Much-missed indie rockers SUMMERHILL return for a 30th Anniversary Tour next month.
The dates, which will culminate in a show at London's Borderline, will also coincide with an expanded reissue of the band's hard-to-find debut album Lowdown.
Rising from the ashes of Stiff Records-signed Glasgow roots-rockers THE SNAKES OF SHAKE, and fronted by that band's songwriter Seori Burnett, Summerhill brought together guitarist Neil Scott, who'd served time with FELT and INDIANS IN MOSCOW, and drummer Iain Shedden from THE SAINTS and legendary Wishaw new wavers THE JOLT. The classic line-up was completed by bassist Keith Gilles, who currently also plays with the reformed UK82 punks OMEGA TRIBE.
Falling in with the mid-80s Cowpunk and Paisley Underground scenes, combining country twang with psychedelic exploration, Summerhill were the go-to support band for numerous visiting US acts, including GREEN ON RED and THE BEAT FARMERS. They released their debut 8-track mini-LP through Demon in 1988 before signing to Polydor for the full-length West Of Here in 1990.
Speaking of the band reunion, Burnett says, "I was always inclined to say 'never'. Why revisit the past? We should always face forward, look to the future. But here we are...Summerhill about to tour on the back of a re-release of our debut album. I've come to realise that our past is as important and just as much a part of us as our future. For one particular year - 1988 - we experienced such emotional intensity chasing our dreams. Now we're all ready to drink from that well of energy again, recapture a moment, take care of unfinished business and maybe something new and just as exciting will emerge."
The new reissue of Lowdown, out through Neon Tetra on 15 September, also features the band's 4-track debut EP I Want You, plus a second disc of previously unreleased material.
Full tour dates are....
16 Sept - The Hug and Pint, Glasgow (w/ Nutmeg City Group) tickets
17 Sept - The Griffin, Glasgow (w/ The Snakes Of Shake)
18 Sept - The Stackhouse Bar, Hornsea, East Yorks
19 Sept - The Harbour Rooms, Blakeney, Norfolk
20 Sept - What’s Cookin’, Ex-Serviceman’s Club, Leytonstone (w/ The Lucky Strikes & Rich Webb Band)
22 Sept - The Borderline, London (w/ Michele Stodart & Band Of Hope) tickets
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