|
Henry Priestman
with special guest Lotte Mullan
Friday 27th February - 8pm - £10
The Listening Room @ The Georgian Hotel
26 Lefroy Street, Coatbridge
Tel: 01236 421888
Buy tickets online
Born Hull, UK. Moved to Liverpool in 1975, where first band Yachts supported Sex Pistols in 1977
and signed to Stiff Records to record the cult new-wave classic “Suffice to Say”. Founding member of
It’s Immaterial who enjoyed chart success with single 'Driving Away From Home'. Founding member of
The Christians who in 80’s/90’s sold 3 million albums on Island Records. Last 10 years also spent
producing/co-writing/+ music for film/tv/ads etc....Now back on Stiff Records after over 30 years and
just to released his first solo record The Chronicles of Modern Life...about bloody time!
With a credit list longer than both your arms, Henry has written and played for artists as diverse
as Mark Owen, Eleanor McEvoy, Echo & The Bunnymen, Lightening Seeds, Johnny Marr, Ian McCulloch, Pete Wylie,
Ian McNabb and Jools Holland.
In the run up to this very long-awaited debut solo album, Henry recently played his debut solo gigs.
In May he supported 10cc at London's 02 Arena and in July supported Jools Holland at the
10,000-seater Liverpool Echo Arena! Chronicles... is also a homecoming to Stiff Records who released
Henry's first ever single - and his first ever composition - Suffice to Say by aforementioned indie
pioneers Yachts more than 30 years ago. October 1977 to be precise! But don't let it make you feel old...
Don't You Love Me No More? is the lead track and is a song that anyone whose ever slaved their
hearts out for the corporate machine, only to be given a big fat kick in the teeth, will find is their new
anthem. Elsewhere you'll hear a beautifully ragged Nashville-influenced backing to more biting wit and wisdom
on all manner of subjects close to our hearts like Grey's the New Blonde, Old and - tackling the
changing face of `the biz' - Did I Fight in The Punk Wars For This? and The Sacred Scrolls of Pop.
But is this music for grumpy old men? "No!" Henry disagrees, "I'm just trying to write scruffy pop songs of pith,
wit and poignancy...with the emphasis on scruffy," (referring to the fact that he played almost everything on
the album himself).
In September 2007 Henry met song-writer Tom Gilbert....armed with inspiration from the Rough Trade "Songwriter"
series, a boxset of The Kinks first 10 albums and abiding by the "Nashville rules" of 3 hour writing sessions for
each song, the duo came up with Old and Did I Fight in the Punk Wars for This? and Henry is bullied
by Tom into singing for the first time since 1981, whence they realise they have (much more by accident than by design)
created something a bit special....more writing sessions follow ...the songs just flow out...11 songs in 5 sessions
including Grey's the New Blonde, The Sacred Scrolls of Pop and r.e.d.u.n.d.a.n.t (Don't you love me
no more)....
Produced, recorded and performed almost entirely by Henry in his home studio (with odd guest performances from
friends who can really play, sent over the `net) the album has very much been done with a D.I.Y ethic (1977?), songs
being thrown down with more attention to feel & honesty than technical ability & perfection.
Henry Priestman's myspace
|
