A limited edition CD format of Boz Hayward’s latest album “V Years” is now available from our Bandcamp Page. It comes in an attractive full colour gatefold sleeve.
There are only 50 copies available so don’t miss out.
German Shepherd Records return on January 8th with two new albums……
BOZ HAYWARD – V YEARS
Flea and Filed Fangs guitarist Boz Hayward returns with a new album – the follow up to 2017’s highly acclaimed “Tennessee Ten” album
Hayward, a mainstay of the Manchester Music scene since the late 1980s has been working on his new release for some time.
Of the new album he says: “The roots of this project stem from the wake of John Lennon’s death on December 8th 1980. I was 15. Suddenly, the world turned upside down.
I was just starting to write songs on guitar and had just discovered minor chords. I mourned Lennon through a melancholic 3-chord sequence that came into my head and transported me back to the days of the early Beatles. It never found a home until 35 years later in the days following David Bowie’s death in January 2016. A death which, for both myself and millions of others, was equally devastating. ‘Blackstar’ had just been released. There were many hidden messages and unanswered questions sowed by the enigmatic genius Bowie, not just in this album, but throughout his career. People were trying to figure it all out, trying to join the dots of his life. So ‘Dot to Dot’ was written and happened to be perfect for a certain lonely chord sequence 35 years on.
‘Alert’ was written a few days later. In it, I am imagining what David Bowie might have felt like in the last few months of his life. It was like he planned to go out with a bang and be as alive as ever, even in death.
Every song has its story. In these uncertain times, we reflect on humankind and continue the journey of trying to understand ourselves. If we are to continue living by ‘binary absolutes’ instead of the oneness of both sides (light/dark, good/evil, right/wrong, etc.) we will never be able to move on.”
CD Versions of the album will also be available in early January.
CREDITS FOR THE ALBUM
Bert Weill Productions in association with German Shepherd Records presents V Years
Drums recorded at Airtight Studios, Chorlton, Manchester by Seadna McPhail.
Music mainly recorded in our homes and gardens in lockdown Manchester 2020 excluding ‘Alert’ at Phil’s from Jan 2019: trumpet in Sale; sax in Knutsford.
Mixed by Boz Hayward (Vile Villa) and Seadna McPhail (Airtight)
Mastered by Karl Sveinsson, Queens Ark Audio, Levenshulme, Manchester
Artwork by Boz/Bert Weill Productions.
Musicians:
Ed Bottomley – saxophone
Rick Burrows – trumpet and flugelhorn
Pat Clarke – harmonica
Mark Greer – garden slide guitar
Rob Haynes – drums and percussion
Boz Hayward – vocals, guitars, glockenspiel, keys, programming
Clive Mellor – harmonica
Phil Robinson – electric and guitarron bass; bass keys (III), tremolo guitar
Mike Seal – piano
DAN ECCLESTONE – HIDDEN MUSIC
Ember Rev frontman Dan Ecclestone releases his debut solo album on January 8thEmber Rev came together early 2016 to play the nervous & neurotic accordion-driven tunes of Cambridge singer-songwriter Dan Ecclestone. Initially ploughing a folk-rock furrow, debut album …it was all fields around here was all ukuleles and autoharps. 2018’s critically acclaimed Premonition & Ruin shifted the sound up several gears and the complex asymmetrical rhythms heard in their current set are pushing the band in a darker direction. The band joined German Shepherd in June 2019 for a wider distribution of Premonition and Ruin and the aim to release future material with the band. Reworking and repurposing familiar forms that recall the percussive Africana of Talking Heads and the accordion-led romance of Arcade Fire; alternately rattling and stuttering then piledriving at breakneck speed, it’s a sound that demands you keep coming back.
For the solo debut Ecclestone strips back the sound to just piano and vocals with additional musicians providing colour and context to six achingly beautiful songs. Raw and emotional this stunning debut is a work of exceptional quality.
