Long Earth

Well that was enormous fun!  A wonderful weekend of music came and went in a flash. So many new friends and fans, quite a few CDs, T Shirts & badges sold, and so many memories. This was a superbly organised event (take a bow Mark Cunningham), and everyone from the crew, sound, light, video, photography and venue staff were brilliant. The quality of the bands was superb, from the first on stage at noon to the headline acts. And the audience…. ? Appreciative, knowledgeable and enthusiastic to a person.  We went down rather well, despite a couple of technical gremlins. I think we've played better, but we haven't had more fun (gremlins aside). And of course, all in aid of brain cancer charities.

Here's what David Edwards of The Progressive Aspect had to say:

I’ve been waiting to see Scottish melodic prog rockers Long Earth come over the border for several years, so I was really pleased to see them at last. Based in Glasgow and formed in 2016, they have two albums under their belt, although it was 2020’s Once Around the Sun that made up the majority of the set. They started off energetically with We Own Tomorrow, followed by an impressive new song entitled Sand – which bodes well for the third album. The contemplative power ballad My Suit of Armour really showed off Martin Haggarty’s expressive vocals, with some stunning guitar from Renaldo McKim. The whole band really excel on Spring/Summer with Mike Baxter’s keyboards adding some lovely proggy texture and David McLachlan and Alex Smith so solid rhythmically. Sadly, a bass guitar technical issue meant no Winter, but a stunning version of the dark A Guy From Down the Road – with Martin’s clear vocals and story-telling skills to the fore – ended a very well-received set of quality melodic rock with prog flourishes. Hopefully more people will discover this friendly, talented, and enthusiastic band soon.

The weekend was boosted even further by the announcement that we are to feature at next June's Soundle festival in Peterborough, alongside some fantastic bands. There will be at least one other high profile gig to be announced once all the formalities are addressed, and we continue to look out for more. Watch this space….

 Now we are back to working on album 3, An Ordinary Life. 

Well, the Emerald Dawn gig didn't happen - their whole tour was cancelled due to Covid hitting the drummer with a few days to go, and as they'd booked the venue & sold the tickets, we couldn't take on the gig without starting from scratch with just a few days to the event. Sad, but thankfully their drummer is on the mend. Then our gigs in Edinburgh & Sheffield with Also Eden were both cancelled due to their singer having throat problems necessitating surgery. Are we a jinx?

However, we managed to fix a local gig at 14 days notice - the Glad Cafe in Shawlands, Glasgow (see the Shows page for details). We've also asked the very talented Maaike Siegerist to support. A Dutch artist now resident in Glasgow, she straddles several genres, from dark folk & jazz to more electronic music, sometimes under the alter-ego Dora Lachaise.

Should be a fun night!

We are delighted to say that we are once again joined by our original guitarist, Renaldo McKim. He returns in time to add his skills to the new album, on which the backing tracks for keys, drums and bass are mostly complete, together with most of the guide vocals.  However, we also have the joy of our first gig of 2023 to look forward to/rehearse for (April 16), with the added bonus of sprinkling some of the new songs into our set. See our Shows page for ticket links to all our Spring gigs. 

As the end of the year looms, we are excited by what 2023 holds for us. 

We started recording album 3, with a handful of basic backing tracks done and lyrics written, several more demo'd (plus draft lyrics), and a few other tracks in rough instrumental demo form. We're going to have the luxury of having to  choose what we leave off this album. Hopefully ready to release sometime in Spring, the album does have a theme, but no title as yet. 

Spring also sees us hit the road in earnest, with gigs in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Abingdon already confirmed, and other offers on the table or awaiting confirmation. We're gigging with The Emerald Dawn and Also Eden, plus we're on the same bill as the likes of Doris Brendel, Cosmograf, Zio  Ft Hayley Griffiths, Grace & Fire, Lee Abraham, Band of Rain, Trilogy, and our good friends Abel Ganz - all at Prog For Peart 2023, the annual festival in aid of the Peart family's Brain Cancer charity. 

We've also had to defer/decline a couple of brilliant festivals due to clashes with existing commitments - hopefully we'll do them in 2024. 

In the meantime, we hope to recruit some assistance, ie "friends/fans with skills" to help us out with PR, Social Media, Video/multimedia, and live sound, so if anyone wishes to throw their hat in the ring for any of these roles, please contact us. You will make as much money as we do out of it, ie nothing, but you'll see some really great bands, meet some fabulous people, and have fun along the way. Some of these roles can be done remotely if preferred, so distance needn't be an object. 

November already and what's been happening? Well, plans for our Xmas gig at the Backstage, Kinross have been scuppered by health issues within the band that are preventing us from rehearsing a live set. We hope to return there next year. However, we have been able to plan some gigs for Spring 2023 onwards, with a few festival appearances pencilled in (dates, places and other acts to be confirmed), and confirmed gigs with two fantastic prog bands; The Emerald Dawn are coming all the way from Cornwall for their first Scottish gig, and long established Welsh band Also Eden are also venturing North. Check the Shows page for details and tickets, or join our mailing list for alerts

More soon.

Martin