Michael Weston King
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| Michael Weston King | |
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| Born | 11 November 1961 |
Michael Weston King (born 11 November 1961) is an English singer and songwriter known for his lyrical and melancholic songs, his sonorous voice, as well as his dry, on-stage humour.
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[edit] Background
King was born in Derbyshire, but brought up in the Lancastrian seaside town of Southport. By the mid 1980s, he joined forces with some like minded souls and spent the next four years touring Europe with the country rock band Gary Hall and The Stormkeepers. Releasing two albums and two singles, one for the major label BMG, the band split in 1991. It was at this time that Michael formed The Good Sons. Taking their name from the Nick Cave album, The Good Son, they set about trying to proffer an authentic British alternative to, what for them, was the most exciting form of music currently on offer, and hailing from America, the burgeoning Alt. Country movement.[citation needed]
In 1995 they signed to the German label Glitterhouse Records who released their debut album, Singing The Glory Down, with the band drawing instant and favourable comparisons with their current U.S. counterparts The Jayhawks, Son Volt, Steve Earle and Joe Henry.[citation needed] The band continued to tour, opening for the likes of Joe Ely, Blue Rodeo and Joe Henry, as well as headlining shows. In 1996 they released the much more acoustic orientated album, The Kings Highway, and then followed it up in 1997 with the rockier, Wines, Lines and Valentines, their third album in as many year for Glitterhouse.
Over in Austin, Texas, Heinz Geissler at Watermelon Records had been given a copy of Singing The Glory Down, and signed the band. "Wines, Lines and Valentines" was both re-packaged, and re-titled as Angels In The End. Watermelon, however, failed by late 1998.
In October 1999, King released his debut solo album, God Shaped Hole.
In April 2000 The Good Sons decided to re-convene, and eventually recorded the album Happiness. The band broke up again in 2002.
In 2002, King released Live...In Dinky Town. Next came A Decent Man, and September 2004 saw the release of Cosmic Fireworks - The Best of The Good Sons (1994–2001), on the German label Phantasmagoria, and also King’s first release on his own MurderedWithKindness label, Absent Friends. 2005 meanwhile saw another Phantasmagoria release, this time a retrospective album focusing on King’s solo work from 1999–2005, called The Tender Place. In 2007, he released A New Kind of Loneliness. The end of 2008 also saw the release of a 3rd live album, Crawling Through The USA.
In 2010, King released I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be A Soldier.
[edit] Discography
[edit] with The Good Sons
- Singing The Glory Down 1995
- The King's Highway 1996
- Wines, Lines and Valentines 1997
- Angels In The End 1998
- Happiness 2001
- Cosmic Fireworks - The Best of The Good Sons (1994–2001) 2004
[edit] Solo
- God Shaped Hole 1999
- Live...in Dinky Town 2002
- A Decent Man 2003
- Absent Friends 2004
- The Tender Place 2005
- Love's A Cover 2006
- A New Kind of Loneliness 2007
- Crawling Through The USA 2008
- I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be A Soldier 2010[1][2]
[edit] References
- ^ (10 August 2010). CD review: Michael Weston King: I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier, The Scotsman
- ^ (30 August 2010). Music that's always on the move, Morning Star (UK newspaper)
