The Sons (band)

The Sons are a Derbyshire-based alternative rock band, though their music incorporates sounds from various other genres, including rhythm and blues, folk and country, with a heavy emphasis on intricately layered musical composition and lyrical complexity. Currently, The Sons are composed of lead singer/main songwriter and guitarist/pianist Paul Herron, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Steven Herron, guitarist and vocalist Stewart English, bassist Lee Blades, and percussionist Roger Millichamp.

The band runs their own record label Cannon Fodder Recordings.

History

Early days

The Sons' origins trace back to 1994, when Paul Herron met Ken Reeves while attending the University of Derby and the two of them, both aspiring singer/songwriters and guitarists, decided to form a band. Herron and Reeves soon recruited a bass player, Lee Blades, and a drummer, Matt Dewsnap, by hanging up posters around campus. When Herron and Reeves discovered that Blades lived only two doors down from their house on Uttoxeter New Road, Derby, the quartet adopted the name “New Road” as their band name.^[1]

New Road continued to play local venues like The Garrick in and around Derby until Reeves left for southern England in 1996. Before Reeves’ departure, New Road connected with Stewart English, the owner of Clostrophobia Recording Studios on Agard Street in Derby, and began recording one of the first of the band’s many demos. Unfortunately, English was later forced to close his studio, but quickly joined New Road – though, soon after the addition of English, Dewsnap left the group due to friendly but creative differences, and was replaced by Matthew Paton.

The change in line-up inspired a change in name – from New Road to Sub-marine – and the band continued to hone their skills by playing shows in their native Derby, London and France.

The Sons

In 2003, the band self-financed and released their first single One Man Floats, followed by the four track EP1 in 2004. The release of One Man Floats required the band to settle on a permanent name, and after drawing up a list of possibilities, they settled on The Sons.

Visiting Hours and Popup-Records

After promoting several demos without being signed by a label, the band decided to produce and distribute their first full-length album, Visiting Hours in 2007, followed by a seven-date British tour in the summer of 2008.

The Prime Words Committee and American release

The Prime Words Committee was recorded at Snug Recording Co. in Derby between May 2010 and Feb. 2011. The thirteen tracks on the album were selected from nineteen completed tracks and the remaining six were set aside for future B-sides. At the special request of a Swiss fan that had previously seen the band at Gaswerk, The Sons flew into Zurich and played a private party at Portier in Winterthur on Sept. 10, 2011.^[2]

The Sons' "Heading Into Land" won the award for "Adult Contemporary Album" at The 2015 14th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Style

In a 2011 interview with the Derby Telegraph, The Sons’ main songwriter, Paul Herron, said of his writing style:

Touring

The Sons first European tour dates (2009)

March 6 - Rockhouse, Derby, England
March 15 - Golden Fleece, Nottingham, England
March 20 - Ms Treue, Bremen, Germany
March 21 - Michelle Records, Hamburg, Germany
March 21 - Gruner Jager, Hamburg, Germany
March 22 - De Cantine, Amsterdam
March 23 - Kaltscha Club, Dortmund, Germany
March 24 - Damen und Herren, Düsseldorf, Germany
March 25 - Subway to Peter, Chemnitz, Germany
March 26 - Riff, Magdeburg, Germany
March 27 - Unikum, Halle, Germany
March 28 - Sparte 4, Saarbrücken, Germany
March 29 - Dimensione, Winterthur, Switzerland
March 30 - L Club, Wurzburg, Germany
March 31 - Cord, Munchen, Germany
April 2 - Mokka, Thun, Switzerland
April 3 - Cafe Pfeiffer Buchen, Germany
April 4 - Club Im Park, Furstenwalde, Germany
April 5 - Virgin Records, Berlin, Germany
April 5 - Intersoup, Berlin, Germany
April 6 - Blauer Engel, Kiel, Germany
April 7 - Kinky Star Club, Gent, Belgium
April 10 – Rockhouse, Derby

Paul Herron solo acoustic (2009)

June 10 - Ms Treue, Bremen, Germany
June 11 - Karo, Bremen, Germany
June 12 - Irish Pub, Buxtehude, Germany
June 12 - Indra, Hamburg, Germany

The Reiperbahn Festival (2009)

Sept. 25 - Kaiserkeller, Hamburg, Germany

The Sons second European tour (2009)

Oct. 16 - Rockhouse, Derby
Nov. 26 - Musigbistrot, Bern, Switzerland
Nov. 27 - Kellerclub, Stuttgart, Germany
Nov. 28 - Gaswerk, Winterthur, Switzerland
Nov. 30 - Pretty Vacant, Düsseldorf, Germany
Dec. 1- Cafe Video, Gent, Belgium
Dec. 2 - Pools, Göttingen, Germany
Dec. 3 - Astra Strube, Hamburg, Germany
Dec. 4 - Cafe Momo, Rostock, Germany
Dec. 5 - Riff, Magdeburg, Germany
Dec. 12 - Bar One, Derby, England

The Sons third European tour (2010)

March 22 - La Tana delle Rane, Reggio Emilia, Italy
March 23 - La Salumeria del Rock, Arceto, Italy
March 25 - MMB Club, Naples, Italy
March 26 - Zena, Salerno, Italy
March 27 - Contestaccio, Rome, Italy
March 28 - Lofficina Della Musica, Lecco, Italy
March 30 - Dimensione, Winterthur, Switzerland
March 31 - Scopitone, Paris, France
April 1 - De Rots, Antwerp, Belgium
April 3 - Magnet, Berlin, Germany

Additional Performances

Sept. 26, 2010 – Market Place, Derby, England
Aug. 7, 2011 – Ynot Festival, Derbyshire, England
Oct. 21, 2011 – The Old Bell, Derby, England

Discography

Singles and EPs

One Man Floats (2003)
EP1 (2004)

Albums

Visiting Hours (2007)
The Prime Words Committee (2011)
Heading Into Land (2014)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Sons (band).

• Official site
• The Sons on YouTube
• The Sons on Twitter
• The Sons on Facebook
• The Sons on MySpace