Pool Of Sound - The Heavy North

 

Liverpool garage blues rock band 'Heavy North' began as a five piece made up of Kenny Stuart (singer/songwriter & guitarist), Jose Ibanez (guitarist and producer), Andrew Horrocks (bass player), Ste Penn (keys player) and Mark Rice (drums). Life for the band started out in Summer 2018 when Kenny and Jose invited Ste, Andy and Mark to visit Jose’s 3rd Planet Recording Studio in Liverpool. The band’s sound has been described as ‘soul’ or ‘soul rock’, particularly when people hear Kenny’s vocals in which you can hear elements of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, but the easiest way to describe it would be garage/blues rock. The sound has also drawn comparisons to 'Led Zeppelin', 'Free', 'Black Sabbath', 'Rival Sons' and 'The Black Keys'. The band played their debut show as ‘The Heavy North’ in November 2018 and released a couple of singles including their 'breakthrough' 'Lying To Yourself' in May 2020 to critical acclaim, leading to the band’s first national radio play on BBC Radio 6 Music, as well as joining Dave Monks on BBC Introducing In Merseyside and the late Janice Long on BBC Radio Wales for live radio sessions and interviews. After their handful of early singles and a festival debut at Liverpool International Music Festival 2019 (LIMF), they played their first sold out hometown headline show at Jimmy’s, Liverpool in September 2019, followed by UK tour dates supporting 'Temples', 'Saint Agnes' and 'Cut Glass Kings' in March 2020. In August 2020 they performed a live 30-minute full band set from the iconic M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool for the Liverpool Digital Music Festival online streaming festival, clocking up over 15,000 views and becoming the festival’s most-streamed artist of the weekend.  In the same year they released their debut EP titled 'Dive Bar Blues' and geared up to release their first album 'Electric Soul Machine'. A big moment for them was finishing the recording of the debut album at Jose Ibanez' 3rd Planet Recordings, as well as sharing a couple of the singles with fans and followers during the year. The band returned in April 2021 with the release of their first single 'Darkness In Your Eyes' from their debut album, shortly followed by second single 'No Good' in July 2021, released with an accompanying music video starring and directed by Bobby Schofield (BBC 1's 'Time', ITV’s 'The Suspect'). Towards the end of 2021 they started playing some 'proper' gigs again which was great for the band which included a first London show at The Fiddler in Kilburn.

On stage in the new Sheffield venue Network in 2023

It was part of a little run of headline shows which included the sold-out hometown headline show at Jimmy’s in November 2021. The band then surprised fans and followers with the release of their fourth 'surprise' single 'Satisfy You' on New Year’s Day 2022 which received regional and national airplay that very same evening on BBC Introducing In Merseyside with Dave Monks and X-Posure and with John Kennedy on Radio X. Jack Birch (guitarist) joined the band in January 2022 after 'Electric Soul Machine' had been recorded to make them a six piece and their second album 'Delta Shakedown' album was the first collection of tracks 'The Heavy North' recorded as a six-piece band with Jack. Not afraid to try new sounds this time round with the addition of Jack to fill out their already impressive wall of guitars. In February 2022, they embarked on their first UK tour supporting blues rock duo 'Cut Glass Kings', playing debut shows in Bristol, London, Birmingham and Blackpool. 

 

 

Following a number of festival appearances during Summer 2022 which saw 'The Heavy North' share the stage with the likes of 'The Zutons', 'Cast' and 'Red Rum Club', the band embarked on their 'Electric Soul Machine' UK Headline Tour in September 2022 – including the band's biggest SOLD OUT headline show to date at the 500-capacity Arts Club Theatre in Liverpool where they performed their debut LP in its entirety accompanied by a 12-piece band. To coincide with Record Store Day UK on Saturday 23rd April 2023, they finally released their highly-anticipated debut album 'Electric Soul Machine' and performed three stripped-back in-store shows at Wax and Beans (Bury), Collect & Survive (Waterloo) and Jacaranda Records Phase One (Liverpool). With the release of new music and their second album, they announced a handful of headline shows in May 2023 which saw them return to Scotland to headline Glasgow’s Audio (19th) followed by new Sheffield venue Network (20th), The Live Rooms in Chester (25th) and the legendary Water Rats in Kings Cross, London (26th). They have also announced their biggest hometown headline show to date at Liverpool’s Camp and Furnace on Friday the 1st of December 2023. 

 

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/12/pool-of-sound-rachael-jean-harris.html