Having
now been touring and releasing records for over
two decades I have seen more than my fair share
of gigs from the early energetic and often shambolic
era of the mid’ 80’s Indie Music Scene, where
I first cut my teeth, to the more considered
forum of the acoustic singer/songwriter & raconteur
that I now find myself a part of. I’m
more than happy in the company that I currently
share.
So much so that having been given the opportunity
to play at the newly refurbished Birmingham
Town Hall I fought off the temptation of simply
hogging the limelight to myself and instead
felt compelled to invite a gathering of some
of the finest players I’ve seen over the years,
some of them friends of mine and others that
I have admired from a distance. Every artist
performing at “Shared” has had a great affect
on me, not only as a writer/performer myself,
but also as a fan and I take it as an honour
that they have accepted my invite.
I like to think that this, hopefully the first
of many such events, will allow audiences to
reconnect, or even connect for the first time,
with artists that continue to write, record
and tour but in my humble opinion perhaps do
not receive the attention that they deserve,
given their wonderfully consistent output, each
spanning more than a decade. And where better
to stage this event than the prestigious surroundings
of Birmingham Town Hall?
It is with great pleasure then that I invite
one and all to come and share in a night that
features such varied and distinct performers.
It promises to be a very special evening indeed.
Miles Hunt. June 2008
The
idea for 'Shared' came about early in 2008 when
The Wonder Stuff's Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls
visited their local public house, The Horseshoe
Inn, Shropshire. Aside for catering for the
drinking clientele, the pub's landlords - Mo and
Bob Macaulley - held open-mic sessions on a Monday
night which were open to all-comers, as well as
hosting regular musical performances during the
week.
Hunt
and Nockalls began to show up at the open-mic nights
on a regular basis and were amazed at the level
of talent on display from the acts playing there.
They were also surprised by the spirit of goodwill
in which the (entirely unpaid) enterprise was undertaken.
For Miles, stumbling across this scene was little
short of an epiphany. All the cynicism and
ill-will of his previous existence was replaced
by a burning desire to encourage and promote this
new circle of musical friends, who quickly gathered
around him like kids around the Pied Piper.
And
so it was that they initiated the Shared project
which was launched with a very special concert at
the newly-refurbished Birmingham Town Hall.
The idea of the show was to gather friends from
the past, such as Wayne Hussey from the Mission,
Nick Heyward from Haircut 100 and Roddy Frame of
Aztec Camera, and put them on a package tour with
himself and some of the artists whom Hunt had discovered
the Horseshoe.
Miles
later thanked everyone involved by saying, "I really
cannot thank everyone enough for their participation
in 'Shared' last Friday night. All of the artists
& audience members took it in exactly the spirit
that the idea was intended and the night couldn't
have been bettered. I really hope that the
success of this first 'Shared' event sets us up
for future shows of a similar nature."
Following
the Town Hall performance, Hunt began to look to
develop the Shared brand further by way of album
releases and further shows. The first fruits
of this work came in the Summer of 2009 when The
Horseshoe Inn held the album launch party for the
inaugural Shared album, as well as an all-day festival
featuring performances from many of the artists
on the debut album. The event was a tremendous
success, attracting around 500 to a venue out in
the midst of the countryside with no public transport
or even a mobile-phone signal. The acts performed
on a makeshift stage on the back of a truck, parked
on the far side of a little stream running along
the edge of the car park.
The
album won acclaim from many areas for its approach
to showcasing new or lesser known British talents.
Alongside tracks from Miles and Erica as well as
Wayne Hussey, artists contributing to the album
(released on IRL Records) included Dirty Ray (of
Immaculate Fools), Timothy Parkes, Rob Dunsford
and Matthew Derrick.
Outside
of his work with the Wonder Stuff and his own acoustic
career, Hunt has since gone on to work with a number
of the acts already involved with Shared such as
Dirty Ray Weatherall and Tim Parkes, alongside newer
groups and artists he had come across at The Horseshoe
Inn's open-mic sessions, producing a handful of
albums for local acts. He has also featured
some of these acts on support slots at his own live
acoustics shows, as well as during some of The Wonder
Stuff's own shows.
