Kieran Leonard

Kieran Leonard
Origin	London
Genres	Indie, Anti Folk
Instruments	Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Vocals
Years active	2008-present
Labels	LaLa Records
Associated acts	Kieran Leonard and the Horses
Website	kieranleonard.com

Kieran Leonard is a British singer-songwriter and musician of Irish descent, who performs as a solo artist and with his four piece band known as 'The Horses'.

He is particularly known for his poetic songwriting and compelling live performances. There is a clear social and political awareness in his writing and an abundance of literary and cultural references, as exemplified by his singles 'Jerusalem' and 'Harold Pinter is Dead'. He has had critical comparisons to Bob Dylan, Kurt Cobain and Leonard Cohen,^[1] whom he cites as influences.

Early Life

Born in Ireland, Kieran's family soon moved to America where he spent much of his early life travelling and on the road before eventually settling in London. He first took to the stage as an actor after receiving training at London's Guild Hall, later moving into comedy. His musical talent gained Kieran a following for his own songs, which he would later pursue as a solo artist.

Music

Hipster Jesus - single (2013)

On 9 June 2013, Kieran released 'Hipster Jesus', a single from his upcoming second album.^[2] The video was a 'moving portrait' where Kieran stares at the camera for the entire length of the song which was made as a reference to Andy Warhol's 'screen tests'. The video references this by crediting Andy Warhol as the video's director.^[3]

Out of Work Astronaut (2011)

Kieran Leonard's debut record 'Out Of Work Astronaut' was released in August 2012 and celebrated with an album launch party at The Gopher Hole in Old Street.^[4] It featured the singles The album received critical acclaim and received attention from Huffington Post.^[5]

Jerusalem - single (2010)

Kieran released his debut single 'Jerusalem' in December 2010, it was well received critically and commercially, particularly noted for its timely response to the protest marches and occupations occurring across London at the time. In early 2011 'Jerusalem' was used in the soundtrack for Ridley Scott's latest documentary film 'Life in a Day', further exposing this song to a global audience.^[6]

Scapegoat - EP (2009)

Kieran's first demos were released on an EP called "Scapegoat" and were recorded at Konk Studios London (engineered by Dougal Lott) and mastered at Abbey Road Studios. It was produced by Carl Barât (The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things) and mixed by Chris Sheldon (Radiohead, Foo Fighters), and was released on Wise Wolf Records.^[7]

Each of the EP's four songs had their own individual release date, the night of the full moon every month beginning 4 October 2009. This unusual schedule for single releases around Full Moons garnered some media interest, and in particular led to Kieran being invited by Tim Shaw, to perform a live acoustic performance on two of the single release nights for Absolute Radio.

Live Shows

Early Gigs

In 2008, he was brought to public attention as a support act on extensive tours of the UK and Ireland, opening for Carl Barât's band Dirty Pretty Things, Mark Morriss and The Bluetones, and Billy Bragg.^[8]

The Gaslight

In November 2008, Leonard began hosting a vaudevillian evening of live folk and blues music in London which quickly developed into a weekly Sunday night residency, 'The Gaslight' (named in homage to the original Gaslight Cafe in New York City). The shows were held at the Hideaway Bar in Tufnell Park, and saw performances from musicians such as Billy Bragg, Carl Barât, Drew McConnell, Jon McClure (Reverend and The Makers), Lee Mavers (The La's), The Lost Brothers & Kyle Falconer (The View), among others.^[9]

As well as the artists appearing at his 'Gaslight' residency, in 2008 and 2009 Kieran Leonard played alongside The Clash's Mick Jones^[10] and Peter Doherty.^[11]

In April 2009 Kieran also hosted and curated an evening of Literary influenced songwriting, in a historic bookshop-gallery space in London's renowned Cecille Court. The night was entitled 'Pages and Plectrums' where Leonard and guests performed songs and explained the writing influences behind them.

The Gaslight was later revived in 2014 at Made in the Shade, a bar in Hoxton Street, London. His friend and tour manager who was helping run the bar arranged for the upstairs bar to be renamed 'The Gaslight' and Hendrick's Gin offered to pay for the bar to be set up. The residency ran every Sunday night and featured songs from Kieran's upcoming second album, 'Good Luck, Everybody'. The residency ran until the bar closed in June 2014.

Festivals

In 2010, Kieran performed in New York City for the CMJ Festival. He also performed at the Filmore East during this trip.

In June 2011 Kieran was invited to support Bob Dylan, amongst other Irish acts, at the 'Feis Festival' in Finsbury Park London. In his performance Kieran showcased new material from his Debut Album, which he had been writing and recording throughout 2011.^[12]

Kieran played the Rolling Stone Weekender in Germany in November 2013.^[13]

In 2014, Kieran played the official showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Tours

In August 2010 Kieran was invited to support 'The Libertines' at their reunion concerts at the Kentish Town Forum.

Throughout the Spring/Summer of 2011 Kieran began touring France and Belgium playing to his developing fan-base in Europe. A highlight of this tour was performing at Le Trianon in Paris, he then returned to play Lyon and Bordeaux in May. Kieran was followed on these tour dates by music documentary film-makers 'Gin in Teacups' who documented life on tour and his performances, they have to date released several 'Kieran Leonard Tour Diaries'.^[14]

Kieran performed as a support act for the band Keane in Nottingham, late November 2012.^[15]

In 2013, Kieran moved into an abandoned church in Yorkshire to write the songs for his second album.^[16] Then in March, he left to tour Europe with Adam Green and Binki Shapiro as their main support. The tour included shows in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Italy and Austria.^[17]

After the Adam and Binki tour, Kieran returned to the UK to tour with Josephine.^[18]

In July 2013, Kieran opened for Wolfmother at The Troubadour. Kieran opened the set with 'Harold Pinter is Dead', only to have two guitar strings break at the end of the song. Whilst waiting for a replacement guitar, Kieran played a Nirvana cover on the remaining 4 strings before Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother lent his guitar, allowing to Kieran to finish the set. The band enjoyed the performance so much that they invited Kieran to do the remaining West Coast dates with them.

In November 2013, Kieran joined Jonathan Wilson for two of his UK dates.

In October 2014, Kieran joined Ryan Adams for his UK tour, with an additional date in Amsterdam.

Discography

Albums

• Out Of Work Astronaut (2011)

Singles

• Song For The Doomed (Oct 2009)
• Oedipus Rex (Dec 2009)
• The King, My Father (Dec 2009)
• Jerusalem (July 2012)
• Hipster Jesus (June 2013)

Charity Work

In Spring 2012 Kieran established his 'The Chance To Fail Foundation' as a response to the London riots and the closure of community youth centres. The foundation for 12-16 year olds aims to teach the craft of songwriting and recording music as a constructive creative outlet, and a way of empowering disadvantaged young people in the capital.

References