Musicians on the album are
Trumpet: Jake Hatter
Violin: Julia Black
Viola: Katharine Parsons
Cello: Abby Wollston
Piano & Vocal: Dan Ecclestone
Double Bass: Richard Partridge
Drums: David Youngs
Hello and welcome to the weekly newsletter from German Shepherd Records
This week
We are pleased to announce the release of a brand new single from Manchester based collective Poppycock. Led by Una Baines (The Fall, Blue Orchids, The Fates) the band went through a significant line-up change last year, has been gigging often and has recorded two new singles since then. The first of those singles is a celebration of the Godfather of Punk Rock the seemingly ageless “Iggy Pop”. Using the groups trademark twin vocal approach.the band power through a jaunty homage which has proved to be a live favourite. Una’s trademark organ sound makes a welcome return also.
Poppycock was formed by legendary Manchester musician and community activist Una Baines who was a founder member of the seminal post-punk groups The Fall and Blue Orchids, The band has been active on the Manchester scene for over five years and played at several key events in the Mancunian musical calendar.
The single releases on September 21, 2018 as a digital download only,
Poppycock on this recording were:
Lucy Nyland – Vox
Christine Johnson – Vox
Heather Greenbank – Guitar
Matt Crawford – Bass
Stuart Quinn-Harvie – Drums
Una Baines – Keys
Poppycock also includes
Lucy Power – Flute and Percussion
Paula Darwish – Vox and Guitar
The single was engineered Manos Sarantidis and produced by Una Baines and Manos Sarantidis. Keeping The Fall connection current the artwork for the single was created by Mark E. Smiths sister Suzanne. It was recorded in July 2018 at the fabulous community resource Seed Studios in Old Trafford.
Poppycock will launch the single on 21st September at The Peer Hat, Manchester which will also feature visiting Australian Musician Charlie Marshall and Four Candles.
A second single “Magic Mothers” will be released later in the year.
The band support Australian band Terry on 12th September at Gullivers, Manchester.
Berlin based rockers PrunX have released a video for “Can’t Take It” from last years “Mind Trajectory” EP. This heavy blues rocker features a twin vocal attack from Mikado and FrankOz, the latter delivering a searing guitar break. Catching them live the video shows this excellent band at their best
Check out the full EP
The gig calendar is filling up rapidly and can be found in full at this page
Some recent announcements include
Boz Hayward has released another video to compliment the Tennessee Ten album. The wonderfully quirky “My Little Bubble” is now available, shot in New York, City and state, the ‘lounge jazz’ track from the Tennessee Ten features Rick Burrows on trumpet, and is described as a diy lo-no-fi Bert Weill Productions video.
November 1st also sees a live performance of the whole of Tennessee Ten at The Eagle Inn, Salford. One Sided Horse and Misharlo support (details below).
A limited number of 50 digipac CDs of Boz Hayward’s new album “Tennessee Ten” are now available from our Bandcamp Page. Each CD has been numbered and signed by Boz.
Grab a copy now before they all get snapped up!
Boz Hayward’s brand new album Tennessee Ten is now available for pre-order in advance of the official release date of July 7th.
In addition videos are available for the two preview tracks “Night of the Fireflies” and “The People Are Good”
Boz launches the album at South West Manchester Cricket Club on July 6th. It’s five minutes from the Chorlton Metrolink Stop. Musicians performing with Boz on the night will be Phil Robinson (guitarron bass), Virginia Harvey (backing vocals/keyboards), Mark Greer (slide guitar/keyboards), Rick Burrows (trumpet/melodica/keyboards), Clive Mellor (harmonica), Pat Clarke (harmonica) and Eddie Wastnidge (percussion) and the show starts at 9pm sharp. Facebook Event.
We are pleased to announce two releases for July 7th, 2017
Firstly we have a new EP from Issac Navaro called “Terminals”. This five track release follows from the highly successful “Paths to the Shore” album from earlier in the year.
Melding state of the art electronica with a post-rock vibe Issac has created an ambient and reflective soundscape which reflects the geography of his native Scotland.
Comparable with the ground breaking mid 70s Tangerine Dream releases on Virgin Records but also incorporating the epic elements of Mogwai or Sigur Ros this delightful collection is a worthy successor to the debut album.
Secondly we have the brand new album from Manchester musician Boz Hayward. We have previously worked with Boz on distribution of his material but this time he has taken the plunge and given us the honour of releasing his music.
