Paul Simmonds profile picture

Paul Simmonds

About Me

The story so far...


Paul Simmonds is the chief songwriter with British folk rock legends 'The Men They Couldn’t Hang' and has written a bunch of songs that have entered the English Tradition such as Ironmasters, The Ghosts of Cable Street, The Colours and Shirt of Blue.
During more than 20 years in music he has toured the world three times and played as far afield as Cairo, Reykjavik, Thunder Bay and all points in between, supporting the likes of Bowie, Van Morrison, The Smiths, The Clash and The Pogues.
For his solo shows he will be premiering an album’s worth of new material that will showcase his growing interest in Country music plus a selection from his songwriting history.
His solo work has been compared to both Woody Guthrie and John Prine and he is currently preparing an album for release.
‘England’s greatest balladeer’
Atilla the Stockbroker
‘Near to genius’
Mojo Magazine
‘Rarely can the voice of the dispossessed have sounded so uplifting’
Q Magazine
For a full TMTCH band bio go to the official website or check out the official TMTCH MySpace profile .
Thanks for stopping by!

The Rising Road – debut solo album


Hi folks, well my debut solo album is all done and being pressed up at the factory. In the end I called it ‘The Rising Road’ after one of the tracks. The full track listing is:
    Brixton Hill My Side of the Bed Lead Me To The Gallows Rising Road Whisky and Wine Winter Wind Red Paint, Blue Powder Cocaine Housewife The Snow Is Falling More Love (They Call The Wind) Maria

All tracks are by me except ‘Maria’, which is a take on the old Lerner/Lowe classic. You can hear ‘My Side of the Bed’ on the sample section of the TMTCH website .
So I am now taking orders. There are 2 ways to do this at the moment.
Firstly direct to me – a cheque for £11 (inc post/packaging) made out to Paul Simmonds – see blog for address!
Secondly, via PayPal on the TMTCH web site. Just go to the mail order page .
The first 150 orders will also get a free spoken word download called ‘His Heart Danced With The Men At The Bar’ – a 7 minute comedic short story about a night in a karaoke bar. Just specify whether you want it on CD-R with the album or as mp3 to your email.
Down the line I will be making the album available for download on various sites and, of course, it will be sold at gigs.
All feedback very welcome…
Paul Simmonds

"The Rising Road" is now available for download!


Please follow the links to download the album by clicking on the banners below. The full album is a mere £7.99 and single tracks can be snapped up for a measly 79p!

R.M.A. Tavern Gig Review


You can find reviews of the recent gig at the R.M.A. Tavern in Portsmouth at www.vinylrecords.co.uk and in Gareth's blog - feel free to comment and add your thoughts and impressions if you were there!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 14/03/2007
Band Website: http://www.tmtch.net
Band Members: Paul Simmonds
vocals and guitar

...with a helping hand from:
Naomi Bedford
backing vocals on various songs

Influences: George Jones, Willy Nelson, Johnny Cash, Randy Travis, Springsteen, Levon Helm, Neil Young, Patsy Cline, Crystal Gayle, Michelle Shocked, June Carter, Gillian Welch
Sounds Like: rotten luck willy's english brother

"Winter Wind" live at the Adelphi Club , Hull, 4th October 2007

"My Side of the Bed" live at the Circle, Worksop, 5th May 2007
(thanks to Olivier, who came all the way from France!)
feedback at the end courtesy of the rather nice looking mic!

Record Label: not bothered

My Blog

tyburn tree

hello folks - tyburn tree is a track from the TMTCH EP that's forthcoming in a couple of weeks....the full EP can be ordered from www.tmtch.net on the mail order page - we are putting out the EP to he...
Posted by on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:27:00 GMT

a few words about my album The Rising Road

Hi folks, .. .. Many thanks for your orders, the majority of which have been processed; the remaining ones to date will go out this week. It's very gratifying to have your support. .... .. ....
Posted by on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:03:00 GMT

The Rising Road  debut solo album

Hi folks, well my debut solo album is all done and being pressed up at the factory. In the end I called it 'The Rising Road' after one of the tracks. The full track listing is:Brixton HillMy Side of t...
Posted by on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:25:00 GMT

My Solo Album

Well, time for a little update. My solo record is now not just a figment of my imagination ( tho i do have some great unheard records in there!) but actually is halfway to really existing thanks to a ...
Posted by on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 02:05:00 GMT

Paul Simmonds solo gig at the Hive, West London on 28/09/07 at 7:45pm

Next acoustic gig at the Hive on Friday 28th September Paul Simmonds is the chief songwriter with British folk rock legends 'The Men They Couldn't Hang' and has written a bunch of songs that hav...
Posted by on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:43:00 GMT

new song

well here's a new rough demo....featuring my country accomplice naomi bedford on joint vocals...and recorded by kevin grist....should be some more tunes from this session appearing shortly.......
Posted by on Wed, 23 May 2007 13:55:00 GMT

The Grand Old Opry comes to Worksop!

'The Grand Old Opry comes to Worksop!' The Event A unique and intimate concert demonstrating the art and craft of songwriting in an acoustic setting, featuring some of the finest practitioners of...
Posted by on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 02:25:00 GMT

The Men They Couldnt Hang Songbook  A Bag Of Songs  is now available!

A personal selection of 50 songs with lyrics, chords and commentary it can be purchased in 3 ways&.1/ From www.lulu.com. Just go to the site, search for 'A Bag of Songs' and buy online. It retails at ...
Posted by on Thu, 15 Mar 2007 02:09:00 GMT