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MIKE AT DALKEY BOOK FESTIVAL
Mike will give a reading at Dalkey Book Festival, Dublin, Ireland on Monday 16th June. Mike will read from Adventures Of A Waterboy and will also try out some new writing. Tickets are available now here. Photo: Arnar Eggert FREDDIE STEVENSION TO SUPPORT ON FISHERMAN'S BLUES REVISITED TOUR British singer/songwriter Freddie Stevenson will open for The Waterboys on their Fisherman's Blues Revisited tour in December. Freddie is a friend of the band and co-wrote White Birds and Sweet Dancer on An Appointment With Mr Yeats. Said Mike Scott: "Freddie's a good pal and a wonderful songwriter. I'm delighted to get to introduce him to Waterboys fans." You can check out his music here WATERBOYS PLAY PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN, 19 JULY The Waterboys will play a special show at the Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, New York, USA on Friday 19th July as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn Performing Arts Festival. This will be a free event with a suggested donation of $3. Showtime is 7.30pm and admission will be open from one hour earlier. For additional information click here ANTWERP SHOW, 25th AUGUST The Waterboys will play a show at Openairtheatre, Rivierenhof, Antwerp, Belgium, on Sunday 25th August. Tickets are available now here. The band last played Rivierenhof almost exactly ten years ago in what was a memorable gig during the Universal Hall tour. WATERBOYS CONFIRM PINKPOP CLASSIC, 24th AUGUST The Waterboys will headline the Pinkpop Classic Festival in Megaland, Landgraaf, Holland on Saturday 24th August. All day tickets, price $35 plus $5 service charge, are available here or by phone from +31 900 300 1250. Other artists include Uriah Heep, Colin Blunstone, CCC Inc & Band Of Friends. FULL LIST OF WATERBOYS MEMBERS We have uploaded a comprehensive list of all Waterboys members from the band's first recording ("December") in 1981 to the present day. The list has been checked and verified by Mike Scott and includes all individuals who have appeared as a band member on stage or TV/radio. Dates given for each member run from first time playing with the band (recording/audition/rehearsal) to last known performance. View it here. FISHERMAN'S BLUES ON BBC'S MASTERTAPES - TICKETS AVAILABLE BBC Radio 4's programe Mastertapes will host a special on The Waterboys and Fisherman's Blues. For broadcast this summer, the show will be pre-recorded at the BBC Studios in Maida Vale, London on Friday 26 April, 6.30pm. It will feature Mike Scott in interview and answering questions from the audience, plus music by Mike and Steve Wickham. Further details, including how to apply for tickets here MIKE AND STEVE AT HAY BOOK FESTIVAL, MAY 31 Mike will read from Adventures Of A Waterboy at this years Hay Book Festival, Hay-On-Wye, England, at 8.30pm on 31st May, in the Sky Arts Studio. He will be joined by Steve Wickham for an acoustic set. Tickets are available here and from +44 1498 822 629 MIKE'S READING IN DUBLIN, APRIL 23 Mike will be reading at Young Hearts Run Free's charity evening in aid of Dublin's Simon Community, at The James Joyce House, 15 Usher's Island, Dublin 8 on Tuesday April 23rd at 7.30. "City Of Bohane" novelist Kevin Barry and top Irish DJ John Kelly will also be featured. Tickets €15 from youngheartsrunfree@gmail.com WATERBOYS TO PLAY NOVA SCOTIA, JULY 17 The Waterboys will play at The Schooner Room, Casino Nova Scotia, Halifax on July 17th at 8pm. Tickets here KRISTINA TRAIN'S VERSION OF HOW LONG WILL I LOVE YOU Mike recently posted on Twitter how much he enjoyed Kristina Train's beautiful version of the Waterboys' song How Long Will I Love You. It can be heard below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7Tkj9o-uQo 'MAD AS THE MIST AND SNOW' VIDEO AT PASTE MAGAZINE
Paste Magazine has loaded a video of The Waterboys playing a spellbinding version of Mad Of The Mist And Snow from the An Appointment With Mr Yeats album. The video is a special edit by film-maker Myles O’Reilly and was filmed last September when Waterboys Mike Scott and Steve Wickham reunited with Anto Thistlethwaite for a special show in the Spiddal, Ireland. You can view it here WATERBOYS TO PLAY CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL The Waterboys will headline the Cambridge Folk Festival on Sunday, 28th July. This will be their third headline appearance at the festival, having played previously in 2002 and 2007. Information and tickets available from 01223 357851 or online here CANADIAN DATES - JULY 2013 The Waterboys will play a series of dates this summer in Canada. These will be regular Waterboys shows featuring the new American line-up. They are
MIKE GUEST-EDITS MAGNET MAGAZINE ONLINE Mike has been interviewed online by Magnet Magazine, and has also contributed 14 short "guest editor" articles which will be posted, 2 a day, between now and Sunday 31st March. The pieces are on a variety of subjects - favourite music, books, Dublin buskers - and are as im passioned and humorous as you'd expect. Access them here, and check in daily for the additions BOX SET AND 'FISHERMAN'S BLUES REVISITED' TOUR
In October it will be 25 years since the release of Fisherman's Blues. To celebrate, on 14th October EMI Records will release a 7-CD set titled FISHERMAN'S BOX, containing 121 tracks from the album sessions including all those on the original record and previous editions plus an incredible 85 unreleased tracks. The contents have been selected and annotated by Mike Scott, with sleevenotes by Decemberists' singer and long-time Fisherman's Blues aficionado, Colin Meloy. We'll be announcing the tracklists of the 7 CDs throughout spring & summer. As a further celebration, The Waterboys will play a special tour of Britain and Ireland this December titled FISHERMAN'S BLUES REVISITED, reuniting Mike and Steve with Fisherman's-era members Anto Thistlethwaite and Trevor Hutchinson. The famous four will be joined by drummer Ralph Salmins and the shows will be a re-exploration of the Fisherman's Blues period. Says Mike: "We won't play the original album in order or anything tame like that. That's not the Waterboys' style. Instead we'll be roaming our old repertoire in a new expression of the freewheeling, improvised spirit of The Waterboys in those days. We want to get that old fire burning again, and I wanna hear Steve and Anto wailing like the two-man orchestra we all remember." Tickets for the 13 shows go on sale this FRIDAY 22nd MARCH at 9am. Dates as follows:
MR YEATS ALBUM RELEASE IN UNITED STATES The Waterboys' album An Appointment With Mr Yeats will be released in the United States on Tuesday 26th March by Proper America. To coincide with the album's release Mike and Steve will also be playing various sessions and short concerts on US radio stations. We will post details of these during the coming weeks. The album will be launched with the previously announced special show of An Appointment With Mr Yeats at New York's famous Town Hall on Wednesday 20th March, featuring the new American line-up of The Waterboys. Tickets available here. NEW NORTH AMERICAN BAND For the March 20 show of AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS in New York, Mike & Steve will be joined by an all-new American Waterboys. Said Mike: "Touring America with a British/Irish band is tough financially and in the past has meant less shows, so I took the decision to assemble a new band for North America. The British/Irish band, with Ralph, James, Archie & Mel, will continue to play round the world, but on the American continent it'll be the new group, which I'm proud to say is fantastic. I hand-picked the players myself, most of whom I spotted playing in New York and was blown away by". The new musicians are: Elizabeth Ziman (vocals, from the band Elizabeth And The Catapult), Jay Barclay (guitar), Daniel Mintseris (keyboards, a member of St Vincent), Malcolm Gold (bass), Ezra Oklan (drums) and Chris Layer (flute). New York Town Hall will be the debut of the American version of The Waterboys. For tickets go here PRINCE TRIBUTE SHOW AT CARNEGIE HALL Waterboys Mike Scott and Steve Wickham will appear at the Prince Tribute Concert at Carnegie Hall, during which a starpacked line-up of artists perform the songs of Prince, in New York City, Thurs 7 March. The show is part of an annual series benefiting educational music programs for children in need. Previous shows have paid tribute to The Who, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan among others. Other artists appearing this year include Elvis Costello, Bettye LaVette, Booker T. Jones, Amos Lee and Devotchka. Informationand tickets are availa ble here. VIP packages available here SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST Mike Scott will be reading from his musical memoir `Adventures Of A Waterboy' at this year's South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas on Wed 13 March. The reading will take place at St. David's Sanctuary beginning at 7:30pm, following which Mike will be joined by Steve Wickham for a short acoustic set. This event is open to SXSW badge and wristband holders. A limited amount of general tickets may be available at the door only. For further information on the festival including how to register to attend visit here MIKE’S 'THE RHYTHM DIVINE' INTERVIEW ON AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL RADIO While enjoying the first ever Waterboys tour in Australia Mike was able to sit down with national radio ABC's ‘Rhythm Divine’ presenter Geoff Wood for a candid conversation about music and spirituality. You can hear the interview along with some favourite Waterboys tunes by clicking the ‘Listen now’ link at top left here MIKE'S BOOK READING IN MELBOURNE, 15 JAN Mike Scott will give a reading from his book Adventures Of A Waterboy at Readings Bookstore, 309 Lygon Street, Melbourne, Australia at 6pm on Tuesday 15th January. Amazingly, this will be Mike's first-ever public appearance in Australia, and comes 4 days before the Waterboys tour of Australia and New Zealand begins in Brisbane. Further info on the reading here Further info on the tour here Photo: Gavin Kelly THE WATERBOYS' YEAR IN PICTURES
2012 was a great year for The Waterboys. We've collected 100 photographs in a special gallery celebrating its events; the band tours, festivals, Mike's book launch and readings, and lots more. View it here Waterboys play 2013 Wickham Festival, England
The Waterboys will headline the splendidly-named Wickham Festival, Hampshire, England on Friday 2nd August 2013. Tickets are on sale now here, or by phone from (+44) 23 8071 1818, priced £50 for the full day, £30 for the evening only. Other artists appearing on the same evening as The Waterboys are Lau and Shooglenifty. Seth Lakeman and Rolf Harris will appear on other days. For full details click here Photo: Paul Mac Manus CANBERRA SHOW ADDED, 25 JAN The Waterboys will play at Canberra Theatre on Friday 25th January as part of their tour of Australian and New Zealand. Tickets are available now here MIKE AND STEVE GO BACK TO SCHOOL
Mike Scott and Steve Wickham played a set of songs for a class of 14 year-old students at St. Aidan’s School in Dublin. Teacher Laura O’Flanagan had been using songs from “An Appointment With Mr Yeats” to teach her second year English class the poetry of W.B. Yeats and sent Mike a letter to tell him how much the class loved it. Mike responded by visiting the school with Steve and their instruments, and the Irish television news cameras were there to capture what happened. View the footage here WATERBOYS SHOW IN AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND The Waterboys will play their first ever show in New Zealand on Monday 21 January at Civic Theatre, Auckland. Tickets for this show, as well as the shows that will be taking place in Australia are on sale NOW here WATERBOYS AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
In addition to the previously announced “An Appointment With Mr Yeats” show at the Sydney Festival on 23 Jan, we are pleased to announce the following shows for The Waterboys first ever tour of Australia. Tickets are on sale NOW. These will be regular Waterboys shows. They are: Sat, 19 Jan, The Tivoli, BRISBANE- tickets available online here Sat, 26 Jan, Opera House, SYDNEY - tickets available online here Wed, 30 Jan, Hamer Hall, MELBOURNE- tickets available online here Thurs, 31 Jan, The Barton Theatre, ADELAIDE- tickets available online here Sat, 2 Feb, Concert Hall, PERTH- tickets available online here An additional show in AUCKLAND New Zealand will be announced shortly. MIKE’S ROCK BOOK SHOW INTERVIEW
Rock Book Show caught up with Mike recently in New York for a lively discussion on Mike’s music memoir “Adventures Of A Waterboy”. You can view the interview here AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS HITS NEW YORK CITY
We are pleased to announce that the critically acclaimed Waterboys show "AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS" will be performed in NEW YORK CITY at TOWN HALL (123 West 43rd Street) on Wednesday 20th March, 2013- doors at 7:30pm, show at 8pm. This will be the ONLY performance of Mr Yeats in North America and is sure to be a very unique and special event. Tickets are on sale now here A full North American tour in the fall of 2013 will follow. MIKE SINGS 'SHE TRIED TO HOLD ME' AT A NEW YORK PARTY
Mike Scott sang the Waterboys song She Tried To Hold Me recently at a party of friends in New York, and the wonderful footage, filmed by Mary Ellen Matthews, can be viewed here. Musicians playing include James Maddock, Dave Immergluck (Counting Crows), Freddie Stevenson, Irakli Gaprandashvili and Mark Bosch (Ian Hunter's Rant Band) NEW CONFECTIONS ON SOUNDCLOUD
Five new audio pieces have been uploaded to Mike's soundcloud page. They comprise three short mash-ups entitled SWEET FIGHTING DUDE, GLAM GROOVE and BRIGHT AND SHINING MASH PHASE; a spontaneous song titled WAITIN' FOR RALPH, in honour of Waterboys' drummer Ralph Salmins, recorded during a soundcheck on the recent tour; and Mike's demonstration, from a radio show, of how the piano style of THE WHOLE OF THE MOON was created. All five tracks, plus many more, can be accessed here WATERBOYS TO PERFORM "MR YEATS" IN SYDNEY, 23 JAN
The Waterboys will make their first-ever visit to Australia and New Zealand in January. The first date to be announced is a performance of An Appointment With Mr Yeats at The State Theatre, Sydney on Wednesday 23rd January as part of the Sydney Festival. Tickets go on sale today, Monday 29th Oct, online from Sydney Festival or from Ticketmaster and by phone hotline (+61) 1300 723 038. The show will be part of a ten-date tour of Australia and New Zealand. All the other concerts will be regular Waterboys shows and dates will be announced shortly. ARBUTUS YARNS FILM OF WATERBOYS SPIDDAL REUNION
When Mike, Steve and Anto played for the Strange Boat charity in Spiddal last month, film-maker Myles O'Reilly of Arbutus Yarns was there. To see his beautiful 11-minute documentary click here MIKE AND STEVE: BOSTON SHOW ANNOUNCED, 18 NOV Mike Scott will read from his book Adventures Of A Waterboy at Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA on 18th November. He will also be joined by Steve Wickham for an acoustic set. Showtime is 8pm and tickets are available NOW here BIRMINGHAM - VENUE CHANGE FOR WEDNESDAY 17TH Mike's book reading in Birmingham has been moved from Town Hall to Hall 5, ICC, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EA. All previously purchased tickets for the show are valid, and tickets are still on sale here. Show starts at 7.30pm. BOOKREADING AT ROLLING SUN FESTIVAL, WESTPORT, IRELAND Mike will read from Adventures Of A Waterboys and play an acoustic set with Steve Wickham at the third annual Rolling Sun literary festival, Westport, Co Mayo, Ireland on Friday 9th November. Tickets are on sale NOW and are available only from the festival's telphone hotline (+353) 98 28088. For further info on the festival click here BOOKREADINGS - FULL UK DATES AND TICKET DETAILS Below are dates and ticket details for all of Mike Scott's bookreadings in the UK and Isle Of Man over the next month. Several shows are close to selling out, so prompt booking is advised. At each show Mike will read from Adventures Of A Waterboy then be joined by Steve Wickham for an acoustic performance. Copies of the book will be on sale at each show and Mike will be available to sign copies afterwards. MIKE'S READINGS IN NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA
Mike will read from Adventures Of A Waterboy at the following added venues in the USA. At each reading Mike will be joined for an acoustic set by Steve Wickham.
Mike and Steve will also play a short 3-song set at John Wesley Harding's multi-artist extravaganze, The Cabinet Of Wonders, on Friday 16 Nov at City Winery, NEW YORK. Also on the bill are Steve Earle and Loudon Wainright III. Tickets NOW from (+1) 212 608 0555 and online here Photo: Steve Wickham MIKE'S READING IN NEW YORK Mike Scott will give a reading from Adventures Of A Waterboy at Rockwood Music Hall 2, Allen St, New York City, on Tues 13th November. The reading will last for an hour and will be followed by a half-hour acoustic set by Mike and Steve Wickham. Doors open at 6.30pm, show runs 7-9pm. Copies of Adventures Of A Waterboys will be on sale, and Mike and Steve will be available to sign them aftershow. Tickets, priced $20, are limited to 145, so don't miss out - book fast. Tickets go on sale Tuesday 18 Sept at 11am New York time / 4pm UK time from 1-800-594-8499 or online here LONDON BOOK READING GIG AT SOUTHBANK Mike will give a reading from Adventures Of A Waterboy, followed by a two-man musical set with Steve Wickham, at Purcell Room on London's Southbank on Wednesday 7 November. Tickets, priced £15.50, go on general sale on Wednesday 19th Sept from here. However, subscribers to the Waterboys' email updates can purchase tickets on Tuesday 18th Sept from this address (Please note: presale tickets cannot be purchased by calling the box office, they are available through this link only). MIKE’S BOOK READINGS IN PENZANCE & GLASTONBURY
Mike Scott will give readings from Adventures Of A Waterboy in Penzance and Glastonbury, England on October 15 & 16. Following each reading Mike and Steve Wickham will perform an acoustic set. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and Mike will sign copies after each show. Mon 15 Oct: PENZANCE, The Acorn, Tickets price: £12.50 available NOW from 01736 330201 or online here Tues 16 Oct: GLASTONBURY The Assembly Rooms, Tickets price: £12.50 available NOW from 01736 330201 or online here LIVERPOOL AND ISLE OF MAN BOOK READINGS Mike will give readings from Adventures Of A Waterboy at the following venues. He will be accompanied by Steve Wickham and each reading will be followed by an acoustic set by the pair. Copies of the book will be on sale and Mike will sign copies after the show. Tues 9 Oct: LIVERPOOL Epstein Theatre, Tickets price £12.50 available NOW from +44 151 709 3789 or online here Mon 29 Oct: ISLE OF MAN, Villa Marina Arcade, 3 Legs Festival. Tickets price £18 available NOW from +44 1624 600555 or online here UK PUBLICATION OF ADVENTURES OF A WATERBOY
The paperback edition of Adventures Of A Waterboy was published yesterday in the UK by Jawbone Press. Copies are available from bookshops, and by mail order from our own online store for £14.95 here. The Kindle version (only for UK) is available here MIKE'S READING IN BIRMINGHAM Mike will read from Adventures Of A Waterboy at Birmingham Town Hall on Wednesday 17th October. The reading will be followed by a short acoustic set by Mike and Steve. Tickets priced £15 are on sale NOW from +44 121 780 3333 and online here MIKE'S RADIO LONDON INTERVIEW WITH JENI BARNETT Mike was interviewed by Jeni Barnett for her Radio London show. This will be broadcast on Sunday 19th August at 11.30am, after the news, and can be streamed here - link on right-hand side of the page. A BUSK ON GRAFTON STREET - VIDEO
Mike joined a gang of young trad players on Grafton Street, Dublin last week. A clip has already been uploaded on Twitter but the full video is here MIKE'S SOUL MUSIC SELECTION ON IRISH RADIO - ARCHIVED You can hear Mike's interview with Cathal Murray, during which he chose 8 favourite soul records, here MIKE'S SOUL SELECTION ON IRISH RADIO Mike has been interviewed by Cathal Murray for Weekend On One radio show on Ireland's RTE network. Mike selected and played 8 soul classics, all favourites of his including Sly Stone, James Brown and Etta James, and read an excerpt from his book Adventures Of A Waterboy. The show will be broadcast here between 7 and 8am this Saturday, August 11th. Just click on "listen live". EXTRA SPIDDAL SHOW ADDED ON 25 SEPT As tickets for the Mike, Steve & Anto reunion charity show in Spiddal have sold so quickly, and because there have been so many requests for tickets, a second show has been added. This will be a matinee performance, with doors at 4pm. Tickets are available from this morning, Wednesday 8th August from here. To give all fans a fair chance to attend these shows, we ask that people who already have tickets for the evening concert don't buy tickets for the early one. MORE UK BOOK READINGS: GATESHEAD AND BASINGSTOKE Mike will give readings from Adventures Of A Waterboy, with an additional short music set with Steve Wickham on the following dates: Wed 10 October: The Sage, GATESHEAD. Tickets on sale this Friday at 10am from +44 191 443 4661 and online here Sat 13 October: Haymarket Theatre, BASINGSTOKE. Tickets on sale now from +44 1256 844244 and online here MIKE'S INTERVIEW WITH MARK RADCLIFFE ON BBC 6 MUSIC Mike's entertaining interview earlier this week with Mark Radcliffe, on BBC 6's Radcliffe & Maconie show, can be accessed here. The interview begins approx 95 minutes into the show, just after the Bloc Party number. UK BOOK READINGS - EDINBURGH AND STROUD ADDED Two more UK appearances have been added to Mike’s calendar of readings from his memoir, Adventures Of A Waterboy. They are: Thursday, 23rd August at St. Cecilia’s Hall in EDINBURGH, Scotland. Tickets £12 + booking fee from +44 844 844 0444 or here Sunday, 14th October at Subscription Rooms, George Street, STROUD, Gloucestershire, UK at 8pm, doors 7.30pm. Tickets £10 + booking fee from +44 1453 760 900 or here 2 VERY SPECIAL WEST OF IRELAND EVENTS, SEPT 25 & 26
Mike Scott, Steve Wickham and Anto Thistlethwaite will reunite for a one-off 3-man show, titled STRANGE BOAT 2012, in the Waterboys' spiritual home of SPIDDAL, County Galway, Ireland, on Tuesday 25th September. This is the first time The Waterboys have ever played a formal concert in Spiddal. The show will be at Park Lodge Hotel at 7.30pm, and is a benefit for The Circle Of Life project building a commemorative garden in Galway in memory of organ donors. Also on the bill are Alec Finn and Charlie Lennon, both veterans of the Fisherman's Blues sessions, and De Dannan singer Eleanor Shanley, who covered Strange Boat in 2008. Tickets for this unique and very special event are €25 and available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLAPOxpXGkU MIKE'S BOOK READING IN LONDON, 27 AUG Mike Scott will mark the UK launch of his book Adventures Of A Waterboy at Boogaloo, 312 Archway Road, N6, on Monday August 27th at 8pm. Mike will read from the book and be interviewed by music journalist Gavin Martin. Tickets, price £6, are available now here MIKE, STEVE & MEL TO PLAY AT 'MUSIC THAT CHANGES THE WORLD' LIVESTREAMING ON TUESDAY
Mike Scott, Steve Wickham and Waterboys' pedal steel player Mel Duffy will perform several songs at Dave Stewart's multi-artist concert "Music That Changes The World" on Tuesday 24 July (tomorrow) as part of Walk A Mile, a series of global events promoting tolerance and peace launched to coincide with the London Olympics. The concert will be held at Dave Stewart's venue The Hospital, in London, before an invited audience, and will stream live here starting at 8.30pm. Other artists participating include KT Tunstall, Moby and Daryll Hall. MIKE'S BOOK READINGS IN CORK AND KILKENNY Mike Scott will give readings from Adventures Of A Waterboy in the Irish cities of Kilkenny and Cork on the 15th and 16th of August. On each occasion the format will be readings from the book interspersed with interview, followed by a short musical set by Mike and Steve Wickham. Dates are: MIKE'S BOOK READING IN GLASGOW
To coincide with the UK publication in August of his memoir Adventures Of A Waterboy, Mike will give a reading from the book at Oran Mor, Glasgow, at 8pm, Friday 24th August. The evening will also include a short set of songs played by Mike and Steve Wickham. Tickets are on sale now from +44 844 844 04444 or online here MIKE AND STEVE ON RTE'S MIRIAM MEETS, SUNDAY MORNING 10AM Mike Scott and Steve Wickham will be interviewed on Miriam Meets, broadcast on RTE1, Sunday at 10am (repeated Monday 4am). They will be talking for an hour to presenter Miriam O'Callaghan about their friendship and work together, and playing a selection of acoustic songs, including Savage Earth Heart and Saint & Angels. Stream it live here MIKE READS FROM HIS BOOK - VIDEO Mike was filmed reading an extract from Adventures Of A Waterboy while visiting Kenny's Bookshop in Galway, Ireland, last week. View the clip here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAZn4-e-zUM WATERBOYS TO PLAY IN SAN SEBASTIAN The Waterboys will play at the Jazzaldia Festival in San Sebastian, Spain, on Saturday 21st July. Tickets are free. Further info here ISN'T IT A PITY ON SOUNDCLOUD During a soundcheck on their recent UK tour, The Waterboys jammed a ten-minute version of George Harrison's venerable song Isn't It A Pity. Hear it here UNTHANKS AND KATIE KIM CONFIRMED FOR BILL OF IVEAGH GARDENS SHOW, DUBLIN, 20 JULY The Waterboys will be joined by The Unthanks and Katie Kim at their open air show in Dublin, 20th July, at the Iveagh Gardens. Tickets can be purchased here DRANOUTER FESTIVAL, BELGIUM CONFIRMED The Waterboys will play Dranouter Festival Of New Traditions in Belgium on Sunday 5th August. The band last played this festival in 2001. Tickets are available from +32 7025 2020 or online here. Further information here WATERBOYS CONFIRMED FOR ROCK EN SEINE, PARIS IN AUGUST
