Michael Weston King was born in Derbyshire in 1961 but brought in the sleepy Lancastrian seaside town of Southport. A grammar school education (he attended the same seat of learning as Marc Almond, although Almond was 4 years his senior), should have resulted in a university place, but firstly the influence of Marc Bolan and then, when he was 16, The Clash and Elvis Costello, led him to get a job and a down payment on a Fender Telecaster. He cut his musical teeth in various bands on the edge of the late 70's/early 80's Liverpool post punk scene, performing at the famed Eric's club just prior to it's closure, and leaving two singles and one "cassette only album" gathering dust on the shelves of the legendary Probe Records. "When the dream of becoming contemporaries to the likes of Elvis Costello and The Teardrop Explodes vanished, along with numerous managers who tried to steer us in a direction I hated (don't forget it was the time of Tears For Fears!), along with too many bad record deals that never bore fruit, I took my acoustic guitar and headed for the folk clubs."
By the mid 80's, inspired by the latest wave of overseas bands such as REM, Green On Red, The Dream Syndicate and The Triffids, whose influences mirrored his own newly found interest in Gram Parsons, Hank Williams, The Byrds, as well as the new wave of country acts such as Lyle Lovett, Dwight Yoakham and Nanci Griffith, he joined forces with some like minded souls and spent the next four years touring Europe with the country rock band Gary Hall and The Stormkeepers. Releasing two albums and two singles along the way, one for the major label BMG, but eventually tired and disillusioned, and with more than their share of personality clashes, the band split in 1991. However it was at this time that Michael really came of age musically. Hand picking the best musicians out of a clutch of country influenced rock bands that had sprung up in and around the Manchester/Preston area, (including bass player Sean McFetridge from The Stormkeepers, and Phil Abram and Ben Jackson from Mirrors Over Kiev) he formed The Good Sons.
Taking their name from the Nick Cave album, The Good Son, they set about trying to proffer an authentic British alternative to, what for them, was the most exciting form of music currently on offer, and hailing from America, the burgeoning Alt. Country movement.
Beginning life as a five piece, their first shows took place in Ireland and various low key gigs in the north of England as they honed King's songs around the Robbie Robertson-esque guitar style of Phil Abram, swirling Hammond organ, and driving acoustic guitars. "I wanted to combine my love of songwriters such as Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Springsteen and Townes Van Zandt with the contemporary country rock feel of The Jayhawks and Uncle Tupelo"
In 1995 they signed to the hip German label Glitterhouse (formerly the European arm of Sub Pop), who released their debut album, Singing The Glory Down to much critical acclaim, with the band drawing instant and favourable comparisons with their current U.S. counterparts The Jayhawks, Son Volt , Steve Earle and Joe Henry.
The album also featured a guest appearance by the legendary Townes Van Zandt with whom Michael had toured Europe in 1994 and 1995. The two had become good friends and he didn't hesitate when asked to duet on the song Riding The Range, Michael's side-swipe at British weekend cowboys. A few months before his death Townes cut his own version of the song with Nashville bluegrass band The Calvins, this version eventually being released as a 7 inch vinyl single in 1999.
The band continued to tour, opening for the likes of Joe Ely, Blue Rodeo and Joe Henry, as well as numerous headline shows of their own. In 1996 they released the much more acoustic orientated album, The Kings Highway, a chilling collection of intimate songs, mostly written during Michael wilderness years in the folk clubs, and then followed it up in 1997 with the bigger, bolder and altogether more rockier, Wines, Lines and Valentines, their third album in as many year for Glitterhouse. A successful U.K. tour was followed by more shows in Europe and growing interest over in Ireland where the band played a series of shows and appeared on national T.V.
