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.
Long Earth is a progressive rock band based in Glasgow, UK. Formed in 2016, the lineup has links to long established proggers Abel Ganz, at one point involving 4 former members.
In 2017, Long Earth released their debut album The Source, which received warm praise from critics and prog fans alike, and saw them established on the Scottish live scene, gigging alongside bands such as Abel Ganz, Crystal Palace and Alan Reed, who also featured on The Source as a guest narrator.
Following the introduction of former Abel Ganz vocalist Martin Haggarty in 2018, the band wrote and subsequently released their second album Once Around the Sun in March 2020 to universally strong reviews from DJs, journalists and bloggers, and featured heavily among many "best of 2020" lists. More gigs alongside Wobbler, Abel Ganz, Crystal Palace, Stuckfish and others followed before being cruelly interrupted by the Covid pandemic, before regrouping for a gig with Franck Carducci & the Fantastic Squad in March 2022, with more gigs to follow while work continues on the writing of album 3.
reviews
What the media say about Long Earth's Once Around the Sun
Jim Lawson, Prog Rock MusicTalk – “just go and get a copy........ a masterpiece of modern prog with huge leanings to the “old style,” played by musicians who have dreamed the dream and have now delivered the dream. The dream has a name, and the name is Once Around The Sun”
Rob Fisher – The Progressive Aspect - “It’s bloody brilliant.After that, frankly, there’s not much more that needs to be said… (a) seductively magnificent album”
Eddie McFadden, ProgCore Radio, Manchester Rock Radio & ListenLanarkshire – awarded “Album of the Year 2020"
Chuck Simons, Progrock.com - in the top 3 albums of 2020
AJ Bradford, House of Prog Radio - DJ choice top ten album of 2020
Mark & Rayna Monforti, Music in Widescreen/Progrock.com - one of the top 20 albums of 2020
Martin Hutchinson, Progradar - We see a band nearing their creative zenith. Take my advice, go and listen to what may well be one of 2020’s sublime releases
Geoff Penn, House of Prog Radio - A top-rated album that is sure to please all aficionados of well-constructed progressive rock including those who would normally favour a more metal infused offering 90/100
Nemo Dre, Future Feature Radio (Canada) - One of the top 10 albums of 2020
Peter Jones, Tales from the Tigermoth, Progzilla Radio - one of the year's top 5 albums
The Prog Mill, Progzilla Radio - voted by listeners as one of the top 30 albums of 2020
Progcritique (France) - Thank you for this beautiful music, powerful but never aggressive, and above all optimistic… 4.5 out of 5.
Dutch Progressive Rock Pages - one of the top 50 albums of the first half of 2020 (as chosen among all 11 writers) & one of the top ten albums of 2020 as chosen by writer Andre de Boer
The European Perspective – one of the best releases in UK & European progressive rock of 2020
Larne Peters ProgAlley (Germany) reviews – Loved The Source already, but this one’s another story: love it big, big! Well Done!!
Jacopo Vigezzi, Progressive Rock Journal - symphonies merged with Rock. Guitar and keyboards,….. For all lovers of the more symphonic and soft part of Prog
Strutter Magazine, Holland - All the fans of Pallas, IQ, Pendragon, Abel Ganz and such will absolutely love this album! 8.2/10
Steve & Lou's World of Prog show - It is a real triumph & the boys should be really proud of this one, this extended musical journey goes through so many musical styles and passages that it never once gets boring ...8.5/10
NEWS
December will be magic again
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.
In four - one, two, three.....
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