Last week Ricky Warwick announced the release of a new album and the first single from that album. At the same time he announced a UK tour for April and May 2021 which includes a show in Belfast on 6th May. The album called “When Life Was Hard and Fast” will be released on 19th February 2021 through Nuclear Blast Records and is available to pre-order now. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy of the red vinyl version that is limited to 300 copies! The single “Fighting Heart” is out now and was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show last week.
Full details on the album and the tour can be found in the press releases from Nuclear Blast and Rollins Promo that are copied below.
Nuclear Blast
Ricky Warwick (Black Star Riders, Thin Lizzy, The Almighty) has announced today that he will be releasing a brand new studio album, his first since 2015. The new album is titled 'When Life Was Hard And Fast' and will be released on the 19th February through Nuclear Blast. The album's first single 'Fighting Heart' has also been released today and is available on all streaming services right now.
Pre-order the album on various formats, including a 2CD Digipack which includes the bonus covers album 'Stairwell Troubadour', now from: https://www.musicglue.com/ricky-warwick/ and http://nblast.de/RickyWarwick-WLWHAF
Ricky comments: “Fighting Heart” is a celebration of how music, literature, art and movies can inspire and motivate us on a daily basis. Can these things change the world? Who knows for sure. But I believe that loud guitars and rock n roll can save a little piece of us all”
For the process of recording the album, Ricky was joined by Robert Crane (Bass), Xavier Muriel (Drums) and Keith Nelson (Guitar) as well as a number of special guests including Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, Andy Taylor formerly of Duran Duran, Thunder's Luke Morley, Dizzy Reed of the mighty Guns 'N Roses and even Ricky's daughter Pepper. Keith also produced the new album, having previously worked with Buckcherry, Blackberry Smoke and Alice Cooper. Keith noted that "Ricky is a true Rock-n-Roll soul... he’s got incredible stories to tell and a unique way of telling them. It’s been an honor to be asked to partner and contribute to this record.”
'When Life Was Hard And Fast' Tracklist
1. When Life Was Hard And Fast
2. You Don't Love Me
3. I'd Rather Be Hit
4. Gunslinger
5. Never Corner A Rat
6. Time Don't Seem To Matter
7. Fighting Heart
8. I Don't Feel At Home
9. Still Alive
10. Clown Of Misery
11. You're My Rock N Roll
'Stairwell Troubadour' Tracklist
1. You Spin Me round (Like A Record) (Dead Or Alive cover)
2. Ooops!...I Did It Again (Britney Spears cover)
3. Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran cover)
4. 1000 Dollar Car (Bottle Rockets cover)
5. Cocaine Blues (Johnny Cash cover)
6. I Don't Want To Grow Up (Ramones cover)
7. I Fought The Law (The Clash cover)
8. Burning Love (Elvis Presley cover)
9. Jesus Loves You...But I Don't (The Almighty cover)
10. Wrathchild (Iron Maiden cover)
Ricky with his band The Fighting Hearts have announced the following UK tour for April/May 2021 with full date schedule below.
28 April 2021: Cambridge Junction*
29 April 2021: Norwich The Waterfront*
30 April 2021: Bedford Esquires*
1 May 2021: Swansea Patti Pavilion – Sound Bay Festival*^
2 May 2021: London O2 Academy Islington*
4 May 2021: Newcastle University Students Union^
5 May 2021: Glasgow The Garage G2^
6 May 2021: Belfast Limelight 2
7 May 2021: Manchester Club Academy^
8 May 2021: Carlisle The Brickyard^
9 May 2021: Buckley The Tivoli^
12 May 2021: Reading Sub 89*
13 May 2021: Wolverhampton KK’s Steel Mill*
14 May 2021: Blackpool The Waterloo – Massive Weekend (Ricky Solo Acoustic)
15 May 2021: Blackpool The Waterloo – Massive Weekend *^
16 May 2021: Leeds Warehouse^
19 May 2021: Bournemouth Madding Crowd^
20 May 2021: Nottingham Rescue Rooms^
21 May 2021: Lincoln Call Of The Wild Festival
Special Guests on all dates (except Belfast, Blackpool & Lincoln) are THE VIRGINMARYS
Plus THE HOWLING TIDES on all shows marked* and ANCHOR LANE on all shows marked^
Rollins Promo
“The true spirt of rock n’ roll is a relentless pursuit that consumes me on a daily basis. Chasing after it, making this record was a race well run” - Ricky Warwick.
