Glaswegian rockers GUN are back with a brand new album, ‘Calton Songs’ released on Cherry Red Records on 14 October 2022.
The new album will be available on Cherry Red-coloured vinyl, CD, cassette and digital. ‘Calton Songs’ is a full-blooded celebration of the band’s career so far with enthusiastic and brand new acoustic reinterpretations of the songs that made their name and took GUN to the four corners of the world.
These retooled classics are bolstered by the addition of the single "Backstreet Brothers" which is released 18 May. This is a new and fully electric track that basks in the simple joys of both lives and good times shared, but also brings the GUN story up to date.
WATCH “BACKSTREET BROTHERS” VIDEO HERE || STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE
‘Calton Songs’ is an album that takes its name from the area of Glasgow where the band grew up, and where they still write their music. This record is about celebrating the road that GUN have taken to reach this point, these new versions of great songs are cut through with un-ironic nostalgia but this is a band with an eye on the horizon for what’s to come, not what’s over their shoulder in the past. ‘Taking On The World’ announced the band to a global audience in 1989 and their next album ‘Gallus’ just marked its 30th anniversary. ‘Calton Songs’ is the latest milestone on this journey and follows-up ‘Favourite Pleasures’ from 2017 which made the top 15, making it their biggest album in almost a quarter of a century, since 1994’s ‘Swagger’.
As Jools Gizzi says,
“When the pandemic hit we realised that it was the perfect time to try and counteract the bleakness that was all around. It felt like we couldn’t write anything, or of course tour. Out of that darkness came a desire to completely rework these songs that we know the fans love, and bring a different, stripped down vibe. ‘Better Days’ was the first one to get the treatment, and that really brought all our enthusiasm back and relit the creative fires”.
Dante Gizzi added, “It’s ironic that those feelings of negativity led to something so positive, a celebration of our career up to now. It turned into something great, and "Backstreet Brothers" really sums up that unalloyed enthusiasm that has been brought back into the heart of the band”.
The band hit the road this year with festivals and gigs announced in Barcelona (18th May), Madrid (19th May), Segovia (20th May), Villava (21st May) and a storming return to Scotland with an acoustic tour and full electric gigs in Glasgow and Aberdeen in December. Full UK dates so far are as follows:
GUN - UK DATES
August
(Acoustic Tour)
12 - IRVINE, Harbour Arts Centre
13 - BLAIR ATHOLL Food In The Park
16 - NEWCASTLE Trillians Rock Club
18 - DUNFERMLINE PJ Molloys
19 - STRATHHAVEN Frets
20 - CUMBERNAULD Submarine
September
2 - WITTON-LE-WEAR Stormin The Castle
October
29 - INVERNESS Monsterfest
December
10 - GLASGOW Barrowland Ballroom
11 - ABERDEEN The Lemon Tree
Tickets on sale here: https://www.gunofficial.co.uk/tour
With the ‘Calton Songs’ album now ready, initial work on a potential new studio album started and live dates on the calendar, GUN are truly firing once more. With a shared history that takes in some amazing achievements – a band that remain in the Top 50 modern hard rock artists in the world according to music industry data specialists, Chartmetric. GUN have enjoyed an amazing career: top 20 albums and singles, an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Cover for their massive take on Cameo’s ‘Word Up’. They have performed shows with everyone from The Rolling Stones to Bon Jovi to Iron Maiden; this is a band with plenty to shout about and boundless optimism. GUN in 2022 features Dante Gizzi [lead vocals], Giuliano ‘Jools’ Gizzi [guitar], Paul McManus [drums], Andy Carr [bass] and Tommy Gentry [guitar].
From Glasgow to the world was always the mentality, and their desire to entertain remains undimmed. The GUN success story is underscored by the sheer ability to write the amazing rock songs reborn on ‘Calton Songs’; these ‘Backstreet Brothers’ remain serious contenders.
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