Grand Tour (UK): Neo Prog

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Grand Tour is a progressive rock project from Scotland which features Hew Montgomery (formerly keyboard player with Glasgow’s Abel Ganz), current Comedy Of Errors men Joe Cairney on vocals and Bruce Levick on drums, and former Errors guitarist Mark Spalding. Hew also plays bass on the project’s first album, "Heavy on the Beach" which was released on February 2nd 2015. 
http://grandtourmusic.org/

"2005 was the year it all started… having played keyboards with Glasgow’s Abel Ganz since 1982, Hew had begun to feel theneed to take more direct control of his own material as the Ganz machine moved off in a slightly different musical direction from his. Grand Tour was born from a long held fascination with the cold war years and the nuclear stand-off between the super powers – the film “On the Beach” was a huge influence to the music as well, and many of the musical ideas flowed from the visual imagery of the movie.

Hew was joined first by local guitarist Andrew Young, whose background was in electronic and rock music and who had played with a number of bands – Andrew was keen to make the move into the prog rock genre, and he and Hew worked away at the material as song ideas were gradually developed.

Hew and Andrew were joined in 2007 by Joe Cairney, former vocalist with the then dormant Comedy of Errors. Joe had had a long and illustrious singing career with the Errors and was keen to get back to singing after a gap of many years. Initially he had got in touch with Abel Ganz, who were struggling to find a new vocalist at that time; when that didn’t work out he was quickly snapped up by Hew to work on the Grand Tour vocals.

With Hew, Andrew and Joe working away at the music, the whole project was given a huge boost by the addition of drummer Bruce Levick in 2009. Bruce and Andrew had been corresponding for some time on the internet but had never actually met until they teamed up in Grand Tour! Bruce’s drive gave the project a whole new impetus, and all the tracks were gradually reviewed with the addition of his drumming.

In 2010 Andrew was replaced by Joe’s old friend and former Comedy of Errors guitarist Mark Spalding, who agreed to join up after a brief listen to the existing demos. Mark’s powerful and varied style of playing is now one of the major features of Grand Tour."

This was the line-up that recorded the first Grand Tour album, “Heavy on the Beach”, and this was released on the 2nd of February 2015.

Two-minute samples of all the eight tracks on the album can be heard at http://grandtourmusic.org/?page_id=9.

The album can be purchased from http://grandtourmusic.org/?page_id=13, and comes in a six panel digipack format with original artwork by Duncan Storr, and contains a 24 page booklet with lyrics, photos and information about Grand Tour.

It is available from numerous other on line retailers too, one of which is cdbaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/grandtour.

'Heavy on the Beach' (self-released, 2nd February 2015, GTMCD001)

1. It's Come to This (4:59)
2. The Grand Tour, Pt. 1 (8:29)
3. Time Runs Out (9:37)
4. The Horn of Plenty (5:52)
5. Little Boy and the Fat Man (7:46)
6. On the Radio (11:31)
7. Heavy On the Beach (11:18)
8. The Grand Tour, Pt. 2 (14:26)

Total Time 73:58

- Hew Montgomery / keyboards, bass, backing vocals
- Joe Cairney / vocals
- Mark Spalding / guitar 
- Bruce Levick / drums, percussion 

Lyrics by Hew Montgomery, Joe Cairney
Mastered by Rob Aubrey
Mixed by Rob Aubrey

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grand-Tour/1575328136022464.
http://www.discogs.com/Grand-Tour-Heavy-On-The-Beach/release/6611291.

Excellent review on Sea Of Tranquility.    

Edit: Added to progfreak database, and passed to the Neo team for evaluation: http://progfreak.com/Grand-Tour-162092.html. 

