Category: New album releases

Rikard Sjöblom’s Gungfly Sign To InsideOut For New Album ‘On Her Journey To The Sun’

Following last years disbanding of Sweden’s much-loved progressive rockers Beardfish, vocalist and driving force Rikard Sjöblom has turned his attention to his solo project Rikard Sjöblom’s Gungfly, and signed with InsideOutMusic for the release of their next album ‘On Her Journey To The Sun’ on 19th May 2017.

Rikard had this to say: “Gungfly was born out of necessity, songs came to life whenever there was downtime with Beardfish or if a song didn’t quite fit within Beardfish’s (otherwise quite broad and eclectic) frame of styles. I basically started recording songs, mainly pop-oriented material, but being the type of songwriter and musician I am, some prog slipped through the radar as well. With the break-up of Beardfish all of the prog-related material I write needed to go somewhere and Gungfly was ready and able for this step!”

Band photo by Peder Andersson.

Mew share video for new single 85 Videos & European Tour Dates

Hot on the heels after the announcement of their seventh album, Visuals – released on April 28th – Danish art rock outfit Mew announce details of a brand new single 85 Videos.

Having made his directorial debut on 2015’s +- (plus/minus) album, 85 Videos, once again sees front man Jonas Bjerre take the helm whilst also creating videos for every single that follows on the Visuals album.

Speaking of the video, Bjerre says:

“I’ve been working a lot with kaleidoscopes lately. You have an image, or a sequence of images, and you snip out an angle, mirror it, and repeat it in a 360-degree angle. It’s a beautiful thing, because almost no matter the state of the original image, it ends up a beautiful symmetrical, indefinable something. A picture of your messy desk turns into a strange flower. I like that you can’t really envision what it will look like until you see it. I think our music is a bit like that too, even as we’re working on it.

I made a bunch of sequences, and crafted them into these ever-changing ‘faces’ that I then video-projected on to our actual faces. It’s like wearing a mask made out of photons. You can say a lot of philosophical stuff about masks – but don’t worry, I’m not going to. Hope you enjoy the video.”

Visuals marks the band’s return to the fray following a relative short break (for them) since 2015’s + –. Having whetted the appetite with album closer Carry Me To Safety, Mew unveil the brand new single 85 Videos as they continue to inhabit their own dream-pop landscape of pop sensibilities enveloped in swathes of 80’s influenced synths.

From the outset 85 Videos exudes a familiar expansive backdrop, lush instrumentation coupled with rousing vocals and a euphoric pop brilliance that is part of Mew’s DNA. Twenty years into their career, Visuals sees the band retain the irrepressible ebullience of a band working on their debut album.

Visuals is released on 28th April though Play It Again Sam and available on CD, vinyl and digitally and is available to pre-order here.

Mew will be playing a short run of European shows as follows.

May 2017

 17  Paradiso  – Amsterdam, Netherlands

19  Point Ephemere – Paris, France

20  Trix – Antwerp, Belgium

21  Trinity – Bristol, UK

22  O2 Ritz – Manchester, UK

23  Shepherds Bush Empire – London, UK

25  Luxor – Köln, Germany

26  Knust – Hamburg, Germany

27  Immergut Festival – Neutrelitz, Germany

Visuals Track Listing:

Nothingness and No Regrets

The Wake Of Your Life

Candy Pieces All Smeared Out

In A Better Place

Ay Ay Ay

Learn Our Crystals

Twist Quest

Shoulders

Videos

Zanzibar

Carry Me To Safety

SLEEPMAKESWAVES ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE, 2017 TOUR DATES & THIRD ALBUM

Post-rock trailblazers sleepmakeswaves have announced a massive start to 2017 with a new single, a plethora of tour dates and the news that their third album “Made of Breath only” will be released Friday 7th April through Bird’s Robe Records.

The first taste of the new record ‘Tundra’ was premiered on triple j radio this week, with the station opining “a masterful rise-and-fall of breathless riffs and breathtaking atmosphere, the track pivots on scintillating guitars and epic climaxes towards a reflective final act.”

