Anyone who has had more than a passing acquaintance with Leeds’ music scene over the past few years will be familiar with the name of Gary Stewart.
He is the man who played bass guitar with the since sadly-departed Ellen and the Escapades; now plays drums with local legends Hope & Social and bass with the rather splendid Westwood Mac, and fronts his own 7-piece band performing Paul Simon‘s classic album Graceland.
He is also the man who hosts what was prior to the current Coronavirus pandemic the regular Monday night Gaslight Club at the Oporto Bar in Leeds, a weekly celebration of some of the best local, national and international folk and roots music that is around today.
Furthermore, Gary Stewart has cultivated an impressive solo career during this period, one that has produced no less than three albums and a couple of EPs. He is now about to release, ‘Leopard’, the debut single from his upcoming album, Lost, Now Found.
In keeping with the other nine songs that comprise the new album, ‘Leopard’ was written, performed, recorded and mixed by Gary Stewart during lockdown. Speaking about ‘Leopard’, he says that it “had been kicking around my head and notebook for eighteen months or so and I got to task (during lockdown). What emerged was a knitted patchwork of a song, drawing initially on one specific personal experience, but extended to a more general introspective of my character and unified under the familiar question; can a leopard change its spots?”
‘Leopard’ will be released on 5th February 2021
https://soundcloud.com/garystewartband/gary-stewart-leopard
