg Burr.

But step away from the tales from the trenches of late 20th and early 21st century rock’n’roll, theatre and alternative comedy, and you uncover:

- The harrowing stories of his adoptive parents’ lives during World War II

- Discovering his adoptive father had fought on both sides of that war

- His birth mother’s fame as a successful singer in Ireland

- Jakko finding and meeting his birth mother and self-proclaimed ‘white supremacist’

step-siblings

- How a lonely, despondent adopted child ended up working and playing with his

childhood heroes

This is a book about origins, identity and who we become. It’s about a kid who found solace in music when the very sense of who he was left him floundering. It is about how his journey to discover his family allowed him to reflect on who he could have been had he not been given away at birth.

Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair? is a tale about discovering, processing and making peace with who you are, and ultimately asking: “How much of us is nature and how much is nurture?”

We have two ticket options available: * Event Only and *Event with Discounted Book Combo deal - books will be available for collection at the Festival.

Our event will be followed by a dedicated signing event with Jakko. RRP books will also be available for purchase on the day.

About the Author

Apart from the odd diversion into acting and alternative comedy, Jakko Jakszyk has been a professional musician and composer since he was 17 years old. Alongside playing on hundreds of records as a session player, he has also written a number of award-nominated commissions for BBC Radio 3 and recognisable scores for TV and advertising. However, he is best known for being lead guitarist with the hugely popular jazz-fusion act Level 42 in the ’90’s and as lead singer and guitarist for the founding father of progressive rock, King Crimson, since 2013.

He lives in Hertfordshire with two cats, two highly creative offspring and one purpose-built studio.

Host or Publisher Louder Than Words Festival