Listen to ‘Tundra’ here: www.sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com

The band also participated in an AMA on Reddit ahead of the premiere and indicated that the new album will have the “up-tempo pace and intensity” of their previous album ‘Love of Cartography’, “but there are more straight up riffs and overall, it’s angrier, sadder, and heavier.”

To launch the record, the band have begun rolling out a series of tour announcements which will ultimately form part of their world tour in support of ‘Made of Breath only.’

In February, they kick off their touring as main support for reunited post-hardcore legends UNDEROATH at a series of sold out theatre shows around Australia.

In March, they will begin their headlining run in China with a 10-date tour playing their biggest clubs and theatres to date. During March and April, they will return home to launch the new album with a 7-date headlining Australian tour covering capital cities and regional areas.

In May, they will then continue on to New Zealand and another Australian tour, as direct support for Canadian progressive rock icon DEVIN TOWNSEND at theatres across the continents.

The band have also responded to fan requests on social media, indicating that further touring is in the works for the UK, Europe & North America.

In late 2016, the band put out a call to fans to help raise funds for their third album and a world tour through pre-orders via Australian crowdfunding site Pozible. They raised over $40,000 to cover the remaining costs of producing the record, which follows 2014’s ARIA-nominated & J Award-nominated ‘Love of Cartography.’

The band posted the following message to social media upon the announce:

It feels like the last 12 months have been leading up to today, and we’re incredibly excited/nervous/eager about recording this material with Nick DiDia, and performing it for you all over the world from early 2017. Thanks for the support as always. Your friendly neighbourhood post-rockers, sleepmakeswaves

sleepmakeswaves recently wrapped up a massive sold out tour with reunited alternative rock legends COG, as well as touring extensively across North America and their own headline tour in Australia, clocking up 54 shows in support of the single and video ‘traced in constellations.’

The band’s busy schedule follows their epic 55-date, 22-country ‘Great Northern’ tour of 2015 and 10 Australian tours, 4 European tours, 2 US tours and shows across Asia and New Zealand since their release of their debut album ‘…and so we destroyed everything’ in 2011. In 2014, they successfully raised $30,000 in pre-orders to help fund the recording of ‘Love of Cartography’.

New album “Made of Breath Only” is out 7th April in the UK.

sleepmakeswaves Australian tour w/Underoath (USA)

Fri Feb 10 – Eatons Hill, Brisbane QLD Lic. All Ages

Sat Feb 11 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW Lic. All Ages

Sun Feb 12 – 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC – SOLD OUT

Mon Feb 13 – 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC

Wed Feb 15 – The Gov, Adelaide SA Lic. All Ages

Thu Feb 16 – Metropolis, Fremantle WA

sleepmakeswaves China headline tour

Thu March 9 – Mao Livehouse, Hangzhou CHINA

Fri March 10 – Mao Livehouse, Shanghai CHINA

Sat March 11 – Yugong Yishan, Beijing CHINA

Sun March 12 – Ola Space, Nanjing CHINA

Tue March 14 – Nuts, Chongqing CHINA

Wed March 15 – Little Bar Space, Chengdu CHINA

Thu March 16 – Vox, Wuhan CHINA

Fri March 17 – Fei Livehouse, Guangzhou CHINA

Sat March 18 – B10, Shenzhen CHINA

Sun March 19 – Hidden Agenda, Hong Kong CHINA

sleepmakeswaves Australian headline tour

Fri March 24 – Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW

Sat March 25 – Max Watt’s, Melbourne VIC

Thu March 30 – ANU Bar, Canberra ACT

Fri March 31 – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle

Thu April 6 – The Gov, Adelaide SA

Fri April 7 – Badlands, Perth WA

Sat April 8 – Max Watt’s, Brisbane

sleepmakeswaves Australia & New Zealand tour w/Devin Townsend Project (CAN)

Thu May 18 – Powerstation, Auckland NZ

Sat May 20 – The Triffid, Brisbane QLD

Mon May 22 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW

Wed May 24 – 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC

Fri May 26 – Capitol, Perth WA

Tickets for all shows from www.sleepmakeswaves.com

Pre-orders from www.sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com

Telepathy to release sophomore album – Tempest

(Photo credit: Stephanie Pearl)

‘Tempest’ is the long awaited sophomore full-length from U K instrumental titans, Telepathy. Recorded, mixed and mastered at London’s Orgone Studios by lauded producer /engineer Jaime Gomez Arellano ( Ghost, Opeth, Paradise Lost, Altar of Plagues, Cathedral ), ‘Tempest’ follows in the footsteps of Telepathy’s critically acclaimed 2014 debut ’12 Areas’ and is very much a concept record.