The Waterboys will play at Rock En Seine, Paris, France, on Sunday 26 August, appearing in late afternoon, probably around 4pm. Day tickets, price €49 or weekend (3 day) tickets price €109 are available here Photo: Paul Mac Manus WATERBOYS ACOUSTIC VIDEOS FILMED IN PARIS The band were filmed playing two acoustic songs by Reno Cargo when they visited Paris in May. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4boPzAZYZ5Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wap0_qNBSRo MIKE'S READING FROM 'ADVENTURES OF A WATERBOY' IN BELFAST
Mike will give a reading from his newly-published book Adventures Of A Waterboy at Belfast Book Festival on Monday 18th June at 8pm. The event will be held at Crescent Arts Centre, University Rd, Belfast BT7 1NH. Tickets priced £8 and £6 are available here. Signed copies of Adventures Of A Waterboy can be purchased online here. NOT FORGETTING DUBLIN, CARLOW AND GALWAY Don't forget Mike will also be reading from Adventures Of A Waterboys in Dublin (Liberty Hall, June 7), Carlow (Borris Hay House Festival, June 10) and Galway (Roisin Dubh, June 13). Steve Wickham will guest in Dublin and Galway. A MESSAGE FROM STEVE WICKHAM
Earlier this year my young 10 year-old cousin Amy Watson-Wright passed away from brain cancer. Amy put up a very brave and courageous fight for four years. Her parents are holding a charity golf day and gala dinner on 21st June this year in Amy’s memory. I have donated a Waterboys original framed gold disc of the album "Fisherman’s Blues”. It is signed on the back by the whole band. The disc will go into auction at the gala dinner, however if anybody would like to place a bid before then send your bid to john.ww@tiscali.co.uk . Closing date for bidding is Tuesday, 19th June 2012 Steve ADVENTURES OF A WATERBOY - PUBLISHED 6 JUNE
Mike Scott's long awaited musical memoir, Adventures Of A Waterboy, is published in a beautiful hardback edition by Lilliput Press of Dublin on 6th June. Paperback publication, through UK publisher Jawbone Press, will follow in August. Adventures Of A Waterboy was written between 2008 and 2010 and runs to 272 pages. It's an eye-opening account of Mike's life in music; serious, funny, profound, whimsical and enigmatic, with blow-by-blow descriptions of his days in teenage garage bands, the rise of The Waterboys, his exploits with Steve Wickham and the rest of the gang in the west of Ireland, and much, much more. Read an extract here. Adventures Of A Waterboy can be purchased online here. To tie in with publication Mike will be giving a series of readings from the book around Ireland on the following dates: Thurs 7 June: Dublin Writers Festival, Liberty Hall, Dublin, 8.30pm. Tickets €12 and €10 here Mike will be hosted by music journalist and former teenage Waterboys fanatic Jim Carroll. Steve Wickham will also guest. Sun 10 June: Borris House Hay festival, Eigse, Carlow, 7.15pm. Tickets €9 here. Wed 13 June: Roisin Dubh, Galway, 8.30pm. Tickets €10 here Mike will be hosted by Sawdoctors' guitarist Leo Moran. Steve Wickham will also guest. CORRECT TICKET INFO FOR IVEAGH GARDENS, DUBLIN SHOW Tickets for the open-air show at Dublin's Iveagh Gardens on Friday, 20th July are not on sale yet as previously announced. Tickets will go on sale Thursday, 10 May and can be purchased online here. Apologies for any confusion. LAST COPIES OF 7” POLITICS SINGLE AVAILABLE ONLINE The last remaining copies of The Waterboys limited edition 7” Politics single are now available online here. The single features two previously unreleased songs on the flip side: The Travelling Man And The Tree and Down By The Salley Gardens, both with lyrics by W.B. Yeats. WATERBOYS PLAY DUBLIN'S IVEAGH GARDENS, 20 JULY
The Waterboys will play an open-air show at Dublin's magical Iveagh Gardens on Friday 20th July as part of a three day series also featuring Lisa Hannigan and Rufus Wainright. Tickets are available now here. Two special guest acts will be on the bill and as soon as we have confirmed details we'll announce them. Photo: Dave Thomas WATERBOYS CONFIRMED FOR SOLFEST
The Waterboys will headline Solfest Festival, Cumbria, England, on Saturday 25th August. The festival runs from 24th to 26th Aug with tickets available now from +44 1900 602122. Information and tickets online here, price £95 (weekend), £65 (child), £25 (5-11). Other acts include Saint Jude, the great rock and soul band who supported on the 2007 Waterboys tour, Louis Barabbas, Tarras and Fiona Clayton. CLOUD OF SOUND BACK IN STOCK Cloud of Sound, the exclusive 15-track album available only at Waterboys shows and the band's website is back in stock at our online store. Reasons for the delay is that Mike Scott has been slow to sign copies. When pressed for an explanation, the Scottish singer said "Have you ever tried signing 5000 CDs?" and immediately wept with pain while holding his right hand in a bucket of ice. The album is available now here. In between signing sessions on the current tour, Mike had just enough wrist-power left to write a short track-by-track description for the website, which you can read here. POLITICS SINGLE FOR RECORD STORE DAY - APRIL 21ST
The Waterboys release Politics, from An Appointment With Mr Yeats, as a special 7" single to mark Record Store Day on 21st April. The single, in a limited edition of only 1,000 copies, features two previously unreleased songs on the flip side: The Travelling Man And The Tree and Down By The Salley Gardens, both with lyrics by W.B. Yeats. It will be available from partipating record shops only, details available here. CORNBURY FESTIVAL The Waterboys will play Cornbury Festival, Great Tew Park, OXFORDSHIRE, UK on Fri 29 June. Other acts include Elvis Costello,Macy Gray, Nerina Pallot and many more. Tickets, price £65 adult day, £150 adult weekend, £170 adult weekend with camping, on sale NOW from 0844 338 0000 or online here BOSPOP FESTIVAL The Waterboys will appear at Bospop Festival, Weert, HOLLAND on Sun 8 July. Other performers include Patti Smith, Chris Cornell and Alanis Morrisette. Tickets, price €75 (day ticket) and €130 (weekend ticket), on sale NOW here EXCLUSIVE CD: CLOUD OF SOUND
An exclusive Waterboys CD called CLOUD OF SOUND, and containing 15 fabulous tracks never before gathered on an album, will be available at venues on the Appointment With The Waterboys tour, starting at the first show, March 7, in Sandnes, in a limited edition of 5000 copies signed by Mike Scott. The CD will also be available online here while supplies last. The track list is as follows: BEAUTIFUL DAYS FESTIVAL, DEVON UK The Waterboys will appear at The Beautiful Days Festival, Escot Park, DEVON, UK on Sun 19 August. Other acts include Public Image Limited, Frank Turner and Richard Thompson & The Sleeping Souls, The Levellers, New Model Army and many more. Tickets on sale NOW from 0871 220 0260 or online here CARDIFF SHOW & WESTPORT FESTIVAL
Two more Waterboys shows have been added this spring and summer. They are: WATERBOYS SPANISH TOUR APRIL 2012
The Waterboys will tour Spain in April. Tickets are on sale now. There will be no support act, so come early. These shows will be played by the 5-piece line-up of the band, featuring Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, James Hallawell, Marc Arciero and Ralph Salmins. Dates are as follows:
READING HEXAGON SHOW, UK, 15 MAY Another show has been added to the ‘An Appointment With The Waterboys’ tour on Tues 15 May at The Hexagon in Reading. Tickets are on sale now from 0118 9606060 or online here DERBY, UK & DALANE FESTIVAL, NORWAY Two more Waterboys shows have been added in May. They are: 'An Appointment With The Waterboys' on Thurs 17 May The Assembly Rooms, DERBY. Tickets are £28.50 (standing stalls unreserved) & £32.00 (seating reserved balcony), on sale now from 01332 255800 or online here Dalane Blues Festival, Sat 26 May, Egersund, NORWAY. Both day and weekend tickets available from +47 81533133 or online here. Further information here ADDITIONAL UK SHOWS Two more shows have been added to the 'An Appointment With The Waterboys' tour. They are: WATERBOYS AT BATACLAN, PARIS, 24 MAY
The 'An Appointment With The Waterboys' show will visit Paris Thursday, 24 May at Bataclan. This will be the first full Waterboys show in Paris since 2004. Tickets are priced at € 32 and on sale now. Available from: MORE UK SHOWS ADDED
Three more UK shows have been added to the Appointment With The Waterboys tour. They are: From Saturday 4 Feb, tickets will be on general sale from 0844 338 0000 (24-hour) and online here FESTIVAL IN BRITTANY, 4th AUGUST
The Waterboys will headline FESTIVAL DU BOUT DU MONDE in Crozon, Brittany, France on Saturday 4th August. Other acts include Jimmy Cliff, Flavia Coelho and roots artists from around the world. Tickets price €28 are available now here VINTAGE LIVE WATERBOYS VIDEOS ONLINE
In the last week films of several vintage Waterboys concerts have appeared on youtube. These include the classic Glastonbury 1986 show, well-known to fans via bootleg records and the Live Adventures album; Rock Am Ring, a high quality TV broadcast from the same year; and a 17-minute Savage Earth Heart medley from Manchester 1989. NEW UPLOADS ON MIKE SCOTT'S SOUNDCLOUD PAGE Mike has recently posted the following on his soundcloud page COR CHUIL AODHA BACKWARDS: a psychedelic mash-up of Irish choral music MEET ME AT THE STATION: the 1929 original by Brother Williams Memphis Sanctified Singers of this great song, memorably covered by The Waterboys in the Fisherman's Blues era. BOTHY BAND BOTH WAYS: another mischievous mash up of Irish trad music WATERBOYS HEADLINE HEBRIDEAN CELTIC FESTIVAL The Waterboys will play at this year's Hebridean Celtic Festival, Saturday 14th July, in the grounds of Lewis Castle, Stornoway, Isle Of Lewis, Scotland. This is the band's first appearance at the Hebcelt festival since 2003, when their headlining appearance was the biggest-ever gig in Scotland's western isles. The festival runs from 11th to 14th July and weekend tickets, price £70 or £55 with concessions (+ under 14s free), go on sale Thursday 19th Jan here or by phone from (44) 1851 621234. Saturday-only tickets will go on sale once the full line-up has been announced. Check www.hebcelt.com for details. MIKE'S DUET ON SARAH CALDERWOOD'S ALBUM Mike has guested on the song The Blue Cockade on Australian singer Sarah Calderwood's new album As Night Falls. The song is traditional and tells the story of a young couple separated when the boy falls in with soldiers and enlists in the army. The album can be ordered online here and a preview of the track is available on Mike's soundcloud page. NEW SONGS ADDED TO SOUNDCLOUD We've uploaded a couple of rarities to Mike Scott's soundcloud page. The Man Who Sold The World is a 1982 version of the David Bowie song by Mike's pre-Waterboys band The Red And The Black. Vigilante is a new mix of a recording from 2009 featuring Mike and Steve Wickham. DUTCH SHOWS ADDED Two Dutch shows have been to the APPOINTMENT WITH THE WATERBOYS tour as follows: NORWEGIAN SHOW ADDED, 7 MARCH A Norwegian show has been added to the European leg of the Appointment With The Waterboys tour. It is at Kulturhus, Sandnes, Norway on 7th March. Tickets are available now from +47 51602010 or online at www.sandnes-kulturhus.no or www.billettservice.no NORWEGIAN DATES ANNOUNCED
The Norwegian shows of the 2012 AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE WATERBOYS tour have just been announced. Details below. Tickets for Bergen and Haugesund are on sale now. Tickets for Oslo go on sale this Saturday, Nov 12. Like all shows on the tour, these will feature the 7-piece Waterboys line-up with Katie Kim guesting on vocals, and will feature two sets: one of vintage Waterboys and one of music from An Appointment With Mr Yeats. BELGIAN SHOWS ADDED Two Belgian shows have been added to the European leg of 2012's AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE WATERBOYS tour. Tickets for both are available now. GERMAN SHOWS, MARCH 2012 The first two shows of the European leg of 2012's AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE WATERBOYS tour have just been announced. They are: March 14: BERLIN Huxley Tickets for both shows are €40 and go on sale Sunday 6th November from www.lb-events.de or 00492349471940 All the 2012 touring shows will be divided into two sets - one of vintage Waterboys, one of music from the new Appointment With Mr Yeats album - and will feature Mike Scott (vocals, guitar, piano), Steve Wickham (fiddle), Katie Kim (vocals), James Hallawell (keyboards), Marc Arciero (bass), Ralph Salmins (drums) and Melvin Duffy (guitar and pedal steel). More European shows will be announced shortly. MARCH 2012 UK DATES ON SALE THURSDAY The rest of the Waterboys' spring 2012 UK tour schedule will go on sale this Thursday morning, Oct 27 at 10am. 9 English shows have been added to the 5 Scottish dates already on sale, and the dates and box office numbers are as follows:
Tickets can also be booked using the central 24 hour ticket hotline, 0844 338 0000 or online here Further European shows will be announced soon. WATERBOYS ON LATER WITH JOOLS The Waterboys will perform on Later Live With Jools Holland on BBC2 tonight, Tues 25 Oct at 10pm, and on Later With Jools Holland, BBC2, Fri 28 Oct at 11.50pm. Different songs will be played on the two nights, so don't miss either broadcast! After transmission the shows will be archived here and here MIKE SCOTT ON STV'S "SCOTLAND'S GREATEST ALBUM"
Mike is interviewed on tonight's (Tuesday 18 October) episode of Scotland's Greatest Album on STV. The show will be transmitted at 9pm and this week features classic Scottish records of the 1990s, including The Whole Of The Moon which, though recorded in 1985, was a hit in 1991. For those of you outside Scotland, the show will be archived here Listeners can vote for their favourite 3 songs from each decade to be included on STV's imaginary "Scotland's Greatest Album", so if you think The Whole Of The Moon belongs there, vote here after the show. Mike reckons "it won't really be Scotland's greatest album, because the song selection is too arbitrary, but it's a good piece of fun that will get people talking for a few weeks and focussing on some of the great music Scotland's produced." VIDEO OF MIKE PERFORMING 'ALL THE BOYS LOVE CARRIE' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUaqCG6pynw Mike was filmed in March 2011 performing his first-ever record, Another Pretty Face's "All The Boys Love Carrie", at The Electric Circus in Edinburgh. The occasion was the 50th birthday party of APF member Steve Fraser, the "other" Steve in Mike's musical life. As well as Mike and Steve on guitars, the band features Ali "Drumslinger" Wilson, bassist Ali Barr, Lawrie Ball on keyboards and Lenny Helsing on backing vocals. All The Boys Love Carrie was released in 1979 and this was its first live performance in a whopping 29 years. Click here to view. For Mike's 2009 blog about Steve Fraser, click here. IAN RANKIN'S EDINBURGH PLAYLIST Continuing with the Edinburgh theme, author Ian Rankin, creator of the Inspector Rebus series of best-selling crime novels, has compiled a playlist of Edinburgh songs for The Guardian. He included The Whole Of The Moon. AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE WATERBOYS 2012 - SCOTTISH DATES ON SALE TODAY The Waterboys will tour Europe in spring 2012 under the title AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE WATERBOYS. The shows will be split into two halves, with no support act. One half will be, according to Mike Scott, "a killer set of vintage Waterboys". The other will be a performance of most, if not all, of the new album An Appointment With Mr Yeats. As soon as we have band line-up details and further info on the tour we'll post them. The 5 Scottish dates have just been announced. Tickets price £26.50 & £24.50 go on sale TODAY, FRIDAY 15th OCTOBER at 10am from the box office numbers below or online here. WATERBOYS ONE-HOUR RADIO SPECIAL, TODAY, 12 NOON Irish national station RTE1 will broadcast an hour-long special on the Waterboys' new album An Appointment With Mr Yeats from 12-1pm today, Friday 14 October. The special, hosted by Ronan Collins, features special acoustic performances of several songs plus an interview with Mike, Steve and Katie Kim. It will be streamed live here (click on "Radio 1") and archived here. SHOW IN DUBLIN, 1 APRIL 2012 The Waterboys will tour Europe in the spring of 2012 and the first show to be announced has just gone on sale. It is at Dublin's Grand Canal Theatre on Sunday 1st April 2012 and tickets, price £45.50, are available now here. More shows will be announced as soon as we have details. MIKE ON STV NEWS Mike Scott was interviewed about An Appointment With Mr Yeats on Scottish Televison's 6 o'clock News yesterday. View the clip here To view the full length non-broadcast version of the interview click here AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS - REVIEWS The new Waterboys album An Appointment With Mr Yeats has been receiving a lot of excellent reviews, and we've posted a couple of our favourites on the band's website. To read click here WATERBOYS FEATURE IN MOJO MAGAZINE
Mojo have done a major retrospective feature on The Waterboys in this month's issue. Mike was interviewed by top writer and long-time Waterboys fan James McNair. WATERBOYS TO PLAY LIVE AT TOWER RECORDS, DUBLIN, 30 SEPT
The Waterboys will play a short free concert at Tower Records, Wicklow Street, Dublin, Ireland at 6pm on Friday 30th September. The band will play songs from An Appointment With Mr Yeats with a six piece band including Mike, Steve, James, Archie and Katie Kim, and will sign copies of An Appointment With Mr Yeats and other Waterboys albums. MIKE SCOTT INTERVIEWED IN DAILY TELEGRAPH Neil McCormick interviewed Mike Scott about An Appointment With Mr Yeats in yesterday's Daily Telegraph newspaper MIKE SCOTT'S READING AT NANTWICH ON OCTOBER 7
Mike Scott will be reading from his forthcoming book KISS THE WIND: A WATERBOY'S ADVENTURES IN MUSIC at Thea Gilmore's Nantwich Words And Music Festival, near Manchester, England. The event is at 7.30pm on Friday 7 October at Crown Ballroom, Nantwich. Tickets, priced £15, are available now from (44) 1270 610751 or online here. Mike's previous reading at Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Belfast in April was a great success, and the Nantwich event is likely to be the only other opportunity to get a flavour of Mike's book in advance of its publication in early 2012. IRISH RELEASE DATE FOR MR YEATS - SEPT 23 An Appointment with Mr Yeats will be released this Friday, September 23rd, in Ireland. AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS IS OUT!
An Appointment With Mr Yeats is released today. If you haven't already bought or ordered your copy, you can order from Amazon or download from iTunes or pick up a copy at your local record shop. The album is available in both CD and 45rpm double vinyl versions. The album was CD of the week in yesterday's Sunday Times. SIGNING AT RISE RECORDS, BRISTOL The Waterboys will be at Rise Records, The Triangle, Bristol at 5pm to sign copies of the new album. NEW VERSION OF LET THE EARTH BEAR WITNESS VIDEO An updated version of the Waterboys' Let The Earth Bear Witness video, featuring the new recording of the song from An Appointment With Mr Yeats is now available on youtube WATERBOYS PLAY PUMPKIN FESTIVAL, CAVAN, IRELAND, 29 OCTOBER The Waterboys will headline this year's Virginia Pumpkin Festival in Cavan, Ireland, on Bank Holiday Saturday 29th October. Tickets, price €30, are available from the festival box office, (+353) 87 054 0971 or via Ticketmaster from (+353) 818 719 300 and www.ticketmaster.ie, or from Multisound, Main Street, Cavan. For further info click here AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS - GUARDIAN STREAM THIS FRIDAY
British newspaper The Guardian will stream a special preview of the entire new Waterboys album An Appointment With Mr Yeats this Friday, 16th September. The stream will go live early in the morning and Mike Scott will be online between 3-4pm GMT responding to comments on the streaming page. Access via The Guardian's homepage. MIKE AND WATERBOYS ON UK MEDIA THIS WEEK With next Monday's release of An Appointment With Mr Yeats fast approaching, Mike Scott and some members of the band will appear in the UK media this week on the following programmes:
COMMENTS ON RICHARD CURTIS' ARTICLE We all enjoyed Richard Curtis article about The Waterboys in last Wednesday's Guardian. If you missed it, read it here and be sure to scroll down for the countless wonderful comments from Waterpeople all over the world. FILM-MAKER RICHARD CURTIS WRITES ABOUT THE WATERBOYS IN TODAY'S GUARDIAN Richard Curtis, director of the movies Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill & Love Actually, has contributed an article on his love for The Waterboys to today's Guardian newspaper. It's a lovely piece of writing, full of affection for Waterboys' music, and Mike Scott has already tweeted how much he enjoyed reading it, though he expressed some mystification at the article's mention of his having made "two bluegrass albums last year"! Yes, we're mystified by that too. SEPTEMBER 1913 NOW AVAILABLE FOR LISTENING
Track 10 of An Appointment With Mr Yeats, the epic September 1913, has been uploaded to the band's soundcloud page. Photo: Paul Mac Manus iTUNES PRE-ORDER NOW AVAILABLE An Appointment With Mr Yeats is now available for pre-order at iTunes, including bonus track The Four Ages Of Man. This track will be available as an individual download from 19 September, when the album is released, but can only be pre-ordered as part of the whole album. BONUS TRACK ON AMAZON DOWNLOAD An additional bonus track, Love Song, will be available with the album at Amazon.co.uk from 19 September, both as an individual track and part of the album. SWEET DANCER SINGLE NOW AVAILABLE ON ITUNES
The Waterboys' first single from An Appointment With Mr Yeats, Sweet Dancer, has started to receive radio play. It has been heard already on Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 Music, XFM, Clyde, Radio Scotland and BBC Northern Ireland. And we're delighted to announce that the single is available for download NOW from iTunes Europe. Click here. VIDEO OF SEPTEMBER 1913 We've uploaded a short video of the band performing the mighty September 1913 from An Appointment With Mr Yeats. The film was shot at Dublin's Abbey Theatre last year, and is intercut with Mike Scott interview extracts. To view click here SIGNED MANUSCRIPT OFFER - ADDITIONAL COPIES DUE TO DEMAND Due to incredible demand yesterday's special offer of a signed manuscript music sheet to accompany the new Waterboy's album sold out in matter of hours. The manuscript shows the violin part from the album's opening track The Hosting Of The Shee, rendered in the Wickham hand, is printed on 135 gsm matt art paper, and is only available with copies of the album sold by Townsend. This is available now for pre-order (delivery at Sept 19 release date). Cost is £9.99 (CD) and £15.99 (double vinyl). EDITION OF "MR YEATS" WITH SIGNED MUSIC MANUSCRIPT
Our friends at Townsend Records have a supply of the new Waterboys album, AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS, on both CD and double vinyl with a special limited edition manuscript page, each copy individually signed by Mike and Steve. The manuscript shows the violin part from the album's opening track The Hosting Of The Shee, rendered in the Wickham hand, is printed on 135 gsm matt art paper, and only available with copies of the album sold by Townsend. This is available now for pre-order (delivery at Sept 19 release date). Cost is £9.99 (CD) and £15.99 (double vinyl). Click here to pre-order CD, and here for vinyl. WHITE BIRDS ON SOUNDCLOUD Track 6, WHITE BIRDS, from An Appointment With Mr Yeats is now available for advance listening on the band's soundcloud page. The track is a modern successor to the classic widescreen early Waterboys sound. Mike describes it as 'the pure big music', and we think you'll agree it is momentous! THE WATERBOYS CONTRIBUTE SONG TO DAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION
The Waterboys have contributed In The Beginning Was Love, co-written by Mike Scott and spiritual author David Spangler, to ‘DOWNLOAD FOR GOOD - Music That Changes The World’, an online charity music label which benefits the David Lynch Foundation's work providing meditation instruction to schoolchildren, military personnel, jail populations and at-risk communities. You can buy and download In The Beginning Was Love here For more info about the David Lynch Foundation and its work click here AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS ALBUM - OUT SEPT 19!