Born in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland, singer/songwriter/guitarist Ricky Warwick was cut from the cloth of a mill workers’ jacket. Raised on a diet of Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Thin Lizzy, Stiff Little Fingers, Motown and everything in between. Saving his money from a newspaper round and a little help from his father, Ricky got his first electric guitar at age 13. “That cheap electric guitar changed my life....it saved me, it was more than just notes on a fretboard, it was the deepest breath of life I ever experienced.“ explains Warwick.
At age 14 Ricky and his family relocated to Strathaven, Scotland. It was here that Warwick fully immersed himself in the sonic seas of Rock n Roll. Writing and practicing every free moment he wasn’t working on his father’s farm, Ricky got a call to join acclaimed U.K. Punk/Folk band New Model Army as rhythm guitarist on their 1987 ‘Ghost Of Cain‘ World Tour. Following New Model Army, Ricky went on to form The Almighty in Glasgow who enjoyed ten top forty singles and four top twenty albums in the U.K. during the late 80’s/early 90’s, touring worldwide with such iconic bands as The Ramones, Motorhead, Megadeth and Iron Maiden.
In 2002, after relocating back to Ireland, Ricky recorded his first solo album ‘Tattoos & Alibis‘ in Joe Elliott of Def Leppard’s studio in Dublin with Joe also handling production duties. It marked a shift in direction “I realized that I didn’t need to yell over a wall of sound to make my point...less is more, stripped back instrumentation could achieve the same goal just as effectively. I learned so much making that record, primarily about myself”. Warwick would go on to release two more solo albums between 2002 -2010 and tour globally opening for the likes of Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, Bryan Adams and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
In January 2010 Ricky received a call from his old friend Scott Gorham who was spearheading a reformation of Ireland’s favourite sons Thin Lizzy and wanted Ricky to front the new line up. ”I was shocked, terrified, excited and extremely humbled when I got that call. Phil Lynott was my hero and Thin Lizzy were the soundtrack of my life. I realized that I could never hope or even dare to try and stand in Phil’s shoes. All I could do was try and stand beside them and sing his songs with as much heart, soul and passion possible. In late 2012, with a necessity to write and perform new material, out of respect for the Thin Lizzy name, Black Star Riders were born. Warwick is the frontman and main songwriter for the band and 2013 saw the release of Black Star Riders acclaimed debut album ‘All Hell Breaks Loose‘.
Black Star Riders have now released four critically-acclaimed and commercially successful albums, the most recent being 2019’s ‘Another State Of Grace‘. They have achieved two U.K. top 15 albums and one U.K. top 10 album as well as mainstream radio play which includes claiming two “singles of the week” on BBC Radio 2.
Following 2016’s lauded ‘When Patsy Cline Was Crazy... And Guy Mitchell Sang The Blues’, Warwick is getting ready to unleash his 5th solo album in 2021. Titled ‘When Life Was Hard And Fast‘, it was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Keith Nelson (ex-Buckcherry), who also co-wrote the majority of the songs on the record with Warwick. “Keith Nelson and I share a passion for good, honest, rock ‘n’ soul. Making the album with Keith who shares a similar outlook and work ethic as myself was a no brainer ....also the fact that he has a killer collection of vintage guitars contributed greatly”
“I wanted to create an album that had the simplistic melodies of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers charged with the electric hedonistic fury of Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers. Recording the album as live as possible with a full band was requisite to achieving the desired effect”. Xavier Muriel (Ex-Buckcherry) on drums and Robert Crane (Black Star Riders) on bass completed the core band and turned in stellar performances, giving the songs a real lease of life.