Meanwhile, over in Austin, Texas, Heinz Geissler at Watermelon Records had been given a copy of Singing The Glory Down, just as he was at his lowest ebb within the music industry. The album, "restored my faith in music", and he immediately signed the band. After lengthy negotiations (the band were managed at the time by Nick Cave's manager Raynor Jessen, and Watermelon were tied in with Sire) a deal was struck, and Wines, Lines and Valentines was both re-packaged, and re-titled, as apparently the American label were rather concerned about the cocaine reference, and, they had plans to release the new title track as a single. Angels In The End (the album) was released in America in February 1998 with Michael undertaking a promotional trip to the U.S. in March. A whole round of press interviews and radio sessions, as well as various solo performances, including sharing the stage at the annual SXSW festival with Billy Bragg, Loudain Wainwright and Nick Lowe, set things moving nicely. Many radio stations fell in love with the album, and the song Angels In The End was added to many playlists. "They couldn't quite believe we were from England, New England maybe but not Manchester, England!" When Michael returned home the talk was of a full scale tour of the U.S. with the band later in the year.
But after a promising first few months things started to turn sour. During a tour of Italy the previous year, Phil Abram, the band's mercurial guitarist, had fallen in love and decided he wanted to relocate to Turin. Then, whilst on tour in Germany in June, following a hugely successful performance at the Orange Blossom Special Festival, the band's tour bus was involved in a 60 mph head-on smash which left Michael in hospital and the band's equipment, not to say finances, in tatters. They limped back to the U.K. to play a rousing set at Glastonbury, (with borrowed equipment) and then headed to Norway to appear at the Down On The Farm Festival. However, worse was to come. Autumn 98 saw thing really nose-dive. Watermelon Records were facing financial ruin that would see them file for bankruptcy before the year was out, the band's manager had tired of the label not keeping their promises and returned to concentrate on the more financially rewarding affairs of Nick Cave, and on the domestic front, Michael's first marriage also came to an end.
As he had done some 15 years before, he once again grabbed his acoustic guitar and fled. Not to some dusty folk clubs this time, but firstly to Switzerland for a cathartic spell of writing , and then onto South Wales to record what would become his debut solo album, God Shaped Hole. Released in October 1999, again on Glitterhouse, it was a sparse, sombre, dark album which echoed his singer songwriter influences.....the likes of Tim Hardin, Woody Guthrie, Guy Clarke, Dylan, Neil Young, and, most poignantly Van Zandt and Phil Ochs. The album included an Ochs tune No More Songs, and a tribute to the now late Van Zandt, Lay Me Down. The sparsity and darkness struck a chord with critics and fans alike, and today is still regarded as one of his finest moments.
The album's release also saw Michael embark on a series of solo tours around Europe as well as prestigious opening slots with Ron Sexsmith, Steve Forbert and the afore-mentioned Nick Cave.
In April 2000 The Good Sons decided to re-convene. They had only played one show in 1999, and the first three months of 2000 had again been taken up for Michael with solo shows in Iceland and more European dates with Ron Sexsmith. A short U.K. tour re-kindled the bands desire and also brought them to the attention of the London independent label Floating World. By July, following a tour for Michael with former Byrd / Flying Burrito Brother Chris Hillman, the band were holed up in the idyllic surrounds of Snowdonia recording what would become their fourth album, the perversely titled, Happiness. "We had always recorded in Manchester and when we finished for the day we went home. This time I wanted us altogether, all the time...no distractions, God knows there have been enough! So we went to Bryn Derwen in the welsh mountains for three weeks and lived and breathed the album. We brought in some extra players; pedal steel, cello, piano, and my future wife, (the singer Lou Dalgleish), we walked through the woods the pub, played football on the lawns of the studio owner's house, generally had a great old time and, for a while...found happiness."
Despite the album featuring Alan Cook on pedal steel it was by far the least country sounding record the band had made, harking back to the more English pop-style of Michael's first great influence Elvis Costello. "It was Elvis who got me into country music, hearing Almost Blue taught me so much, and from there I went on to discover artists like Gram, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Hank Williams". The album also had traces of the swampy blues of Daniel Lanois or J.J.Cale, the acoustic singer songwriter style of Neil Young , and the darker cello hued introspection of Tim Hardin.
With the album finished, and scheduled for release in March 2001, Michael went on a 16 date U.K. tour with friends and fellow songwriters Jackie Leven and Andy White. Under the name "An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman" it proved to be a great success, and further tours of Spain, Holland, Germany, Italy and Norway were lined up for 2001.
