GRAHAM Gouldman will play Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on March 25 on next spring’s tour to launch his first solo album in eight years.
The 10cc luminary’s 14-date travels with his semi-acoustic band, Heart Full Of Songs, will run from March 19 to April 4, coinciding with the March 20 release of his as-yet-unnamed record on the British independent label Lojinx.
One notable guest on Gouldman’s first solo set since 2012’s Love And Work is The Beatles’ Ringo Starr, who plays drums on Standing Next To Me.
Last year, Gouldman, 73, was invited by Starr to join his All Starr Band for tours of Europe and the United States that featured three 10cc songs.
“Playing with Ringo Starr and The All Starr Band was absolutely brilliant, and having Ringo play drums on one of my new album’s songs was the icing on the cake,” says Gouldman.
“The song is about how I came to be asked to join his band, and about my experience of being on the road with Ringo alongside Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Gregg Rolie, Warren Ham and Gregg Bissonette, who also plays drums on three of the album’s tracks.”
When Gouldman formed what became Heart Full Of Songs, it was for the pleasure of playing his songs in their simplest form, leading to the acoustic four-piece’s first tour in April and May 2013.
Gouldman’s band now tours Britain, Belgium, Holland and Germany with a line-up of Gouldman, Ciaran Jeremiah, Dave Cobby and either Iain Hornal, Nick Kendal or Andy Park, depending on their commitments.
The Heart Full Of Songs set list will feature such golden Gouldman hits as 10cc’s I’m Not In Love, Dreadlock Holiday and The Things We Do For Love, The Hollies’ Bus Stop, The Yardbirds’ For Your Love and Wax’s Bridge To Your Heart, complemented by new material.
“I always love taking my Heart Full Of Songs show on tour,” says Gouldman. “Acoustic performances always create a very intimate atmosphere where every song – which is what it’s all about – can truly be heard. It also gives me a chance to explain how the songs came about and something of the writing process. We’ll see you there.”
Tickets for his Leeds concert, Gouldman’s only Yorkshire date, are on sale on 0113 243 0808 or at cityvarieties.co.uk.
Did you know?
In 2014, Graham Gouldman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, an arm of the USA’s National Academy of Music. Previous inductees include Noel Coward, Irving Berlin, Burt Bacharach, Neil Sedaka, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Leonard Cohen.