Wakefield date for acclaimed Sheffield star Richard Hawley

Yorkshire’s brilliant singer-songwriter Richard Hawley is back with a new album and heading our on a tour that will bring him to Wakefield.
Richard Hawley.Richard Hawley.
Richard Hawley.

The highly acclaimed Sheffield songsmith will appear at Warehouse 23 on Friday, September 27.

The gig will celebrate more success for Hawley, with his new album, ‘Further’, heading straight into the UK album charts at number three this week.

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It is a real landmark year for the man. Not only has he released his ninth studio album, he will also see a musical based on a collection of his songs open in his hometown of Sheffield. Then, there’s also the small matter of him celebrating his 20th anniversary as a solo artist, something that he views with his customary sense of bluff realism.

“I suppose 20 years is quite a long time in this business, but, to be honest, even after all this time, I’m still a searcher. I’m still genuinely searching for things, in music and in life. I can’t tell you exactly what I’m looking for, or where I’m actually going but when I get there, I’ll probably send you a text,” he says, wryly.

In the two decades that have elapsed since Hawley jettisoned band life, first with The Longpigs and then as Pulp’s guitarist, the 52-year-old songwriter has forged one of the most singular and diverse careers in modern music.

The new album marks a departure for Hawley who has, to date, named all his albums after Sheffield icons or landmarks. For his new album he wanted something that would capture the intention of moving forwards, but without jettisoning his past.

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Optimism lies at the heart of ‘Further’, an album that was made largely in Sheffield with Hawley and his crack band, aided by co-producers Colin Elliot and Shez Sheridan.

“I really wanted to challenge myself to try to keep things relatively up-tempo and keep the songs to about three minutes long,” Hawley says openly,

“I was asking myself ‘Can you get your message across like a bullet? Can you still do that?’ It’s quite a tough question to ask.”

As well as releasing a string of solo albums that have managed the rare feat of being both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, Hawley has worked with a host of impressive collaborators – friends such as Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, Elbow and Paul Weller, alongside personal heroes that include US guitarist Duane Eddy (his 2011 album, ‘Road Trip’, was co-produced by Richard), Shirley Bassey (for who he wrote the smouldering ballad, ‘After The Rain’, in 2009), Nancy Sinatra, Lisa Marie Presley and British folk royalty Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson (he was an integral part of 2013’s Bright Phoebus Revisited tour).

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There are also bona fide pop stars such as Robbie Williams, All Saints and Texas, all of who Hawley has played with in differing capacities down the years. His song ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’ was featured in The Simpsons and Exit Through The Gift Shop: A Banksy Film.

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