‘Tempest’ depicts the harrowing journey of a person beset with grief and faced with total isolation after awaking from a great flood. The album guides the listener on a journey through awakening, desolation and finally acceptance.

Further showcasing the band’s no-holds-barred approach to songwriting, ‘Tempest’ fuses elements of post-metal, sludge, doom and black metal with unorthodox and complex song structures, creating a cohesive and cathartic tapestry of unique instrumental metal. The inclusion of tortured
vocals on the album’s centerpiece, Echo of Souls, shows a band un-afraid to travel into uncharted waters, further cementing their reputation as a forward thinking and unique group in today’s experimental metal
scene.

Where its predecessor ’12 Areas’ was by intention a chaotic and furious exploration of sound, ‘Tempest‘ marks a shift towards a more balanced and open sonic pallette. More dynamic, spacious and refined than before, but with an added emphasis on sonic weight, unbridled heaviness, melody and emotional depth.

Telepathy spent the majority of 2016 stunning audiences up and down the UK with their immersive and intense live show, building upon their ever growing following. Highlights included appearances alongside fellow UK metal veterans Raging Speedhorn, Oathbreaker, American post-metal pioneers and labelmates Rosetta and most notably an appearance at the prestigious Desertfest in London.

The band recently completed a five date European tour in September 2016 which saw the band return to Incubate Festival in Tilburg for the second time. ‘Tempest’ marks a brand new chapter in the band’s career, and with its definitive line-up in place — owing to the addition of new bass player Teddy-James Driscoll — ‘Tempest’ showcases a ruthlessly punishing, heavy and emotionally demanding take on instrumental music.

The 2×LP comes with an etching on side D, download code and on 180 gr vinyl.

Released 31st March – Golden Antenna Records

The Vicious Head Society Announce Details Of Debut Album – ‘Abject Tomorrow’

The Vicious Head Society, the brainchild of Irish guitar virtuoso Graham Keane today reveals that debut album ‘Abject Tomorrow’ will be finally released on 24th March 2017. Featuring guests such as keyboardist Derek Sherinan of Alice Cooper fame, fellow Irishman and bass player Pat Byrne, and drum machine Kevin Talley ‘Abject Tomorrow’ is sure to please the ears of progressive metal fans and those with a taste for all things guitar.

Having initially started as a pet project around 2010 after returning to the Emerald Isle from music school in the UK, Keane was tutoring aspiring musicians when he decided to start writing original material purely as a self gratifying project. He figured that living in a remote area of Ireland with not many musicians interested in his style of music, metal, hard rock and prog, he would be best to forge ahead alone. As with many creative types Keane had a very laid back attitude about the whole thing and on many occasions just sat there noodling on his guitar while life passed him by. It wasn’t until his wife’s cancer diagnosis in 2013 that he started to take things a bit more seriously. The shock of realising his own mortality threw Keane into action.

Writing and recording became an asylum, from the emotional turmoil and with nothing to lose, the project began to grow in scope. Virtual instruments wouldn’t cut it anymore, as had been the norm to that point, and so Keane began to contact musicians worldwide to help bring it to life. Of course this brought with it several new challenges, not to mention the financial burden, the main reason it has taken this long to complete!

The vast majority of the album was recorded in Keane’s home studio with vocals, drums and other guest musicians being outsourced to their own recording facilities. The album was then mixed and mastered at Dark House Estudios in Mexico.

“It was a somewhat challenging process,” Keane comments, “financing being one of the major difficulties. There were times when it seemed like releasing the album would be impossible but I’m delighted to have overcome these obstacles and with the help of some really amazingly talented people, it is now complete!”

