Next March, Haircut One Hundred frontman Nick Heyward will play select U.S. cities as a solo act for the first time in decades.
“I’ve had people for the last 30 years asking, ‘Are you the 'Kite' guy?’ and I say ‘Yes, indeed. I’m Mr. Kite’,” Heyward says about his 1993 U.S. solo hit.
Reaching #4 in Billboard’s Top Alternative Singles, the single’s Stateside support has reignited his personal desire to return to the U.S. in support of his solo material. “They say, ‘Please come back to America that song means so much to me,’ and so I’m coming back to play acoustically - an acoustic expedition so to speak - to reconnect with people who like my music. My last US tour was in 1994 and I’m really looking forward to playing ‘Kite’ in America again. It’s been too long!”
Artist pre-sale for the short run of intimate venues across the eastern U.S. is live now (PW: ROADTRIP) with general on sale Friday, Oct. 23 at 10:00am Local
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to explore towns like Nashville and Atlanta since touring the U.S. with Haircut One Hundred three times in the last three years,” he continues. “Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I didn’t get to play in so many places, so I’m looking forward to exploring more of America on this tour!”
While the tour will reconnect fans who haven’t seen him perform solo in three decades, it’s also helping him reconnect with his own oeuvre, especially his signature song “Kite.” “Americans took ‘Kite’ to their hearts,” he beams. “I love playing songs from [his 1993 fourth solo album] From Monday to Sunday because it reminds me of the KROQ Christmas shows with Tony Bennett, Mazzy Star, and the Lemonheads.”
Taking a bit of a “storytellers” approach to the tour, the stripped-down City Winery environment allows him to talk about the inspirations both personal and fan-focused. Heyward explains, “I do love to talk about the source and the creative process of songs - how they arrive, whether they were an easy birth or whether they were a caesarian, and also what they mean to others now - like a young chap who tracked me down on MySpace to tell me his mum used to play him ‘Kite' as a lullaby before bed. As a budding children’s author this thrilled me.”
In addition to the U.S. tour, Heyward is celebrating a full-on reflective era in his career. November 7 will see the UK release of the solo career retrospective The Essential, a 31-track compilation, as well as Fantastic Days: My Autobiography which will be published on November 5. “It’s clarified so much, filed it neatly and given me a new perspective on the past and a new objective for the future,” he says about both.
Curated by Heyward himself, The Essential Nick Heyward is the first comprehensive collection of his music. All 31 tracks will be released digitally, while the physical editions – double CD and a 14 track green vinyl edition - will be released in the UK and available in the U.S. only as an import (pre-order
HERE).
Heyward’s autobiography Fantastic Days is being published on hardback, ebook, and audio book formats (
pre-order), It looks back at the artist who scored four top 10 singles, a number two platinum album in Pelican West.
“‘When I stood in my bedroom singing ‘Fantastic Day’ over and over again while learning to play guitar and sing and at the same time, I had no idea it would become so prophetic. Underneath it all they’ve all been fantastic days, but I had to find that out the hard way,” he says about the book. “Sometimes it’s the only way.”
Following three recent U.S. tours with Haircut One Hundred, and with two career-spanning releases arriving this November, Heyward is now turning his attention back to his solo catalogue. In fact, with a pep in his step, this return to America to reignite the Stateside love of his music is just the beginning.
So what’s in store for Nick Heyward? “Music. Sweet, sweet music… the recording of and the live delivery of. It’s as simple as that,” he smiles. “I love writing music and playing music more now than I ever did. That arrived with grey hairs and laughter lines and dental maintenance.”
Track Listing:
2CD
Disc One
Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)*
Fantastic Day*
Love Plus One*
Nobody’s Fool*
The Unloving Plum*
Dynamite*
Take That Situation
Blue Hat For A Blue Day
Whistle Down The Wind
On A Sunday
Atlantic Monday
Love All Day (& Night)
Warning Sign
Laura
*with Haircut One Hundred
Disc Two
Over The Weekend
Goodbye Yesterday
You’re My World
Tell Me Why
Traffic In Fleet Street
Kite
He Doesn’t Love You Like I Do
Caravan
The World
Rollerblade®
Carry On Loving
The Man You Used To Be
Today
Stars in Her Eyes
Baby Blue Sky
Perfect Sunday Sun
The Stars
U.S. Tour Dates:
Photo: Steve Ullathorne/courtesy Reybee PR
George Paul
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