Biography
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Years Active
2006 – 2017 (11 years)
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Founded In
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Stornoway is a British alt-indie-folk band who formed in 2006 in the Cowley Road area of Oxford, UK. The band released three albums from 2010 to 2015.
The band was formed by singer and guitarist Brian Briggs, multi-instrumentalists Jon Ouin and Oli Steadman, and the latter's brother Rob Steadman on drums. The band was often joined by trumpeter Adam Briggs and violinist Rahul Satija. Named after the Hebridean town on the Isle of Lewis, which appears on all UK televised weather reports and shipping forecasts, the group incorporates string instruments and keyboards, supported by a typical pop backline of guitar, drums, and bass guitar. The band is signed to the British independent record label 4AD.
Stornoway's first radio play came in March 2006 with a demo version of "I Saw You Blink" on BBC Oxford Introducing. One of the band's first high-profile live appearances was at Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2009, held in Lydiard Park, Swindon. Stornoway self-released their first single "Zorbing" in July 2009, playing at a number of UK summer festivals including six sets at Glastonbury Festival 2009.
The band signed to the independent record label, 4AD, and on 22 March 2010, they released their third single, "I Saw You Blink". They released their debut album Beachcomber's Windowsill on 24 May 2010.
On 19 November 2012 Stornoway announced the release of their second studio album, Tales from Terra Firma, which was released on 11 March 2013, after spending most of 2012 recording the album. The album's first and lead single, "Knock Me on the Head", premiered on 1 January 2013 and was released alongside the album on 11 March 2013.
In June 2014, Stornoway announced the upcoming release of their third album, Bonxie.
In October 2016 the band announced that they would be splitting up after a farewell tour during spring 2017. They played their final show on 12 March 2017. A live recording of the final show of that tour was later released as, The Farewell Show Live at New Theatre, Oxford
In 2022, the band reformed for a one-off set of gigs (including the Truck Festival in Oxfordshire and WOMAD Charlton Park in July 2022) and the set of gigs is continuing in 2023 (including a gig with Fyfe Dangerfield in London in April 2023, and the Cambridge Folk Festival in July 2023).
They announced in April 2023, via their Instagram and other channels that they had reformed to record an album called Dig the Mountain!. The release date was 8 September, with a UK tour for the album in the Autumn of that year. Original drummer, Rob Steadman is not part of this reformation.
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