Edited by yam yam - February 04 2015 at 14:52

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yam yam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Crossover Team Joined: June 16 2011 Location: Kerberos Status: Online Points: 7078	Topic: Grand Tour (UK): Neo Prog Posted: February 04 2015 at 13:33
	Grand Tour is a progressive rock project from Scotland which features Hew Montgomery (formerly keyboard player with Glasgow’s Abel Ganz), current Comedy Of Errors men Joe Cairney on vocals and Bruce Levick on drums, and former Errors guitarist Mark Spalding. Hew also plays bass on the project’s first album, "Heavy on the Beach" which was released on February 2nd 2015. http://grandtourmusic.org/ "2005 was the year it all started… having played keyboards with Glasgow’s Abel Ganz since 1982, Hew had begun to feel theneed to take more direct control of his own material as the Ganz machine moved off in a slightly different musical direction from his. Grand Tour was born from a long held fascination with the cold war years and the nuclear stand-off between the super powers – the film “On the Beach” was a huge influence to the music as well, and many of the musical ideas flowed from the visual imagery of the movie. Hew was joined first by local guitarist Andrew Young, whose background was in electronic and rock music and who had played with a number of bands – Andrew was keen to make the move into the prog rock genre, and he and Hew worked away at the material as song ideas were gradually developed. Hew and Andrew were joined in 2007 by Joe Cairney, former vocalist with the then dormant Comedy of Errors. Joe had had a long and illustrious singing career with the Errors and was keen to get back to singing after a gap of many years. Initially he had got in touch with Abel Ganz, who were struggling to find a new vocalist at that time; when that didn’t work out he was quickly snapped up by Hew to work on the Grand Tour vocals. With Hew, Andrew and Joe working away at the music, the whole project was given a huge boost by the addition of drummer Bruce Levick in 2009. Bruce and Andrew had been corresponding for some time on the internet but had never actually met until they teamed up in Grand Tour! Bruce’s drive gave the project a whole new impetus, and all the tracks were gradually reviewed with the addition of his drumming. In 2010 Andrew was replaced by Joe’s old friend and former Comedy of Errors guitarist Mark Spalding, who agreed to join up after a brief listen to the existing demos. Mark’s powerful and varied style of playing is now one of the major features of Grand Tour." This was the line-up that recorded the first Grand Tour album, “Heavy on the Beach”, and this was released on the 2nd of February 2015. Two-minute samples of all the eight tracks on the album can be heard at http://grandtourmusic.org/?page_id=9. The album can be purchased from http://grandtourmusic.org/?page_id=13, and comes in a six panel digipack format with original artwork by Duncan Storr, and contains a 24 page booklet with lyrics, photos and information about Grand Tour. It is available from numerous other on line retailers too, one of which is cdbaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/grandtour. 'Heavy on the Beach' (self-released, 2nd February 2015, GTMCD001) 1. It's Come to This (4:59) 2. The Grand Tour, Pt. 1 (8:29) 3. Time Runs Out (9:37) 4. The Horn of Plenty (5:52) 5. Little Boy and the Fat Man (7:46) 6. On the Radio (11:31) 7. Heavy On the Beach (11:18) 8. The Grand Tour, Pt. 2 (14:26) Total Time 73:58 - Hew Montgomery / keyboards, bass, backing vocals - Joe Cairney / vocals - Mark Spalding / guitar - Bruce Levick / drums, percussion Lyrics by Hew Montgomery, Joe Cairney Mastered by Rob Aubrey Mixed by Rob Aubrey https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grand-Tour/1575328136022464. http://www.discogs.com/Grand-Tour-Heavy-On-The-Beach/release/6611291. Excellent review on Sea Of Tranquility. Edit: Added to progfreak database, and passed to the Neo team for evaluation: http://progfreak.com/Grand-Tour-162092.html. Edited by yam yam - February 04 2015 at 14:52

apps79 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 15 2007 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 1551	Posted: February 04 2015 at 15:08
	Comedy Of Errors and Abel Ganz on the same team screams nothing else than Neo.Passing it to myself and my mates!
	When the power of love overcomes the love of power,the world will know peace... listen to www.justincaseradio.com , the first ever Greek Progressive Rock radio

apps79 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 15 2007 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 1551	Posted: February 22 2015 at 15:01
	Grand Tour added: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=9307
	When the power of love overcomes the love of power,the world will know peace... listen to www.justincaseradio.com , the first ever Greek Progressive Rock radio