As with most progressive records ‘Abject Tomorrow’ is no different in the sense that it is a concept album. The story is based in a dystopian future in which all humans are required to have emotion inhibiting implants implanted from birth. One man’s implant fails and it chronicles his journey of discovery and reconnection with his humanity. Musically, it draws from a huge range of influences; from classic prog acts that influenced Keane growing up, such as Yes, Genesis, ELP and Rush to metal acts such as Death, Meshuggah and Megadeth.

Keane adds, “I hope it finds some kind of audience and that people enjoy it. For me, it’s a very emotive album. Even though it’s a concept album on the surface, there’s a lot of personal experience in it and there’s sure to be some people out there who can connect with it on an emotional level.”

Tracklisting
1. The Sycophants
2. Abject Tomorrow
3. Downfall
4. Agenda
5. The 11th Hour
6. Psychedelic Torture Trip
7. Gods Of The New Age
8. Analogue Spectre

‘Abject Tomorrow’ will be self released on 24th March 2017 on CD:

You can pre-order from this link here

www.facebook.com/theviciousheadsociety

 

 

Citizen Cain’s Stewart Bell presents The Antechamber Of Being (PART TWO)

F2 Music have announced that they are the exclusive worldwide distributor of the second solo CD by Citizen Cain’s keyboard player Stewart Bell. The album, called “The Antechamber Of Being (Part 2) – Stories From The Antechamber” is released on 27/02/2017 and is a Prog Rock opera featuring contributions from five vocalists; Simone Rossetti (of The Watch), Arjen Anthony Lucassen (of Ayreon), Phil Allen (of Citizen Cain), Bekah Mhairi Comrie and Stewart Bell himself. Each of the vocalists play a different character in the story.

In this second part of Stewart Bell’s epic trilogy of concept albums we are once again taken on a journey through the inner realms alongside the main character, The Dreamer and his mentor, The Teacher. Taking place during the same time period as ‘The Antechamber Of Being (Part 1)’, which was released in 2014, the story follows the main characters as they continue to explore the amazing experiences made possible through lucid dreaming; the weird phenomena inherent with this type of conscious exploration of one’s mind; the questions that arise through encounters with seemingly independent dream beings and; the realisations and conclusions that are ultimately reached after a lifetime of dreaming awake.

Stewart has been the main composer/ keys player in long running progressive rock band Citizen Cain since the early 90s, and in 2012 he decided to pursue a solo career, starting work on a trilogy of concept albums entitled The Antechamber Of Being. The story is autobiographical and is based on Stewart’s lifelong experiences with lucid dreaming – which is something he learned at 6 years old, when his older brother taught him how to be aware while he was asleep and dreaming in order to help him overcome recurring nightmares.

This will appeal not only to existing Citizen Cain fans but also to a much wider audience as Stewart continues to delve into elements of Prog metal, experiments with new soundscapes and brings his unique storytelling gift to the lyrics, in which he also shares his extensive knowledge of lucid dreaming. It will be sure to please any lover of progressive music while the intriguing, amusing and, at times, touching storyline may even inspire the listener to take control of their own subconscious mind and experience lucid dreaming for themselves…

There’s a limited special edition artbook version of the album and digital download also available from the Citzen Cain website here:

Stewart Bell – The Antechamber of Being Part 2 Limited Edition

And don’t forget, Part 1 of the trilogy is still available exclusively from F2 Music Ltd…

 

 

Dave Foster Launches Kickstarter Campaign For Vinyl Version of ‘Dreamless’ Album

After much demand, renowned Panic Room and The Steve Rothery Band guitarist Dave Foster has launched a Kickstarter campaign to manufacture and release his latest solo album ‘Dreamless’ on vinyl.

You can support the campaign here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1096612854/dreamless-vinyl?ref=user_menu

Dave had this to say about the project:

“There have been so many requests to release the album ‘Dreamless’ on vinyl that it’s about time it happened. Its is one of those albums that deserves to be heard in all it’s glory on a turntable. Due to the albums length it spans four sides, so it very satisfyingly is a double album.

This edition of the album will feature some extra sleeve notes which are my notes about the recording and the origin of each track.