The long-awaited new Waterboys album AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS will be released across Europe by Proper Records on September 19th. North American release will follow in 2012. The album was produced by Mike Scott and Waterboys' bassist Marc Arciero, and contains 14 new songs created from the lyrics of Ireland's greatest poet, WB Yeats (1865-1939). The songs were premiered at the band's raved-about Appointment With Mr Yeats concerts in Ireland and Britain in 2010 and early 2011, and the tracklist is: The album cover was created by Nina Hunter from a photograph by Paul Mac Manus. NORTHERN LIGHTS FESTIVAL CANCELLED We've been informed that the Northern Lights Festival, Aberdeen, at which The Waterboys were to play on 30th July, has been cancelled. The organisers have posted a short notice on their website. We assume the cancellation is because of low sales and competition from many other festivals. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. We commiserate with all Waterboys fans who had planned to attend and hope to see you at another show soon. MIKE CO-WRITES SONG ON NEW JAMES MADDOCK ALBUM Mike has co-written the opening track Beautiful Now on New York-based English singer James Maddock's new album Wake Up And Dream, released in the USA on June 21st. The song is one of the several Mike and James have written together, with Mike supplying lyrics and James the music. The track can be previewed here. YEATS TO MUSIC / POETRY TO SONG, LONDON EVENT 15 SEPTEMBER
Mike Scott will give a talk and musical performance at The Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London on Thursday evening, 15th September, titled YEATS TO MUSIC / POETRY TO SONG. Tickets for the evening, priced £17.50, are available now from the box office, (+44) 844 847 9910 or www.southbankcentre.co.uk. Mike will be joined by Waterboys piano player James Hallawell and vocalist Katie Kim, and the evening will include acoustic performances of several songs from the forthcoming album AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS. Mike will talk about Yeats' history of being set to music and the development of the Appointment With Mr Yeats show and album. Album release date, tracklist and purchase details will be announced next week. Photo: Dave Mitchell WATERBOYS STAGE TIME FOR SATURDAY
The Waterboys will perform from 3pm till 4pm on the main stage on Saturday as part of the London Feis, at Finsbury Park. This will be the six piece line-up with new lap steel and guitar player Melvin Duffy making his debut. Image by Keith Corcoran TICKETS FOR WATERFORD TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL We understand that tickets, all of which were free, for the Tall Ships Festival in Waterford on July 1 have already all been distributed. No more are available. Like many fans we'd expected the show would simply be open to all-comers. But to limit crowds and comply with safety regulations, understandably enough, the organisers have made it a ticket-only event. Unfortunately we didn't know when tickets were being given away, nor how to apply for them, nor were we able to pass on this information. We hope that if you have made arrangements to travel without checking on the ticket situation first that you'll be able to find some tickets, and we suggest posting a request on the Waterboys' forum (access on our Links page) or the Waterpeople group on Yahoo here. FESTIVAL IN PAIMPOL, BRITTANY CONFIRMED
The Waterboys will play at Festival Du Chant De Marin, on Saturday 13th August at Paimpol, Brittany, France. Tickets are available now from the festival box office 0033 2 96 55 12 77 or online here. Other performers include Simple Minds, The Chieftains, and Sinead O'Connor. This will be the second Waterboys show in Brittany this summer, after Festival Interceltique in Lorient on Friday 5th August. MIKE SCOTT INTERVIEWED BY THE QUIETUS
Mike recently gave a fascinating interview to The Quietus about the making of This Is The Sea, In A Special Place and much more. He was talking to writer Wyndham Wallace and you can read it here. KIRKSTALL ABBEY SHOW CANCELLED We've been informed that the whole 'Night And Day' series of concerts at Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire, UK, has been cancelled, including the Waterboys show on 11 June. The promoters, Tribeca Events, have announced that refunds are available from sales points. All other Waterboys shows this summer are going ahead as previously announced. WATERBOYS AT KIRKSTALL ABBEY, LEEDS The Waterboys will headline Night And Day At Kirkstall Abbey on the evening of Saturday 11th June, on a bill with Hothouse Flowers and Karine Polwart. Tickets are available NOW priced £35 from www.ticketmaster.co.uk or direct from the box office at 0044 844 847 1742. There is also an afternoon show the day after, Sunday 12th June, featuring Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, John Shuttleworth and Craig Charles. Tickets for both events combined cost £50. IN A SPECIAL PLACE IS OUT NOW!
In A Special Place, the album of Mike Scott's piano/vocal demos from This Is The Sea is out now at all good record shops and online retailers. Click here to purchase at Amazon and here for iTunes. To listen to the album's version of The Pan Within click here RAMSBOTTOM FESTIVAL 18 SEPTEMBER The Waterboys will headline the Ramsbottom Festival, Ramsbottom Cricket Club, Lancashire on Sunday 18th September. Tickets, price £25 (day) or £65 (weekend) are available here. Other artists on the 18th include top roots/folk acts Capercaille, Ahab and Michael McGoldrick - so it promises to be a special event. Other acts over the weekend include The Animals and Badly Drawn Boy. FESTIVALS IN SCOTLAND AND BRITTANY ANNOUNCED The Waterboys have just been confirmed for two festivals in Scotland and France this summer: Sat 30 July: Northern Lights Festival, Seaton Park, ABERDEEN, Scotland. Tickets, price £50 per day or £90 for the weekend are available from the Box Office, 0044 8444 999 990 or online from www.ticketmaster.co.uk Fri 5th Aug: Festival Interceltique, LORIENT, Brittany, France. Venue is Espace Marine. Tickets from the Box Office, 0033 2 97 64 03 20 or online from Tickenet, FNAC & Digitick. This is the third time The Waterboys have played Festival Interceltique - their previous appearances were 1989 and 2002. MIKE TALKS ON FILM ABOUT 'IN A SPECIAL PLACE' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmmxLu1y0Os On a recent visit to EMI's offices in central London, Mike was filmed talking about the upcoming release of In A Special Place. He shows off his old 'Black Book' in which his songs were written and explains the background to the birth of the classic album This Is The Sea. In A Special Place can be pre-ordered now here. WATERBOYS PLAY LATITUDE, SUNDAY 17 JULY The Waterboys are confirmed for a performance at this year's Latitude Festival, Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. The band will play on Sunday 17th July and, like all this summer's previously announced festival appearances, this show will feature a 6-piece line-up and will not be a Mr Yeats performance. Other acts over the weekend include British Sea Power, The National and KT Tunstall. Headlining on Sunday are Suede. Full weekend or day tickets are available here. For further info about Latitude, click here. MIKE SCOTT'S BOOK READING IN BELFAST, 30 APRIL Mike will give a rare preview from his forthcoming book, a memoir about his life in music, at The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Belfast, on Saturday 30 April. The reading will be held in The Black Box at 6pm and tickets, priced £5.00, are available here The festival runs from 28 April to 8 May and also features Bell X1, Mary Gauthier, Mark Steel and Jeremy Hardy. For further info about the festival, click here. WATERBOYS TO PLAY AT LONDON FEIS WITH DYLAN
We've just received confirmation that The Waterboys will perform a set at the London Feis, Finsbury Park, Saturday June 18th 2011. The event stars Bob Dylan and also features Christy Moore, Imelda May and The Saw Doctors. The Waterboys will be appearing on the Main Stage. Tickets, price £70, are available NOW from THE PAN WITHIN from IN A SPECIAL PLACE ~ LISTEN NOW ON SOUNDCLOUD
Mike has uploaded the piano/vocal demo of The Pan Within, from the forthcoming CD In A Special Place, to his soundcloud page. Click here to listen. IN A SPECIAL PLACE - OUT ON EMI 25TH APRIL
We're thrilled to announce the release, on 25h April, of IN A SPECIAL PLACE, an album of Mike Scott's solo piano/vocal demos recorded at the beginning of sessions for the classic This Is The Sea album. These never-before-heard tracks include early renditions of Don't Bang The Drum, The Pan Within, Be My Enemy and The Whole Of The Moon plus several beauties that have never even bootlegged, played live or even rumoured including Winter In The Blood, The Woman In Me, All The Bright Horses, Looking For Dickon and Paris In The Rain. There are 15 tracks in all, each selected for the album by Mike Scott. Read Mike's sleevenotes here. Pre-order IN A SPECIAL PLACE from amazon or play. The album will be released by EMI on CD and download. WATERBOYS TO HEADLINE WYCHWOOD FESTIVAL, 4th JUNE
The Waterboys have just been confirmed as headliners for Saturday 4th June at The Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse, England. Tickets are available from the box office 01993 772580 and here, price £53 day, £115 weekend. Tickets go on sale today, Friday 18th February. STEVE'S CHARITY GIG, SLIGO, 25 FEB Steve Wickham has organised a charity music night, to run on Friday 25 Feb in Barry’s of Grange, Sligo, Ireland, to raise funds for Trocaire’s humanitarian work in Uganda. Steve will be joined by a host of great trad musicians from the North West including Rodney Lancashire, James ("no relation") Wickham, Collette Sheerin, Kieran Quinn, Eddie Lee, Brian Sweeney, Connie Murray and Felip Carbonell. MIKE TO APPEAR AT UNESCO CONCERT, DUBLIN, 18 MARCH Mike Scott will play a 15 minute set at DUBLINSWELL, an evening celebrating Dublin's status as a UNESCO City Of Literature. The show is at 7.30pm, Friday 18th March, at the CCD, Spencer Dock, North Wall Quay, Dublin 1 and participants include: Glen Hansard, Roddy Doyle, Cathy Kelly, Paula Meehan, Joseph O'Connor, Damien Dempsey, Sebastian Barry and many more. SWEDISH SHOW IN AUGUST The Waterboys will play at Katalin And All That Jazz, Uppsala, Sweden on Thursday 18th August. This will be a six-piece band show and comes immediately before the group's back-to-back festivals in Gvarv and Aardalstangen, Norway. Tickets, priced 575 SEK + service, are available from Wednesday Jan 26th from 0046 771 707070 or www.katalin.com / www.ticnet.se NEW ON SOUNDCLOUD Mike has uploaded three new tracks to his soundcloud page: MR YEATS TICKETS The UK premiere of An Appointment With Mr Yeats in Glasgow this Sunday, Jan 30th, is sold out. Some seats are still available for Liverpool (Feb 1), Warwick (Feb 2) and London Barbican Theatre (Feb 3 & 4). Click here to buy tickets. SUMMER FESTIVALS 2011
Three summer festivals have just been announced. The Waterboys will appear as a six-piece, with new lap steel and guitar player MELVIN DUFFY augmenting the band. These will be regular shows, NOT "Mr Yeats" performances. KATE ST JOHN JOINS
English musician and composer Kate St John will join The Waterboys for their upcoming performances of Appointment With Mr Yeats in the UK (Jan 30 - Feb 4). Kate was invited to join the ensemble by Mike Scott and will play oboe, sax and cor anglais. Kate has played with Van Morrison, Damon Albarn, Philip Glass, Marianne Faithful and many other artists. A HUNDRED VERSES TO "AND A BANG ON THE EAR" WORD magazine invited visitors to their website to write their own verses for The Waterboys' classic And A Bang On The Ear. A lot of people did and you can read their stories in verse here THREE NEW TRACKS ON SOUNDCLOUD
Three exclusive new tracks have been added to Mike Scott's soundcloud page, all available for listening now: THIS IS THE SEA - a killer ten minute version of the Waterboys meisterwork from a show at Melkweg, Amsterdam in 1997, featuring the Still Burning band: Mike Scott, James Hallawell, Ian McNabb, Fingers Ralston and Geoff Dugmore. Available for download. GIMME SHELTER - A mash-up of the intro from the Stones' 1969 original with the London Symphony Orchestra's 1990s cover. PAS LA GUERRE - A track from French star Cali's 2008 album L'Espoir featuring Mike on guest vocals. Access the tracks individually, with notes by Mike, by clicking on the song titles above, or access the whole playlist here MR YEATS CONCERT PROGRAMME TO BUY ONLINE
The glossy large-sized 28-page concert programme for the band's current Appointment With Mr Yeats concerts is now available to buy online for €10 plus shipping. The programme features Paul Mac Manus' beautiful photos from the Abbey Theatre shows as well as interviews, song lyrics, musical manuscripts and more. MR YEATS FACEBOOK PAGE Meanwhile a fan has set up a Facebook page for An Appointment With Mr Yeats MR YEATS INTERVIEW Mike Scott was interviewed in Dublin by Michael Moravek of the band Planeausters. FISHERMAN'S BLUES / SPIDDAL HOUSE ON TV SHOW Steve Wickham and Mike Scott have been interviewed for tonight's episode of Ce a Chonaigh i mo Theachsa? (Who Lived in my House?) on Irish TV station TG4. The show, which is about the history of Spiddal House where much of Fisherman's Blues and the follow-up album Room To Roam were recorded, is broadcast at 8pm, and will also be available on line here by selecting Ce a Chonaigh i mo Theachsa from the programme links on the right hand side. Archive footage of The Waterboys working in Spiddal House will be included. INTERVIEW IN THE HERALD Mike Scott talks to Graeme Thomson about An Appointment With Mr Yeats in Scottish newspaper The Herald NEW ON SOUNDCLOUD Four new tracks have been uploaded to soundcloud: NEW HOMEPAGE DESIGN Check out our new all-grooving Waterboys homepage complete with news reports, announcements, photos and videos. NEW ON MIKE'S SOUNDCLOUD 3 new tracks have just been uploaded to soundcloud. HUNTLY 'ROOM TO ROAM' MOTTO
The Scottish town of Huntly, birthplace of Victorian novelist George MacDonald, has adopted MacDonald's phrase "Room To Roam" as its motto. The phrase was memorably enshrined in the title track of the 1990 Waterboys album of the same name. And in 2008 Mike Scott collaborated with artist Jaak Coetzer and the people of Huntly in a project to recast the song Room To Roam as the town's anthem, hence the title's investiture now as motto. Some Scottish newspaper coverage here. UK DATES FOR AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS
5 UK shows for An Appointment With Mr Yeats go on sale tomorrow, Friday 17th September, at 9am. These are the first time the show will be performed in Great Britain. Dates are: MIKE SCOTT'S SET AT MOARE MUSIC FESTIVAL, KENT, 12 SEPT Mike will play a rare solo set backed by the house band - including Waterboys James Hallawell and Ash Soan - at the mOare Music Festival, Oare, Kent, England on Sunday 12 September. “The festival’s run by my friend the great Scottish guitarist Hamish Stuart of The Average White Band” said Mike. “It’s a family festival, with all the musicians sitting in with each other, and it happens in a big garden behind Hamish’s pub. Sounds like a lot of fun.” Mike will play around 6pm on Sunday 12th. The festival spans both Saturday & Sunday, and other artists include Chris Difford (of Squeeze), Paul Young, Adam Philips Band, Tim Edey & Brendan Power, Hamish & Emma Stuart. Tickets are £30 (day) or £35 (weekend), available here Special prices are available for under 16s, and under 10s are admitted free. DEN HAAG TICKETS ON SALE Tickets for the Waterboys show at World Forum, Den Haag, Holland on 20th November are on sale now priced €45, €43 & €39 and available here or by phone (callers from Holland only) at 0900 300 1250. ELECTRIC PICNIC - WHAT HAPPENED The Waterboys played a full-blast rock'n'roll set on the mainstage at this year's Electric picnic in Ireland. The set featured Savage Earth Heart, Be My Enemy, Glastonbury Song and Steve Wickham's psych-fuzz version of the Irish National Anthem. It was recorded by RTE for a radio broadcast later this month. As soon as we have date/time details we'll let you know. While they were there the band turned up at the RTE Roadcaster truck and performed Fisherman's Blues on air. See the clip here
Pic: Barry Cronin WATERBOYS CONNECTION TO NEW MANIC STREET PREACHERS ALBUM An encounter between Mike Scott and James Dean Bradfield inspired a song on the new Manic Street Preachers album Postcards From A Young Man. For more info click here and scroll down to the song "I Think I've Found It". WATERBOYS PLAY DEN HAAG, HOLLAND - ON SALE THIS FRIDAY The Waterboys will play a regular show - not a Mr Yeats show - at World Forum, Den Haag, Holland on 20th November at 20:15 hrs. This is The Waterboys' first show in Den Haag for three years and the band's only show in Holland this year. It will be a seated concert featuring the festival line-up of Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, James Hallawell (keyboards), Marc Arciero (bass) and Binzer (drums). Tickets priced €45, €43 & €39 go on sale at 10am September 3rd and will be available here or by phone (callers from Holland only) at 0900 300 1250. NEW ON MIKE'S SOUNDCLOUD Mike has just uploaded several fabulous new tracks to his soundcloud page: JAMES HALLAWELL JOINS THE WATERBOYS
James Hallawell, ace keyboard player and veteran of Mike Scott’s late '90s band, has joined The Waterboys and will be performing at all the band’s shows, beginning with The Electric Picnic on September 3rd and the Appointment With Mr Yeats Irish tour in November. Says Mike: "I'm thrilled to have James on board. He brings a truckload of skills to the band: brilliant playing, charisma, arrangement and studio smarts, a sense of danger. And he's an old friend, one of the greatest Waterboys that never was – and now he is!" KATIE'S SHOW
Appointment With Mr Yeats star Katie Kim plays a rare Dublin show at Crawdaddy tonight, Monday Aug 23rd, part of a three-band bill with Megafaun and Caitlin Rose. Katie will be playing with her band. Tickets here LATEST BLOG To read Mike Scott’s blog “From All You Need Is Love to My Sweet Lord” all about the heyday of the spiritual hit single, 1967-71, click here NEW ON MIKE'S SOUNDCLOUD: WHEN YE GO AWAY / DON'T BANG THE DRUM Mike has just uploaded two killer tracks to his soundcloud page:
BRONNOYSUND: WHAT HAPPENED The Waterboys played their first of three summer festivals last Thursday, in Bronnoysund, north-east Norway. The show was in an old fish-curing building by a fjord, late at night with the midnight sun still shining. The line-up included new drummer Binzer, bassist Archie Arciero and pianoman Simon Wallace. The band played a 75 minute set including In The Beginning Was Love, the Stones' Dead Flowers and a revamp of a never-before-played oldie Ain't Leavin', I'm Gone. Other songs included Savage Earth Heart, Be My Enemy, Killing My Heart and Don't Bang The Drum. We understand it was loud, full-on rock'n'roll set, totally different from the Mr Yeats concerts in March. Binzer, who Mike met in Dublin, will be staying on for all the summer shows, but for the Mr Yeats tour of Ireland in November, Ash Soan will be back on the drum stool along with the rest of the special ten-piece Mr Yeats line-up. The next shows are Evora, Portugal (Sunday Aug 1) and Electric Picnic Ireland (Friday 3 Sept, 7.30pm on the main stage). WATERBOYS TO PLAY FREE SHOW IN WATERFORD, JULY 2011 The Waterboys will headline next year's Tall Ships Race Festival on Friday 1st July 2011, in Waterford, Ireland. No tickets are necessary, as this is a free show. Further information about the festival is available here
MIKE'S MIX TAPE FOR STATE.IE At the request of Irish music magazine www.state.ie Mike has compiled a mix tape called ORCHESTRAL POP FANTASIA, containing favourite tracks, obscurities and mash-ups. "The theme is that every track has to have an orchestra on it" says Mike, "so there's some Ennio Morricone, a Beatle moment, flashes of Scott Walker and The Last Shadow Puppets, and a lot of other stuff I love, all interwoven. It lasts just over half an hour - perfect for listening to while cooking a meal or taking a bath." NEW ON SOUNDCLOUD Mike has posted two new tracks on Soundcloud. PORTUGUESE FESTIVAL IN EVORA, AUG 1 The Waterboys have been confirmed for Festival Alentejo, Evora, Portugal, on 1st August. This will be a five-piece band show with Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, Jeremy Stacey (drums), Simon Wallace (keyboards) and Marc Arciero (bass). It's The Waterboys' first appearance in Evora since 2001. Tickets are available from here or by phone from (351) 96 777 22 47. Other artists appearing include Peter Murphy and Alphaville.
LOTS FESTIVAL CANCELLED The Lots Festival in Holland, with Waterboys appearance scheduled for 28 August, has been cancelled. The organisers Mojo Concerts have explained that this is due to disappointing ticket sales. Other acts on the bill included Roxy Music, Simple Minds and Ray Davies. It is understood that a replacement concert by The Waterboys alone will be held in Holland in the autumn, and as soon as we have details we'll make an announcement. Meanwhile ticketholders for Lots can get refunds by returning their tickets up till 1 Sept. For further information click here. TRUMPETS - WATERBOYS VS HEADSTRONG RELEASED
Headstrong's fantastic dance remix of the classic Waterboys track Trumpets is released this week on the new Headstrong album Timeless Part 1. The mix was done by Don Jackson, and both Mike Scott and Anto Thistlethwaite love it. "He makes my young voice sound incredible", said Mike, "as good as I've ever heard it sound". The album is available on CD from Amazon, Napster, Limewire and other outlets, and from Headstrong's label Sola Records also from iTunes and Beatport. You can preview the track here. MIKE ADDS RADIO SHOW #3 Mike Scott will host a 3rd radio show on Ireland's 2FM. The additional show, which like the others is part of 2FM's "Celebrity Sunday" series, will be broadcast from 5 - 7pm on June 20, and will be streamed here THIS SUNDAY'S SHOW #2 & LIVE TWEETS Meanwhile, don't miss Mike's show this coming Sunday, 13 June, also on 2FM from 5 - 7pm, and streaming here. The show is pre-recorded and Mike will be live-tweeting during the broadcast at www.twitter.com/mickpuck SHOW #1 - WHAT HAPPENED Mike's first show was broadcast last Sunday and featured current and vintage records, including British Sea Power, The Sex Pistols, Laura Marling, Peter Sellers, The Beatles, Lord Buckley, The Decemberists and many more. There was commentary from Mike, a lot of humour, and a unique musical collaboration between Mike and Dublin band The Jimmy Cake. Mike live-tweeted throughout the programme. The show is still available for listening here. Click "listen back" under the Celebrity Sunday banner. Show #1 will remain available till the evening of the 13th, after which it will be replaced by Show #2. NEW ON SOUNDCLOUD Saints And Angels (demo with strings) - a gorgeous demo of this much-loved song with a string arrangement by Steve Wickham
FACEBOOK PAGE FOR AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS A fan page for An Appointment With Mr Yeats has been opened on Facebook. Click here MIKE TO DJ ON IRELAND'S 2FM, NEXT 2 SUNDAYS On Sundays 6th and 13th June, from 5 - 7pm, Mike Scott will be guest DJ on 2FM's "Celebrity Sunday" programme, broadcast by Ireland's national RTE network. On each show Mike will play his own choice of records from the past 50+ years, promising many surprises and a taster of some new Waterboys work including a world premiere of "First She Created Ireland", a new collaboration with experimental Dublin band The Jimmy Cake, as well as something from An Appointment With Mr Yeats. People outside Ireland can stream the show live from the internet here. To listen live, click "Listen live" at the top right side of the page. To listen later, click "Listen back" in the main menu under the show title. NEW ON MIKE'S SOUNDCLOUD THIS WEEK Mike has posted several brilliant new tracks on his Soundcloud this week. To hear the following click here
TWO 'MR YEATS' SHOWS ANNOUNCED FOR BELFAST The Waterboys will perform An Appointment With Mr Yeats for two nights at Belfast Opera House, on 9 and 10 November 2010. Tickets priced £48, £39.75 and £31 go on sale this Friday, May 14, from www.goh.co.uk or by phone from the Box Office: 0044 289 024 1919. These shows will feature the full expanded "Mr Yeats" line-up as premiered at Dublin's Abbey Theatre in March.
