FIRST EVER AUSTRALIAN SHOWS ANNOUNCED - TOURING SYDNEY + MELBOURNE THIS FEBRUARY!
Frontier Touring is delighted to announce that acclaimed UK troubadour James Bay will be touring Australia for the very first time; bringing his powerful blend of rock, folk and soul to Sydney and Melbourne audiences in February 2015!
After becoming a main stay on Brighton’s open mic scene whilst studying at the Institute of Music, Bay continued to impress on London stages before one fateful night at a pub in Kentish Town when an audience member filmed Bay’s performance and uploaded it onto YouTube. It quickly caught the attention of Republic Records - home of Ben Howard, Florence And The Machine, James Blake and Lorde – who flew Bay out to New York the following week and immediately signed him.
In July 2013, Bay released his debut EP The Dark Of The Morning (out now through Universal Music), a five track collection of bare-bones melodies like ‘Move Together’ (watch here) and ‘When We Were On Fire’ (watch here) that are as intimate as they are warm.
His second EP, Let It Go (out now through Universal Music), adorned his already stunning vocals and acoustic instrumentation with a rhythm section and electric guitars. Bay also spread his wings lyrically: “I wanted to show people that that I’m not just gonna be a whispery guy under one spotlight on the stage. As much as I love that, there’s more to the story. Sometimes I want to shout about something.”
Bay quickly captured the attention of BBC Radio 1 who invited him into the Live Lounge where his performance of ‘Let It Go’ and a cover of Haim’s ‘Forever’ (watch here) became the #1 trending topic on Twitter. The Let It Go EP subsequently entered the iTunes Top 10 and saw the title track hit #1 on the real time Shazam worldwide chart following each of its broadcasts on Radio 1.
Bay’s third and most recent EP Hold Back The River (out now through Universal Music) debuted at #1 on UK iTunes chart last month and has managed the rare double feat of being named ‘Hottest Record’ and its title track (watch here) declared ‘Single of The Week’ by Zane Lowe. The title track also received A-List rotation on XFM where it was similarly made feature track and ‘Record Of The Week’.
Bay has been nominated for BBC Sound Of 2015 and recently won the coveted Brits 2015 Critics Choice Award where he beat shortlisted contemporaries George the Poet and Years & Years. His long-awaited debut full-length album is set for release in March 2015 and is being recorded at Nashville’s prestigious Blackbird Studios with Kings of Leon’s long term collaborator and Tom Waits engineer Jacquire King.
From supporting the likes of The Rolling Stones, , Kodaline, John Newman and Tom Odell to performing incredible sets at numerous festivals to selling out UK headline shows of his own, Bay has quickly collected the kind of praise that heralds the 24-year-old’s stardom as simply inevitable:
‘With his stunning tone, raw expressions and gravelly voice supporting his extremely powerful and emotive songs, there was barely a moment that passed without James gripping the crowd.’ – B Positive
‘Bay set the recently refurbished venue alight with his blend of mellow emotive offerings and his more upbeat, soaring numbers.
Stand out tracks of the night included ‘Let It Go’, ‘Move Together’, ‘Running’ and the latest gem which was executed as the closing track, ‘Hold Back The River’. The life and power the track holds is easily doubled in a live setting and James certainly knows how to perform.’ – 9/10 Fortitude Magazine
James Bay’s forthcoming performances at The Basement in Sydney and Northcote Social Club in Melbourne promise an intimate night full of breath taking talent from what is set to be one of 2015’s biggest break-out stars. Don’t miss out!
TOUR DATES
Monday 2 February - The Basement, Sydney (18+)
Wednesday 4 February - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (18+)
