“I’ve really enjoyed getting to explore towns like Nashville and Atlanta since touring the U.S. with Haircut One Hundred three times in the last three years,” he continues. “Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I didn’t get to play in so many places, so I’m looking forward to exploring more of America on this tour!”
While the tour will reconnect fans who haven’t seen him perform solo in three decades, it’s also helping him reconnect with his own
oeuvre, especially his signature song “Kite.” “Americans took ‘Kite’ to their hearts,” he beams. “I love playing songs from [his 1993 fourth solo album]
From Monday to Sunday because it reminds me of the KROQ Christmas shows with Tony Bennett, Mazzy Star, and the Lemonheads.”
Taking a bit of a “storytellers” approach to the tour, the stripped-down City Winery environment allows him to talk about the inspirations both personal and fan-focused. Heyward explains, “I do love to talk about the source and the creative process of songs - how they arrive, whether they were an easy birth or whether they were a caesarian, and also what they mean to others now - like a young chap who tracked me down on
MySpace to tell me his mum used to play him ‘Kite' as a lullaby before bed. As a budding children’s author this thrilled me.”
In addition to the U.S. tour, Heyward is celebrating a full-on reflective era in his career. November 7 will see the UK release of the solo career retrospective
The Essential, a 31-track compilation, as well
Fantastic Days: My Autobiography which will be published on November 5. “It’s clarified so much, filed it neatly and given me a new perspective on the past and a new objective for the future,” he says about both.
Curated by Heyward himself,
The Essential Nick Heyward is the first comprehensive collection of his music. Starting off with Haircut One Hundred’s debut single “
Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” the first of a series of chart hits that blended upbeat power-pop with danceable grooves, and following with three more Top 10 hits (including the March '82 No. 3 “
Love Plus One”),
The Essential collects a healthy overview of his extensive body of work. Including such staples as “
Whistle Down The Wind, “
Kite” and “
He Doesn't Love You Like I Do.” Arguably establishing the template for Brit Pop, all 31 tracks will be released digitally, while the physical editions – double CD and a 14-track green vinyl editions - will be released in the UK and available in the U.S. only as an import (pre-order
HERE).
No comments:
Post a Comment