I hope that you guys really want this to be on vinyl as much as I do, it will sound ace. If the project doesn’t make it’s target, I don’t have the resources to fund it myself so sadly it wouldn’t happen…..but I think you guys will make it happen.”

I had this to say about the album when I reviewed ‘Dreamless’ on the 1st of June last year:

“The usually modest and self-effacing Dave Foster has stepped out of the shadows and onto centre stage to deliver his second solo opus and is to be applauded and admired for doing so. Such a variety of moods, styles and colours doesn’t always mix well but when it is done with consummate skill, like it is here, you are treated to a cornucopia of musical delights. While neither ground breaking or game changing, what it is is really rather good.”

Check out Amitriptyline from the album:

(Featured Image Andy Hibbs Photography).

 

 

Prog Duo JUPITER HOLLOW Announce Ontario Show Dates; Debut EP ‘Odyssey’ Out Now!

Band picture by Sandra Beatty

Barrie, ON’s ambient progressive metal / rock duo JUPITER HOLLOW announce they will be performing the following Ontario show dates in support of their debut EP ‘Odyssey’ recently released on Jan 13th. 

Show Dates:
Feb 26 – Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
March 3 – Barrie, ON @ The Foxx Lounge
April 15 – Toronto, ON @ Cherry Cola’s N Rock & Rolla Cabaret Lounge

‘Odyssey’ is a concept record featuring 5 tracks to introduce JUPITER HOLLOW‘s ambient experimental progressive songwriting plus will act as a prelude to their planned full length ‘AHDOMN’. The duo was birthed in 2015 and have already mastered the art of bringing their fans on an audio and visual experience. Their sound is usually referred to as spacey, experimental and refreshing, reminding listeners of bands like Tool, Pink Floyd, A Perfect Circle, Tesseract, The Contortionist and Rush. Consisting of two young, passionate and driven Canadian artists, Grant MacKenzie (21) and Kenny Parry (18), the pair perform with a dominating stage presence, while captivating their audiences with their unique sonic journey.

The EP is now streaming at www.JupiterHollow.ca plus on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5H7zRhIx_s

The EP is available on iTunes, Amazon.

About the duo:

Grant, who plays guitar, bass and synth for the band started his music career 8 ½ years ago at the age of 12, sitting in his basement watching the movie Rock Prophecies. This movie was about legendary rock photographer Robert M. Knight, finding and transforming a young, unknown guitarist from a small town into a worldwide success. Inspired and motivated, Grant spent the next few years honing his guitar skills, writing music, and later learning the business side by attending college for business marketing. At age 20, Grant was invited into the Brotherhood of the Guitar, by founder Robert M. Knight, leading to endorsements with Ernie Ball Music Man and JH Audio.

While Grant was performing with another group at a local battle of the bands, he came across a mesmerizing singer by the name of Kenny Parry (vocalist, drummer and synth for Jupiter Hollow), who was almost performing as if he was possessed on stage, hitting notes that seemed impossible by any guy. Kenny Parry started music at the young age of 2 years old, setting up pots and pans like a drum set and banging away. This led to an obsession with music, and a discovery of his unique talent. In his teenage years, Kenny won himself the title “Best Drummer in Ontario” 3 years in a row. Around this time, Kenny started learning how to sing after being inspired by singers such as Maynard James Keenan, Mike Lessard, Dan Tompkins and Ian Kenny to name a few. Through years of strengthening his vocal abilities in choirs, bands and hours of dedication, Kenny has acquired an articulate vocal range, relentless endurance, and almost shocking performance through his uncontrollable stage presence.

Shortly after meeting, Grant and Kenny knew that their talents combined would create something truly unique, and Jupiter Hollow was born. Since then, the duo effortlessly created music in Kenny’s basement for months on end. The concept grew to be a two-man band, since Grant and Kenny wrote all of the music and wanted to keep it that way. The two musicians use technology to their advantage, allowing them to perform with a dominating stage presence, while captivating their audiences with their unique sonic journey.

1. Deep In Space (5:06)
2. Ascending (2:52)
3. Hades Heart (4:30)
4. Over 50 Years (5:05)
5. Odyssey (5:50)
EP Length: 23.26
For more info, please visit: www.JupiterHollow.ca.

