Birds sing in Sheffield’s sun

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.

Their debut album 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 80s/early 90s. However, you can only sing about what you know.

“Although a lot of the songs have an Americana feel,” says Dave “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.”

Their debut album, which was produced by cult producer Teo Miller, captures truthful, open-hearted, funny and sometimes painfully honest songs, turning the page to a new chapter for Dave Hemingway and The Beautiful South story.  

Cool To Be Kind is the result of a few transitional years in Dave and Phil’s individual personal worlds. It tells tales that cover contemporary themes as well as age-old matters of the heart and soul — all viewed through the bottom of a recently drained pint glass.

Having previously toured and recorded as The South, alluding to Dave’s previous band The Beautiful South, and recorded some new songs on The South’s 2012 album, Dave and Phil decided that subsequent material would be better served free of the “golden millstone” that the name provided.

“Now we’re Sunbirds we’re free to dig a little deeper into ourselves,” says Phil, “while still also free to write about anything and everything we want as long as it’s worth writing about.

“Music is a powerful vehicle and can challenge a person’s thinking. Just to sing ‘I want to do this or that to you’ seems a wasted opportunity.

“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.”

To coincide with their February shows, Sunbirds released their second single Gene Kelly on January 28.  The song paints a picture of a rainy, wintry night in a working-class town, but our hero doesn’t care, he’s just positively enjoying the scene.

Sunbirds are playing The Greystones, Sheffield on February 3.

Tickets are available from the box office and all the usual agencies.