MORE IRISH DATES FOR AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS 3 additional performances of the raved-about new Waterboys show An Appointment With Mr Yeats will take place in Ireland in November. Dates are as follows:
NEW ON MIKE’S SOUNDCLOUD THIS WEEK Seven fabulous new tracks and mashes have just been added to Mike Scott’s soundcloud page. Click here to listen to: MIKE'S SOUNDCLOUD - NEW TRACKS AND MASHES Mike Scott has just opened a page at the music-sharing website Soundcloud where you can hear exclusive Waterboys songs plus various mysterious and wonderful tracks and mash-ups from Mike's home studio. More stuff is being added all the time and there are around twenty items on the page at time of writing. Tracks can also be uploaded to your own site or blogspot. To access click here
AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS - REVIEWS The first-ever performances of the new Waterboys show An Appointment With Mr Yeats, at Dublin's Abbey Theatre last week, were a great success. The band received standing ovations each of the five nights and rave reviews have appeared over the past ten days. Here are those published in The Irish Times, Sunday Business Post, the website of Ireland's national broadcaster RTE and top online magazine state.ie. Meanwhile fan reviews continue to be posted on the Abbey Theatre website and you can read them here. In case you missed it, here's UK newspaper The Guardian's March 11 interview with Mike Scott about setting Yeats to music. And here's an account of the show written by actor and playwright Michael Harding from yesterday's Irish Times. The show was also mentioned in a St Patrick's Day editorial in the same newspaper and three days later in its Weekend Review. Here's a blog review by Dublin student Alison Ni Dhorchaidhe. To view the concert poster, as displayed outside The Abbey Theatre during the week of the shows, click here. Tickets are now available for the show's return to Dublin on November 7 at the new Grand Canal theatre. To purchase click here.
SUMMER FESTIVALS: NORWAY, HOLLAND AND IRELAND The Waterboys have just been announced for the following festivals. These are regular Waterboys shows with a 5 piece band. These will NOT be performances of An Appointment With Mr Yeats. Dates are: 15 July (Thurs): Rootsfestivalen, Tørrfeskbrygga, Bronnoysund, NORWAY. Tickets on sale now from here or by phone from +47 815 33133 Name of festival and info: Rootsfestivalen. 28 Aug (Sat): LOTS Festival, Evenemententerrein Walibi World - Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands/Holland. Tickets on sale 10am, Fri March 26 price €95 (excl. service charge) from: www.livenation.nl and by phone from: (Holland) 0900-10102020 Further info: www.lotsfestival.nl 3 Sept (Fri): Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Co Laois, Ireland. Tickets on sale now from www.ticketmaster.ie Further info: www.electricpicnic.ie We will announce more festival shows and more Mr Yeats dates soon. MIKE INTERVIEWED IN THE GUARDIAN The Guardian has an article on setting poetry to music and features an interview with Mike talking about the "Mr Yeats" songs. The article can be viewed here. MIKE'S EVENING AT THE W.B. YEATS SUMMER SCHOOL Mike will give a talk, including some music, at this year’s WB Yeats Summer School in Sligo, Ireland. The evening will be held at The Hawk’s Well Theatre on July 28th, and is titled YEATS TO MUSIC / POETRY TO SONG. Tickets are available to the public for €25 from www.hawkswell.com and to School participants for €15. Mike will talk about his work setting Yeats' words to music, the development of The Waterboys' new show An Appointment With Mr. Yeats, and the history of Yeats treatments in pop, rock and folk music. A guitar and piano will be on hand and a guest appearance from Sligo resident Steve Wickham is promised. For further information about the Summer School, which runs from July 24 till August 6, click here
The Waterboys recording of The Passing Of The Shee is included on a new benefit CD, AWAKE, proceeds from which go to the Galway Rape Crisis Centre. Other artists, all Galway-based, include Sharon Shannon, Stacey Nolan, Larry Beau, Identity Parade and The Saw Doctors. Info/buy here. NEWLY-RELEASED TICKETS FOR Fifteen extra tickets are being made available for each of the first three performances of AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Ireland on March 15th, 16th and 18th. They are priced €49.50 each and go on sale 10.30am, Wednesday 27th January from the Abbey box office, telephone 00353 1 887 2209 or online here. MORE MUSICIANS CONFIRMED FOR THE Latest additions to the Waterboys line-up for An Appointment With Mr Yeats are Ash Soan (drums), Marc Arciero (bass) and Ruby Ashley (oboe). They will join Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, Joe Chester (guitar), Katie Kim (vocals), Simon Wallace (keyboards), Sarah Allen (flute) and Blaise Margail (trombone). AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS – AT GRAND CANAL THEATRE NOV 2010 The five March performances of An Appointment With Mr Yeats show at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin are now sold out and an additional concert, on SUNDAY 7 NOVEMBER 2010, has been added at Dublin’s soon-to-open GRAND CANAL THEATRE. The Waterboys are one of the first bands to be confirmed at this new theatre, a 2,100 seat venue operated by Live Nation and owned by Dublin entrepreneur and Waterboys’ friend Harry Crosbie.
MEMORIAL CONCERT FOR MARK SMITH, LONDON, JANUARY 10 To celebrate Mark Smith’s life a number of his London-based musical friends are staging a special tribute show on Sunday January 10th at the 606 Club in Chelsea, running from 5pm to 1am. Though The Waterboys are unable to play, any Waterboys fans who wish to go along are guaranteed an evening of excellent music in tribute to Mark, with performances (in running order) by The Leo Green Experience, The Adam Phillips Band, Tony O’Malley, and finally The Paul Stacey Band featuring ex-Waterboys drummer Jeremy Stacey and his brother Paul, formerly with Oasis. To end the evening there will be a special jam session. For further information click here. SAINTS AND ANGELS DOWNLOAD IS NOW AVAILABLE The Waterboys/Sharon Shannon single SAINTS AND ANGELS, remixed by Mike Scott from the version on Sharon’s current album Saint And Scoundrels, is now available from iTunes Ireland. The single was due to be released Dec 4th but was mysteriously delayed by iTunes. We apologise to all of you who tried to download it over the past week. Meanwhile, those abroad will soon be able to purchase SAINTS AND ANGELS at the Waterboys own website store.
APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS SHOWS ALMOST SOLD OUT The Friday and Saturday nights of AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS, the new Waterboys show running at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre from March 15-20, are sold out. The other 3 nights are following fast with only a few tickets remaining. If you want to see the world premiere of this very special show but haven’t already got tickets, book them online now from The Abbey Theatre.
SAINTS AND ANGELS SINGLE RELEASE & PLAYLISTED IN IRELAND Saints And Angels, the Waterboys’ collaboration with former member Sharon Shannon on her new album Saints & Scoundrels, will be released as a download single in Ireland by Daisy Discs on 4 December, available from iTunes and other sites. The song has been remixed by Mike Scott from the version on the album and is available for listening at our myspace page here. The single is already playlisted at Ireland’s national 2FM and a large number of regional radio stations.
MARK SMITH – FACEBOOK MEMORIAL PAGE A memorial page for Waterboys bass player Mark Smith has been set up on Facebook, where people can read and leave messages about Mark. Several of Mark’s Waterboys colleagues have posted memories. To visit, click here ARTICLE ON MIKE SCOTT'S MUSIC ROOM Mike has written a short piece for an Irish website about the room where he writes and works. To read, click here MIKE’S NADSAT LEXICON Followers of Mike Scott’s Twitter page will know he spent much of Summer 2009 tweeting in Nadsat, the futuristic language invented by Anthony Burgess for his great novel A Clockwork Orange. Mike also invented many of his own Nadsat words and has compiled an illustrated Nadsat-English dictionary, more complete than the lexicon found in some editions of the book, and it is available online here. MIKE’S INTRO TO R. OGILVIE CROMBIE’S BOOK Mike has written the introduction to The Gentleman And The Faun, a collection of vintage lectures and articles by the late Scottish mystic R. Ogilvie Crombie, published this month by Findhorn Press. For further information and to purchase the book, click here.
MARK SMITH 1960-2009 We're very sorry to inform you all that our friend and colleague, Waterboys bass player Mark Smith, has died unexpectedly at his home in London. We don't yet know the cause of death, but are told Mark was found dead on his sofa and as far as we know, he died peacefully. No foul play is suspected. Mark played on stage with Mike Scott only a few weeks ago at the Groucho Club in London and had been active since then, playing with various bands, musicians and friends around London. We will all miss Mark very much, not just for his fabulous bass playing but for his friendship and his wonderful, dry humour. MIKE, STEVE, ANTO AND SHARON ON IRELAND'S LATE LATE SHOW, FRIDAY The trio of Mike Scott, Steve Wickham and Anto Thistlethwaite will be reunited when they perform with Sharon Shannon on this week’s edition of Ireland’s Friday night TV programme, The Late Late Show. The ensemble, also including members of Sharon’s band, will perform a live version of the Waterboys’ song Saints And Angels, which is featured on Sharon’s new album of collaborations Saints And Scoundrels. Sharon will also be performing on the show with Galway band The Cartoon Thieves. Transmission time is 9.30pm and people outside Ireland can watch the show after broadcast here.
MIKE SCOTT TO PLAY SOLO SET AT SCOTLAND'S HOMECOMING FINALE Mike will play a unique 30 minute set at the finale of Scotland’s Homecoming year of concerts, on 28th November at Clyde Auditorium, part of Scotland’s SECC complex in Glasgow. Mike will be backed by Steve Wickham and the musicians of Eddi Reader’s band, and other featured artists playing sets on the night will be Eddi Reader, Evelyn Glennie and Dougie MacLean, composer of the famous Scottish song Caledonia. Tickets cost £35, £30 & £27.50 from here or by phone from See Tickets (44) 871 2200260. Mike will play a Scottish themed set, including at least one interpretation of a poem by national bard Robert Burns. The Homecoming events are a celebration of the 250th anniversary of Burns’ birth. For more information click here.
WATERBOYS PLAY 'SAINTS AND ANGELS' ON NEW SHARON SHANNON ALBUM A new version of the classic but never officially released Waterboys song Saints And Angels is featured on Sharon Shannon’s new album of collaborations, Saint And Scoundrels, issued on Sept 25 (Ireland) and Sept 28 (UK) by Daisy Discs. The reunited trio of Mike Scott, Steve Wickham and Anthony Thistlethwaite are joined by Sharon for the track which was recorded last summer in Co. Galway. Other guests on the album include Imelda May, Shane MacGowan, Jerry Fish, Carol Keogh and The Cartoon Thieves. The album will be available from all usual outlets and from iTunes. MIKE’S ONLINE INTERVIEW WITH CULCH.IE Mike was interviewed recently at Dublin’s Odessa Club by Darragh Doyle of culch.ie. They discussed the upcoming Waterboys show An Appointment With Mr Yeats and much more. Click here to view. MIKE READS ONE OF HIS POEMS ON VIDEO A rare film of Mike reading on of his poems, My Love For Her Is Fire, is up on youtube. Click here to view. AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS – TICKETS ON SALE NOW Tickets for the Waterboys show AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS are now on sale, pric e €49.50 each. The show runs for five nights at the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, March 15, 16, 18, 19 & 20, 2010 and can be purchased here.
Mike Scott has created 20 new songs for the show, all of which use as lyrics the words of Ireland’s greatest poet, WB Yeats. AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS has been several years in development and will feature a special extended line-up of The Waterboys including the current five-piece band plus additional musicians including the great Michael McGoldrick on flute, Catalan trombonist Blaise Margall and backing vocals by exquisite new Irish rock singer Katie Kim. Mike describes the music as "psychedelic, intense, kaleidescopic, a mix of rock, folk and faery music." Among the lyrics featured are The Hosting Of The Shee, An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, September 1913, Song Of Wandering Aengus, and The Four Ages Of Man, some of which were premiered recently at Mike’s poetry event in the National Library of Ireland. Let The Earth Bear Witness, recently heard on the Waterboys video of Iranian ‘Sea of Green’ protesters is also included. FESTIVALS ADDED IN PORTUGAL AND SPAIN Friday 7 August: The Waterboys will perform at RockOne, Portiomao, Algarve, Por tugal. Tickets are available from here. Thursday 20 Aug: The Waterboys will perform at Botica Vieja, Zorrozaurre, Bilbao, Spain. This is a free festival, no tickets required.
The home demo recording of Mike Scott’s new song A Wild Holy Band, a ten minute-plus epic narrative starring a handsome taxi driver, two sad lovers, a crumbling druid college and a roll-call of gods, sailors, literary characters and at least one briefly-glimpsed Waterboy, will get its unexpected world premiere on a music CD accompanying the July edition of the American arts magazine Believer. The recording is a rare opportunity to hear Mike’s work behind the scenes, to experience a song in the raw before it has been taken to the band, and it features only a drum machine and Mike’s own vocal, guitar and piano. The CD comes with Believer’s annual music issue, and among the 13 other artists included are Stuart Moxham, Lisa Germano, Lloyd Cole, David Sylvian, Mary Margaret O’Hara and Stephen Duffy. The magazine comes out is available now from here.
LET THE EARTH BEAR WITNESS – NOW WITH FARSI SUBTITLES LET THE EARTH BEAR WITNESS, The Waterboys’ video/song tribute to the Iranian protesters is now uploaded to youtube with the song’s lyric, written by W.B. Yeats, in Farsi (Persian) subtitles. View it here. AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS - SHOW DATES The Waterboys will present a brand new concert show titled AN APPOINTMENT WITH MR YEATS for five nights at the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on March 15, 16, 18, 19 & 20, 2010. LET THE EARTH BEAR WITNESS - MIKE’S VIDEO FOR IRANIAN PROTESTERS Mike Scott, his wife Janette and Waterboys’ webmaster Ian Barratt have created a 3-minute video titled LET THE EARTH BEAR WITNESS in tribute to the Iranian protesters. The film shows fantastic images of the uprising in Iran to a soundtrack of a split-new Waterboys with a lyric by the great Irish poet WB Yeats. Says Mike: "Let The Earth Bear Witness is inspired by the amazing scenes of hundreds of thousands of Iranian people standing up for their rights and freedom. I took the words from two old Yeats poems, in which he was writing about Irish freedom fighters. But his words apply to any freedom fighters, anytime, anywhere in the world." The film is live on youtube now and can be viewed here. We’re working on a version with subtitles in Farsi and this will also be posted shortly. If you find the film inspiring please pass on or tweet the link to everyone you know. LET THE EARTH BEAR WITNESS words by W.B. Yeats TWO MORE IRISH FESTIVALS - GALWAY & KILDARE The Waterboys will play full band shows at the following Irish festivals: Fri 31 July: The Dome, Galway (by Clayton Hotel) Sun 2 Aug: Lughnasa festival, Tannery Park, Rathangan, Co. Kildare Both shows are on sale now. The band also play Cork x Southwest in Skibbereen, West Cork on 1st August. NATIONAL LIBRARY POETRY READING, JUNE 30 - ALL TICKETS GONE
All tickets for Mike's reading of WB Yeats' poetry at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin on June 30th are gone, and the waiting list is full, so please don't try and get tickets - you won't be able to. Thanks to everyone who has made this event such a success already. MIKE, STEVE AND W.B. YEATS AT NATIONAL LIBRARY, DUBLIN Mike Scott will give a reading from the poetry of WB Yeats at the National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin, on Tuesday 30th June at 7.30pm as part of the Summer’s Wreath festival celebrating the 70th anniversary of Yeats’ death. Steve Wickham will be on hand to play fiddle and the two will also give a preview of some of the musicial arrangements of Yeats’ poems they are busy concocting for a special project that will be announced soon. Tickets are free but limited and must be pre-booked (available now) from: 00353 1 603 0277 or by email from yeats@nli.ie. Other events in the festival include readings by Bob Geldof (June 19th) and Edna O’Brien (June 23rd). Further information is available here.
MIKE’S ONLINE COLLECTION OF Æ’S PAINTINGS If you haven’t yet checked out Mike’s online collection of paintings by the Irish mystic and author Æ(George Russell, 1867-1935), then visit here. The 40 paintings were assembled with the help of a small group of online Waterboys fans, and is full of beautiful images. For best results view them full size (click icon on the right just above each picture).
FESTIVAL DATES ADDED – IRELAND & NORWAY The Waterboys will play full-band shows at the following festivals: THE WORLD IN SIX SONGS by DANIEL LEVITIN – BRING ‘EM ALL IN Mike Scott’s song Bring ‘Em All In is featured in Daniel Levitin’s new book about the psychology of music, The World In Six Songs. Bring ‘Em All In has been picked by Levitin to represent love and is the title of the final chapter of the book as well as being the final song detailed and quoted. For further info visit here or buy the book here.
Meanwhile.... The band played two shows in May, their first since the festivals of summer '08. On May 9th, Mike, Steve and new keyboard player John McCullough performed at the Glor Theatre in Ennis, Ireland, with a set comprising lots of new songs plus material from the WB Yeats project Mike is working on (news to be announced on this very soon). The show was a great success with a standing ovation and an old friend of the band, Eoin O'Neill, guested on bouzouki for the encore of Fisherman's Blues. Mike and Steve guested on Eoin's radio show at Clare FM the morning after, and a podcast is available here. On May 31st, joined by Carlos Hercules (drums) and Mark Smith (bass), veterans of the 2003-6 and 2007-8 tours respectively, the band played the Blues And Soul Festival in Alta, Norway, when the set again featured several new songs. Both the Ennis and Alta shows opened with the twelve-minute long A Wild Holy Band. PODCAST OF CLARE FM RADIO SHOW Irish radio station Clare FM have uploaded a podcast of Mike Scott and Steve Wickham's hour-long appearance on the Eoin O'Neill show last Sunday, including chat, some live tunes and songs and a selection of Mike and Steve's favourite records. To listen click here. MIKE AND STEVE TO GUEST ON EOIN O'NEILL'S RADIO SHOW Mike and Steve will guest on the radio show of Irish musician and Waterboys friend Eoin O'Neill on Sunday morning May 10th, between 9 and 10am. The show is broadcast on Clare FM, available live at www.clare.fm (show is not archived for later listening). PASSING OF THE SHEE - mix update Mike Scott has done an updated mix of the new download single The Passing Of The Shee. “Coul;dn’t help myself,” he said, “I got the track finished - so I thought - in time for Synge’s centenary on Tuesday the 24th, then woke up on the 25th with a great idea for backwards drum fills. Spent that morning adding them to the track, and the helpful fellows at the online store uploaded it.” People who have already purchased the song from our online store can download it again free to get the new mix. Click here. STACEY NOLAN TO OPEN FOR WATERBOYS IN ENNIS Galway singer Stacey Nolan will open for The Waterboys when they play at the Glor in Ennis on 9th May. Mike Scott is a fan of Stacey's music and invited her to do the show. To hear Stacey click here.
NORWEGIAN FESTIVAL SHOW ADDED The Waterboys will play at the Alta Soul & Blues Festival, Lapland, Norway on Saturday 30th May. This will be a full band show, and we understand tha a few more festivals will be added over the summer. Tickets for Alta are available from www.billetservice.no For further information visit: www.altasoulogblues.no THE PASSING OF THE SHEE / VIGILANTE – download single Two brand new Waterboys tracks are available NOW to download at our website store here. The Passing Of The Shee and Vigilante form a double ‘a’ side download single available only on our website, price £1.49. The Passing Of The Shee has lyrics by Irish author J.M. Synge and was set to music and recorded by Mike Scott to mark the centenary of Synge’s death a hundred years ago today. Vigilante is a brand new Waterboys song, featuring Mike on most instruments and Steve Wickham on fuzz fiddle.
THE PASSING OF THE SHEE To mark the centenary of the death of the great Irish writer J.M. Synge on March 24 1909, Mike has set The Passing Of The Shee, one of Synge’s poems, to music and made a wild record of it. You can hear it now on our myspace player here. The song, plus another brand new track called Vigilante, will be available for download later today on our website store.
MIKE'S MASH-UPS Two Waterboys tracks recently mashed-up by Mike Scott are available on our myspace player. They are a 9 minute-plus version of She Tried To Hold Me from the 2007 album Book Of Lightning; and a revisiting of the outro of Crown, from 2000's A Rock In The Weary Land with additional Thighpaulsandra keyboards and a voiceover from beyond the grave by the late Sir George Trevelyan. To hear click here. THE SERPENT’S HEAD - NEW TUNE ON MYSPACE We’ve just uploaded a brand new Waterboys tune to myspace. The Serpent’s Head is a deliciously slithery Steve Wickham jig, eloquently played on fiddle, treated and mixed by Mike Scott with backwards tapes. To listen click here. WATERBOYS UPDATES ON TWITTER You can now get Waterboys news updates on Twitter, direct to your phone or blackberry. Click here. MIKE SCOTT ON TWITTER Mike Scott has his own Twitter page under the alias MickPuck. Click here. ACOUSTIC SHOW IN ENNIS, IRELAND The Waterboys will play an acoustic show in Ennis, Co Clare, Ireland on Saturday 9th May at The Glor Theatre. Mike and Steve will be joined by Belfast keyboard player John McCullough who recently performed with them at a benefit show in Dublin. Tickets go on sale this Thursday (26 Feb) price €37.50 from the Glor box office: Tel: 00353 65 6843103 / www.glor.ie
RICHARD NAIFF LEAVES WATERBOYS After nearly ten years of music Richard Naiff is leaving The Waterboys, though it is understood he may be involved in future projects from time to time. Richard is currently spending time with his family after the birth of his son Sam last summer, and as soon as we hear about Richard's next musical projects we'll keep you posted. Mike Scott said: "Richard has been a wonderful colleague and friend, a musical wizard, and a great Waterboy. We wish him all the very best in the future and will be staying in touch with him."
WATERBOYS versus HEADSTRONG - TRUMPETS remix Cool British remixer Don Jackson, aka Headstrong, has done a killer remix of the classic Waterboys track Trumpets. We've just uploaded it to our myspace page. Check it out and let us know what you think on the comments page. MIKE AND STEVE PLAY GAZA CHILDRENS BENEFIT IN DUBLIN FEB 6 Mike Scott and Steve Wickham will play a short set at Dublin’s Vicar Street venue on February 6th as part of a multi-artist show to raise funds for Tuesday’s Child, an Irish aid group sending help to children in Gaza. Other artists include Paul Brady, Neil Hannon, Lisa Hannigan, Eleanor McEvoy and One Day International. A second show on the 7th, not featuring The Waterboys, includes Kila, Liam O’Maonlai, Mary Black & Frances Black. Further details and tickets are available here. DAGGERS COVER OF THE WHOLE OF THE MOON Terrific new Manchester band Daggers have recorded a cover version of The Whole Of The Moon. To hear it on their myspace page, click here. SETLISTS AND TOUR HISTORIES UPDATED We’ve just updated the Tour History section of the Waterboys website, with concert histories and setlists for 2003-8 being added. To check ‘em out click here. PICKERING FESTIVAL REFUNDS UPDATE Many people have contacted us to say they still haven’t received ticket refunds for the cancelled Pickering Festival of last August. We’re very sorry to hear this but not surprised, because The Waterboys haven’t been paid either despite the show being cancelled only the day before and the band having already incurred costs in advance. Anyone still waiting for refunds is advised to report the matter to The Trading Standards and Consumer Advice Office, 9 St Leonard's Place, York YO1 7ET. Or you could try chasing the promoter: Simon Boak, The Events Office, PO Box 1, Pickering, North Yorkshire, YO18 7YG. Telephone; 01751 473780. Good luck! SAVAGE EARTH HEART FOR MIKE'S 50TH Tomorrow, 14th December, is Mike Scott's 50th birthday. To mark the occasion we've uploaded to our myspace page a wild 7 minute version of Savage Earth Heart recorded live at the Glastonbury festival in 2000. To listen to Mike ripping it up on the Waterboys' most totemic song with Richard Naiff (keys), Jeremy Stacey (drums) and Livingstone Brown (bass), click: here. Asked how it feels to be on the cusp of 50, Mike says: "I'm just reaching cruising speed." STEVE WICKHAM FEATURED ON NEW CALI SOUNDTRACK ALBUM Steve plays fiddle and mandolin on the new soundtrack album by Waterboys friend, top French singer Cali. Album and film are both titled ‘Magique’, and the CD of the soundtrack is released by EMI, available now from: here. The film is currently showing in French cinemas.
