Northeast Music Guide

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RODDY WOOMBLE ANNOUNCES EXTENSIVE UK TOUR + 'THE DELUDER' LP (RELEASED 1st SEPT 2017) LISTEN TO JUPITER SINGLE HERE  RODDY WOOMBLE announces an extensive run of UK dates for 2017 as he prepares to tour his latest solo outing 'The Deluder'. Following on from the brooding, atmospheric 'Like Caruso' single in March and showcasing the diversity of his upcoming and highly anticipated fourth solo album ‘The Deluder’ - ’Jupiter’ sees Roddy and his band in a surreal & playful mood channeling both solo McCartney and Pavement, in a quirky, melodic and memorable pop song.  On the new single ‘Jupiter’ Woomble says:  “ The song actually started out as something I was making up for (and with) my son, who is eight years old and quite interested in astronomy - working on it with my band, who are all adults, it developed and took on a new meaning; the emphasis, and hope we place in mysterious things we don’t fully understand. Constellations, Planets, a...

THE HEAD  RELEASE NEW ALBUM ‘SPACE’ TO COINCIDE WITH CITY TOUR IN THE UK WITH OVER 50 DATES “This is a dynamic live band who have recorded what must be the culminating achievement of their career (so far)” – No Earplugs Atlanta rock band THE HEAD officially release their new full length album Space in the UK this Autumn to coincide with an extensive run of shows across the nation. Currently on tour in the US, the band’s current run spans over 50 dates, including 14 cities in the United Kingdom.  Speaking about the upcoming UK tour, The Head said, "People can expect us to be playing songs mostly from our new record Space. We have a few brand new songs that we’ll be debuting as well. This will be our first time ever touring the U.K., so to say we’re looking forward to it is an understatement. Most of the bands that have impacted us hail from the the U.K.---bands like The Stone Roses, Echo & the Bunnymen, Spiritualized, Milburn, The Action, to name a few....

Jethro Tull Announce 50th Anniversary Tour Newcastle City Hall Thursday 5 April 2018 It was on the 2nd of February 1968 at the world-famous Marquee Club in Wardour Street that Jethro Tull first performed under that name. The group would go on to become one of the most successful and enduring bands of their era, selling over 60 million albums worldwide and entering the cultural collective consciousness along the way. To celebrate this golden anniversary, Ian Anderson will present 50 years of Jethro Tull coming to Newcastle City Hall on Thu 5 Apr 2018. The debut album, This Was, was released later that same year.  Founder, frontman and flautist, Ian Anderson, is rightly credited with introducing the flute to rock as a front line instrument, not to mention the codpiece!  Jethro Tull are one of the biggest selling Progressive Rock artists of all time and their immense and diverse catalogue of work encompasses folk, blues, classical and heavy rock.  The an...

BLANCMANGE LISTEN TO 'WHAT'S THE TIME'   FROM NEW ALBUM 'UNFURNISHED ROOMS'   RELEASED SEPTEMBER 29TH 2017  + UK TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED ‘Blancmange has been part of the soundtrack to my life ever since Happy Families was released.’ - JOHN GRANT 'Listening to Blancmange obsessively. Probably the most under-rated electronic act of all time.' - MOBY      On 29th September, Blancmange are set to release a new album of 10 songs written and recorded by Neil Arthur and co-produced by Benge (Wrangler/John Foxx & The Maths and Gazelle Twin co-producer). It’s been a fantastically creative period for both of them, releasing their debut album as a new electronic duo – Fader’s First Light - in June 2017 and then the final sessions for Unfurnished Rooms followed immediately in the summer. For the new Blancmange album, all the songs were written by Arthur while Benge added percussion and layers of analogue synth, with the pair then mixing the recor...

JOHN SMITH ANNOUNCES EXTENSIVE UK TOUR NEW ALBUM – ‘HEADLONG’ – OUT NOW It’s rare these days to find an audience so wrapped up in a performance as this one **** – The Independent John Smith has captured something special – Acoustic Far from the connotations his name brings, John Smith is one of a kind – Wonderland This is the sound of a hugely underrated songwriter revealing more of himself, and it’s resulted in a wonderful record 9/10 -Guitarist Should see him reach the bigger audience his talents most definitely deserve **** -Total Guitar The searing thrum of ‘Undone’ is testament to how powerful his music can be – Uncut Following the release of his rapturously received new album Headlong, acclaimed singer and guitarist JOHN SMITH has announced an extensive forthcoming UK & Euro headline tour for 2017. Full dates listed below. Produced by Sam Lakeman and featuring Cara Dillon on BVs, Headlong comes dedicated to the memory of John Renbourn and is th...

Interview with Nik Kershaw F ollowing the success of his 2014 "Me, Myself and I" tour, Nik Kershaw returns with more solo shows. An intimate evening of songs and stories in the company of one of the UK's most respected songwriters. Nik chatted to Jo about the tour, music and what it’s like being a former popstar and one of the UK’s most acclaimed songwriters. J Are you all ready for the tour? N Ahh, nope! J Ha ha! N That’s kinda what I’m doing now, basically the frantic last few weeks trying to get my stuff together. You think “It's just a bloke on a stage with an acoustic guitar, how much is there to prepare”? But I’m using three video screens, I’ve got to get that all together and get all the video and media to trigger correctly. I got 4 or 5 songs I’ve never performed before, that need rehearsing, and all the nonsense and stories I chat between songs..it can’t be the same as three years ago! J You’ve quite a varied range of events you’re playing on...

Nik Kershaw At The Sage Sunday 17th September Following the success of his 2014 "Me, Myself and I" tour, Nik Kershaw returns with more solo shows. An intimate evening of songs and stories in the company of one of the UK's most respected songwriters. Photo by Lawrence Harvey Nik  spent his formative years in Ipswich and he signed to MCA Records in 1983, in September releasing  the single "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down" for the first time, reaching a respectable No.47 in the UK charts. It got to a more respectable No.2 when re-released in summer 1984.  Wouldn’t It Be Good brok Nik worldwide in January 1984. The seminal “Human Racing” album was released in March and achieved platinum sales in many territories. He managed to squeeze in two European tours, four more hit singles and another platinum album, “The Riddle”, before the end of the year. 1985 saw three more hit singles,  a world tour and an appearance at "Live Aid". He recorde...