Recorded in Lockdown at the Siyan Soundstage in High Wycombe on 2nd August 2020. A CD of the full concert is available now at
https://howard-jones-music-ltd.myshopify.com
The album is released digitally on 18th December 2020
Live at Siyan - by Howard Jones
'When we finally got home from the US trio tour in March this year amidst gigs being cancelled and anxiety at every turn, it felt good to be in Somerset and in one place for a while. Lockdown was a novelty for a short time and then reality kicked in. The realisation that I can no longer do what I love to do hit home and suddenly for all the amazing musicians and technicians that I work with everything abruptly came to a halt. I really felt the need to connect with my amazing fans around the world and having seen Laura Marling’s beautiful streamed performance from The Chapel in London I was inspired to have a go at a live stream show myself. It would mean at least 20 people would have some work and I could encourage people not to give up hope in a global pandemic. I couldn’t really involve the band or Nick and Robin as I didn’t want to put them at risk. I thought the best thing was a solo piano gig with good sound and camera work. It turned out to be one of the most challenging gigs of my life. It was like recording a double album live in front of fans around the world with no audience feedback. I recorded everything as I rehearsed to instil the pressure of nailing every aspect of the performance.... after all the audience would have ringside front row seats!I wanted to focus on songs that seemed relevant to our situation and I wanted to pick out lyrics that reflected this. Going back to High Wycombe, where so many things kicked off for me, and reuniting with Siyan (the company who did my very first light show) was quite surreal. I thought that the stream would be a ‘one night only’ affair but on listening to the mix that my great friend Stephen Tayler had done for me I thought that with a few tweaks it would make an interesting album recorded in a unique and unprecedented time. I’m very excited to release Live at Siyan. It is a very personal recording capturing some of my favourite hojo songs. I always like to play a cover and I have always been haunted by Lazarus from DB’s Black Star album so I wanted to include this tribute to my favourite artist. This is a limited release- numbered and signed and I hope you can enjoy it as we look forward to Winter turning to Spring and a vaccine on the way. I hope this last 9 months has not been too painful and anxious for you and your loved ones and that we can all look forward to embracing each other again instead of gazing upon our virtual avatar selves over zoom. With my best regards'Howard Director Tim SidwellLive Sound by Stephen W TaylerProduced by Joe Stopps Music in association with Howard Jones Touring Ltd.
Comments