Richard Hawley
(born Richard Willis Hawley, 17 January 1967, Sheffield, England) is a guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. He later played with Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker. As a solo musician, Hawley has released six studio albums to date.
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RICHARD HAWLEY TICKETS
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Solo career
It was an encounter at Hawley's Sheffield home that led the longtime collaborator out of the shadows. Impressed by a home
demo of his songs, both Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and
Steve Mackey (a former classmate from Hucklow Middle School) urged Hawley to head into the
recording studio and begin work on his first solo release. His resulting eponymous mini-album, released in 2000, encouraged Hawley to return to the studio once more. In 2001,
Late Night Final
, named after the cry of vendors selling the
Sheffield Star evening newspaper on the streets of the city, was released to positive reviews from the
press, if unspectacular sales. Two years later Hawley released
Lowedges
, another Sheffield reference, this time to the curiously named suburb of the city that had so entranced the young Hawley when he had seen it on the destination board of a bus.
NME
called
Lowedges
the "first great album of 2003" and it topped an end-of-the-year
poll held by
Virgin Radio. Critical praise was widespread, leading many big names such as
Coldplay,
Radiohead and
R.E.M. to enthuse about Hawley's work.
After the demise of
Setanta Records in 2004, Hawley eventually signed to
Mute Records, a division of
EMI. Legal wrangling delayed
Coles Corner
, Hawley's fourth release, until September 2005. Again, Hawley mined the theme of his beloved home city, this time referencing the location where
courting lovers meet.
Coles Corner
eventually gained a nomination for the
Mercury Prize in 2006.
Alex Turner of the
Arctic Monkeys, whose debut album won the prize, famously exclaimed "Someone call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed!"
Hawley's 2007 album
Lady's Bridge
(again named with a Sheffield reference
[1] - Lady's Bridge is in the centre of Sheffield) was released in the United Kingdom on 20 August 2007. He performed a 16-date tour during September 2007 to promote the album. Merchandising on the tour included the usual t-shirts and posters, but also special edition bottles of
Henderson's Relish. The bottles featured the album's artwork, and a note to those unfamiliar with the relish that it gave extra flavour to meat, fish, soups, pies, casseroles and vegetables. Hawley previously used the relish to promote
Coles Corner
.
On 14 January 2008, Hawley was nominated for his first solo
Brit Award for Best British Male Performer. Hawley was a headlining act at the 2008
Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in Spain. Hawley claimed that it was the best festival audience he had ever played to. Hawley recently produced, with Colin Elliott, and contributed two songs to the album
Made in Sheffield
, a compilation of songs by Sheffield-based songwriters for
Tony Christie.
Truelove's Gutter
, Richard's sixth studio album, is to be released on Mute Records on 21 September 2009.
Session work
Hawley has also worked with several musicians, including
Hank Marvin,
A Girl Called Eddy, and
Jarvis Cocker (and his
Relaxed Muscle project). He played the
guitar solo on
All Saints' cover version of "
Under the Bridge," and co-wrote
Robbie Williams' song "Clean" from his debut album
Life Thru a Lens
.
Praise from
R.E.M.'s
Mike Mills led to him being approached to support the group on several concert dates in 2005. After contributing to
Nancy Sinatra's 2004
self-titled album, Hawley supported her on a European tour in 2005.
In 1991, Hawley auditioned to be a guitarist in
Morrissey's live band, but was rejected after he started shouting "
One Night" by
Elvis Presley during his audition.
[2]
Hawley provided vocals for "Bad Woman," a
B-side to Arctic Monkeys' single "
Teddy Picker," released on 3 December 2007. He also co-wrote and provided vocals and guitar to the song "The Fix" on
Elbow's Mercury Prize-winning 2008 album
The Seldom Seen Kid
. Hawley also performed the song with the band at the
Glastonbury Festival in June 2008, on
The Culture Show
in June 2008, at Elbow's homecoming gigs in
Manchester in 2008, and at
Blackpool's Empress Ballroom in March 2009. He reprised his collaboration with Elbow on 17 January 2009 for a special recording of
The Seldom Seen Kid
with the
BBC Concert Orchestra at
Abbey Road Studios, which was subsequently released as a special edition CD and DVD set titled
The Seldom Seen Kid Live at Abbey Road
in March 2009.
Hawley's song "Baby, You're My Light" was included on the CD soundtrack for the 2008 film
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
.
[3] Hawley himself made an appearance in the 2007 film
Flick
.
[4]
Hawley occasionally gigs with The Feral Cats, a side project that enables him to explore his interest in
rockabilly music.
Personal life
Fiercely proud of his
working class upbringing, he lives in Sheffield, with his wife and children and is an avid
Sheffield Wednesday supporter.
Discography
Albums
[5]
- Richard Hawley
(Setanta) (2001) (album re-released including all the single b-sides)
- Late Night Final
(Setanta) (2001)
- Lowedges
(Setanta) (2003) (UK #169)
- Coles Corner
(Mute) (2005) (UK #37)
- Lady's Bridge
(Mute) (2007) (UK #6)
- Truelove's Gutter
(Mute) (2009)
Singles
; as a member of Treebound Story
- "Swimming in the Heart of Jane" (1989) (Native Records 12NTV 40)
- "Take" (1989) (Native Records 12NTV 43)
; from
Richard Hawley
:
; from
Late Night Final
:
- "Baby, You're My Light" (2002) (UK #81)
; from
Lowedges
:
- "Run for Me" (2003) (UK #186)
; from
Coles Corner
:
- "The Ocean" (2005) (UK #102)
- "Coles Corner" (2005) (UK #146)
- "Just Like the Rain" (2006) (UK #94)
- "Born Under a Bad Sign" (2006) (UK #81)
- "Coles Corner" (re-issue) (2006) (UK #136)
- "Hotel Room" (2006) (UK #64)
; from
Lady's Bridge
:
- "Tonight the Streets Are Ours" (2007) (UK #40)
- "Serious" (2007) (UK #83)
- "Valentine" (2008) (UK #134)
- Lady's Bridge EP
(2008)
; from the film
Click
:
- "Rockabilly Radio" 10" vinyl (2008)
; from
Truelove's Gutter
:
- "For Your Lover, Give Some Time" (2009)
References
- Maps.google.com map reference
- Details from Richardhawleyforum.co.uk
- IMDb — Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist soundtrack (2008)
- IMDb — Flick (2008)
- UK Chartlog: H