The Wandering Hearts kicked 2019 off in style with the release of their deluxe version of massive debut album ‘Wild Silence’.
The former four-piece British Country stars then announced they would becoming a trio after band mate Tim announced he would be leaving the group. This has left AJ, Chess and Tara to carry on as a three-piece.
This year, The Wandering Hearts continue their success – they will be performing at this year’s Country 2 Country Festival at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on Friday 8 March and The O2 in London on Sunday 10 March. Ahead of C2C, The Wandering Hearts hit the road with Ward Thomas for their Restless Minds Tour, kicking off the tour in Bexhill-on-Sea on 24 February.
Here we chat exclusively to The Wandering Hearts to discuss their new music, C2C, touring with Ward Thomas and more:
2018 Was a big year for you, how are you planning on growing that success throughout 2019?
We are writing a lot of songs and we’re going to be recording and releasing more music and hopefully, travelling further afield to play as many gigs as we can!
Your massive hit album ‘Wild Silence’ will be re-released as a deluxe version last month, what was behind the decision to repackage the CD?
We decided to release a Deluxe version of our debut album, Wild Silence, because we felt that over the course of the year it’s been out, we’d experienced so much more and we had more to give. The Deluxe brings together live tracks from our show in Graceland with Marty Stuart, new music, and re-imagined songs from the album that were given a new lease of life after playing them live so much!
The LP features 7 brand new tracks, were you tempted to record a few more and make it a totally new album, or was it always to going to be Wild Silence – deluxe?
Well, we toyed with the idea of doing a Live in Memphis EP but then realised there were other songs we wanted to include. The Deluxe really rounds it all off for us. A new album is on the way though, don’t worry!
Along with the new CD, you’ve also been nominated for Artist of the Year at the 2019 Americana Awards, how excited are you by that recognition?
It’s incredible to even be recognised by such a wonderful and supportive community, especially after receiving the Bob Harris Emerging Artist Award last year. We love Stevie Freeman and all at AMA UK. It’s a real family of friends who just love music.
You’ll also be performing at the Spotlight Stage during C2C in March, what can fans expect from your live set?
We can’t wait to play in the arenas this year! We’ll fill the rooms with all the harmonies our fans know and love.
Along with your C2C performance, you’re also hitting the road with Ward Thomas as their support act, how did that come about?
We love the Ward Thomas girls. They asked us to join them on the road for some fun and we said yes! Simple!
How excited are you to be touring with the girls over the next three months?
It’s going to be great! We’ll be playing some new music and some oldies too and having a good time across the UK. We’re looking forward to getting to some towns we’ve never played in before. We’re also playing in indie record stores around the country to support local businesses and meet our fans.
Can we expect to see a Ward Thomas and The Wandering Hearts collaboration anytime soon?
Maybe..! We have quite a long time together. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of singing together!
What can concert goers expect from your support set?
We are going to be stripping it back, mixing up the set and sometimes going old school style all round one mic and going full acoustic.
What are you overall career goals for this year?
To enjoy every second of it and hopefully still be doing it this time next year and the year after and the year after that and so on!
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