Chris De Burgh “Footsteps”

Chris de Burgh’s 17th studio album “Footsteps” will be released in the UK by Universal Music on 13th April 2009. Having already sold over 45 million albums worldwide, Footsteps is his first ever collection of covers and also features 2 brand new tracks.

The 13 ‘covers’ on ‘Footsteps’ represent a personal and candid appraisal by Chris of songs which have influenced and affected the way he has crafted his musical imprint. Chris selected the songs by applying three critical principles: he had to love them, have sung them many times before – and, perhaps most relevantly, they had to have inspired him.

“Listening to the great songwriters was the inspiration for me to try and become a good songwriter myself,” he says. “I’m talking about the likes of Lennon & McCartney and Bob Dylan; people as good as that just don’t seem to exist any more. I learned my trade, my craft, almost at the feet of the Great Masters. And that is my musical journey. Those songs are my footsteps.”

Two new pieces, ‘First Steps’ and ‘Footsteps’, explain in greater depth his musical journey, his dreams and aspirations, and his sense of achievement from hopeful beginnings to the success of today.

Chris says the process of short-listing the songs for inclusion on the album was an involved one. “There were hundreds and hundreds of titles, which all got narrowed down to the ones I recorded. They are all, in my opinion, great songs – and each one has a resonance with me for a very particular reason.

“When I was growing up in my father’s castle/hotel, I would sing a lot of these songs, to the guests including ‘The Long And Winding Road’, ‘Sealed With A Kiss’, ‘Where Have All The Flowes Gone?’, ‘All Along The Watchtower’… and “American Pie’‘Corinna, Corinna’is a song I frequently sing at my soundcheck, as is ‘The Last Thing On My Mind’. ‘Polly Von’, the song by Peter, Paul and Mary, is one that, probably, gave me some indications about writing story songs.

‘Spanish Train’, ‘The Tower’…many of those songs from my early days owe something to ‘Polly Von’.”

“I like to wear a song like I’m wearing a coat and wanted to fit into each one of these songs,” Chris explains, “and a lot of them are singer’s songs – they really stretch the singer – but we made the album very quickly. It was all recorded live in the studio, with me singing together with the orchestra or the band. It took us eight days – and that’s including all of the vocals and all of the backing vocals. All in all, it was areal pleasure, a complete thrill.”

Tracklisting

1 First Steps *

2 Turn, Turn, Turn

3 The Long And Winding Road

4 Africa

5 Without You

6 Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

7 Sealed With A Kiss

8 Blackbird

9 We Can Work It Out

10 All Along The Watchtower

11 Corrina Corrina

12 Rhythm Of The Rain / Crying In The Rain **

13 Polly Von

14 American Pie

15 The Last Thing On My Mind

16 Footsteps *

* Brand New Original Track / ** Bonus track for UK release (never before released)

Chris’s hordes of fans will be pleased to know that he will be performing 6 UK dates this year, as follows:

Mon 27 Apr Liverpool Philharmonic £47.50 (boxes)/ £42.50/£37.50

Tue 28 Apr Manchester Bridgewater Hall £45.00/£40.00/ £35.00

Wed 30 Apr Gateshead Sage £42.50/£37.50

Sat 2 May Birmingham Symphony Hall £45.00/£40.00/£35.00

Sun 3 May Birmingham Symphony Hall £45.00/£40.00/£35.00

Tue 5 May London Royal Albert Hall £50.00 (boxes)/£45.00/£40.00 /£37.50/£30.00

Wed 6 May Bournemouth BIC £42.50/£37.50

National Credit Card Hotline 0871 424 4444. Or book online at www.ticketline.co.uk. All tickets are subject to a booking fee.