| Kevin Hewick | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 February 1957 Leicester, England |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar & Bass Guitar, microKorg, Vocals |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Factory, Cherry Red, Sorted, Burning Shed, Pink Box Records |
| Associated acts | New Order, The Sound, Unfolk, Hewick Haynes & James, No Junk Promise, Soar Valley Wayfarers, Multimorph, Liberation Doll |
| Website | www.kevinhewick.co.uk |
Kevin Hewick (born 4 February 1957, Leicester) is an English singer-songwriter who was an early member of the Factory Records roster. In the present day he is known for his recording on Pink Box records, an independent label based in Leicester and his recent work with Italian collective Unfolk.
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Newly added to the Factory roster Hewick had a recording session in June 1980 with producer Martin Hannett in Graveyard Studios where he recorded two tracks "Haystack" (released on From Brussels with Love compilation in 1981) and "A Piece of Fate" with the three surviving members of Joy Division, a month after the death of Ian Curtis and just prior to their adopting the name New Order.[1]
Other Factory releases included the controversial live side of the A Factory Quartet double album (FACT 24) in 1981 - live tracks picked against Hewick's wishes by Tony Wilson of a confrontation between him and a very aggressive audience - and the single "Ophelia's Drinking Song" (FAC 48) which featured producer Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio on percussion and was mixed by Peter Hook of New Order.
For a time Hewick was privy to many pivotal moments in Factory's early history, describing himself as a "gormless bystander" to those events. He often stayed at the Palatine Road flat of Alan Erasmus but as Erasmus became less involved with the label and Hewick's fraught working relationship with Tony Wilson rapidly worsened throughout 1982 (with Hewick even telling Wilson that The Haçienda was a bad idea as he "couldn't even run a record company properly never mind a club as well") an offer to "jump ship" to Cherry Red Records in London proved too tempting to resist.
On Cherry Red Records Kevin released an album Such Hunger For Love (1983) a single "Feathering The Nest" (1983) and a 12 inch 4 track EP recorded with The Sound Reality Unreal (1984). These and various items from Hewick's time on Factory were released by Cherry Red on a compilation CD as Tender Bruises and Scars in 2003. Kevin wrote the insert notes for this album which detailed his long fight with depression in the years following when Cherry Red dropped him from their roster in 1984.
Hewick has returned to the Leicester music scene, and can be found at frequent gigs within the city both as performer and/or event organiser, including when he booked acts and hosted the monthly Firebug Comfort Zone Sunday afternoon acoustic sessions between September 2005 and October 2006. As of September 2008 to present he hosts The Musician Open Stage on Monday nights.
He has developed a live show which has been known to reach 3-4 hours in length where he will play many of his own songs and unusal cover versions such as John Lennon's "Isolation", The Doors "Wishful Sinful", Led Zeppelin's "Tangerine" and various Jimi Hendrix numbers.
Hewick's support slots over the years have included Roy Harper, The Fall, Joy Division, Showaddywaddy, Durutti Column, New Order, Section 25, PJ Harvey, Martin Carthy, Kevin Coyne, Fairport Convention, Dr.Robert, BJ Cole and Bobby Valentino, Eyeless In Gaza, Sonja Kristina, Clive Gregson, Ben Watt, Tim Rose, Sophie Barker, Tina Dico, Dan Reed and Jackie Leven, with whom he has also performed in "The Stornoway Girls". He also appeared on Leven's live albums Greetings from Milford (2001) and Only The Ocean Can Forgive (2003). He has also guested on guitar and/or vocals on albums by The Freed Unit, Steve Cartwright, Meta-Tekki and on ist's King Martha (2005) He also co-wrote the song "A Scotsman in a Church" on the ist album Toothpick Bridge (2009) and has contributed both lyrics and vocals to music written by Alessandro Monti for Italian act Unfolk's album The Venetian Book Of The Dead released in February 2010. A live performance of the album was played in Italy at Musica Continua in Mestre on March 19, 2011.
Hewick has also returned to the London acoustic circuit often performing at 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street, also singing onstage there with Subterraneans in November 2010.
His 1990s work, including the album Helpline (1999), was issued by Leicester maverick label Sorted Records. He has also appeared on the Pink Box Records roster.
Between late 2004 to Spring of 2005 he managed all girl band Firebrand who featured Sarah Firebrand later to be the bassist with Tigertailz.
He has twice paid tribute to his old friend the late Adrian Borland at concerts in his memory in Holland at the Patronaat Haarlem (2001) and Amsterdam Paradiso (2006) and also toured Germany with The Convent in 2001.