Also, once again, Warwick tapped some of his closest friends for guest appearances on the record, including Andy Taylor (Duran Duran & Power Station) Luke Morley (Thunder), Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Dizzy Reed (Guns n Roses). Ricky also duets with his daughter Pepper on the song ‘Time Don’t Seem To Matter‘. “I can’t wait for people to hear this album and to hit the road touring it whether it’s with my band The Fighting Hearts or just myself and my acoustic - it will be amazing. I’m grateful that after 30 years of making records my appetite for writing and playing is the same as it was that day all those years ago when I got my first electric guitar”
For those intrigued by the album cover, it depicts a crash scene from the famous Ards TT Motor Car Race in County Down Northern Ireland. The race ran from 1928 until 1936 was watched by over 250,000 spectators annually. The embankment in the photograph that the spectators are on is actually a field belonging to Ricky’s Great Grandfather’s Farm, which he grew up on for the first fourteen years of his life.
SONG-BY-SONG
1. ‘When Life Was Hard And Fast’ - A song co-written with my good friend Sam Robinson (we worked together previously on my last solo album). The song echoes sentiments of growing up and chasing your dreams and the friends you lose along the way. How sometimes life seemed easier when you were younger although at the time it didn’t. Joe Elliott of Def Leppard sings backing vocals on this track.
2. ‘You Don’t Love Me’ - A direct song with a direct meaning...realising that you are wasting your time in a relationship when the other person doesn’t feel the same way about you as you do about them. Luke Morley from Thunder plays a wonderful guitar solo on this song.
3. ‘I’d Rather Be Hit’ - “I’d rather be hit by any man than hurt by any woman“ is really a metaphor for why our politicians continue to let us down. Humanity seems to be the last thing they care about. Peace, love and understanding are sadly dirty words. Andy Taylor ex-Duran Duran and Power Station plays one of his trademark guitar solos on this song.
4. ‘Gunslinger’ - A song written by Willy Deville (aka Mink Deville) it was the B Side of his big 1977 hit ‘Spanish Stroll’. I had the 7-inch single of this and have been wanting to cover it for years! One of my managers, Adam Parsons, guests on drums on this song.
5. ‘Never Corner A Rat’ - A song based on a conversation I had with an ex-US Marine and how he felt the system in the country that he fought for and loves has let him down.
6. ‘Time Don’t Seem To Matter’ - probably the most personal song on the record to me. Written for my youngest daughter Pepper. And what an absolutely proud Father moment to have her sing on the song with me. This is the demo version of the song, we tried to re-record it for the album, but felt we couldn’t better the vibe and feel we had on the demo.
7. ‘Fighting Heart’ - The first song Keith and I wrote for the album. A song about never giving up on anything or anyone. Sticking with your ideals and not changing your ways to impress someone.
8. ‘I Don’t Feel At Home’ - A song about drug addiction and how it affects not only the victim but their family and friends. A song about looking for a way out of a situation but being too ashamed to ask for help. Dizzy Reed of Guns n Roses plays keyboards on this track, one of three tracks on the album he played on.
9. ‘Still Alive’ - I love the movie ‘Hell Or High Water’. This was the inspiration behind this song and the characters development in it. Keith Nelson plays some sublime slide guitar on this one.
10. ‘Clown Of Misery’ - this is a demo idea that I sang into my phone and sent to Keith. Again we really like the simplicity of it, so we decided not to mess with it. The song is about laughing on the outside while your crying on the inside.
11. ‘Your My Rock ‘n Roll’ - A bombastic ode to the power, majestic and life affirming addiction that is rock n roll
- Ricky Warwick
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