MIKE SCOTT QUOTED IN NEW BOOK ABOUT ROCK AND DEATH Mike Scott was recently interviewed for Graeme Thomson’s new book I Shot A Man In Reno, an exploration on how rock music deals with the subject of death. For info about the book, visit: here. To read the full text of the interview with Mike, visit: here.
STEVE WICKHAM ON NEW ALBUM BY RAMSHACKLE DAY PARADE Steve has contributed to three tracks on the new collaboration album by Ramshackle Day Parade, brainchild on Waterbioys friend Two-Take Tim Bryant from Texas. The album is released by Porridge Records and is available here: here or from CDBaby.com. Steve composed one track, Caoineadh, and plays on that and two others. Among the other guests on the album are Joe Kingman of We Free Kings and Strong Buffalo, Native American founder of Norwegian group One People, with whom Mike Scott guested in 2007.
MIKE SCOTT INTERVIEW IN FOLKER MAGAZINE (GERMANY) An interview with Mike appears in the September 2008 edition of Folker, the German folk and world music magazine. For more info, visit: here. NEW BLOG FROM MIKE ON MYSPACE Mike has posted his first new blog for a while, this one about the great Dublin singer Luke Kelly. To read visit: here. WATERBOYS MENTIONED IN NEW WEST END PLAY 'THE DREAMERS OF INISHDARA' The Waterboys are mentioned in a new romantic comedy called which runs from 24 November to 13 December at the Jermyn Street Theatre, central London. The play, set in Connemara, Ireland, and dealing with intrigues between the Faery world and the material world, was written by Peter Dunne, a friend of Mike Scott's. For further info visit here. Tickets, priced £20 or £15 if purchased before 20 Nov, are available from the box office, phone 0044 207 287 2875.
FISHERMAN’S BLUES - 1986 REHEARSAL TAKE ON MYSPACE Last week was the twentieth anniversary of the classic Waterboys’ album Fisherman’s Blues, and to mark the occasion we’ve uploaded to our myspace page a previously unheard rehearsal take of the title track, recorded twenty minutes before the master version, complete with Mike Scott playing piano and calling out the chords to the band. Hear it at Myspace MIKE CO-WRITES TRACK ON NEW ALBUM BY NOVASTAR Mike has co-written the song Miles on Almost Bangor, the new album by top Belgian band Novastar. Lead singer Joost Zweegers and Mike collaborated on the lyrics for Miles. Almost Bangor was released in late September by EMI Belgium and is available on iTunes. For more info visit here. NEW ARCHIVE VIDEOS AND WEBSITE VIDEOS PAGE We’ve added a new Videos page to the main Waterboys website, which includes all the videos that have been posted on the band’s myspace page over the past couple of years, including two newly uploaded ones: the legendary and much-requested film of the band playing FISHERMAN’S BLUES on British TV’s The Tube in 1986, and KILLING MY HEART, a rare clip of Mike, Anto and Trevor reunited in a performance on Irish TV in 1998. To access click here SUNDAY TIMES ROOM TO ROAM REVIEW We just read a great review of the new ROOM TO ROAM remaster in British newspaper The Sunday Times, calling the 1990 Waterboys album a “phenomenal work”. To view click here
UNIVERSAL HALL ON MYSPACE PLAYER We’ve added a beautiful unreleased live recording of the band performing UNIVERSAL HALL to our myspace player. The version is from the Midsummer’s Eve Stramash at Universal Hall in Findhorn, 2006. To access click here. BELFAST MUSICIANS PLAY "FISHERMAN’S BLUES REVISITED" GIG - SEPT 28 To mark the 20th anniversary of the release of the Waterboys classic album Fisherman’s Blues, a special multi-artist concert is being held at the Oh Yeah music centre, Gordon Street, Belfast on September 28th, at 8pm. The concert is part of the Open House Festival and is part-organised by journalist Stuart Bailie an old friend of the band’s. When told about the concert Mike Scott said: “I’m thrilled the musicians of Belfast are doing this. I hope someone sends me a bootleg!”. Tickets price £10 are available from 0044 289024 6609 or online here
THE NEW TROUDABOURS - ALBUM EDITED BY MIKE SCOTT Mike has recently compiled and edited a compilation album of the 1970s Findhorn Community band THE NEW TROUBADOURS. For further information, purchase details and to hear some tracks, visit the Troubadours’ myspace page here. The page also includes a blog by Mike explaining how he got involved in the project.
STEVE WICKHAM & NO CROWS - RADIO CONCERT Steve Wickham’s Sligo band NO CROWS will be playing a concert at the RTE Studios, Donnybrook, Dublin on Friday 19th Sept, for the radio show Roots Freeway. The band will play a 40-50 minute set and share the bill with the Carter Brothers. Audience numbers are limited to 200 and free tickets, limited to 4 per application, are available in advance by applying by email to: rootsfreeway@rte.ie. The No Crows portion of the concert will be broadcast on Roots Freeway, RTE Radio 1, on Monday 29 Sept (and Carter Brothers on Tues 23 sept). STEVE WICKHAM - NOVEMBER SOLO SHOWS IN IRELAND Steve Wickham will play 3 solo shows in Ireland backed by fellow Waterboy Richard Naiff on piano. Dates are 13 Nov: O'Keeffes Music Club, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. 8.30pm. 14th Nov: The Thatch, Rahan, Tullamore, Co Offaly. 8pm 15th Nov: The Stables, Mullingar, Co Westmeath. 9.30pm Tickets for all three shows are also available from: here CELTIC ROOTS FESTIVAL CANCELLED We’ve been advised that the Celtic Roots festival on Sept 14th at Catton Hall, South Derbyshire has been cancelled. According to the festival website this is due to the continuous bad weather conditions of the past few weeks and the prospect of further heavy rainfall leading up to the show date. Further details including ticket refund information are available from: www.celticroots.tv BODO SHOW TONIGHT - LIVE VIDEO STREAM ON INTERNET The Waterboys hour-long set tonight at Parken Festival in Bodo, Norway, will be video-streamed live on the festival website. The set runs from 6pm-7pm Norwegian time, which is 5-6pm UK, 12-1pm EST and 9-10am Pacific time. To view, visit: www.parkenfestivalen.no OUR NEW HOMEPAGE We’ve redesigned our homepage with a selection of new and vintage images of Mike Scott and The Waterboys which appear at random every time you log on (you can also use the arrows under the band’s name to view them all at your leisure). Take a look [here] ROOM TO ROAM WEB PAGES ROOM TO ROAM was reissued on August 11th as a 2CD set with fabulous new remastered sound and 17 previously unavailable tracks. You can purchase the album [here] and check out our new Room To Roam web pages, including Mike Scott’s sleevenotes on how the record was made and the full lyrics to both CD1 and CD2 [here]. Meanwhile, we’ve spotted a printing error in the album’s booklet. On pages 22 and 23 is a photo of the entire cast - band and crew - that worked on the record at Spiddal House, with an accompanying key picture of numbered silhouettes to identify them all. Only thing is, the silhouettes aren’t numbered. To see the correct image, click [here]
TWO WATERBOYS ALBUMS FEATURED IN WORD MAGAZINE ‘ALBUM COVER ATLAS’ See if you can find ‘em....here PICKERING FESTIVAL CANCELLED The Pickering Festival in Yorkshire, England has been cancelled due to flooding. This means the Waterboys performance on Friday 8th August, along with all the other Pickering festival performances by other acts, will NOT take place. No other Waterboys shows are affected. For further information visit: http://pickeringfolkfestival.theeventsoffice.co.uk ROOM TO ROAM OUT IN SIX DAYS, SONG ON MYSPACE NOW The 2CD remastered edition of Room To Roam will be released by EMI this coming Monday, August 11th, containing the original album in improved sound plus seventeen fascinating bonus tracks selected and edited by Mike Scott and featuring the magical 1989-1990 line-up of The Waterboys, with Steve Wickham, Anthony Thistlethwaite, Sharon Shannon and others. You can listen to one of the previously unreleased songs, Sunny Sailor Boy, on our myspace page [here], and pre-order the album from our online store [here]
ENGLISH ‘CELTIC ROOTS’ FESTIVAL ADDED - 14TH SEPT The Waterboys will play the Celtic Roots Festival at Catton Hall, Walton On Trent, South Derbyshire on Sunday September 14th. This looks like being the only full-band Waterboys show in England this year. Support acts are Hothouse Flowers and Biblecode Sundays. Saturday’s bill features Van Morrison, Amy MacDonald and Seth Lakeman. Tickets priced £35.00 (one day) or £70 (both days) are available [here]. Please note ticket prices will increase in mid August.
AUSTRIAN SHOW WITH NEIL YOUNG, 17th AUGUST The Waterboys have been added to the bill for Neil Young’s show at the Lovely Days Festival, Festivalgelanda, Wiesen, Burgenland, Austria on August 17 (Sunday). It’s the Waterboys’ first Austrian show in eight years, and second gig with Neil this summer. Tickets are available from 0043 196096 or online from: here Tickets €52 for the day. Other bands playing include Adam Green and Wishbone Ash. Further info: here
ROOM TO ROAM VIDEO UP ON MYSPACE PAGE Jacques Coetzer’s film of Mike and musicians and singers from the town of Huntly, Scotland performing Room To Roam has just been posted on our myspace page. To view the video, click here. We’ve also posted the soundtrack of the song on our myspace MP3 player.
NEW PHOTOS ON MYSPACE We’ve uploaded a motherlode of new photos at our myspace page and to make viewing them easier, we’ve divided them into seven different albums. Alongside live photos, artwork, vintage and miscellaneous photos, you can now view a set of twenty pictures from the recent Huntly Room To Roam project, and an extended selection of cartoons drawn by various Waterboys over the years. To view the photo albums you must be logged into myspace.
MIKE APPEARING WITH CALI AT FRANCOFOLIES FESTIVAL, 21st JULY Mike will guest with his friend the French star Cali at the chanson festival Francofolies, in Spa, Ardennes, Belgium on Monday 21st July. Mike (and Steve Wickham) previously guested with Cali at shows in Paris this spring and Mike collaborated on two songs on Cali’s recent number one album L’Espoire. For further festival info click here
ROOM TO ROAM - REMASTER IS OUT 11TH AUGUST The remastered 2CD version of Room To Roam will be released by EMI on 11th August. The beautiful package includes new sleevenotes by Mike Scott, extended track-by-track musician credits and previously unseen photographs as well as 17 bonus songs. CD1 is the original album featuring the Celtic line-up of the band: Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, Anto Thistlethwaite, Sharon Shannon, Trevor Hutchinson, Colin Blakey and Noel Bridgeman. CD2 contains 17 bonus tracks from 1989-91, including Sunny Sailor Boy, made popular by Luka Bloom, and storming live versions of The Raggle Taggle Gypsy and Twa Recruitin’ Sergeants. The full tracklist is:
CD1
CD1
MIKE'S HUNTLY 'ROOM TO ROAM' VENTURE LATEST Mike has now completed the recent 'Room To Roam' project with the people of Huntly in Scotland and South African artist Jacques Coetzer. The song, performed by an ensemble of 29 singers and musicians led by Mike has been filmed and we will soon post the video on the Waterboys myspace page. Meanwhile you can hear the soundtrack recording and read about the project here
MIKE, STEVE & ANTO REUNITED ON SHARON SHANNON RECORDING MAGPIE - NEW ALBUM FROM STEVE’S ‘OTHER’ BAND, NO CROWS No Crows, the Sligo four-piece band that features Steve Wickham on fiddle, have a new album called Magpie, recorded in the west of Ireland earlier this year. It will be available online through www.cdbaby.com from July 8th, and from late July from iTunes and UK & Irish record shops. Magpie is on Crow records, distributed via Whirling Discs. The band will play a launch show at Factory Performance Space, Sligo, Ireland on July 8th at 9pm. Tickets priced €15 are available from: www.ticketsonline.ie/cairde or tel. 00 353 71 9170431. See also: www.myspace.com/nocrows
NORWEGIAN FESTIVAL BONANZA! The Waterboys have been confirmed for three more Norwegian festivals, and the date of their show at the Parkenfestivalen in Bodo has been changed. Here are the details: Sat 5 July: Skiippagura Festival, TANA, Lapland, Norway. Tickets: www.skiippagurra.no Sat 2 Aug: Lost Weekend Festival, BERGEN, Norway. Tickets: (tel) +47 815 33133 or: www.billetservice.no Further info from: www.lost-weekend.net Fri 22 Aug: Dampskibsbrygga, FREDRIKSTAD, Norway. Tickets: (tel) +47 815 33 133, or: www.billetservice.no Sat 23 Aug (CHANGE OF DATE): Parkenfestivalen, BODO, Norway. Tickets: (tel) +47 75549010: www.parkenfestivalen.no The Waterboys also play at Canalstreet Festival, ARENDAL on July 24 and Union Scene, DRAMMEN on Aug 21. ROOM TO ROAM - REMASTER UPDATE Mike has completed the remastering of the Waterboys 1990 album Room To Roam and it will be released by EMI this Autumn, date to be confirmed. It is being reissued as an EMI Collectors’ Edition with a bonus CD containing a whopping 17 extra tracks including The Wyndy Wyndy Road, Sunny Sailor Boy, Twa Recruitin’ Sergeants and A Song For The Life. As soon as we get fuller details we’ll let you know. HUNTLY - WHAT HAPPENED On Sunday 1st June Mike performed Room To Roam in the town square, Huntly, Scotland with an ensemble of over two dozen singers and musicians, including trombones, five fiddlers, drums, bass, sax, mandolin and accordion. Steve Wickham turned up unexpectedly to join the fiddle section. The performance was part of the annual Entertainment On The Square festival. Lyric sheets were handed round the crowd so people could sing along with the lyric, written by Huntly’s most famous son, George MacDonald, and the song was performed twice. Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond was in attendance. Mike and the ensemble also filmed a special performance of the song in a Huntly hotel ballroom on May 29th and as soon as we receive a copy we’ll be posting it on the band’s myspace page. MIKE SCOTT COLLABORATION ON NEW SHARON SHANNON COMPILATION
Mike and former Waterboy Sharon Shannon are reunited on the track A Song Of The Rosy Cross on Sharon’s new compilation The Galway Girl, just released in Ireland and currently number one on the Irish album chart. The track, originally on the multi-artist 1997 album Now And In Time To Be, features as its lyric a poem by W.B. Yeats. All of us at mikescottwaterboys.com send our condolences and thoughts to Sharon on the death last month of her long-term partner Leo Healy. WATERBOYS PLAY SHOW WITH NEIL YOUNG IN HOLLAND The Waterboys have been invited to join Neil Young’s bill at BosPop in the Netherlands on Friday 11th July. The band will play for an hour on the main stage at 20.45 - 21.45, immediately before Neil. The last time The Waterboys played with Neil was at the Fleadh in London, 2001. “It was an honour then and it’s an honour now,” commented Mike Scott, “Neil brings with him a sense of meaning, a cocktail of ethical authority and natural wildness, that overlights every event he plays. It’s a privilege to share a stage with him.” Tickets are available from: www.ticketmaster.nl from €74. Festival website: www.bospop.nl PORTUGUESE FESTIVAL IN AUGUST The Waterboys will play a show at the Allgarve Festival in Faro, Portugal, on Monday 11th August. Venue is Campo de Raguebi, Vilamoura. Tickets are available from: www.ticketline.pt price: €30. Festival website: www.allgarve.pt MIKE COLLABORATES WITH THE TOWN OF HUNTLY Mike Scott is involved in a project for the Scottish town of Huntly, birthplace of Scottish novelist George MacDonald. Twenty years ago Mike set MacDonald’s poem Room To Roam to music and used it as the title of the 1990 Waterboys’ album. A few months ago Huntly artist-in-residence Jacques Coetzer asked Mike to help turn Room To Roam into the town’s anthem. Mike has been working with local musicians and singers on a communal version of the song to be performed at Huntly Community Council’s Entertainment On The Square event on Sunday 1st June. The ten-minute performance will be part of the day-long community festival and will feature Mike. We asked Mike how it sounds and he replied: “Room To Roam is amazing with a choir and a big band, like a mad carousel of music, and it’s great fun doing it with MacDonald’s own townspeople”. The project is being run in connection with Deveron Arts and Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership Huntly.
EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITY BY STEVE Steve Wickham will join Sligo writer Dermot Healy in a recitation and performance in Teach Ban Nua Art Gallery, by Drumcliffe Church, Sligo, on Saturday May 10th at 2.30pm, as part of the Bealtaine Festival. KISS THE WIND TRACKS NOW AVAILABLE INDIVIDUALLY As of this morning, Monday 5th May, all the tracks on the exclusive Waterboys download album KISS THE WIND are available for individual download. You can link to the album here KISS THE WIND RELEASED TODAY & ONLINE STORE NOW OPEN Our new website store is live NOW, set up and run in collaboration with top online retailer Townsend Records. The new download-only album, KISS THE WIND, exclusive to our store, is released today and can be purchased here. Plus, all Waterboys CDs from the first album through to 2007’s Book Of Lightning are available from our store. KISS THE WIND features 16 rare or previously unreleased tracks selected by Mike Scott. Highlights include many never before heard songs plus Mike's demo of On My Way To The Big Light, an alternative Let It Happen, live versions of The Stolen Child and Jagger/Richards' Wild Horses and many many more. For the first week only Kiss The Wind is available bundled with extra track-by-track notes by Mike. From next Monday, May 5th, it will be available by individual track or bundled, but without the extra notes. The album costs £7.99. Individual tracks will retail for 79p. Samples of three tracks can be heard now on our myspace page. Kiss The Wind will not be available on physical CD and can not be purchased from any other digital or high street retailer. For full tracklisting see below the cover artwork.
1.
Kiss The Wind Click here for the store front page We have opened a blog thread on our myspace page where you can give feedback about the album. Check it out here. TWO NORWEGIAN SHOWS IN AUGUST The Waterboys have added two shows in Norway in August. These are full band performances like all the shows this Summer except Pickering Folk Festival. 21 Aug: Union Scene, DRAMMEN. Tickets from Union Scene Café and www.unionscene.no Price: NOK 375 + box office fee NOK 10 22 Aug: Parkenfestivalen, BODø. This is a headline and tickets are available from www.parkenfestivalen.no or +47 75549010 (Bodø Kulturhus). One day passes cost NOK 650. MIKE HAS AN ARTICLE IN NEW ISSUE OF KINDRED SPIRIT MAGAZINE Mike has contributed an article to the May/June edition of UK holistic magazine, Kindred Spirit. The piece is titled Early Morning Meditation, and the issue goes on sale Thursday 24th April.