Boz returns with a deeply personal album which combines his particular take on modern folk, and adds a a vibrant slice of country music, together with his trademark whimsical pop elements. Entitled “Tennessee Ten” it consists of, naturally, ten new songs which were written during and around two visits with his mother in 2014 and 2015 to care for his aunt in Tennessee. whose health was failing, and, who passed away during the second visit. There is a narrative that runs through the album creating a delightful and sometimes poignant atmosphere
Exceptional musicianship is a key component of the success of the album. Boz’s self deprecating comment that he writes “simple songs” with a “limited style” doesn’t quite fit with the quality of the album. It is beautifully arranged with well known musical elements being evident but not obvious.
Haywards work generally splits into three broad areas – his more strident punky work, the cinematic soundtrack vignettes, and this more song based approach. One can find excellence in all three strands of his output but this perhaps the place where hopefully he will get the attention and recognition he deserves.
Both releases will be available on Bandcamp and the usual digital outlets. We aim to have a CD version of the Boz Hayward album available on our Merch page in due course.
German Shepherd Records and Bert Weill Productions are pleased to announce a new partnership to promote the music of Boz Hayward.
Boz Hayward is a Manchester based musician who, with his unique bozchestra, creates stunning cinematic music and, as a singer-songwriter, catchy, quirky, acoustic pop.
German Shepherd Records will promote Boz’s work and he will release the music himself.
Soon after punk happened, Boz formed his first band in November 1978. As with all musicians his music developed in the intervening years to a body of work which translates his observations on life and people gathered from his travels around the country and the world. The music contains many soundtracks to accompany that journey. It is a visual music that maps his life.
His first instrumental release ‘Shortscores’ (2013) gained fulsome praise for its cinematic, narrative writing style, coupled with the quaint and idiosyncratic delivery of bozchestra – with Boz often on acoustic guitar, and, depending on the song, backed by slide guitar, guitaron, violin, trumpet, keyboards/piano and percussion. Boz’s musical style is perfect for film scores. ‘Shortscores’ came about through Boz’s work with an experimental film and sound event called Video Jam in 2012. Boz was sent a short film to score. bozchestra perfomed the score live to the screening at the inaugural event and such was its success that Boz was invited back repeatedly. That body of accumulated work became Shortscores. For this, Boz was keen for his music to reflect the particular mood and emotional charge that each film evokes, as opposed to providing a detached musical commentary.
The latest collection of bozchestra music is to be released on September 9th and is entitled ‘Films in Music’.
This time, a collection of soundtracks to films which exist only in the imagination of the listener, ‘Films in Music’ is a set of stand-alone pieces. In other words, listeners are invited to make up their own imagined films or dreamscapes to the music. The collection facilitates this by delivering a selection of atmospheric, cinematic, instrumental pieces replete with ideas and emotions. There’s a brooding intensity to a lot of the music. It evokes images of a post-war Berlin or Vienna with Harry Lime skulking in some back alleyway, or a spaghetti western with grizzled protagonists in a stand-off outside a cantina, but there’s also a pastoral feel to some of the tracks producing a gentler more introspective atmosphere. Reflecting a gentle Tex-Mex vibe, coupled with 70s spy dramas, and tasteful melodies, Hayward combines instruments in unique and pleasurable ways to deliver perfect vignettes. Bill Frisell, Ennio Morricone, John Barry and Anton Karas are all called to mind but Boz also adds a subtle flavour of Manc post-punk melancholia to the mix. There’s the occasional sonic surprise which keeps the music interesting and vital. This is quality music which is varied and bears repeated listening.
The album will be released through Bert Weill Productions and distributed worldwide by AWAL.
PREVIOUS RELEASES ARE AVAILABLE FROM: iTunes, Amazon and other popular download sites.
These include the albums ‘Featuring Ruby and Eric Next Door’ (2010), ‘ReCaffeinated’ (2011), ‘Edward Edwardly and the Marquis of Flixton’ (2012), ‘Shortscores’ (2013) and ‘Light and Dark’ (2014).
A visual five minute tour of the album please look away if you want to imagine your own scenes, places, wherever the music takes you!
Press enquiries, requests for interview direct to Boz at : bertweillproductions@gmail.com
FORTHCOMING GIGS:
A tour to promote the album is being planned for the autumn.
Latest news on bozhayward.com or facebook.com/bozhaywardmusic
