Starsailor announce 2009 tour dates

[Perdita]

Starsailor have announced that they will be hitting the road for a UK tour starting in March 2009.

The band will kick off the jaunt in Glasgow to promote their forthcoming album All The Plans.

The band confirmed that their fourth LP is scheduled for release on March 2, preceded by a single, 'Tell Me It's Not Over', at the end of February 2009.

The tour dates in full are:


March 26 - Glasgow ABC

March 27 - Manchester Ritz

March 28 - Sheffield Leadmill

March 30 - Liverpool Academy

March 31 - Leeds Metropolitan University

April 1 - Wolves Wulfrun

April 3 - Oxford Academy

April 4 - Portsmouth Pyramid

April 5 - Bristol Academy

April 7 - Cambridge Junction

April 8 - Norwich UEA

April 9 - London Shepherds Bush Empire

Tickets go on sale for the gigs on December 5. Pre-sale tickets are available from today on the band's website.

I like them, not heard from them for a while. Good news.

[pookie1968uk]

you know youre getting old when you realise youve never heard of them lol lol!!

[Perdita]

you know youre getting old when you realise youve never heard of them lol lol!!

I am rather older than you but they had a couple of hits in the charts. That is where I know them from and they have been to Germany on tour

[sindydoll]

who are they? ive never heard of them

[pookie1968uk]

you know youre getting old when you realise youve never heard of them lol lol!!

I am rather older than you but they had a couple of hits in the charts. That is where I know them from and they have been to Germany on tour

are you sure? i never think of you as older than me, you always seem younger!

[Perdita]

The band met and played at Wigan and Leigh College (Railway Rd Campus) prior to this Walsh attended St Michaels CE High School in Chorley, Westhead attended high school in Wigan and Byrne and Stelfox went to school in Warrington.

Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in the north west of England for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, 'Grace' captures 'every moment'.

The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching Judo and playing organ for a church near his hometown. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.

A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock’n’roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.

The band signed with EMI in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.

Give them a listen - you might like them.

Albums
Love Is Here (October 8, 2001) EMI #2 UK, #129 US
Silence Is Easy (September 15, 2003) EMI #2 UK
On the Outside (October 17, 2005) EMI #13 UK

[edit] UK singles
From Love Is here:

Fever (B/W 'Love Is Here', 'Coming Down') (05/02/01) 18
Good Souls (B/W 'The Way Young Lovers Do') (23/04/01) 12
Alcoholic (B/W 'Let It Shine', 'Grandmas' Hands') (17/09/01) 10
Lullaby (B/W 'From A Whisper To A Scream', 'Tie Up My Hands' (Live KCRW)) (10/12/01) 36
Poor Misguided Fool (B/W 'Born Again') (18/03/02) 23
From Silence Is Easy:

Silence Is Easy (B/W 'Could You Be Mine', 'She Understands') (01/09/03) 9
Born Again (B/W 'At The End Of The Show', 'Silence Is Easy' (Live 2003)) (17/11/03) 40
Four to the Floor (B/W 'A Message') (01/03/04) #24 UK, #1 FRANCE
From On the Outside:

In the Crossfire (B/W 'Always') (13/10/05) '2
This Time (B/W 'Believe Me', 'Push The Button' (Live, BBC Radio One)) (23/01/06) 24
Keep Us Together (B/W 'Rise Up') (08/05/06) 47

[Abbie]

Ive never heard of them

[sindydoll]

Ive never heard of them

i havnt either

[Chris_2k11]

Poor Misguided Fool was a gem! I think i have it on the pc somewhere

[Perdita]

At last, somebody who has heard of them