Michael Bonner
Michael Bonner oversees Uncut’s music coverage with an emphasis on deep knowledge of classic artists, carefully curated new music and the evolving story of long-running acts. He combines editorial leadership of the magazine with hands-on writing, from news posts on new releases to long-view features that frame each issue’s mix of heritage names and current discoveries.
Shaping Uncut’s issues around legacy artists and deep catalogues
Much of Bonner’s current work centres on introducing new issues of Uncut and setting their editorial tone. He frequently trails cover stories built around major catalog acts, such as an issue headlined by Kate Bush alongside Cream, R.E.M., The Specials, Boards Of Canada, Peter Hammill, Jim O’Rourke and Elvis Costello, with a companion Robert Fripp CD curated for readers. In similar issue-launch pieces he highlights themed CDs like Ambient Americana, and packages of archival or specialist material that accompany the magazine. These previews lean heavily on artists with long, rich discographies – from The Rolling Stones and The Kinks to John Coltrane and Gregg Allman – making clear that he programmes the magazine around deep-catalog listening as much as around current release cycles. His copy in these pieces is concise and informational, foregrounding who is in the issue and why they matter, rather than adopting a first-person or opinion-led style.
News coverage of new releases from established musicians
Alongside print-issue framing, Bonner writes online news for Uncut focused on new music from artists with an existing critical following. His piece on PJ Harvey’s single “Voyager” fits a pattern of short, timely items that alert readers to new songs, albums or projects while placing them in the context of a career. Within Uncut’s news archive his byline sits on announcements such as new singles, album details and other activity from acts that align with the magazine’s audience of engaged, album-oriented listeners. The emphasis is not on breaking chart news but on flagging developments from artists already regarded as part of a broader rock, alternative and singer-songwriter canon, and on doing so in a tone that assumes reader familiarity rather than explaining from first principles.
Long-running engagement with reissues, archives and post-punk
Bonner has an extensive track record at Uncut that stretches back through the magazine’s online archive, and a significant portion of his older work deals with reissues and the historical record. He has written about post-punk in depth, for example revisiting This Heat’s albums This Heat, Health & Efficiency and Deceit on reissue and characterising them as “revolutionary, truth-telling and abstract protest.” He also covers major catalogue projects such as remastered Rolling Stones releases, drilling into tracklists and production details around classics like “Honky Tonk Women”, “Gimme Shelter”, “Angie”, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man”. These pieces show a critic interested in how archival work reshapes understanding of a band or era, and in how reissues, deluxe editions and retrospective packages fit into a longer narrative of rock and experimental music.
Editorial leadership and a dual focus on music and film
Within the magazine Bonner holds the editor role, as credited on Uncut’s masthead. In that capacity he commissions and shapes music features, while a long-standing pitching note also connects his name with film coverage for the title. His earliest archived work for Uncut includes a weekly film blog introducing and assessing new cinema releases, indicating a parallel interest in film culture running alongside his primary focus on music. Taken together, his responsibilities span steering Uncut’s overall editorial agenda, curating cover packages and CDs, and contributing his own writing where it connects most strongly with the magazine’s core territory of classic, alternative and archival music.
4 more music journalists.
Abigail Kellett
Abigail Kellett is a news reporter at the Halifax Courier who stands out for visually led coverage that shows how culture, nightlife and local life play out on the ground. She documents gigs, festivals and major live shows at venues such as The Piece Hall through curated photo sets that capture atmosphere, crowd and setting as much as performers, and she uses extensive image galleries to tap reader nostalgia for nights out in Halifax town centre. Her beat spans arts, entertainment, going out, heritage, books and literary events, along with community life, people stories, local challenges, milestones, transport, regeneration, lifestyle and food. She reports through photographs, checklist-style features, reader-driven lists and roundups of most-read stories, turning announcements, programmes, author events, festivals, shop lists and everyday characters into stories about place, shared memory and how people spend their time.
Adam Lyon
Adam Lyon is a digital audience and content editor whose news beat sits at the intersection of Ayrshire’s cultural life, business environment and public affairs. He works for the Ayr Advertiser and as Digital Audience & Content Editor for Newsquest in the west of Scotland across multiple weekly titles. He covers Ayrshire news with a strong thread of music and local culture alongside business, courts and public affairs. He reports on music when it has a clear community or national hook, treating songs as news events rather than reviews. His business work explains how local firms and retail policy shape town centres. His court coverage uses round-ups of sheriff court cases to show patterns and outcomes. He also fronts video previews and is active in a football supporters trust community.
Adam Maidment
Adam Maidment is a senior What’s On and LGBTQ+ reporter whose work links big-name gigs, new venues and cultural flashpoints to everyday fan culture and inclusion. He covers music, nightlife and the wider cultural scene for the Manchester Evening News, focusing on how concerts, openings and immersive events land with real people and communities. His beat spans live music, arenas and stadiums, new restaurant and bar openings, food reviews, exhibitions, street art and nightlife infrastructure, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ audiences and neighbourhoods. He reports on venue ambitions and problems, cultural institutions and equality issues, and franchise-led experiences, using straightforward, on-the-ground reporting and clear description. Drawing on a background in community reporting, he looks for underrepresented perspectives and uses social media, analytics and local sourcing to find stories where culture, identity and place meet.
Alison Brinkworth
Alison Brinkworth is a freelance journalist who treats music as a gateway into place, history and everyday life, often through exhibitions, performances and city-centre events. She covers music within the wider cultural and lifestyle scene, leaning toward accessible, on-the-ground stories framed by familiar artists, venues and local attractions. Her work often focuses on music exhibitions and attractions built around well-known performers, alongside theatre reviews, live events and city attractions. She brings a lifestyle, travel and human-interest sensibility, using interviews and personal stories to show how people spend their time. With over 25 years of experience across print, digital, social media and internal communications, she writes clear, factual, audience-facing articles with dates, locations and organisers, suited to listings, guides and practical recommendations.