Stornoway biography
Stornoway is a British alternative indie folk band from the Cowley area of Oxford. It consists of singer and guitarist Brian Briggs; singer, guitarist, cellist and keyboardist Jon Ouin; singer, guitarist and bassist Oliver; and drummer Robert. The band is usually joined by trumpeter Adam Briggs and violinist Rahul Satija. Named after the Hebridean town on the Isle of Lewis, which appears on all UK televised weather reports and shipping forecasts, the group incorporates string instruments and keyboards, supported by a typical pop backline of guitar, drums, and bass guitar. The band is signed to the British independent record label 4AD.
Beachcomber's Windowsill
Stornoway's first radio play came in March 2006 with a demo version of "I Saw You Blink" on BBC Oxford Introducing. Radio presenter Tim Bearder was an early champion of the band and was suspended from work for two days after playing an hour of Stornoway songs on his breakfast show.
The band released their first single, "Zorbing", in July 2009. Stornoway played sets at a number of UK summer festivals in 2009, including Glastonbury festival 2009, and wrote a series of articles about their experiences for the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
On 1 September 2009, they played a secret free concert at Tate Modern, London, being introduced by Sara Cox and supported by Reverend and The Makers. The event was to celebrate the launch of the new climate change campaign .
Their second single, "Unfaithful", was released on 28 September 2009 on CD, 7" vinyl and iTunes digital download. The launch concert for this single was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London on 21 September. Their debut tour took place from 16 to 30 October 2009, culminating in a concert at Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre, accompanied by the Oxford Millennium Orchestra.
Stornoway appeared on Later... with Jools Holland in November 2009, along with Sting, Norah Jones, Jay-Z, and Foo Fighters.
In December 2009, Stornoway were announced as entrants onto the longlist of the BBC's Sound of 2010 competition, having been selected by a panel of some 165 UK-based "tastemakers".
In March 2010, the band signed to the independent record label, 4AD and announced their debut album, "Beachcomber's Windowsill" due to be released on May 24, 2010. On March 22 they released their third single, "I Saw You Blink" and played in their namesake town, Stornoway on their Highlands, Islands and Ireland tour in April and May 2010.
The band were due to play 3 dates to their hometown fans just prior to the launch of the album, at the A1 Pool Hall in Oxford on 16th,17 and 18 May, unplugged. In fact, only the first of the 3 planned events took place, due to Brian Briggs' ill health, with the other two rescheduled in June.
Beachcomber's Windowsill entered the UK Album Chart at number 14 on 30 May 2010.
The band played again at Glastonbury festival 2010 and played at Womad Charlton Park in July, 2010.
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