Michael Weston-King, the lead singer/songwriter with Britains premier `Alt. Country´ band, The Good Sons, releases his first solo-album.
The Good Son´s ascendency was cut dead in its tracks last year when the latter half of `98 turned into something of a nightmare. A near fatal car crash while on tour in Germany left Michael in hospital and the majority of the band´s equipment in pieces. A mixture of fines and missed gigs left the bands finances similarly in ruins. Added to this, Phil Abram, the mercurial guitarist, chose to re-locate to Italy, their U.S. record company filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, and Michael´s marriage, of eleven years, finally fell apart in November.
As the year drew to a close Michael found himself in Geneva at Christmas, trying to come to terms with the events of the past six months, and doing so the only way he knew possible ... through his songs. Out of such adversity usually comes creativity and by the end of January he was back in the studio with just a pianist and celloist for company, recording what would become bis debut solo album ... "God Shaped Hole".
Not surprisingly the material draws heavily on his marriage break up ("Don´t Leave The Light On", "Endless Wandering Stars"), but also on the loss of certain friends, the frustrations of the music industry ("Beautiful Lies"), spiritual unfulfillment ("Dear Lord, Why Did You Desert Me?"), disenchantment with ones current life ("From Lover´s Lane To Liverpool"), finding solace in a new relationship ("God Shaped Hole", "England´s Dreaming"), and a specially written homage to Townes Van Zandt ("Lay Me Down"), written in Austin, Texas, whilst watching a video of Townes funeral.
As well as eight new songs the album also features Michaels interpretations of a couple of songs by two of his influences. "No More Songs" by Phil Ochs "seemed to sum up so much of what had happened in my life it could almost have been written for me", an "Annie" by Ronnie Lane "says mor.......
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