Mew Announce New Album ‘Visuals’ and European Tour Dates

Danish band Mew have announced Pre-order details for their seventh album ‘Visuals’, due to be released on April 28th.

Frontman Jonas Bjerre has worked on the projections for the band’s live shows since their early days. Usually, the Danish trio finish an album and Bjerre gets to work on the visuals. For their seventh record, though, the singer decided to turn things upside down, working on the visuals first and seeing if they informed the music. The resultant record feels like a culmination for one of rock’s most ambitious and inventive groups: Visuals is where Bjerre and his bandmates, bassist Johan Wohlert and drummer Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen, join the dots of a career that has spanned over two decades. “We do everything on this album ourselves,” says Bjerre. “We produced it ourselves, I did the artwork, I’m doing the visuals. Visuals felt like a fitting title. I like the idea that each song has a visual aspect to it somehow.”

You can pre-order the album here:

Mew – ‘Visuals’ Pre-Order

Mew have a tradition of, as Bjerre puts it, hiding away in a cave for three or four years between albums. The tour that accompanied 2015’s +- album found the band reaching a creative peak that they felt was too exhilarating to be dampened by a period of extended cave-dwelling. They arrived home with demos that had been written on the road and the spark was lit. They wanted to break the cycle and make an album quickly. “We just felt like, “if we do it the normal way, it’s gonna be another three or four years before we get to do it again’,” says Bjerre. “If you keep doing it like that, ultimately you make a handful of albums and then you’re ready for retirement.” The trio wanted to make an album spontaneously, keeping the energy they’d generated on the road going.

Listen to their new song ‘Carry Me To Safety’ here:

They set to work in Copenhagen and started knocking the demos they’d written on tourbuses and in hotel rooms into shape. At the same time, new songs were emerging in reaction to what was going on around them. Mew aren’t a political band but couldn’t help but be affected by rolling news and the death of an icon. “It was pretty dark last year, so some of the darkness in the lyrics comes from that. You definitely get the feeling that things don’t last forever when someone like David Bowie dies.” Visuals was completed in just under a year – what Bjerre describes as an “incredible” feat for a band used to periods of prolonged tinkering. “Spending less time on it, you can still maintain the feeling you had when you first wrote it,” says Bjerre.

‘Visuals’ is Mew at their most compact, their chemistry at its most potent. With only one song over five minutes, it’s their most concise album. Bjerre says there was no need for a grand, overarching concept. Each song on ‘Visuals’ represents its own little chapter and story: nothing needed to be overly long. “Each album is like a collection of thoughts and ideas that fit the time we’re in,” he says. “They’re like little diary entries, except they’re a little bit more veiled perhaps. To me, albums are memories of times in my life.”

Recorded and self-produced in Copenhagen, ‘Visuals’ was completed in under a year and sees Mew at their most concise, each song representing its own little chapter and narrative. The first taste of the album comes in the shape of the mesmerising intricacies of the album’s finale Carry Me To Safety.

Meanwhile, the slow-build euphoria of album opener, Nothingness And No Regrets, and expansive 80’s-style pop of The Wake Of Your Life countered by the discordant stomp of the intriguingly titled Candy Pieces All Smeared Out and blissful glide of In A Better Place, compete across eleven tracks that convey an irrepressible ebullience of a band on their debut album.

Many of the newer tracks evolved in light of what was happening globally. “It was pretty dark last year on many levels, so lyrically that definitely came into play, it’s an important reminder to treasure the here and now,” says Bjerre. Visuals feels like the culmination for one of rock’s most ambitious and inventive groups.

 Twenty years into their career, Visuals is the distinctive sound of Mew seizing the moment…

New European tour dates have been announced for May 2017.

Tickets will be on pre-sale from 9am local time on Jan 25th, and on general-sale 9am local time on Jan 27th.

Get tickets here:

Mew Tour Tickets

MAY 2017 EUROPEAN TOUR

May 17 – Paradiso, Amsterdam
May 19 – Point Ephemere, Paris
May 20 – Trix, Antwerp
May 21 – Trinity, Bristol
May 22 – Ritz, Manchester
May 23 – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
May 25 – Luxor – Köln
​May 26 – Knust – Hamburg
May 27 – Immergut Festival, Neustrelitz

More world-wide tour dates to be announced very soon.