He also contributed occasional album and live reviews to Planet Sound, the Channel 4 teletext music pages and has written material for The Leicester Mercury, BBC Radio Leicester, Tight But Loose (The Official Led Zeppelin magazine), Wears The Trousers, and a chapter for (The Book Of) Happy Memories, an appreciation of the life of The Sound's Adrian Borland, which was published in English and Dutch editions.
The Soar Valley Wayfarers (SVW) debuted at the Attik Club in Leicester on 21 June 2006. SVW is an ongoing folk/avant-garde skiffle group with Mr Plow on guitar and vocals, Flash of ist on percussion and Kevin.
In 2007 LTM Records re-issued the 1980 Les Disques du Crépuscule compilation From Brussels With Love which features "Haystack" from the 1980 session with New Order and Whispers in the Offing a tribute album to Kevin Coyne on which Hewick contributes a version of Coyne's song "Raindrops on the Window".
Hewick was involved in the development of a musical "School of Hard Rocks" with playwright Jez Simons of Hathi Productions that was staged at Leicester's Phoenix Arts Centre in September 2007 and The Shed in Leicester in February 2008.
Hewick wrote and performed eleven original songs for the production which came out as an album entitled Keep Your Flipped Wigs On on Leicester's Pink Box Records in January 2008.
Also on Pink Box was a limited edition 7" single on yellow vinyl - "Something to Do On The Bus" - and four track downloadable EP - That Side of You which came out in July 2007.
On 15 December 2007 Hewick took part in a performance entitled "A Factory Night (Once Again)" at Brussels Plan K with Section 25, Crispy Ambulance, The Names and DJ's Peter Hook and Martin Moscrop. This event was filmed and was released as a DVD featuring five of the songs Hewick performed, by LTM records in May 2008.
Further European dates with Section 25 and Peter Hook took place in Paris, Brussels, Oss in the southern Netherlands and Krefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in November 2008. Hewick opened on all these dates and played guitar with Hook and SXXV on the New Order classic "Doubts Even Here" at Krefeld. Hewick also took part in the 24 hour Tony Wilson Experience in Manchester on 21–22 June 2008 including playing with Peter Hook in an improvisational accompaniment to an action painting by artist Phil Diggle in the foyer of Urbis.
He opened for Peter Hook and The Light at Manchester's FAC 251 club on May 18, 2010 when Hook performed Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' in full.He was invited back by Peter Hook to fill the support slots for the May 18th and May 19, 2011 FAC 251 performances of 'Closer'.
A further Factory Records connected event was Kevin's appearance at Paul Morley's 'Tribute To Tony Wilson' at The Purcell Room at London's South Bank on June 16, 2011 as part of Ray Davies's Meltdown Festival. Hewick performed 3 songs specially written for this event which also included an appreance by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark.
Hewick appeared at and promoted a show for Section 25 at Leicester Musician in September 2010 and also put on an event there with Viv Albertine of The Slits and Jude Rawlins of Subterraneans on April 3, 2011. A future Musician promotion on September 18, 2011 will see Hewick performing with fellow 80s Cherry Red labelmate's Eyeless In Gaza.
On 23 August 2008 Hewick debuted on guitar and vocals with a band line up, No Junk Promise also featuring Gemma Warne on drums, Simon Ball on bass and Neil Johnston on guitar at Leicester Firebug. Warne and Ball had previously performed a one off show with Hewick as The Kevin Hewick Sexperience in May 2008.
Another band line up debuted at Leicester Victoria Park Pavilion on January 31, 2009, Hewick Haynes & James, the Haynes being Mark Haynes AKA longstanding Hewick / Soar Valley Wayfarers / Ist drum cohort Flash and Pete James on bass. HH&J performed at Leicester Summer Sundae festival on the De Montfort Halls indoor stage in August 2009 and at Alan McGee's (Creation Records) influential Death Disco night in London at Notting Hill Arts Club in October 2009. 2011 has seen them appear with Welsh alternative rockers The Holy Coves and acclaimed USA soul rock outfit Vintage Trouble and they began recording tracks to be featured on the next Kevin Hewick album.
On February 14, 2009 www.kevinhewick.co.uk released a free download album Doomcloud the until-then lost follow up to Helpline, 12 songs recorded in 2000, 2001 and 2003.
Hewick recorded "Personal Loss" for Patrik Fitzgerald tribute album All Sewn Up which has now been nominated for an Independent Music Award for best tribute album. He also took part in the release concert celebrating Patrik's 50th birthday at Verkstedhallen, Trondheim, Norway, on March 6, 2009.
Following two recent appearances together at The Donkey in Leicester Kevin and Sally Barker intend to debut a full band line up called Liberation Doll with Lee Allatson and Ian Crabtree in October 2011.