New Edinburgh band to release debut album
Full album preview (for press professionals) on YouTube here.
· five-piece pop/rock band, The Firrenes, release their first album on 9 November 2018. (Band name pronounced ‘Firreens’, rhyming with ‘beans’)
· Launch gig on Saturday 10 November 2018 in the Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh.
· Album title is ‘Door Too Wide’.
· Band formed in 2016 in Edinburgh by singer/guitarist Jules Reed, a.k.a Scottish composer Julian Wagstaff.
· Album features guest appearances by present and former members of the Edinburgh Quartet, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
EDINBURGH band, The Firrenes (rhymes with ‘beans’), have announced the release of their first album on 9 November 2018 – entitled ‘Door Too Wide’, after a stand-out track on the record.
The album was recorded over two weeks in April and June 2018, by Graeme Young at Chamber Studio in Edinburgh’s Granton district.
A special launch concert will take place at 7.30pm in the Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street, Edinburgh on Saturday 10 November 2018. The album will be available on vinyl, CD and as a download.
The Firrenes were formed in 2016 by Edinburgh singer-songwriter, Jules Reed, who is perhaps better known as the classical and opera composer, Julian Wagstaff.
Julian’s opera The Turing Test was a sell-out hit on the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and his follow-up opera Breathe Freely was released in 2015 on the prestigious Linn Records label.
The band’s lineup features Jules Reed on lead guitar and vocals, Walt Cumming on bass guitar and vocals, Tony Greenwood on drums and John Richard on keyboard.
Walt is a seasoned player originally from Lanarkshire; Tony played professionally as a studio drummer in London for many years, while John is a classically trained pianist, originally from Germany and formerly based in Vienna. The band are joined on this recording, as at many live shows, by Edinburgh-based singer and composer, Luci Holland, best known for her work with Tinderbox Orchestra.
Jules (aged 48) said: “When a lull in classical and theatre commissions arose a few years ago, I jumped at the chance to put together the band I’d been dreaming of for a decade or more. I have always instinctively known that the frontiers between ‘popular’ and ‘serious’ music are essentially fluid.
“I think this is clearest when you listen to the crowning achievements of popular music such as The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper and David Bowie’s finest works. I have had the privilege to work in the classical field with many of Scotland’s finest players, and it was wonderful to be able to invite some of them to play on The Firrenes’ album, Door Too Wide, along with my old pal Ricky White who I’ve known since my school days in Leith. Ricky joined us on pedal steel via the Internet from Indiana, USA.”
The album draws on a broad range of influences, encompassing ’70s rock, R&B, burlesque, art rock, blues and classical. The songs are all original compositions, seven by Jules Reed (a.k.a. Julian Wagstaff), three by Walt Cumming, and one by Greg Sanderson, formerly of Edinburgh band Five Day Hemingway.
The subject matter ranges from the deeply personal to the highly political, but is always prescient, immediate, considered and aware.
The band enjoyed a busy year in 2017, releasing their first single ‘Time and Place’ / ‘Destitution Row’, and playing to a packed house in Berlin, Germany. The band were astonished when none other than Michael Eavis, founder of the Glastonbury Festival, turned up out of the blue at the Edinburgh launch gig for the single. It turned out Eavis was on holiday in Scotland at the time, and the gig had caught his eye.
Royalty-free visuals and text in electronic form at www.julianwagstaff.com/firrenes-resources
To request a free pre-release copy of the CD, please email firrenes@thefirrenes.com
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Julian Wagstaff contact details…
Contact: Julian Wagstaff
Phone: 01312085373
Email: jules@julianwagstaff.com
Website: http://www.TheFirrenes.com
