Jez was born and raised in County Durham, in a family with Irish roots. He is known primarily for his compositions dealing with daily life in North-East England. He has an enviable reputation both as a songwriter and a performer of acoustic music with more than a dozen albums and countless live performances. He has performed at some of the most prestigious venues and festivals in the world. Jez participated in a hugely successful radio documentary series for the BBC entitled The Radio Ballads, for which he composed 23 new songs and is also known as one of the Pitman Poets.
Jez is a highly accomplished singer and guitarist. He builds a great rapport with audiences with his warmth, humour and wry observations of daily life.