Sweeney News: A New album with Ruby Records

Sweeney Astray is now officially part of Ruby Records and recording a forthcoming album "Hope In Exile" at Sunny Bank Studios bit by bit, weekend by weekend, until we're ready to make a cover, launch it, sell it, take it round with us and make it into coasters. One day you'll be able to put it on the car cd player while trundling along a Lancashire motorway towards the dark side of Pendle Hill and say " I know where those guys are coming from!"  and reconnect with the true force of love.

Well you never know.

We're a big bunch of connected musicians these days with an intermix of friends on a musical mingling scene involving venues, studios, bands, photographers, artists, poets and the occasional music fan who might still do a normal job if such a thing exists these days. 

I'm the songwriter Mike living alone in a second floor flat in the City of Preston, teaching guitar to millionaires and school kids for a living with a few music nights thrown in. It provides a random income and a life of little sleep, endless music nights and constant playing and writing. I've met the beautiful people and the awkward cliques of the Lancashire town music scenes along with some super sweet new friends. I left my comfort zone long behind somewhere on the road with the wreckage of all my long term relationships and various public service career plans. I'm just walking through those opening doors and seeing what's in there next!

http://www.katieritson.co.uk/

Katie Ritson is our guitar player and second singer. A songwriter in her own music world aside from Sweeney, Katie's studying Popular Music Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, specialising in singing. On her way to becoming a full time professional musician, studying with a singing and vocal coach. From Accrington, Katie presently lives in Rusholme, Manchester.

 

Hannah Dacey is on double bass for Sweeney Astray and sings as well. She studies at the Royal College of Music in London and is getting some serious music training for a long term career too. You're talking a college packed with international music students opposite the Albert Hall in the heart of cultural London (as it describes itself) founded in 1882. "RCM professors are musicians with a worldwide reputation" apparently. Even wikipedia notices its "one of the world's leading conservatoires." Our Hannah is from Preston.

 

With Hannah spending much of her term time in London, bass playing duties are meanwhile left to Elliott Dryden, who also plays in  his own band The Remedy with Hannah Spurgeon over in Clitheroe. Elliott studied sound  and performance at St.Marys College in Blackburn and now works at a state of the art venue in Clitheroe, the Grand, while playing pro gigs the rest of the time. He's another Sweeney planning a music career path on the road to permanent pro.

Drummer Anna Ashworth is a full time art tutor at Blackburn College and a fine artist and graduate of Newcastle University. We've been playing in the same band since 97. So a definite founder member and long term Sweeney and close confidante. 

The other news is ...we appear to be number one in the local singer songwriter reverbnation charts http://www.reverbnation.com/sweeneyastray and we're playing a full band gig at the Middle Earth Beer & Music Festival on Saturday December the 14th at 8pm http://www.middleearthbeerfestival.co.uk/music.html And I've made a photo slideshow video of all our summer gigs which I've put on youtube. http://youtu.be/VoMM36l3Xsc

And we're playing at Korova Arts Cafe & Bar on the Saturday Acoustic at 8pm on December the 21st. Line up: Hannah Dacey (double bass); Katie Ritson (guitar/vocals) and Mike Kneafsey (vocals/guitar).

Oh yeah and I've written some new songs which we've been trying out and loving...called Sketches of Elvis,  Without Your Love, Above Me Now, The Best Mistake and Concrete and Soul. I'd love to tell you about them some time but it's like 2am again right now...

Mike.