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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." The mix can be played here. 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 PASSING OF THE SHEE" ON GALWAY BENEFIT ALBUM 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 "MR YEATS" AT THE ABBEY THEATRE 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 "MR YEATS" WATERBOYS BAND 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. "WILD HOLY BAND" – MIKE’S NEW SONG ON BELIEVER MAGAZINE CD 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 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 
