Frank Turner

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Frank Turner

Frank Turner is a burgeoning solo artist based in the UK. He has toured the UK extensively and gone on a few forays into Central and Eastern Europe since the demise of his former band Million Dead.

Frank Turner started solo acoustic shows prior to Million Dead's break up. The first official performance was at the first Small Town America all dayer at 93 Feet East on September 18th 2004. The solo performances were, in a sense, a sideline to Million Dead. They did allow Turner to display some of his own songwriting capabilities (without a band) as well as some covers of songs and bands he enjoyed, in some cases the songs were much re-worked to fit an acoustic atmosphere. Solo performances were also used to help bolster or expose Million Dead to new individuals as well, with some acoustic in-store and radio performances of Million Dead songs.

At the end of February and start of March Frank went to Oxford to record the Campfire Punkrock EP with Dive Dive as the backing band for three of the songs. This EP was released on May 15 2006 on a limited run through Xtra Mile recordings. It sold out after only a few weeks on sale and had to be re-pressed to meet demand. This has meant good news for Frank as he will be recording his debut album "Sleep Is For The Week" in August/September 2006 with a planned release for January 15th 2007. The album includes a live recording of The Ballad of Me And My Friends which plans to credit the names of the audience for their contribution to the track. In the meantime, a 12" LP split between Frank Turner and Jonah Matranga was released in the UK via Xtra Mile Recordings and the USA on Welcome Home Records. The release features Frank covering two songs by American songwriters and Jonah covering two songs by British songwriters. He was recently the last ever artist to perform on BBC Radio 1's Lamacq Live program, unveiling two new songs from his forthcoming album.

He has recently announced a string of tour dates starting next january, with Dive Dive and Beans on Toast in support.

[edit] Releases

Original Website Demo
Xtra Mile Singles Club Split (January 30 2006)
Public Service Broadcast #8 (April 17 2006)
Campfire Punkrock (May 15 2006)
Jonah Matranga / Frank Turner Split (July 17 2006)
Vital Signs (December 25 2006)
Sleep Is For The Week (due for release January 15 2007)

[edit] Sleep Is For The Week

The tracklisting for his forthcoming album has recently been revealed:

1) The Real Damage
2) Vital Signs
3) Romantic Fatigue
4) A Decent Cup Of Tea
5) Father's Day
6) Worse Things Happen At Sea
7) My Kingdom For A Horse
8) Back In The Day
9) Once We Were Anarchists
10) Wisdom Teeth
11) The Ladies Of London Town (featuring Jamie Lenman from Reuben on backing vocals)
12) Must Try Harder
13) The Ballad Of Me And My Friends (Live recording at Camden Barfly 8th August 2006)