Big News: Two New Albums, October Tour with Jonas Hellborg

Right, It’s shaping up to be a very active autumn and winter in Steve-World. The new album I’ve been working on for a while has turned into two new albums! I recorded about 3 hours of new music for it, intending to put out one album of it. Having asked producer/promoter/manager/music maven Sue Edwards to help sequence the album, she came up with a beautifully coherent record, that only had two tracks overlapping with my shortlist of eight for my version… So we’ll release both. The second album took some rejigging to tell the right story, but it’s there, and I love them both.

The titles are A Crack Where The Light Gets In and The Way Home. You’ll recognise The Way Home, as the title track was released as a single last week. listen to/download it here: http://music.stevelawson.net/track/the-way-home

News Part Two is VERY exciting – in October, I have three live dates with one of my favourite bassists in the world, Jonas Hellborg. Jonas’ music has been a constant source of inspiration throughout my solo career, both as a solo bassist and a collaborative improviser looking to stretch the role of the bass guitar beyond the expected confines. We’ve been friends for years, but this’ll be the first time we’ve played shows together.

The dates are:

Sunday Oct 4th: Birmingham, Tower Of Song (ticket link)
Monday Oct 5th: London, The Vortex
Tuesday Oct 6th: Leeds, Left Bank (ticket link)

Here’s the press bit: 

Two of the world’s leading solo bass guitarists together on one stage.

Crossing musical boundaries and blowing listeners’ minds for over 30 years, Jonas Hellborg is one of the great innovators of the bass guitar. From the pyrotechnic flamboyance of his early solo electric albums, to his unique exploration of the richness and depth of the acoustic bass guitar, Jonas has changed the way people think about – and play – the bass.

Whether as a solo artist, or collaborating with many of the most respected names in music, from John McLaughlin to PiL, Ginger Baker to Shawn Lane, Jonas’ signature sound and uncompromising creative philosophy have produced an unparalleled body of work, mostly on his own Bardo label. Lauded by press and public alike, this is a rare opportunity to hear Jonas up close in the UK.

Steve Lawson is one of the most celebrated solo bassists in British music history – early in his career, he opened for Level 42 on their first Greatest Hits comeback tour, placing his unique take on melodic looping-based live performance in front of tens of thousands of bass aficionados. 15 years of regular gigging across the UK, Europe and the US solidified his place as a leading exponent of solo bass. Steve’s sound-world borrows liberally from electronica, jazz, pop, rock, ambient and experimental music, to form a sonic fingerprint as compelling as it is unique.

Following on from two years of wide-ranging collaboration, playing alongside musicians as diverse as Reeves Gabrels and Beardyman, Andy Gangadeen and Divinity, Steve is back with a fresh exploration of what the bass can be in the 21st Century.  With the imminent release of his 12th and 13th all-solo albums (on the same day!) Steve is set to push the notion of what the bass guitar can be in 21st Century further still.