Dave Cousins: The Stories And Songs Tour with Ian Cutler March 12, 2008

Dave Cousins, who has been the lead singer and main songwriter of Strawbs from the release of the band’s first album in 1968 on A&M to the present day, is undertaking his first solo tour in March in the United States and Canada.

In the 1970s Dave Cousins and Strawbs were flying high with major chart albums ‘Grave New World’, and ‘Bursting at the Seams’ in the UK, followed by huge success in the USA and Canada with ‘Hero and Heroine’ and ‘Ghosts’. In 1972, Dave Cousins made a solo album, Two Weeks Last Summer, with guests including former Strawbs member Rick Wakeman and Roger Glover of Deep Purple.Strawbs sold over 3 million albums in the period 1972-1977 and spent 55 weeks on the Billboard charts with seven successive albums .

Cousins’ decision in 1980 to leave the band to work in radio effectively signalled the band’s demise, but a reunion on Rick Wakeman’s TV show Gas Tank in 1983 resulted in an invitation to reform to headline 1983’s Cambridge Folk Festival. The band went on from there to perform occasionally in the UK, US, and Europe over the next few years.1993 saw the band touring in the UK for their 25th anniversary, and in 1998 Cousins staged a 30th anniversary bash in the grounds of Chiswick Park in London, which saw several different line-ups of the band perform on a bright summer’s day in the open air. Since 1999 the band has been touring annually in both acoustic (3-piece) and electric (5-piece) formats.

In 2007, Dave Cousins released a new solo album, The Boy in the Sailor Suit, produced by Chris Tsangarides, whose studio is littered with gold discs for albums by Yngwie Malmsteen, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy and many more.

The upcoming Dave Cousins solo outing will be billed as The Stories And Songs Tour…fans who have been fascinated by Cousins’ always-entertaining anecdotes and song introductions will have a chance to hear the expanded versions, along with classic Strawbs songs and brilliant new material from The Boy In The Sailor Suit.

For a sneak preview of what you’re likely to hear, go to www.myspace.com/davecousinsuk and listen to “Never Take Sweets From A Stranger,” “Calling Out My Name,” and “Skip To My Lou.” (there’s a fourth track there, but it’s not recent material) This promises to be a wonderful show, don’t miss it!

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