Sadly
in September 2010, The Horseshoe Inn because another
victim in the economic downturn affecting the country,
but Miles and Erica continued to work with local
acts to keep the spirit of the open-mic sessions
alive in recorded form. Shortly before the
venue closed, Miles and Erica put on another
Shared live event featuring some of the acts who
would be appearing on the next compilation
album.
At
the start of 2011 work was completed on tracks for
the second long-player this time featuring established
acts such as Damien Dempsey, Ian Prowse (Amsterdam),
Boo Hewerdine and Jim Bob (Carter USM) alongside
newer acts such as Dan Donnelly, The Daughters,
Smoke Feathers, Brent Lee.
The album goes
on-sale in May 2011 with pre-sale orders now being
taken. The album launch party will take
place at The Half Moon in Putney, London on May
26th.
Advance
tickets will be available later this week priced
at £13 and there is also an exclusive deal of a
ticket and CD for just £21.
SHARED
2
Released May 2011, pre-orders now being
taken*
Track
listing:
1.
Sooner Or Later
(performed by Brentlee)
2.
Unharmed
(performed by Dan Donnelly)
3.
Goodnight Vienna
(performed by Boo Hewerdine)
4.
Seventeen
(performed by Jim Bob)
5.
Green Tea (Right With You)
(performed by The Daughters)
6.
Tropical Rain
(performed by Smoke Feathers)
7.
Like Rats And Water
(performed by Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls)
8.
Understanding Sadness
(performed by Ian Prowse)
9.
Kilburn Stroll (band version)
(performed by Damien Dempsey)
10.
King Is Dead
(performed by Brentlee)
11.
What Might've Been
(performed by Dan Donnelly)
12.
Devil On My Shoulder
(performed by Boo Hewerdine)
13.
Janie
(performed by Jim Bob)
14.
Knackered
(performed by The Daughters)
15.
Six Years
(performed by Smoke Feathers)
16.
Immaculate Fools
(performed by Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls)
17.
Marvellous Marvin Gaye
(performed by Ian Prowse)
18.
The Rising Of The Moon
(performed by Damien Dempsey)
Also available - SHARED
Released September 2009
Track
listing:
1.
The Waiting Song
(performed
by Dirty Ray)
2.
Dashboard Therapy
(performed
by Rob Dunsford)
3.
Witchcraft
(performed
by Timothy Parkes)
4.
Oars In The Water
(performed
by Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls)
5.
You're My Heaven
(performed by Matthew Derrick)
6.
Like A Child Again
(performed
by Wayne Hussey)
7.
The Rain Song
(performed by Dirty Ray)
8.
Don't Go To The Other Side Of The World
(performed
by Rob Dunsford)
9.
Looks Like Rain
(performed
by Timothy Parkes)
10.
The Sum Of Us
(performed
by Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls)
11.
Head Up, Chin Down
(performed
by Matthew Derrick)
12.
Tower Of Strength
(performed
by Wayne Hussey)
13.
The Mermaid's Song
(performed
by Dirty Ray)
14.
Millionaire
(performed
by Rob Dunsford)
15.
Holes
(performed
by Timothy Parkes)
16.
We All Go Down Together
(performed
by Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls)
17.
Not On My Cloud
(performed
by Matthew Derrick)
18.
Trail Of Scarlet
(performed
by Wayne Hussey)
Reviews
Record
Collector Magazine - Terry Staunton
Album
review - Rob Stokes (Room 512)
Shared
album launch party - Bryan Taylor
Sunday
Times article and interview
Radio
2 Rock and Reel magazine album review
Related Links
Facebook
Multimedia Files
Shared
album packshot
Shared
2 album packshot
For
further information, contact Tom Haxell at Spirit
Music and Media on 0208 741 6020 or email
tom@spiritmm.com.
