Greg and Alex met about 5 years ago in Exeter and immediately recognised in each other a kindred musical spirit. Both are songwriters who produce powerful, unusual songs accompanied by intricate and unique guitar styles. Both write rich, poetic lyrics that hang around in the memory long after being heard. Both are concerned with the place of people and love in the grand scheme of modern life in a way that is universally relatable and warm – never preachy or off-putting. Their songs are very human. They can be heartbreaking ... but humour is never far away.
There are, however, marked differences in the influences that have led to how they sound now. Greg developed his guitar style from 1970s English guitarists such as Nic Jones and Dick Gaughan, and with a big influence from Joni Mitchell who also radically changed his approach to lyric writing and song structure. Alex came more from a blues, pop and Americana tradition with a greater influence from Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Lyrically, Greg’s songs are often more involved with storytelling and narrative, while Alex weaves poetic images into lines that get right to the heart of the matter.
They both acknowledge the early influence of John Martyn and Nick Drake. Since their early days, however, they have each developed styles that cannot be defined by genre. There are touches of jazz, flamenco, blues, pop, classical, country and folk styles throughout their work.
Greg and Alex did a handful of gigs together in 2019 and decided to build on the positive reaction to those concerts with a tour in 2020. On this tour they will sometimes perform one after the other, and sometimes take the stage together to take turns to introduce and perform a selection of their work. This format allows for greater spontaneity and interaction between the two performers - and between them and the audience!
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More details at... www.circletour2020.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/events/528322817736962/