CALI - WHAT HAPPENED Mike and Steve guested with their friend, top French singer Cali, at Zenith, Paris, 15 & 16 April. For a full account check out Mike’s blog here STRANGE BOAT IN THE IRISH CHARTS The new version of Strange Boat, recorded by Mike Scott, singer Eleanor Shanley and various friends peaked in the Irish singles charts at number 16. Meanwhile former Waterboy Sharon Shannon, as well as playing on Strange Boat, is number one in Ireland for the second week with Galway Girl, her collaboration with Mundy. Congratulations Sharon! STRANGE BOAT SINGLE - NOW ON ITUNES The new version of Strange Boat, sung by Eleanor Shanley with backing by Mike Scott, Sharon Shannon and others, was released in Ireland on Friday 4th April. The version of the Waterboys classic features Mike on guitar, keyboards and sound effects. The single is available from Irish record shops and also from iTunes - click ‘power search’ and enter ‘Strange Boat’ in the title box and ‘Shanley’ in the artist box and the single will appear, available for immediate download. The single is also available here WATERBOYS CONFIRMED FOR ELECTRIC PICNIC, IRELAND The Waterboys have been added to the bill of the Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Co Laois, Ireland, and will perform at 7.30pm on Friday 29th August. Tickets are available here PICKERING FESTIVAL TICKETS Tickets for the Pickering Festival, at which Mike, Steve and Richard will give an acoustic performance on Friday 8th August, are available now from here UK AUGUST FESTIVALS: PICKERING AND TARTAN HEART The Waterboys have been confirmed for two UK festivals in August: Fri 8 Aug: Pickering Folk Festival, Pickering Showground, Yorkshire. This is an acoustic 3-man show, featuring Mike Scott, Steve Wickham & Richard Naiff. Tickets not on sale yet. As soon as we receive details of how to purchase, we’ll let you know. Sat 9 August: Belladrum Festival, Tartan Heart 2008, by Beauly, Inverness-shire. This, like all the other previously announced 2008 Waterboys shows, is a full-band performance. Tickets: £80.00 (weekend), £50.00 (Saturday) from: www.ticketmaster.co.uk or www.tartanheartfestival.co.uk MIKE ON IRISH TV THIS FRIDAY EVENING Mike will appear on The Late Late Show, RTE Ireland, broadcast Friday evening April 4th at 9.30pm, playing guitar with vocalist Eleanor Shanley plus Sharon Shannon and Alec Finn. The ensemble will perform the Waterboys’ classic Strange Boat in aid of the Organ Donation project of the same name. The show will be archived here RETURN TO PEACE AND LOVE FESTIVAL, SWEDEN The Waterboys will play again this year at the Peace And Love Festival in Borlange, Sweden, on the evening of June 27th, after their successful appearance last year. Other artists performing include The Sex Pistols, Humanzi and Hanoi Rocks. Tickets cost 1195 SEK (no camping) for the whole 3 day event or 1295 SEK (with camping). For more info on the festival and how to get tickets, click here. FISHERMAN’S BLUES IN SCOTTISH TOURIST ADVERT Fisherman’s Blues features in a new advert for the Scottish Tourist Board, currently being shown at cinemas in England. It’s very unusual for a Waterboys song to be approved for use in an advert and Mike Scott said yes to this one because the advert is for Scotland. Watch it here. MULTI-ARTIST VERSION OF STRANGE BOAT FOR IRISH CHARITY SINGLE SHE TRIED TO HOLD ME (ACOUSTIC) AVAILABLE ON NEW WXPN ALBUM TICKET INFO FOR CANALSTREET FESTIVAL, NORWAY, JULY 24 WATERBOYS PLAY FESTIVAL IN SOUTH-EAST SPAIN The Waterboys will headline at The Mediatic Festival in LA NUCIA, Alicante, Spain on 17 May 2008. Tickets, price €30 (one day) or €50 (two days) are available from www.mediaticfestival.com
DATE FOR CANALSTREET FESTIVAL, NORWAY NEW BLOGS CONTAINING UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS Mike has been uploading some of his unpublished writings from the 1980s and 90s in his blog on myspace. These include previously unseen poems and unused lyrics to some of the Waterboys’ greatest songs. Click here to check ‘em out CALI’S ‘L’ESPOIRE IS NUMBER ONE IN FRANCE Cali’s new album L’Espoire, including collaborations with Mike Scott, is number one in the French albums chart. We congratulate Cali on his success! One of the Cali and Mike collaborative tracks, List Of Lies, available only on the special edition version of L’Espoire, is currently rocking on The Waterboys myspace player. To hear it click here WATERBOYS RETURN TO SWEDEN’S PEACE AND LOVE FESTIVAL NEW DATES IN PORTUGAL AND GERMANY The Waterboys are confirmed for the following full band shows: CALI ALBUM 'L'ESPOIR' RELEASED TODAY Waterboys' friend Bruno 'Cali' Caliciuri releases his new album, 'L'Espoir' today, on Virgin France. Mike Scott features on two songs: 'Pas Le Guerre' and - on the first edition of the CD only - 'A List Of Lies', both co-written by Cali and Mike. For further info on Cali and the album visit here MIKE SCOTT CONTRIBUTES TO NEW ALBUM BY FRENCH SINGER CALI Mike has contributed vocals to two tracks on L’Espoir, the new album by top French singer Cali, released by EMI/Virgin France on 4th February. Both Mike and Steve Wickham have been friends with Cali for several years, and Steve played fiddle on his last album, Menteur. On L’Espoir Mike contributes a spoken word section (in English) to the song Pas De Guerre, and sings co-lead vocals on the bonus track A List Of Lies, available only with the first pressing of the album. Both songs were written by Cali and Mike. Says Mike: “Cali is a true rock and roller, a troubadour, a chansonnier. It’s a thrill to contribute to his album.” For further info visit: here
ROOM TO ROAM - REMASTERED VERSION IS COMING The fifth Waterboys’ album, 1990’s Room To Roam, is being prepared for remastering and reissue by EMI during 2008. Like the recent remasters of This Is The Sea and Fisherman’s Blues, it will be issued as a 2CD set, the second CD comprising previously unissued material recorded during the same era as the original album. Mike Scott is currently selecting tracks for inclusion. As soon as we have more details and a release date we’ll let you know. CELTIC CONNECTIONS - WHAT HAPPENED Mike appeared at the gala opening of the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow on 16th January, sharing the stage with Julie Fowlis, Sharon Shannon, Luka Bloom, Karine Polwart, Kate Rusby, John McCusker, Karan Casey, Damien Dempsey and many other artists. The sold out concert, titled Common Ground and held at the Royal Concert Hall, included Mike’s performance of two unreleased songs, The Wedding and The Wyndy Wyndy Road (a new lyric to a tune by Scottish musician Phil Cunningham). For the encore the whole ensemble performed Sunny Sailor Boy, with lead vocals by Luka Bloom and Mike, and Mike’s rearrangement of the Scottish classic Will Ye No’ Come Back Again?, set to the air of the great Irish song Mo Gile Mear. To read reviews click here and here. STEVE WICKHAM GUESTS ON NEW THEA GILMORE ALBUM Steve plays fiddle on The Lower Road, the closing track on Thea Gilmore’s new album Liejacker, released March 31st on Fulfill Records. Thea is an old friend of The Waterboys; she supported on the band’s 2006 UK tour and two songs on her last album, Harpo’s Ghost, were co-written with Mike Scott. As well as featuring Steve, The Lower Road has guest vocals by Joan Baez. For further info visit: here HAPPY CHRISTMASWATERPEOPLE! - 'HIGHERBOUND' DOWNLOAD ON MYSPACE NOW As a Christmas gift to Waterpeople everywhere we've added the legendary but never released song Higherbound to our myspace player. It will be available there for download till January 1st. The version was recorded live at an acoustic Waterboys show in Ireland a few years ago, and you can listen to it and download now. Click here to access, and Happy Christmas / holidays / Hannukah / Solstice / season to you! NEW BLOG/FICTION STORY ON MYSPACE Mike has posted a new blog on the Waterboys myspace page which links to a humorous fictional story, edited from the Waterboys forum. To access click here WATERBOYS SPANISH FESTIVAL SHOW IN JANUARY The Waterboys will play at Actuel 08, held in Logrono, Spain, on Sunday Jan 6th. The concert is held at Palacio de Deportes, Logrono, at 7.30pm with support from American band Devotchka. The Waterboys will be onstage at 9.30pm. Drummer Jeremy Stacey, who played on the Waterboys’ albums A Rock In The Weary Land and Book Of Lightning, will stand in for Damon Wilson who is on holiday in Australia. Tickets are available on 22 December from: (+34) 902 33 22 11 or www.servicaixa.com or in person at Oficina de Turismo de El Espolón. Further information here FIRST SUMMER 2008 FESTIVAL SHOW CONFIRMED The first Waterboys festival appearance for Summer 2008 has been confirmed. It is a show at the Canalstreet Festival in Arendal, south Norway, held between 23-26 July. We don’t know which date The Waterboys will play on, but as soon as get more info we’ll let you know. SHE TRIED TO HOLD ME - ON WXPN COMPILATION Philadelphia radio station WXPN will include the band's acoustic version of She Tried To Hold Me on their compilation CD XPN: Live AT The World Cafe - Vol #25, to be released in February 2008. Copies will be able direct from the radio station during on air fundraisers, and also from www.xpn.org. Other artists featured include Cold War Kids, Fionn Regan, Martin Sexton, Thurston Moore, Jose Gonzalez, Sea Wolf. MIKE’S NORWEGIAN TV PERFORMANCE ON MYSPACE A seven minute film of Mike performing In The Beginning Was Love and You In The Sky with the One People band on the TV show Good Morning Norway has just been uploaded to our myspace page. Click here to view NEW MIKE SCOTT WEBLOGS ON MYSPACE Mike has written a couple more blogs since the end of the Waterboys’ tour - Early Morning Meditation (23 Nov) and A Dream (3 Dec) and they are available to read here, along with all the blogs from the tour itself. You can subscribe to Mike’s blog from here. (Note: you must be a myspace member to subscribe) NEW PHOTOS UPLOADED ON MYSPACE We’ve recently uploaded over twenty additional photos and cartoons to the band’s myspace page, including shots from the just finished European and North American tour. Click here to view COVERS WATCH Some recent covers of Waterboys songs include: Fisherman's Blues by Jaime RT (Canada) on 'Spark' (Dog My Cat Records)
www.jaimert.com MIKE TO PLAY AT CELTIC CONNECTIONS FESTIVAL, GLASGOW, JAN 16th WOODSTOCK ACOUSTIC SHOW BROADCAST DATE CONCERT ANNOUNCED FOR 16 NOVEMBER ISN'T HAPPENING A show at Westminster Central Hall, London on Friday November 16th, apparently featuring The Waterboys, has been announced in this week's edition of Time Out, the London what's on guide. We can confirm this concert will NOT be happening. A concert on this date, as part of the Be The Change international conference, was under discussion, but was not finalised. The Waterboys have just finished their North American tour and will be playing no more shows in 2007. WATERBOYS LIVE AT CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL ON BBC4 TONIGHT The Waterboys feature tonight in the first of a series of BBC4 programs on the 2007 Cambridge Folk Festival. An interview with Mike Scott will be shown, and the band's live performance of 'Raggle Taggle Gypsy' featuring guest Sharon Shannon on accordion. The program airs on BBC4 at 8:30pm, Friday 2nd November. The fourth program in the series will feature the band's version of 'This Land Is Your Land' with Steve Earle and other guests, to be shown on 23rd November. More details can be found here. IN THE BEGINNING WAS LOVE - FREE DOWNLOAD Mike's Norwegian single with One People, the beautiful In The Beginning Was Love, is available as a free download now from the Norwegian daily newspaper Dagbladet. Click here VIEW TV PERFORMANCES OF 'IN THE BEGINNING WAS LOVE' & 'YOU IN THE SKY' The film of Mike’s live performance on Norwegian TV of In The Beginning Was Love, with Noora Noor and the One People band, and You In The Sky with keyboard player Anders Hunstad, can be accessed online. Click here. Then click on the ‘God Morning Norge’ (’Good Morning Norway’) icon at the foot of the page. Next click on ‘Musikk’ and a selection of recent [performances will appear in a scrollbar. Mike’s performances of both In The Beginning Was Love and You In The Sky will appear as thumbnails. MIKE’S INTERVIEW WITH AMPLIFIER An interview with Mike has just been published by online indie magazine Amplifier. Access it here NEW VIDEO UPLOADED AT OUR MYSPACE PAGE We've just uploaded a new video, GLASTONBURY FRAGMENTS, shot by and featuring new music by Waterboys fiddler Steve Wickham. The video is a collage of images filmed by Steve while driving through the Glastonbury Festival this summer. It is accompanied by Steve's recording of a classical music piece - Arvo Part's great 'Spiegel Im Spiegel', re-arranged for the unlikely but beautiful pairing of banjo and harmonica. It's available for viewing now, click here. SPANISH TOUR TICKET DETAILS Here are details of how to purchase tickets for The Waterboys Spanish concerts: BILBAO 23 Oct. Online: www.teatroarriaga.com MADRID 24 Oct. www.ticktackticket.com Call center: 902 15 00 25 VALENCIA 26 Oct. Box Offices: Amsterdam, Harmony, Tiendas Tipo, Mercado La Pulga. No online sales for this show HUESCA (Periferias Festival) 27 Oct. Box office: cash machines of CAI (Caja De Ahorros Inmaculada). Online: www.cai.es GUADFALAJARA 28 Oct. Call center: 902 30 38 88. Online: www.cajaguadalajara.biz. Box office: Teatro Buero Vallejo MIKE'S SINGLE WITH ONE PEOPLE IS OUT Mike's single in collaboration with Norwegian organisation One People, In The Beginning Was Love, was released on Friday. You can hear it on our myspace page here and it can be purchased online here. Mike will perform the song with One People and singer Noora Noor on the Norwegian TV show God Morgen Norge (Good Morning Norway) around 9am on Wednesday October 10th. MIKE'S INTERVIEW WITH BABBLE AND BEAT Mike has recently been interviewed by online music zine Babble and Beat who write: "Mike spoke with us about his new album & upcoming North American tour, his 1970s fanzine and who he interviewed, his relationship with coffee & more. He even shared his favorite photo of himself with us! To check it out click here BELGIAN FESTIVAL SHOW ADDED, 20TH OCTOBER FULL NORTH AMERICAN TICKET DETAILS All the shows in the band's November tour of the USA and Canada are now on sale, and are available either from www.ticketmaster.com or from the
indidivual theatre box offices:
ADDITIONAL DUTCH SHOW, OCTOBER 18TH MIKE’S COLLABORATION WITH ONE PEOPLE - NEW SINGLE
MIKE AND ONE PEOPLE ON NORWEGIAN TV Mike, Noora Noor and the One People band will perform In The Beginning Was Love on the Norwegian TV show, God Morgen Norge (Good Morning Norway) on October 10. The programme runs from 6.25-10.30am, and the Mike/One People section is expected to be around 9am. WATERBOYS SPANISH TOUR, OCTOBER 2007 The Waterboys’ European tour will continue with a series for shows in Spain, the band’s first full tour there since 2002. Here are the dates. Full ticket details will be announced as soon as we receive them:
NORTH AMERICAN CONCERT TICKETS - MORE INFO
In addition to the shows in Philadelphia, New York, Toronto, Vancouver BC and Portland, Tickets for the following shows are now on sale:
Nov 1: Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA
Nov 13: Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
Tickets for all seven shows are available here
WORLD CAFE RADIO SESSION BROADCAST DATE The band’s 3-man radio session for World Cafe, at WXPN Philadelphia will be broadcast on Wednesday 19th Sept between 2.00pm and 4.00pm Eastern Time (7-9pm UK). The session features versions of Everybody Takes A Tumble, Strange Arrangement and several other songs from Book Of Lightning, plus an interview with the band. You can stream the show by going to: www.xpn.org It will also be available on 200 stations nationwide; US residents can find their local one by going to: http://worldcafe.org. EUROPEAN SUPPORT ACTS Norwegian singer/songwriter Vidar Vang will open for The Waterboys at their upcoming shows in Bergen, Stavanger and Haugesund (8, 10 & 11 October). There will be no opening
act in Trondheim on 6 Oct. German 3-piece band Planeausters, who recently covered The Waterboys’ classic Red Army Blues, will open at all three german shows in October (Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne, 13, 15 & 16 October). Irish singer/songwriter Roesy will
open the Dutch shows in Amsterdam and Eindhoven (17 & 18 October). You can find more info about all these artists here:
PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER TICKETS ON SALE MIKE SCOTT INTERVIEW WITH COLIN MELOY IS OUT The transcript of Mike being interviewed by Colin Meloy of The Decemberists is published in September's issue of Believer, the alternative American arts magazine, out now. Believer is available from alternative bookstores, magazine stands and from: www.believermag.com  NEW PHOTOS ON OUR MYSPACE PAGE We've uploaded a lot of new photos to the Waterboys' myspace page over the last few weeks, including shots from Cambridge Folk Festival (featuring Steve Earle, Sharon Shannon and others), Midlands Festival, Ireland, and the band's recent jaunt round American radio stations. To view, visit here and click on "view my pics". BOSTON LIVE RADIO SESSION STREAMED The band's live acoustic session on WMFO Boston's "Paddy-Whacked Radio" is available online. Visit: here - and click on Paddy-Whacked Radio ˜last show" 9-11am Friday. The Waterboys session is in the last half hour of the two-hour show and features versions of The Man With The Wind At His Heels, It's Gonna Rain and When Ye Go Away, as well as interview fragments and even some tuning up. We are awaiting broadcast details of the several other radio sessions which the band pre-recorded in the States and will announce them as soon as we get info. NEW YORK LIVE RADIO SESSION BROADCAST DATE The band's recent pre-recorded live session with WFUV New York will be aired on Thursday 13th September on ‘Take Five’ with Darren DeVivo at 8:15am and 4:45pm- and also on ‘Words And Music From Studio A’ at 9pm (US Eastern Time- five hours behind UK) You can listen here to purchase. NORTH AMERICAN SHOWS - FIRST TICKET INFO Tickets for the Waterboys shows in New York (Nov 2), Glenside/Philadelphia (Nov 3) and Toronto (Nov 5) are on sale NOW from Ticketmaster in the USA. Click here to purchase. US RADIO SHOWS - WHAT HAPPENED OTHER BROADCAST SESSIONS/INTERVIEWS IN THE USA Mike, Steve and Richard will be recording live music sessions for two more American radio stations this week: WFUV (New York) and WXPN World Cafe (Philadelphia). Both these sessions are pre-records, and as soon as we receive broadcast dates we'll let you know. The trio will also be playing live on air on DJ Shawn Fitzsimmons' final show for WMFO Boston on Friday morning, August 31st.
MINNEAPOLIS SHOW, AUG 29TH, MORE INFO Wednesday night's radio broadcast concert in Minneapolis will be at The Hollow, not "The Hallow" as mistakenly announced on our website last week. BOSTON RADIO SHOW ADDED Mike, Steve and Richard will play another small show for radio broadcast in Boston on Thursday August 30th. The show is at First Act Guitar Studios at 6.30pm, and is promoted by WBOS 92.9 who will be giving away tickets on air. Audience number is limited to 100 people. We also have 6 pairs of tickets to give away to the first 6 people to email us at mswbs@comcast.net. If you miss this show you can still come and see the full band play at the Berklee Theatre on November 1st. NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES - NOVEMBER 2-13 The Waterboys will play a short Book Of Lightning tour of North America in November. These will be full band shows, featuring the same line-up as at all this year’s European concerts: Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, Richard Naiff, Mark Smith & Damon Wilson. This is the first Waterboys tour of North America since 2003, and their first full band shows since 2001. Tickets are not on sale yet, but the moment we have the box office details we’ll let you know. The dates are:
BOOK OF LIGHTNING IS RELEASED THIS WEEK IN THE USA The new Waterboys album Book Of Lightning was released yesterday in the USA, on W14/Decca Records (through Universal).
MINNEAPOLIS RADIO BROADCAST CONCERT, AUGUST 29 SALAMANCA, SPAIN - CONCERT DETAILS Here are the full details for the previously announced Waterboys show in Salamanca: GENEVA SHOW ADDED NORWEGIAN SHOW ADDED IN STAVANGER SPECIAL THREE-MAN SHOW IN WOODSTOCK, NEW YORK, 31 AUG Mike, Steve and Richard will play a three-man show at the Colony Cafe, Woodstock, New York, USA at 9pm on August 31st. Tickets are available from here. This is a special show for broadcast on Woodstock radio station WDST. We understand the three-piece will play another couple of similar US shows the same week, and as soon as we get details we'll post them here. OCTOBER DATES IN NORWAY AND GERMANY The Waterboys will play a series of extra tour dates in Norway and Germany in October. Like the rest of this year's concerts, these will be full band shows. Dates are: MIKE ON YEATS Mike has chosen a favourite poem of his by WB Yeats for the Poets Corner section of actress/singer Jacqui Mackenzie's website. Mike has picked The Song Of Wandering Aengus and has contributed an introduction to the poem. To read click here WATERBOYS CAMBRIDGE LIVE TRACKS PLAYED ON RADIO 3 songs from The Waterboys performance at this year's Cambridge Folk Festival in England were broadcast tonight on BBC Radio 2's Radcliffe And Maconie Show. The songs were Everybody Takes A Tumble, The Raggle Taggle Gypsy and When Will We Be Married? You can access them via the BBC's 'listen again' facility here NEW VIDEO UPLOADED ON MYSPACE A short film of Steve Wickham's 'rustic irishman' alter-ego Gobnait O'Gallagher singing Walk On The Wild Side has been posted on our myspace page. The film was shot by drummer Damon Wilson backstage before the band's Midlands Festival show in Ireland on 28th July. To view click here LIVE SESSION ON JANICE LONG SHOW, BBC RADIO 2, TUESDAY NIGHT The Waterboys will play 3 songs live on BBC Radio 2's Janice Long show which runs from 12.30am to 3.00am. There will also be an opportunity to send in questions for Janice to ask the band. For further info, and to access the BBC's 'replay' feature, click here: www.bbc.co.uk CRASH OF ANGEL WINGS - SINGLE DOWNLOAD INFO The new Waterboys single mix of The Crash Of Angel Wings, plus 'b' side - Mike's home
demo of the same song - is available for download from today, Monday 30th July. The
track, originally on the band's current album Book Of Lightning, has been specially
remixed for the single by Ren Swan and features additional electric guitar by Mike Scott.
