FOUNDING Beautiful South member Dave Hemingway has returned to the music scene with new band Sunbirds.

Having retired from the live scene at the back end of 2016, Dave has been keeping busy together with erstwhile South colleague, guitarist/songwriter Phil Barton, new discovery singer/violinist Laura Wilcockson and drummer Marc Parnell.

‘Cool To Be Kind’ was released in November 2020, on the independent label Nectar Records signalling the arrival of Sunbirds with new songs and a new sound.

Although born and bred in England, the band's sound predominantly features the instrumentation of traditional American roots music combined with the occasional outburst of guitar heavy melody more associated with Seattle in the late Eighties/early Nineties.

Dave said: “Although a lot of the songs have an Americana feel, they’re still about life in England. You’re going to feel a bit daft singing about pick-up trucks and low down honky-tonks when you live in Yorkshire.

“Now we’re Sunbirds we’re free to dig a little deeper into ourselves.

"Having said that, there’s no exact science here, we’re just enjoying ourselves and expressing whatever we want whether it’s about love, longing, depression or Gary Lineker’s crisp adverts."

The band will appear at The Beggars Theatre in Millom on July 2.

Visit: www.beggarstheatre.com