Greg Spawton
Spawton performing with Big Big Train in 2019.
Spawton performing with Big Big Train in 2019.
Background information
Born (1965-05-17) May 17, 1965
OriginSutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
  • Bass
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1980s–present
Labels
Member ofBig Big Train
Formerly ofEquus
Spouse(s)
Kathryn Spawton
​
(m. 2015)​
Websitewww.bigbigtrain.com/greg-spawton/

Gregory Spawton (born May 17, 1965)[1] is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and only continuous member of English progressive rock band Big Big Train.

Early life

Spawton was brought up in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.[2] The first prog album he heard was Selling England by the Pound by Genesis, which belonged to his brother Nigel, when he was 12.[2] The first album he bought was Pawn Hearts by Van der Graaf Generator.[2] He also saw Steve Hackett on his Defector tour in 1980.[2] A heavy influence of his is Peter Hammill.[2]

Before Big Big Train, Spawton was in a band called Equus, which played some shows around Sutton Coldfield in the early 80s.[3]

Career

Spawton circa 1997

Spawton moved to Bournemouth in 1987,[2] After taking a degree in archaeology at Reading University.[3] He formed Big Big Train with Andy Poole (bass) in 1990, taking on the role of lead guitarist they were soon joined by Poole's friend, Ian Cooper on keyboards, Steve Hughes on drums and Canadian vocalist Martin Read[4] (who also played acoustic guitar).[5]

Their debut album, Goodbye to the Age of Steam, was released in 1994, with Spawton writing or co-writing all the tracks.[6] He also filled the role of keyboardist after the departure of Cooper for sessions of 1997's English Boy Wonders, before Tony Müller joined as Cooper's replacement for a rare live show at the Astoria, London.[4]

The band became an independent band after their label GEP dropped them due to disappointing sales.[4] They continued and released Bard, in February 2002.[4] They also released Gathering Speed (2004) and The Difference Machine (2007) with new vocalist Sean Filkins.[4] The former is the only album not to feature any songs solely written by Spawton, and the latter feature guest appearances from Nick D'Virgilio and Dave Meros of Spock's Beard, Pete Trewavas of Marillion,[7] and Mike Holmes of IQ also having some involvement.[8]

Spawton (middle) in 2009.

In 2009, the band had a fresh start with Sean Filkins and Steve Hughes leaving and being replaced by David Longdon and Nick D'Virgilio.[4] The resulting album, The Underfall Yard, included Spawton taking up the role of guitarist, keyboardist and bass, with Poole playing additional keyboards and bass.[9] The album also featured Dave Gregory of XTC on guitars, sitar, Mellotron, with Jem Godfrey playing a synth solo and Francis Dunnery playing a guitar solo on the titular track.[10] The album also featured a four piece brass section and Jon Foyle on cello.[9] Spawton wrote all tracks on The Underfall Yard.[9]

Dave Gregory joined the band full time to work on their follow up albums English Electric Part One and Two. These albums are the first feature a song that is written or co-written by Spawton, with Longdon taking sole credit for four tracks on the two albums.[11][12]

Spawton (left) and Dave Gregory performing with Big Big Train 2019.

The band rehearsed for possible future live performances at Real World Studios with new members keyboardist Danny Manners, violinist Rachel Hall (ex-Stackridge) and guitarist/keyboardist Rikard Sjoblom (Beardfish).[4][13] This line-up continued and released Folklore (2016), Grimspound (2017) and The Second Brightest Star (2017) before Poole departed in January 2018,[14] with Robin Armstrong joining on tour in his place,[15] Spawton has played bass on Armstrong's album, The Man Left In Space with Cosmograf.[16] They released Grand Tour in 2019, which was the last for Hall, Manners and Gregory who all departed in 2020.[17]

Spawton played bass and bass pedals on Between A Breath And A Breath by Judy Dyble and David Longdon in 2020.[18]

The band was rebuild with Dave Foster (guitars), Carly Bryant (vocals & keyboards) and new violinist Clare Lindley (also ex Stackridge), the former two had performed on Common Ground (2021) and all performed on Welcome to the Planet (2022) which was the last of new material to feature David Longdon, who died in November 2021.[19]

The band has since continued with Alberto Bravin,[20] whom Spawton had seen performing with Premiata Forneria Marconi in 2015 in Camden Town, London.[21]

Spawton played bass on Butterfly Mind (2022) by Tim Bowness.[22] He also played 12-string guitar on David Longdon's posthumus album Door One.[23]

Personal life

Spawton has written songs about his father, who he had a fractured relationship with before his death.[24]

Spawton married his wife, Kathryn in April 2015. The couple had been together for 18 years.[25]

He worked as a specialist on homelessness until 2016, when Big Big Train's success made him able to become a full time musician.[3]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Janson, Tobbe (2015-05-17). "Happy Birthday, Greg!". Progarchy. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Moon, Grant (2016-11-28). "Big Big Train's Greg Spawton gives us a glimpse into his prog world". louder. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Band". Big Big Train. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History". Big Big Train. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  5. ↑ Train, Big Big (2008-07-01), Live, 1998, retrieved 2023-12-14
  6. ↑ "Goodbye to the Age of Steam". Big Big Train. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  7. ↑ "The Difference Machine". Big Big Train. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  8. ↑ Train, Big Big (2008-07-01), Mike Holmes and Rob, retrieved 2023-12-14
  9. 1 2 3 "The Underfall Yard". Big Big Train. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  10. ↑ The Underfall Yard (liner notes). English Electric Recordings. 2021. EERCD0027.
  11. ↑ English Electric Part One (liner notes). English Electric Recordings. 2012. EERCD011.
  12. ↑ English Electric Part Two (liner notes). English Electric Recordings. 2013. EERCD0012.
  13. ↑ "Big Big Train Recruit Beardfish's Sjoblom". beardfishband. January 8, 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Ewing, Jerry (2018-01-01). "Andy Poole To Leave Big Big Train". louder. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  15. ↑ Spawton, Greg (2018-02-27). "Robin Armstrong (Cosmograf) joins live line-up". Big Big Train. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  16. ↑ The Man Left In Space (liner notes). Cosmograf Music. 2013. COS04.
  17. ↑ "Rachel Hall and Danny Manners Depart Big Big Train". Big Big Train. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  18. ↑ Between A Breath And A Breath (liner notes). English Electric Recordings. 2020. EERCD0026.
  19. ↑ Snapes, Laura (2021-11-22). "David Longdon, frontman of prog rock band Big Big Train, dies aged 56". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  20. ↑ Ewing, Jerry (2022-04-27). "Big Big Train announce Alberto Bravin as new lead singer". louder. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  21. ↑ Driessen, Alex (2022-08-28). "Alberto Bravin – Big Big Train". T P A. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  22. ↑ Butterfly Mind (liner notes). Inside Out Music. 2022. IOM633.
  23. ↑ Door One (liner notes). Plane Groovy. 2022. PLG112.
  24. ↑ "The Underfall Yard". Big Big Train. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  25. ↑ Osborne, Louise (2015-04-23). "Kathy & Gregory Wedding". Lou Osborne Photography. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.