Findlay Napier Announces Kickstarter Campaign for New Album – ‘Glasgow’

Scottish Singer-Songwriter Findlay Napier has announced details of his forthcoming new album ‘Glasgow’, which can be ordered now via his Kickstarter campaign.

Findlay describes the project:

“Just before my 18th birthday I moved from the banks of the River Spey to the 14th floor of the Red Road flats in Glasgow. I’d come to study Traditional Scottish Folk Music at what is now The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Twenty years later I want to make an album that reflects on the time I’ve spent in Glasgow making music, hanging out and growing up.

Boo Hewerdine is producing the album and we have already started recording the album in Motherlode Studio, Norfolk. We need your help to finish the recording and release the album.

Glasgow has a rich history of music and, of course, songwriting. From Adam MacNaughton‘s ‘Jeely Piece’ song to The Blue Nile‘s ‘Tinseltown in the Rain’ hundreds of songs have been written about this wonderful city. My new album will contain a mixture of some of my favourite songs, some that I’ve written especially for the project and some co-writes with Boo Hewerdine.

I’ll keep you informed all along the way either through short video blogs, blogs and sneaky listens to works in progress.

Why use Kickstarter? A few reasons for this 1) It is a simple way for you to pre-order the album. Kickstarter is a well known an trusted crowdfunding site. 2) Unless you are signed to a major label it makes more sense for a small independent act like myself to use a crowdfunding platform. 3) It’s fun to have fans involved album making process. 

What are you going to do with my money? All of the money you contribute will go straight into the project. The main areas of spending are: Recording (recording, mixing and mastering), design (Photographs & design) and promotion (Local, National and Online Press plugger and radio plugger… I do the social media stuff myself… as you may have noticed). The final major expense is duplication (‘pressing’ the CD, setting up download, liscensing fees, barcode)…. and then there’s all the little things (travel expenses, tea/coffee/food for the studio, guitar strings etc.) The more money you contribute the more I can do with the album. 

THANK YOU!”

You can check out this this exciting project here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/findlaynapier/glasgowfindlay-napiers-new-album

There are many who find themselves described as stalwarts, some for the rugged determination to keep slogging away and others because they contribute so much to stay actively involved on a whole range of levels, keeping sharp artistically and selflessly championing others who deserve attention.

Findlay Napier is one of the most highly-regarded performers and creative forces on the Scottish music scene – thoroughly active and truly energised with a heart-warming zing.

His last album, ‘VIP: Very Interesting Persons’, contains ten songs about real life characters with interesting lives was co-written and produced by Boo Hewerdine.‘VIP’ was The Telegraph’s #2 Folk Album of the Year 2015 and was Album of the Week in The Daily Express received many excellent reviews. To coincide with his successful 2016 solo tour Napier released an EP containing 5 new VIP songs and a behind the lyrics book.

Findlay, an inaugural graduate of The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland‘s BA(Scottish Music) program, made his name touring and recording with multi-award winning traditional Scottish folk band Back of the Moon.  In his more recent projects “Queen Anne’s Revenge” and “The Bar Room Mountaineers” his song-writing took centre stage and was described by The Sunday Herald as “Genuine songcraft and wit following in the Difford & Tilbrook tradition”. Findlay is also well known as the host of Celtic Connections’ Late Night Sessions and for his Hazy Recollections concert series which showcases the very best in new roots music.

In Feb 2017 Findlay will be touring with ‘Shake the Chains’ a new touring commission of protest songs from Folk by The Oak with support from Arts Council England, Help Musicians UK and Folk Alliance International. The tour features Nancy Kerr, Hannah Martin and Tim Yates with musical director Greg Russell.

Aside from his touring commitments Findlay performs regular Stand-Up Comedy shows around Glasgow.In September he organised and sold out Glasgow Songwriting Festival.

Web: www.findlaynapier.com

FB: www.facebook.com/findlaynapiermusic