It was recently picked as Radcliffe & Maconie's Single Of The Week on BBC Radio 2. You
can download the single at the following stores: CAMBRIDGE AND MIDLANDS - WHAT HAPPENED
The Waterboys played two eventful shows this weekend at the Cambridge Folk Festival in
England and the Midlands Music Festival in Ireland. At Cambridge on Friday night, Mike
opened the show with a solo version of the venerable folk song Barbara Allen. A few
songs later the band was joined by Sharon Shannon on accordion for The Raggle Taggle
Gypsy, and at the end of the show by Steve Earle, Sharon Shannon, fiddler John McCusker
and flute player Michael McGoldrick for a hootenanny-style finale of This Land Is Your
Land, with Mike and Steve Earle trading verses. SHOW IN SALAMANCA, SPAIN We've just heard the band will play a show in Salamanca, Spain on 7th September. We understand this is a festival date, not part of a tour. As soon as we get more details we'll let you know. MIKE AND WIKIPEDIA - RADIO INTERVIEW Mike has been interviewed for The Wikipedia Story, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow, Tuesday 24th July, at 11.30am. Tune into 92-95 fm or 198 long wave. CRASH OF ANGEL WINGS DEMO FOR 'B' SIDE We've just heard that the extra track with the new Waterboys single will be Mike's home demo of Crash Of Angel Wings itself. As previously stated, the single is download-only, all is released on Monday 30th July. We don't know whether this extra track will come bundled, or whether you will be able to download the two tracks individually. Different online retailers may offer the tracks in different ways. The two songs previously announced on a few websites as 'b' sides for this single, Higherbound and The Wedding, have been held back for future releases. MIKE INTERVIEW ON JOHNNIE WALKER SHOW, RADIO 2, THIS SUNDAY Mike has been interviewed by BBC Radio 2's Johnnie Walker, to be broadcast during Johnnie's show this Sunday, July 22nd, 4.30pm-6.30pm. WATERBOYS TO PLAY ON MACONIE SHOW, RADIO 2 The Waterboys will play some acoustic songs and will be interviewed by Stuart Maconie for his show from the Cambridge Folk Festival, broadcast on BBC Radio 2 between 2pm and 4.30pm on Saturday 28th July. MIKE SCOTT INTERVIEWED BY COLIN MELOY OF THE DECEMBERISTS Mike has been interviewed by long-term Waterboys fan, Colin Meloy, singer with top American alternative band The Decemberists. The interview will appear in an upcoming issue of the American underground magazine Believer. We will announce full details as soon as we receive them. NEW WATERBOYS SINGLE - THE CRASH OF ANGEL WINGS, JULY 30 A remixed version of The Crash Of Angel Wings will be issued as the second single from Book Of Lightning on July 30th in the UK. The single will be available by download only, and recent reports on the web of it being issued as a 3 track CD single were premature. We have no information yet on what, if any, 'b' sides are to included. The version of Crash Of Angel Wings also features newly recorded additional electric guitar by Mike Scott and was fabulously remixed by Ren Swan, who worked on many of the tracks on Book Of Lightning. We've heard the track and it sounds great! As soon as we have more info we'll let you know. WATERBOYS ARE SINGLE OF THE WEEK ON RADCLIFFE & MACONIE SHOW, RADIO 2 We've just heard that Crash Of Angel Wings will be Single Of The Week on Radio 2's Radcliffe And Maconie Show, and will be played every evening from Monday 16 to Thursday 19 July. The show runs from 8pm to 10pm. Crash Of Angel Wings was voted single of the week by listeners to the show. The band also played a session for Mark Radcliffe's late night show earlier this year. THE THREE DAYS OF GLASTONBURY Mike has written a blog about the Waterboys' experiences over their three shows in three days at this year's Glastonbury Festival in England. To read the whole epic saga of mud, magic, Pyramid stages, Taff and the tabard, Killer Conroy, a stovepipe hat, music, mermaids, madness, Tipi Fields and visions of Avalon, click here. WATERBOYS LIVE BLUES IN NORWAY The Waterboys will headline on the evening of Thursday 5th July at the Skaanevik Blues Festival, Skaanevik, Norway Tickets are available from: www.skaanevik-blues.com. Prices start at NK 375.00 for Thursday Only BOOK OF LIGHTNING - US RELEASE DATE AUG 21 Waterboys' new album BOOK OF LIGHTNING receives its USA release on August 21st on W14/Decca through Universal Records. Catalogue number is: 0-06025-1741433-4. The album's tracklist remains the same as the European version, but a new remix of Crash Of Angel Wings by engineer Ren Swan (also featuring an additional electric guitar part by Mike) replaces the original mix. The band plan to play some dates in the US this fall, and will also be doing interviews etc. As soon as we receive details we will let you know. AMSTERDAM SHOW CONFIRMED FOR OCTOBER The band will play a show on Wednesday 17th October at the Carre Theatre, Amsterdam, Holland. Tickets are available at Ticket Service Post Offices, Free Record Shops, GWK offices and the VVV's. Tickets can also be ordered by phone, from within Holland only, from 0900 3001250. People outside Holland can order tickets from www.theatercarre.nl or www.ticketservice.nl WATERBOYS GREENPEACE SHIP FILM FROM 1987 A nine minute film of The Waterboys live on the deck of the Greenpeace
ship Sirius in 1987 has just been uploaded to our myspace page. It
features clips of the band playing Savage Earth Heart and On My Way To Heaven. Our film editor Mick Puck says: 'Folks, this is probably the
worst shot piece of film in the history of rock - filmed by a bystander
who must have never held a camera before. I've done what I can with
it. Still, it captures something of the magic of the day, and the
spirit of the times. I hope you enjoy.' LYRICS PAGE UPDATED We've updated The Waterboys lyrics page to include all the songs on Book Of Lightning and the bonus CDs on the recent remastered editions of This Is The Sea and Fisherman's Blues. To access these and all other Waterboys/Mike Scott lyrics, click here SUMMER FESTIVALS - NORWAY & GERMANY The Waterboys are confirmed for two more Summer festivals: ATTENTION SEATTLE AREA WATERBOYS FANS
MIKE'S INTERVIEW WITH BOWIEZONE Mike has been interviewed for the latest issue of David Bowie online magazine Bowiezone. In the interview he talks about Bowie's influence on his music, and his experience playing Bowie songs in his earliest bands, as well as many other topics. To read the interview, visit Bowiezone here 20th ANNIVERSARY OF GREENPEACE SHIP GIG Today is the 20th anniversary of The Waterboys' legendary 1987 concert on the deck of the Greenpeace ship Sirius, which took place while the vessel was moored in the Dublin docks. The band played a fifty minute set including Savage Earth Heart and many other tracks. To celebrate this anniversary, we will shortly be uploading a rare video clip of this event, filmed by a passer-by, and newly edited for viewing by Mike Scott. We understand the filming is rough but good enough to savour the spirit of the event and the times., Mike hasn't has time to edit it while on the Waterboys UK tour, but we're told it will be edited within the next week. As soon as it goes live we'll let you know! In the meantime, to see photos of the gig, click here PEACE AND LOVE FESTIVAL, SWEDEN - TICKET DETAILS As previously announced, the Waterboys are performing on Sat 30 June at the PEACE AND LOVE FESTIVAL, Borlange, Sweden For full festival details visit: www.peaceandlove.se Tickets cost SKR 1,025.00 (aprox £75) from: (Swedish site) www.ticnet.se LIVE FILM OF IT'S GONNA RAIN UPLOADED A short film of The Waterboys performing It's Gonna Rain during their show at York Opera House on 13th May has just been uploaded to our myspace page. The film was shot informally from the side of the stage by the band's Tour Manager Dave Conroy, and affords an unusually close up view of Mike and Steve in full performance flight. To view click here and then 'view my videos'. NEW WATERBOYS PICS ON MYSPACE We've just uploaded some fabulous new photos, including several from the Albert Hall, on www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys - click on 'view my pics' to see them GREEK DATES FLIP ROUND The band's shows in Athens and Thessaloniki have been flipped. The schedule of Greek shows is now: MIKE BLOGS ON BOWIE AND WATERBOYS TOUR Mike has uploaded two new blogs, one about David Bowie and one about the Waterboys tour, at the band's myspace page. To view, visit www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys WATERBOYS MAKE LOVE AND PEACE AT SWEDISH FESTIVAL The band are confirmed for the Love And Peace Festival in Sweden on June 30th. Other acts include Waterboys' favourites Iggy And The Stooges. As soon as we have ticket details they will appear here RETURN TO THE LAND OF PAN The Waterboys will play 4 shows in Greece, their first since last year’s successful visit: NORWEGIAN WOOD - TICKET DETAILS The Waterboys headline the Norwegian Wood Festival, outside Oslo, on 16th June. Tickets cost NK 425.00 from: www.norwegianwood.no or by phone from Billettservice: (+47) 815 33 133 CHECK OUT THE TOM ROBINSON SESSION To hear the band’s performance of Strange Arrangement and Sustain on BBC 6 Music’s Tom Robinson Show, click here MIKE’S JOOLS HOLLAND DATE CHANGED This show, featuring an interview with Mike and live performance of The Whole Of The Moon with Jools’ band will now be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Monday 7th May, from 21.30 - 22.30. BOOK OF LIGHTNING - GERMAN RELEASE DATE Book Of Lightning will be released by Universal Germany on 18th May. THE WORD IS OUT
WEB-PAGES OF LIGHTNING Don’t miss our new BOOK OF LIGHTNING section here on www.thewaterboys.com, which includes an interview with Mike Scott about the album, cartoons by Steve Wickham, the short story The Archivist’s Tale from the CD booklet and a compendium of some of the great reviews the album has received so far and recent magazine interviews with Mike. To access click here NORWEGIAN WOOD - ISN’T IT GOOD! The Waterboys are confirmed as headliners on Saturday night June 16th at the Norwegian Wood festival in Norway. As soon as we receive more details and info on how to purchase tickets, we’ll let you know. MIKE’S EILEEN CADDY ARTICLES
COVERS WATCH UPDATE Several excellent new covers of Waterboys songs have been spotted. Here are details:
WATERBOYS DIGITAL DOWNLOADS - EXTRA TRACKS An extra new Waterboys song, THE PLAYER, is available as a download from iTunes as a Book Of Lightning extra. To access it go to Book Of Lightning on iTunes. It is listed as track eleven and can be downloaded as part of the album or on its own. The live acoustic version of RED ARMY BLUES is available as the download-only ‘b’ side of Everybody Takes A Tumble from 7digital.com. Go to: www.7digital.com BOOK OF LIGHTNING WITH ‘TRAVELS’ DVD - HURRY BEFORE THEY ARE ALL GONE Only 10,000 copies of the new Waterboys’ album Book Of Lightning have been issued with the bonus hour-long on-tour DVD, THE TRAVELS OF THE WATERBOYS. We hear these are going like hot cakes and may all be gone by the end of this week. So if you want to make sure you get a copy with the DVD, get one now while they are still on the shelves! MIKE ON THE JOOLS HOLLAND RADIO SHOW Mike’s recently recorded guest appearance on the BBC Radio 2’s Jools Holland Show will be broadcast on Monday 23rd April between 21.30 and 22.30 UK time. The show features several of Mike’s favourite classic pop singles as well as a special live performance of Mike’s own classic The Whole Of The Moon with Jools’ band. The broadcast will be available in the UK on 88-91Fm and around the world at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2 WATERBOYS CONFIRMED FOR CACTUS FESTIVAL, BELGIUM The Waterboys have been confirmed for the Cactus Festival in Bruges, Belgium on Friday 6th July. Other acts include The Flaming Lips. Further details from: www.cactusfestival.be/ Tickets are available from: www.cactusmusic.be BOOK OF LIGHTNING - OUT TODAY The Waterboys' new album BOOK OF LIGHTNING is released today in Europe on W14/Universal Records. Containing ten fabulous tracks, and already receiving great reviews, the album and accompanying DVD 'The Travels Of The Waterboys'can be purchased here or here. And check out our new BOOK OF LIGHTNING web-pages here WATERBOYS LIVE TONIGHT ON MARK RADCLIFFE RADIO SHOW The Waterboys will play a live set plus interview on tonight's Mark Radcliffe Show, Tuesday 27th March, on BBC Radio 2 (UK), between 10pm and midnight. SUMMER FESTIVAL ADDITIONS The Waterboys are confirmed for the following additional Summer festivals: 7 July: CORNBURY FESTIVAL, ENGLAND. Tickets from £45.00. More info and tickets from: www.cornburypark.co.uk/ 27 July: CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL, ENGLAND Tickets become available from May 6th. More info: www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk/ 28 July: MIDLANDS FESTIVAL, IRELAND. Tickets from 80 Euros. More info and tickets from: www.midlandsmusicfestival.com And don't forget the band's brilliant new album BOOK OF LIGHTNING is out on W14 Records/Universal next Monday 2nd of April with bonus DVD 'The Travels Of The Waterboys'. New single EVERYBODY TAKES A TUMBLE is out now. Live broadcast video of EVERYBODY TAKES A TUMBLE is available for viewing at www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys Having completed a series of successful shows in Holland, Belgium and Ireland, the band's tour continues with shows in Scandinavia, beginning in Bergen on Thursday. For full tour dates see www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys MIKE'S ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN Mike Scott has written an article on his experience with The Waterboys' wikipedia page for the Guardian newspaper in the UK. It is published in today's (Friday 23 March) Film and Music supplement. You can read it here on The Guardian website. WATERBOYS 'TUMBLE' TV PERFORMANCE VIDEO UPLOADED ON MYSPACE The film of the band's recent Irish TV performance of their new single Everybody Takes A Tumble has just been uploaded on The Waterboys' myspace page. The clip is from the show Tubridy Tonight and was broadcast live during February. The single will be released in the UK on 19th March and is already out and receiving heavy airplay in Ireland. To view the clip click here WATERBOYS CONFIRMED FOR DUTCH BOSPOP FESTIVAL The band will return this Summer to Holland's Bospop Festival after last year's successful show. They will play on Sunday 8th July. Ticvkets and info are available from: www.bospop.nl EVERYBODY TAKES A TUMBLE - LISTEN, SINGLE FORMATS A 2 minute extract of the new Waterboys single EVERYBODY TAKES A TUMBLE has been uploaded to the band’s Myspace page and is now available for your listening pleasure. The single is released on Monday March 19th in the following formats: * CD single with extra tracks Killing My Heart (live) and a cover of George Harrison's song All Things Must Pass (live acoustic version) * 7 inch vinyl single with 'b' side, a cover of the blues oldie Ain't Doin’ Too Bad (studio) * Download with 'b' side, Red Army Blues (live acoustic version) The CD and 7” can be pre-ordered together from Townsends The CD version can be pre-ordered from Amazon IRISH RELEASE DATES FOR NEW ALBUM/SINGLE BOOK OF LIGHTNING will be released early in Ireland to coincide with the Waterboys’ Irish tour. Release date there is Friday March 16th. The single Everybody Takes A Tumble was released in Ireland last Friday, March 2. RADIO SESSIONS IRELAND: The band will play a live session on 2FM’s Gerry Ryan Show on March 15th UK: The band will play a live session on Radio 2’s Mark Radcliffe Show on March 27th SUPPORT BANDS FOR UK AND IRISH TOURS The Waterboys have invited several different acts to support them on sections of their upcoming UK and Irish tours. HY BRASIL, a young band from Wicklow in Ireland, will play support on the 8 Irish dates from 16-25 March. ST JUDE, a British rock band, featuring former Waterboy Jo Wadeson on bass, will play the first 8 UK dates, from Bristol (20 April) to Leicester (29th). DAVID BOVA, a strong young singer/songwriter from near Glasgow, also known as Acousticbug, will open on all the shows from Oxford (1 May) to Wavendon (6 May) HAIGHT ASHBURY, a new band from Glasgow, fronted by two girl singers, and featuring former members of psychedelic girl group Acoustic Love Experience, will support on the final run of dates from Inverness (15 May) to the last night of the tour in Gateshead (21 May). You can check them all out by clicking on their boxes in the Waterboys’ top friends selection at www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys The opening act for the dates between Portsmouth and York (8-15 May), including the Royal Albert Hall, is yet to be announced. SWEDISH CONCERTS - TICKET/VENUE DETAILS The band's Stockholm show has been moved to the BERNS THEATRE. The date remains the same: April 3rd. Tickets for this show, and for the 1st April show at Storans Theatre, Gothenburg, are available from: www.ticnet.se - or by telephone from + 46 77 170 70 70 UPCOMING RADIO BROADCASTS * Mike will be featured on the DAVE FANNING SHOW, on Ireland's 2FM, at 7pm, Wednesday 28th February. Mike and Dave will discuss the new Waterboys album Book Of Lightning, play some tracks, and will also talk about a classic album of the past chosen by Mike, Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones. * Mike, Steve and Richard have recorded a session for TodayFM in Ireland, to be broadcast on TOM DUNNE'S PET SOUNDS, date yet to be confirmed. They played acoustic versions of two tracks from Book Of Lightning and were joined by Dublin accordion player Sean Garvey for a cover of The Rolling Stones' country-rock classic Dead Flowers. * The full band will give a live Irish radio performance on 2FM's GERRY RYAN SHOW on Thursday March 15th. * On the same day, 15th March, at 11.30am BBC Radio Scotland are running a special on The Waterboys’ classic This Is The Sea album. The special includes an interview with Mike Scott, and will also be broadcast online at www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland * The band will perform live on British Radio 2's MARK RADCLIFFE SHOW, on Tuesday March 27th. * Mike has recorded an interview and performance for British Radio 2's JOOLS HOLLAND SHOW. The show features tracks from Book Of Lightning, plus some of Mike's favourite records and a stomping live version of The Whole Of The Moon performed by Mike with Jools' band. Broadcast date yet to be confirmed. NEW WATERBOYS DRUMMER The Waterboys have a new drummer, DAMON WILSON, who replaces the American sticksman Brady Blade. Brady played on the band's new album Book Of Lightning and was expected to do the tour but has had to pull out. After a series of auditions in London, the band have picked Damon, described by Mike as a 'grooving Aussie'. WATERBOYS TO PLAY THIS YEAR'S GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL The Waterboys will play an unprecedented three shows at this year's Glastonbury Festival in England, one show on each of the festival's three days, with each show on a different stage. Anyone wishing to purchase tickets for the festival needs to first register at www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk before 28 February (Wednesday). WATERBOYS IRISH TV BROADCAST Mike and the band are in the middle of an Irish promotional trip. Those of you in Ireland can see them performing EVERYBODY TAKES A TUMBLE on Tubridy Tonight (televised), Irish RTE1 (TV), 10.30pm Saturday 17th Feb. We will shortly give you broadcast times (and webcast details) of several radio sessions coming up in the next few weeks. MIKE PLAYS ONSTAGE WITH DECEMBERISTS Mike Scott made a guest appearance with top up and coming US band The Decemberists during the encore of their London show on Thursday February 8th at Shepherds Bush Empire. Mike was invited to play by the band's singer Colin Meloy, a long-time Waterboys fan. They performed a rollicking Fisherman's Blues, with Decemberists' multi-instrumentalist Lisa playing the fiddle parts on viola. A fan who was in attendence has posted a clip which you can view here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwNqwGYuG48 'BOOK OF LIGHTNING' COVER + BONUS DVD 'THE TRAVELS OF THE WATERBOYS' The cover of the new Waterboys album, BOOK OF LIGHTNING, which comes out 2nd April, has just been uploaded on www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys where you can have an early peek at it. We've also uploaded a sample of one of the album tracks, the brand new meisterwork NOBODY'S BABY ANYMORE. And we have terrific news that the first 10,000 copies of BOOK OF LIGHTNING will come in a special edition featuring a fabulous bonus DVD titled THE TRAVELS OF THE WATERBOYS. This hour-long film was specially edited by Mike Scott and contains clips from the band's on-tour home movies, shot between 2001 and 2006. THE TRAVELS OF THE WATERBOYS is the band's first-ever film or DVD, and as well as including footage of performances of many of their most popular songs, it gives a unique and in-depth look at the magical life of Mike, Steve, Richard and co. on the road. A few of the clips have already been shown on the band's myspace page, but most of THE TRAVELS OF THE WATERBOYS is new and previously unseen. You can pre-order the album with this bonus DVD from various internet stockists, including amazon.co.uk and townsend-records.co.uk. NEW WATERBOYS ALBUM - BOOK OF LIGHTNING - OUT APRIL 2 The new Waterboys album BOOK OF LIGHTNING is released in Europe on April 2 by W14/Universal Records. The album contains ten tracks, produced by Mike Scott and Philip Tennant, with musical contributions from Steve Wickham (fiddle), Richard Naiff (keyboards), Brady Blade (drums), Mark Smith (bass), Leo Abrahams (lead guitar), Jeremy Stacey (drums) plus long-time Waterboys alumni Roddy Lorimer (trumpet), Chris Bruce (lead guitar) and Thighpaulsandra (keyboards). BOOK OF LIGHTNING was recorded in London with the exception of one song recorded in Vancouver with members of Canadian art-pop band Great Aunt Ida, and another in Mike's home studio. The album features the live favourites The Crash Of Angel Wings and Everybody Takes A Tumble, plus a new recording of You In The Sky, which appeared for the first time on last year's "Fisherman's Blues" remaster set. Some fans will recognise Sustain and Strange Arrangement from the band's 2004 acoustic tour. Mike has described the album as 'a beauty' on the band's myspace page and we understand it has a psychedelic sleeve and the booklet features a short story. As we receive more details we'll let you know. The full tracklist is: NEW WATERBOYS SINGLE - EVERYBODY TAKES A TUMBLE A special single edit of EVERYBODY TAKES A TUMBLE will be released two weeks before the album, on March 19th. It will be available as a CD single, 7" single and download single, with a variety of previously unissued 'b' sides. As soon as we have details of these we will let you know. Radio will be serviced with copies several weeks in advance so listen out for an acoustic guitar intro, a shake of bells and then Steve's unmistakeable fiddle rushing in. MIKE'S ARTICLE IN WORD MAGAZINE Mike has contributed a short article on his days working in a record shop during his early musical days to a feature running in the current issue of the UK magazine Word. Available now. For info on how to order a copy visit www.wordmagazine.co.uk WATERBOYS SPIDDAL SESSION VIDEO NOW UP ON MYSPACE If you ever wanted to hang out with the Waterboys in an old-fashioned and magical bar in the west of Ireland, and enjoy an impromptu music session in the most perfect atmosphere imaginable, then log on to our myspace page and check out the new Waterboys video, Spiddal Session. It shows the band enjoying a rip roaring music session in Hughes' Bar with their friends Sharon Shannon and Charlie Lennon, filmed during a day off on their 2004 Irish tour. STEVE ON IRISH RADIO, CHRISTMAS EVE Steve Wickham will be performing a special Christmas radio show with his Sligo-based band No Crows on RTE Radio One, Ireland, at 8pm on December 24th. A splendid time is guaranteed for all! NORWEGIAN DATES ANNOUNCED 3 shows in Norway have been added to the Waterboys Spring 2007 tour. Tickets go on sale for Stavanger and Oslo on Saturday Nov 4. Bergen tickets go on sale Wednesday Nov 8. Full details:
WATERBOYS SIGN TO UNIVERSAL/WEST 14 - NEW ALBUM NEARLY COMPLETED The Waterboys have signed to West 14, part of Universal Records, who will release the new Waterboys album in Spring 2007. West 14 is run by John Williams, who worked with the Waterboys during their time at Chrysalis Records, and who also produced a classic mid 1980s radio session for the band, later included on the album 'The Secret Life Of The Waterboys'. It is a return to a major label for the Waterboys, whose last two albums, 'Universal Hall' and 'Karma To Burn' were on their own Puck Records. Mike Scott and co-producer (and Waterboys manager) Philip Tennant are currently close to finishing the new Waterboys album, which features ten songs, including "Everybody Takes A Tumble" and 'The Crash Of Angel Wings" both of which have featured on the band's recent concert tours. The album is as yet untitled. Musicians include Steve Wickham, Richard Naiff, drummers Brady Blade and Jeremy Stacey, bassman Mark Smith, electric guitarist Leo Abrahams, long-time Waterboys alumni Roddy Lorimer (trumpet) and Chris Bruce (electric guitar), and members of Vancouver band Great Aunt Ida. Mike Scott has recently written some blogs about the recording of the album. To read them visit: www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys WATERBOYS TRACK ON ARAN LIFEBOAT COLLECTION CD
MARCH 2007 DUTCH DATES ANNOUNCED The Waterboys will begin their 2007 tour with the following shows in
Holland, preceding the dates already announced in Ireland and UK.
Tickets go on sale Saturday 7th October, priced 25 Euros. 2 NEW WATERBOYS FILMS ON MYSPACE We are delighted to announce that two new films have just been uploaded to the Waterboys myspace page, and are now available for viewing. They are: MARVELLOUS MR NAIFF, a collage of clips of Waterboys keyboard player Richard Naiff, filmed on and offstage over the last 5 years, and including several in concert clips of the band; and BELGIAN BUS, a 7 minute clip of an impromptu music session on a tour bus, featuring Mike Scott and Steve Wickham singing and playing with members of top Irish folk bands Kila and Dervish. Both films were edited by Mike Scott, and are exclusive to The Waterboys' myspace page. MORE WATERBOYS SPRING 07 SHOWS The following shows have been added to the Waterboys Spring tour. We don't yet have full box office details, and we advise you to check with venues. As soon as we receive details we will post them here. Further shows will soon be added. THEA GILMORE ALBUM OUT TODAY WITH TWO MIKE CO-WRITES Thea Gilmore's album 'Harpo's Ghost' is released today on Sanctuary Records. It features two songs co-written with Mike Scott. Titles are We Built A Monster and Whistle And Steam. The album has been receiving very good reviews. For further info visit www.theagilmore.com THREE NEW WATERBOYS VIDEOS ON MYSPACE Three further Waterboys films have been uploaded to our myspace page and are now available for viewing. The first is SWEET THING ‘06, a blistering live performance from the band’s midsummer shows at Findhorn’s Universal Hall. The other two continue our series of home movies from the Fisherman’s Blues era and are: HONKY TONKIN’, a funny home-made video of Mike Scott, Steve Wickham and Anto Thistlethwaite performing the Hank Williams classic; and MASKED BAND, a collage of clips from a band holiday in 1986, full of music and mischief. To view all three visit www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys SPANISH FESTIVAL SHOW ADDED, 31 AUGUST The Waterboys have been confirmed for one more Summer festival, The Azkena Rock Festival, Vitoria, near Bilbao, Spain, on Thursday 31st August. The Waterboys will headline the second stage, and will performan an acoustic set. The line-up will be the three-piece of Mike, Steve and Richard. Other artists appearing at the 3 day festival include: Pearl Jam, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, the New York Dolls and Green On Red. Further details at: www.azkenarockfestival.com Tickets from: www.ticktackticket.com, by telephone from (Spain) 902 1500 25 WATERBOYS BEGIN RECORDING NEW ALBUM The Waterboys have begun recording their new album, and the main sessions will take place in London in September, with Mike Scott and Philip Tennant producing. A few tracks have already been recorded, including 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn', at Findhorn during the Midsummer's Eve Stramash, and a song recorded in Canada with members of Vancouver band Great Aunt Ida. We have no information on the song selecrtion, except that 'The Crash Of Angel Wings' and several other new songs are included. The album, as yet untitled, is projected for a February/March 2007 release, in advance of the band's 2007 tour. 4 EXCLUSIVE WATERBOYS LIVE TRACKS ON MYSPACE 4 fabulous tracks recorded during the Waterboys' acoustic midsummer shows at Findhorn's Universal Hall will be available on our myspace page for the limited period of two weeks, commencing 18th July. Songs included are: Red Army Blues, The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, When Will We Be Married? and Wild Mountain Thyme, all featuring Mike Scott, Steve Wickham and Richard Naiff in blistering form. These recordings are not available anywhere else, and no commercial release of them is planned. They have been specially recorded for myspace by Chris Madden and mixed by Mike Scott. You are cordially invited to listen to them by visiting us at www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys WATERBOYS SPRING 2007 TOUR - FIRST UK DATES ON SALE Tickets go on sale today (July 14th) for the first ten shows to be announced of the Waterboys' Spring 2007 UK tour. Tickets for all the following shows are available from:
These shows consitute part of a fuller tour of the UK and Ireland, to be announced very soon. WATERBOYS ACOUSTIC IN SLIGO, IRELAND, AUGUST 18TH Mike, Steve and Richard will play a 40 minute set as part of a special benefit concert at the Hawkswell Theatre, Sligo on Friday 18th August.
