Jonny’s exciting new twist

Jonny Brown

IT’S almost time for out with the old Twisted Wheel and in with an exciting brand new band for Saddleworth mega talent Jonny Brown.

Front-man Brown formed Twisted Wheel back in 2007 with then bassist Rick Lees.

There were odd tweaks to the post-punk and rock and roll band’s line-up, but over the following seven years, until its demise in early 2014, Twisted Wheel enjoyed massive success on so many different levels.

They released two critically acclaimed albums —the first self-titled offering in 2009 selling 46,000 copies — and toured the globe with artists such as Oasis, Paul Weller, the Happy Mondays and Kasabian.

Now, however, after almost two years of re-energising himself and having played a number of solo acoustic gigs, Brown will be back in a new band in 2016 after he revealed his plans exclusively to me.

After also confirming that the new outfit will record an EP in January, for release in the spring, Brown said: “I’ll be in a position to announce the band name soon, but it’s all new songs, there’s a new sound and a new direction.

“I’ll have a guitarist with me, a great singer-songwriter called Josh Bithell. He was in a band called Lady Orchid who were based in Chester, but he’s now studying music at Salford University so he’s in Manchester now.

“We got together for a jam recently, he played me some of his songs, I played some of mine, and we just gelled straight away.

“Our drummer is a guy from Wythenshawe I’ve known for years called Mark O’Donohue, then Rick Miller will be on bass. He’s from Saddleworth and a great player, and he’s also a big techno producer who’s also into his punk and rock n roll stuff.

“He’s a great lyricist as well.

“We’ve got four great musicians there — three of who write lyrics too — so I’m very excited.

“I think we’ve only practised together around five times so far, but it sounds like we’ve been together for a year.

“I can’t wait to get that new material out there next year now.

“By the springtime I’d hope we’ll really have things rolling.

“I think my new band will go 10 times bigger than the Wheel, and I can say that with confidence because I’ve learned lessons.

“I’ve worked hard on my songwriting these last two years, it’s matured, and I do know now exactly what sound I’m going for.

“When Twisted Wheel came out, we were young, wrote a load of songs, and before we knew it we were signed and touring the world. We were recording an album in America before we really knew what was happening.

“Now, I’ve sat and thought about what I want to do, how I want to sound, what audience I want to appeal to, and that’s why I’m confident. People around me are hungry for this and we’ve all got the same drive for this band. I don’t think we can go wrong, really.”

It’s certainly a bold statement from Brown, believing his new collaboration can top the achievements of Twisted Wheel, but for now he’s focusing on six solo acoustic shows which will see him visit Glasgow on Friday, Edinburgh on Saturday, Manchester’s Night and Day Cafe (December 4), Whitehaven (Dec 5), Leicester (Dec 11) and Derby (Dec 12).

Fans need to get to one of those shows if they want to hear renditions of Twisted Wheel tunes for the final time.

Brown added: “I’m looking forward to the gigs over the next few weeks, they’re really gearing me up for the big push into next year.

“I’ll be playing the Wheel songs for the last time. Come next year I won’t be playing them any more.

“It’s going to be a celebration of those songs, it’ll be the last time people will be able to hear them played live and that’s it really.

“Don’t forget the Wheel songs were first played on an acoustic guitar, it’s just a bit like going back to my roots in that sense.”

Log on to Brown’s Facebook and Twitter pages for ticket links ahead of his forthcoming solo appearances.