Newton Faulkner who first came to the wider public’s attention when his 2007 debut studio album Hand Built By Robots topped the UK album charts and was certified double platinum, scoring such hit singles as ‘Dream Catch Me’ along the way, has announced that will he be touring this September through to October.
Renowned for his percussive style of guitar playing, Faulkner has said he will be stripping his songs back to their purest form., just him, with his acoustic guitars and voice.
“On the forthcoming UK tour, I’ll be focusing on the songs that work best with just a vocal and guitar part and no musical multitasking or loops,” said Newton.
”I’m sure there are some big songs I have never thought of stripping back, but the ones I can’t wait to play are ‘Longshot’, ‘Against The Grain’, ‘I’m Not Giving Up Yet’, ‘Never Alone’, ‘Been Here Before’, ‘Waiting On You’ and obviously ‘Feels Like Home’. Most of these songs I very rarely play on tour!”
Faulkner’s subsequent albums have similarly reached the high end of the album charts, and he has diversified; being cast in the musical American Idiot, based on songs by Greenday and featured as part of the 40th Anniversary musical version of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.
After the mystery-cloaked ventures of recent times, Faulkner’s new ethos of “no secrets” promises open lines of communications as his plans to date unfold. Already confirmed is this 23-date Feels Like Home UK tour, that starts on 17th September and sees him shapeshift once again. “After the last tour – which was an immensely complicated setup, like flying a musical helicopter – this one will be really stripped back and minimal, like how I started. There’s definitely a power to that.”
The Feels Like Home tour also lifts the curtain on his touring infrastructure, with VIP tickets letting the Faulkner hardcore observe the technical preparation, and guitar workshops unpicking his playing methods before the gig.
“There’s always so many questions,” he reasoned, “and I started to think, ‘Well, why don’t we open up the process?’ So, people can come to the soundcheck and experience me prepare the show! Then there’ll be a workshop in the day, to suit all different levels of player.”
It’s a concept that flows into another of the songwriter’s biggest upcoming projects. As a noted alumnus of Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music – Not to mention a seasoned tutor, workshop leader and bootcamp guest – the Newton Faulkner Guitar Academy set to launch later this year is a logical progression.
“Playing has made me so happy for so long and I want to pass that on,” he said. “But music theory is a huge topic and if you’re just thrown in, it puts a lot of people off. The Guitar Academy is about streamlining everything you need to have the most fun, work stuff out by ear and get deep in – but to the fun stuff – as quickly as possible.”
The fan pre-sale is available now direct from Newton Faulker’s website and general sale tickets become available from 9am on Friday 25th February via The Gig Cartel.