All proceeds will go to raise funds to improve the childrens'
playground at Yekatite 23 Primary School in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia, where Steve recently toured with a group of Irish musicians. Other artists appearing will be: Declan O Rourke, Liam O'Maonlai and The Ethiopian Crew (Brian Sweeney, Connie Murray & James Wickham). Tickets are €35 each from the Hawkswell box office, tel 00353 71965 0828
MIKE CO-WRITES TWO SONGS ON NEW THEA GILMORE ALBUM Mike has co-written two songs, 'Whistle And Steam' and 'We Built A Monster', for the forthcoming Thea Gilmore album, 'Harpo's Ghost', which will be released by Sanctuary Records on 21st August. Mike composed the music for 'Monster' and some of the music for 'Whistle And Steam' during a period of collaboration-by-correspondence with Thea during 2005. Thea guested as opening act on the Waterboys recent UK tour, during which she premiered 'Whistle And Steam'. She and her band begin a 15-date UK tour in mid September. For further info visit: www.theagilmore.com CORNBURY SHOW - WATERBOYS DELAYED AND WON'T BE THERE The Waterboys flight from Lisbon was cancelled and despite the heroic efforts of tour manager Jim Parsons to reorganise flights, the band haven't been able to get to Cornbury in time to play at tonight's festival, and are currently awaiting a flight in Madrid to where they were diverted. Our apologies to any fans who have purchased tickets for Cornbury. The band's performance tomorrow in Meert, Holland will go ahead as scheduled. WATERBOYS ACOUSTIC SET CONFIRMED FOR LOKERSE, BELGIUM, 6TH AUG Mike, Steve and Richard will play an acoustic set at the LOKERSE FESTIVAL, Belgium on August 6th. Tickets are Euro 11.30 from: www.lokersefeesten.be/2005/en/home.php Other artists playing include Jackson Browne We can also confirm ticket details for the following shows:
NEW WATERBOYS VIDEOS ON MYSPACE - MAGIC MR WICKHAM AND 'MOON OVER CLIFDEN 87' Two new Waterboys videos have just been uploaded to our myspace page and are now available for viewing. Come visit us at www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys. Both films are exclusive to the Waterboys myspace page and have never been seen before. They are: MAGIC MR WICKHAM - a collage of clips of fiddler extraordinaire Steve Wickham filmed during the Waterboys tours of 2001, including several glimpses into the magical backstage and on-tour life of the band, edited and filmed by Mike Scott. MOON OVER CLIFDEN - continuing our series of 'Fisherman's Blues' era home movies, this is a unique film of Mike performing 'The Whole Of The Moon' for the pupils of a school in Clifden, a small town in the west of Ireland, in 1987. And if you missed our previous films, BERGEN 06 and GALWAY 86, both are still available for viewing on the same page. WATERBOYS FILMS ON MYSPACE We are pleased to announce our technical team has uploaded the first two videos onto the Waterboys myspace page, and both are now available for viewing at www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys. Only members of myspace will be able to access these. We don't have a facility on our main website yet to show videos, so apologies to those of you who are not myspace members. Myspace is of course open to all who wish to join. The films are: 1) BERGEN 2006 - a short compendium of performance and intervierw clips from the band's recent show at the Bergen Festival 2) GALWAY 1986 - to celebrate the release of the remastered Fisherman's Blues album, we've raided Mike Scott's old Hi-8 video camera and found some clips of the band in Ireland during the Fisherman's Blues years. The first of these is a film of Mike, Steve and Trevor Hutchinson making an impromptu appearance at the Galway 'Lark In The Park' festival in 1986, at which they play Fisherman's Blues and Meet Me At The Station. We'll be adding more films - both current and archive - soon. Enjoy! ANOTHER WICKHAM SHOW ADDED Steve will play a show in Dublin, opening for French singer Cali at 7.30pm, 23rd May at The Village, 26 Wexford Street. Tickets cost €25 (incl booking fee) from: www.thevillagevenue.com Cali is the top French rock singer who guested with the Waterboys at their Brussels show a week ago. His latest album is 'Menteur' and he is on the web at www.caliciuri.com 'STOLEN CHILD' LIVE PERFORMANCE RECORDING ON MYSPACE A beautiful live recording of 'The Stolen Child' as performed by Mike Scott and Richard Naiff at the Waterboys show last week in Utrecht has been uploaded to the band's myspace page. The track will only be on the page for a limited time. Visit The Waterboys on myspace www.myspace.com/mikescottwaterboys WATERBOYS CONFIRMED FOR BOSPOP FESTIVAL, HOLLAND IN JULY The band will play at the BOSPOP Festival, Weert, Holland on Sunday July 9th. Festival tickets are available priced 50 Euros on the from: www.bospop.nl - or by phone at: +31 (0) 900-3001250 A MIDSUMMER'S EVE STRAMASH - ACOUSTIC FINDHORN SHOWS, JUNE 24 & 25 Mike, Steve and Richard will play two special acoustic shows under the title of "A Midsummer's Eve Stramash" at Universal Hall, Findhorn, on Saturday and Sunday 24 & 25 June. Tickets go one sale Monday May 22nd from: www.thebooth.co.uk or by phone from: 01309 690954, 9.30am - 2pm, or by person from: Phoenix Box Office (opposite the Phoenix shop in Findhorn), 9.30am - 2pm. Tickets are NOT reservable before the box office opens on May 22nd. STEVE WICKHAM SHOWS On Thursday 18th May Steve will play a show at Left Bank, 15/16 rear Stephen Street, Sligo. He will be accompanied by Richard Naiff (keyboards), Henry Wickham (guitar), George Ulrich (drums) and Jamie Carswell (double bass). Tickets are available priced 10 & 12 Euros from the venue or from: 00 353 7191 40100. The performance starts at 9pm. Furrther info from www.leftbank.ie Steve will also perform as part of MetroProject in Paris on Monday May 22nd. Metroproject is a series of plays performed in one on the Paris Metro Bonne Nouvelle : Line 8, Direction Cretiel, at 21h, 22h, 23h. Steve is also musical director of the project. Featuring five directors, four playwrights, three live musicians and over twenty actors, the 5 short plays run one after the other on the Metro Line 8 as it travels from station Bonne Nouvelle to Bastille and back. Exploring images of Paris, travel, modern humanity, connection and dis-connection and other themes evocative of life in the metropolis, the plays unfold as the audience journeys aboard the carriage. For more information visit www.mangiaretheatre.com WATERBOYS ON MYSPACE Everyone is invited to log on to the new Waterboys myspace page, featuring blogs, interviews, exclusive tracks and photos and a way to connect with the band and be part of the Waterboys adventure.
NEW FISHERMAN'S BLUES WEBPAGES FISHERMAN'S BLUES is reissued this Monday (8th May). To celebrate we've specially created a set of new Fisherman's Blues webpages featuring extended sleevenotes, track-by-track comments, musical manuscripts, archive session details and more. To visit click here MORE SUMMER FESTIVALS - ENGLAND The Waterboys have been confirmed to play at the following English festivals. Both are full band shows.
WATERBOYS THESSALONIKI SHOW - TV BROADCAST The band's show in Thessaloniki on Monday April 10th was filmed by the Greek channel Omega TV , and will be broadcast on their show 'Evolution' on Saturday 15th April, 8-9pm local time. The programme features a full hour of live Waterboys and an interview with Mike Scott, and will also be re-broadcast daily, 16th-19th April on the same channel at 3-4am. KOPERVIK FESTIVAL (NORWAY MAY 26) TICKET DETAILS Tickets for this festival featuring The Waterboys are avilable now from ScanTicket, Tel (+47) 52 70 89 00 - or email: billetter@scanticket.no
or online: www.scanticket.no/Evt_Show.aspx?Shw_Id=32 SCANDINAVIAN DATES - BOX OFFICE INFO
WATERBOYS FRIEND NIKKI SUDDEN DIES It is with sadness we report the death of songwriter and musician Nikki Sudden, an early friend of The Waterboys, who died after his show in New York on Sunday night, 26th March. Cause of death has not been announced. Nikki and Mike Scott spent a lot of time together in London in the early 1980s, and Mike, Anthony Thistlethwaite and early Waterboys drummer Kevin Wilkinson all played on Nikki's 1982 album 'Bible Belt'. In fact, Mike first heard Anthony play on Nikki's 1981 song 'Johnny Smiled Slowly'. The Waterboys' version of Nikki's song 'Cathy' is on the remastered version of 'A Pagan Place', issued in 2002, and Nikki features as "Augustus" in Mike's song 'The Late Train To Heaven', on the same record. In recent months Mike and Nikki were in correspondence, sharing memories for Nikki's autobiography. We offer our sincere condolences to Nikki's family. FISHERMAN'S BLUES RE-MASTER NOW OUT 8TH MAY The eagerly awaited remastered 2CD version of the band's classic album Fisherman's Blues has been delayed one week, and will now be released by EMI on Monday 8th May. The delay is due to artwork delays with the expanded booklet. The tracklist is as previously announced, with a total of 27 tracks, and the package now includes a new 6-page sleevenote by Mike Scott titled 'Fisherman's Blues, Roots and the Celtic Soul' as well as full track-by-track notes and credits and a selection of rare photos. WATERBOYS GREEK SHOWS - DATES MOVED The Waterboys' two Greek shows in April have been moved one day later due to
events outwith the band's control. The new dates are:
Tickets are available from: Ticket House Athens, Panepistimiou 42, Áthens, tel: 210 3608366 Mon/Wed/Sat 10:00 –16:00, Tues/Thurs/Fri 10:00–21:00 Ticket House Thessaloniki, Eth. Aminis 20 & Ôsimiski, Thessaloniki, tel: 2310 253630 Mon/Wed 10:30-16:00, Tues/Thurs/Fri 10:30–15:00 &17:30–20:30, Sat 10:30–15:00 Tickets are also available from: PMW recordshops , Musicland records & Ianos bookstores COVERS UPDATE Several new covers of Waterboys songs have recently been released in many genres, including rock, celtic, new age, folk, ambient and pop. We'll be regularly giving updates of covers under the title 'Covers Update'. Below is a list of all the recent ones of which we're aware. For a full list of past cover versions of Waterboys and Mike Scott songs click here.
FURTHER SPRING AND SUMMER SHOWS CONFIRMED The following shows have just been confirmed. All are full-band shows. As soon as we receive ticket details they will appear here. More shows are currently being added and we will be able to publish details soon.
FISHERMAN'S BLUES 2CD SET TO BE RELEASED MAY 1ST EMI Records will release the remastered Fisherman's Blues album on May 1st in a special presentation package containing an enhanced sound quality version of the original classic album - with some extended versions - and a second CD of a whopping 14 previously unreleased tracks selected by Mike Scott. The package includes never before seen photos, sleevenotes by top rock writer David Cavanagh and track-by-track information by Mike Scott. The longest track is the closing twelve-minute Soon As I Get Home, and CD2 includes dramatically different versions of Killing My Heart, When Will We Be Married? and Fisherman's Blues itself. The full tracklisting is:
WATERBOYS PLAY ST ALBANS FESTIVAL, ENGLAND ON JULY 14 The Waterboys will play at The Alban Arena, St Albans on Friday 14th July as part of the St Albans Festival. This will be a full band show. Tickets are available from the Arena box office at 01727 844488 or from www.ticketline.co.uk Prices: Balcony (seated) £24.50, Stalls (standing) £22.50. Tickets are on sale now. For further information visit: www.stalbans.gov.uk/leisure/arts/festival.php The Waterboys are also confirmed for the World Fleadh, a celtic music festival in Ballybunion, Ireland in August. The band will play on August 20th. Tickets details will be posted here as soon as we receive them. WATERBOYS FIRST EUROPEAN SPRING DATES The Waterboys are confirmed to play the following European dates this spring and hope to add more. Like the UK and Irish tours preceding, these will be full-band shows.
GUGGENHEIM GROTTO WILL SUPPORT ON IRISH WATERBOYS TOUR New Irish band the Guggenheim Grotto will open for the Waterboys on their Irish tour which runs from 1-5 March. The GG's latest album is 'Waltzing Alone', and both Steve Wickham and Mike Scott are admirers of the band. To find out more visit www.guggenheimgrotto.com WATERBOYS TO APPEAR ON IRISH TV'S 'OTHER VOICES', FEB 1ST Mike and Steve's recent acoustic performance in Dingle, Ireland, for which they were joined by Liam O'Maonlai on piano, will be shown on 'Other Voices', on Irish RTE2 at 11.30pm on Wednesday 1st February. The following songs will be featured: Sweet Thing, Bring 'Em All In, Peace Of Iona, Saints And Angels. Interviews with Mike and Liam will also be included, as well as part of a performance of Mike's musical adaptation of the WB Yeats poem 'An Irish Airman Foresess His Death'. For more information see Mike's article 'Seven Days And Nights in Dingle' and visit: www.rte.ie/tv/othervoices 'SIOCHAN IONA' - THE IRISH LANGUAGE VERSION OF 'PEACE OF IONA' Mike has sung an Irish language vocal on the Waterboys studio recording of 'Peace Of Iona' for inclusion on the all-Irish language album 'Ceol '06', to be released on 3rd March 2006 on the Irish label SnaG. The new title of the song is 'Siochan Iona', and this is the first time Mike has ever sung in Irish. He was helped with pronunciation by his friend, native Irish speaker and well known traditional musician/singer Seamus Begley. The lyric was translated into Irish by Iarla O'Lionard. Said Mike: "My grandmother was a native Scots Gaelic speaker, and Scots Gaelic is the same language as Irish, so recording this has meant a lot to me. It was also a privilege to have it translated by Iarla O'Lionaird, a top Irish language singer in his own right, and to have my performance 'coached' by the great Seamus Begley. I played the result to Wickham last night and he pronounced it a success - which is praise indeed!" Other artists contributing tracks include The Frames, Luka Bloom, Aslan, Kíla, The Frank & Walters, Mundy, The Sawdoctors. The album is organised by Seachtain na Gailge and all profits go to CONCERN to help with educational projects in Mozambique. WATERBOYS TO PLAY TROWBRIDGE FESTIVAL, WILTSHIRE, The Waterboys have been confirmed for The 33rd Trowbridge Village Pump Festival, held at Stowford Manor Farm, Wingfield, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire on Saturday 22nd July. The band will take the stage around 10pm. Other performers over the weekend include Suzanne Vega, Eliza Carthy, top irish traditional band Altan and many more. For the full bill visit: www.trowbridgefestival.co.uk Tickets are available by credit card from (01225) 710535 or (0117) 929 900, or online at: www.bristolticketshop.co.uk or www.wegottickets.com Credit card and online bookings are subject to booking fee. Weekend (4 Day) tickets purchased before July 1st cost £75.00. Weekend (4 Day) tickets purchased after July 1st cost £85.00 Saturday ticket only (advance or on gate if available) is £38.00. All prices include camping and car parking. Festival Information line: (01225) 769132 MIKE'S LINE-UP FOR EDINBURGH Mike will be joined by Nuala Kennedy (flute) and Anna-Wendy Stevenson (fiddle) for his set at the Edinburgh Middle Eastern Festival at Queens Hall on February 18th. Nuala and Anna-Wendy are noted traditional players on the Scottish music scene, and until recently were members of the band Fine Friday. Anna-Wendy plays with a wide variety of artists and Nuala is currently in Scottish band Harem Scarem. You can find out more about them by visiting www.annawendy.com and www.haremscarem.co.uk THEA GILMORE TO SUPPORT ON WATERBOYS TOUR English singer/songwriter and rocker Thea Gilmore will open for The Waterboys on their January/February tour of the UK, and she he will be accompanied by band partner Nigel Stonier on keyboards. Thea has co-written two songs, 'Whistle And Steam' and 'We Built A Monster' with Mike Scott for her next album, due in Spring 2006. More information on Thea from www.theagilmore.com MIKE AND STEVE'S KERRY ADVENTURE Mike has written an account of his week in Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland in mid December, during which he, Steve and Liam O'Maonlai filmed a performance for the Irish TV Programme Other Voices. They also found time to play with many other musicians and to have various adventures. To read click here. MIKE SCOTT SOLO SET AT EDINBURGH PEACE CONCERT ON 18 FEB 2006 Mike will play a 25 minute solo set, accompanied by his guitar, at the 2006 Middle East Festival One World Peace Concert, at Queen’s Hall, 87-89 Clerk Street, Edinburgh, on Sat 18 Feb 2006. The concert runs from 6.30pm-10pm. Doors open at 5.30pm and there is an Indian Restaurant from 5.45pm-6.30pm in the bar. Tickets cost £8/£6 (Concessions) from 0131 668 2019, or in person at the Queen’s Hall. Other performers and items on the bill include 'Classical Turkish Sufi Songs of Love and Devotion' by Neyzen Ilhan Barutcu; 'East Meets West' Songs with Heather Heywood and Bharati Bundhoo; 'A Place That Changes My Mind' - A Fusion of Poetry and Music by Lee Gershuny; 'Spiritual Choral Music from a Variety of Christian Orthodox Traditions' with Coda Choir. For further information about event and festival, visit www.mesp.org.uk WATERBOYS IRISH TOUR, MARCH 2006 The Waterboys will play a short 5-date tour of Ireland next March. Like the UK tour already announced, these will be a full-band shows. All tickets go on sale Friday 21 Oct 2005. Dates and venues are as follows:
MIKE SCOTT DIALOGUE WITH INTEGRAL NAKED An exclusive interview with Mike is the Featured Audio on Integral Naked, the website of philosopher and author Ken Wilber's Integral organisation, from Monday Oct 17 to Sunday Oct 23. Mike dialogues with Stuart Davis on "music, mystery and the inner lantern". The talk can be accessed by visiting www.integralnaked.org/whatsnew.aspx Integral Naked, run from Integral's base in Boulder, Colorado, is a subscription website, containing sound and film files of interviews with contemporary artists, teachers and authors. A month's free Subscription is available by visiting: https://integralnaked.org/signup.asp?cpn=MF3 Recent guests include Billy Corgan, Alex Grey, Caroline Myss and Rick Rubin. Said Mike: "Integral Naked is a brilliant website, and I'm honoured to have been invited to participate. The conversation with Stuart was one of the best interviews can I remember doing in a long, long time. I hope all Waterboys fans will check it out - and enjoy the site too." HEAR MIKE AND STEVE'S RADIO SESSION ONLINE If you missed them on the UK's Johnnie Walker Show on October 5th, you can still hear Mike and Steve's interview, with live performances of 'A Song For The Life' and 'The Return Of Jimi Hendrix', by visiting here. KARMA TO BURN - OUT IN SEVEN DAYS, NEW WEB PAGES UP NOW The new live Waterboys album KARMA TO BURN is released next Monday, 26th Sept by Puck Records. It is through all usual channels and by download from iTunes, Napster and www.od2.co.uk. Amazon is taking pre-orders and you can order a copy by clicking here. Our new KARMA TO BURN web pages are live now, featuring an exclusive interview with Mike Scott on the making of the album and how the Waterboys work as a live band; background notes on the creation of KARMA TO BURN; and a unique series of reports from some of the wildly different Waterboys concerts over the past two years. Access the new pages by clicking here. WATERBOYS UK TOUR - BOX OFFICE DETAILS The Waterboys will play a short UK tour early in 2006, comprising their first full band performances since 2003, and mark the return of rhythm section Carlos Hercules and Steve Walters. Below are full box office details for the Waterboys January/February tour of the UK:
WATERBOYS LIVE ALBUM 'KARMA TO BURN' OUT SEPTEMBER 12 The Waterboys finally release their first ever official live album 'Karma To Burn' (Puck Records, distribution by Universal) on Monday September 12. Selected from recordings made during their 2003 and 2004 tours of Britain and Ireland, Karma To Burn includes full-band versions of Medicine Bow, Peace Of Iona, My Dark Side, Fisherman's Blues, Long Way To The Light, Glastonbury Song, The Whole Of The Moon, and a 13 minute Pan Within, plus three-man performances of Bring 'Em All In, Open and The Return Of Jimi Hendrix. The album is completed by two cover versions: Rodney Crowell's country beauty A Song For The Life, with guest performance by Sharon Shannon, and the romantic classic Come Live With Me, for many years a Waterboys concert favourite. The tracks were selected by Mike Scott and mixed by Waterboys' soundman Chris Madden. As well as Steve Wickham and Richard Naiff, 'Karma To Burn' features top R&B rhythm section Carlos Hercules and Steve Walters. We will bring you further information regarding downloads and concerts soon. GALWAY - WHAT HAPPENED Mike, Steve and Richard were joined as promised by Anthony Thistlethwaite and Fran Breen on bass and drums for an explosive reunion at the Galway MASC benefit concert on May 7th. The band played a mostly electric selection including 'The Pan Within', the unreleased 'Everybody Takes A Tumble' and a version of the Beatles' 'Sgt Pepper'. For the encore they were joined by Sharon Shannon as well as Galway luminaries and original Sawdoctors Leo Moran, Padraig Stevens and John 'Turps' Burke for 'On My Way To Heaven', 'Streets Of Galway' and 'Bang On The Ear'. A splendid time was had by all ! To see pics click below:
NEW MIKE SCOTT INTERVIEW Mike has been interviewed by top Canadian holistic magazine Common Ground and is featured on the cover. To read the interview or obtain copies of the magazine click www.commonground.ca To see the cover click here STEVE'S TIME IN THE WEST Steve Wickham told the Irish Sunday Times about
his life in the west of STEVE WICKHAM ALBUM "GERONIMO" OUT AUGUST 20th - PLUS HIS TOUR DATES We can now confirm Steve Wickham's solo album "Geronimo" was released in Ireland on Steve's label Ramblin Records (distributed by RMG) on 20th August. Copies will be available from that date on-line from Claddagh Records at : www.claddaghrecords.com. The album is named after Steve's fiddle.
The album was produced by Steve, who plays many instruments on the twelve tracks as well as his trademark fiddle. Other players include : Waterboy Richard Naiff, Gavin 'Fingers' Ralston (who played in Mike Scott's band in 1997), Aogan Lynch, Lloyd Byrne, Junior Davey, Anna Heuston and Dierdre Byron Smith. The music was recorded in London, Sligo and Wicklow. THIS IS THE SEA 2CD RE-MASTERED SET OUT IN MARCH EMI will release the re-mastered 2CD version of the classic Waterboys album THIS IS THE SEA in Europe on March 29th. The original 1985 album, re-mastered at Abbey Road at the end of 2003 with newly improved sound, is on CD1, while CD2 is a 60 minute collection of previously unheard songs and instrumentals recorded during the album's creation, and specially compiled for this release by Mike Scott. The package comes with full lyrics, many previously unseen photographs, complete musician credits and sleeve notes by Mike detailing the making of the album and the influences that went into its creation. The album can be pre-ordered now from www.amazon.co.uk. The full tracklist is:
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Mike has joined with Norwegian organisation One People for a single titled IN THE
BEGINNING WAS LOVE, which will be released in Norway on 5th October. The song was
written by Mike and his friend, American author David Spangler, and some people may
remember it from the Waterboys’ Midsummer 2006 acoustic shows. The single version has a
new arrangement featuring Mike on lead vocals, with supporting vocals by Norway-based
Somalian singer Noora Noor and instrumentation by top Norwegian musicians. Mike
describes it as “exquisite spiritual funk”. Production is by Rune “Two Sticks” Lamøy and
Åsmund Gylder.
Personalised items signed by Mike and other Waterboys will be available at a special fund-raising auction held by the Lorian Association - a holistic spiritual group of which Mike is a friend - in Seattle on June 9.
Check out the May edition of Word Magazine (UK) for an interview with Mike, giving a track-by-track account of the songs on Book Of Lightning, and also a glowing review of the album by Graeme Thomson.
Mike has contributed two articles on his former neighbour, the mystic and spiritual teacher Eileen Caddy, who died last December, to the Spring issue of the UK holistic magazine Caduceus (issue 71). The articles are: Mornings With Eileen in which Mike describes going to meditate with Eileen on winter mornings in Findhorn; and Mike’s 2,500 word obituary telling Eileen’s life story. For info on how to obtain a copy, click 
The Waterboys have contributed a track to the Irish 2CD compilation
'The Aran Lifeboat Collection", compiled by Waterboys alumnus Vinnie
Kilduff, and featuring well-known Irish artists as well as musicians
and singers from the Aran Islands. The Waterboys track is Mike's
English-language version of the great Irish song 'Women Of Ireland'.
The album, catalogue no. Aran Recordings 01, is distributed in Ireland
by Gael Linn. It was released on 27th October and copies are available
online from 