Happiness, was released to great critical acclaim in Spring 2001, and the band spent the summer on tour across the UK and Europe. However, although hailed as their best, it also turned out to be their final album. Sales did not match the critical reaction, a bigger record deal with a major label was not forthcoming, and the cost of keeping the band on the road full time was proving impossible. They finally went their separate ways in 2002.
So, for MWK, it was back to the acoustic guitar and the solo career. In 2002, and after 200 solo shows across Europe and America, King released Live...In Dinky Town. A collection of live, solo and very intimate performances gathered from these shows and taken from places as far flung as Hamburg, Austin, Amsterdam, Bilbao and his spiritual home of Manchester.
The album also featured contributions from two friends and fellow travelers, Jackie Leven and Andy White with whom Michael formed "An Englishman, An Irishman and a Scotsman" and which toured the UK, Spain, Germany and Holland in 2000 and 2001.
Following his appearance at The Folk Alliance Conference in Jacksonville, Florida in February 2002 Michael returned to the US in the fall for a 24 date coast to coast American tour as well as numerous radio and tv appearances.
A Decent Man was released in May 2003 and the press were unanimous in their praise. Produced by Jackie Leven and featuring a clutch of stunning British guests, including Crazy Horse collaborator, and former Icicle Works front man, Ian McNabb, it was a departure from his previous solo albums, and indeed from his work with The Good Sons. Taking a further step away from Alt. Country, A Decent Man was a big sounding record that combined Michael's love of Pop, Soul, Folk and Country..... and found it's way onto countless playlists across Europe, America and Canada.
Michael played 150 shows all over the world following the album's release. Many were solo but some where with the newly formed band, The Decent Men, a band that was made up of the fine players who had recorded the album (Jackie Leven, Mike Cosgrave, Kevin Foster, Steve Jackson, Lou Dalgleish, and Alan Cook, who has become Michael's long term collaborator over the past few years) This line-up toured the UK as-well as appearing at a number of European festivals, including Glastonbury and The Orange Blossom Special in summer 2004.
Sept. 2004 saw the release of Cosmic Fireworks-The Best of The Good Sons (1994-2001), a beautifully packaged, double c.d. that gathered together his finest songs from his time as front man with the band, and it immediately renewed interest in one of Britain's finest and must underrated bands.
Also released in the Autumn of 2004 was King's first release on his own MurderedWithKindness label. Absent Friends was an eclectic mix of live band performances recorded in Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Barcelona, London and Glastonbury with friends, colleagues and musical acquaintances during the previous 2 years. It also included what would be The Good Sons final song together, a rousing country rock version of The Undertones classic, Teenage Kicks.
From Sept. to Dec. 2004 MWK was yet again on the road. 50 shows across Europe with the end result being something of a breakdown as the miles took their toll. January and February 2005 saw King again convalescing, this time after breaking his arm falling off stage after a show in January. Fortunately, it was healed in time for a 5 week trek across N. America and Canada, starting in the icy chill of Toronto and ending in the warmth of Texas. As an exhausted King sat in the plane back from Austin to New York he struck up a conversation with the person to his left, who turned out to be Kenneth Higney, head of ARC/Chess Publishing in New York. A month later King was signed to them and a new world of opportunity opened up for his songs.
In Summer 2005 work began on Kings new album, A New Kind Of Loneliness, in Manchester at The Charlatans, and Johnny Marr's studios. Produced by MWK and the engineer Jim Spencer (New Order, Primal Scream, Johnny Marr, The Charlatans) at the controls. Breaking off midway, King found himself back on tour with Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen across the UK and Ireland, with Chris and Herb calling by the studio to add some harmonies and mandolin to one of the new songs. Other guests who came by to make appearances on the album were Jackie Leven, and Ron Sexsmith.
Autumn 2005 meanwhile saw another Phantasmagoria release, this time a retrospective album focusing on King's solo work from 1999-2005, called The Tender Place. The album contained 19 tracks, all selected by Michael, and taken from his albums 'God Shaped Hole', 'A Decent Man' and 'Absent Friends'. It also includes two new recordings, a brand new song, From Out Of The Blue, co-written with Danish songwriter Michael Hamilton, along with a cover version of Bob Dylan's A Simple Twist of Fate, a track recorded for Mojo magazine's 'Dylan Covered' cover mount c.d.. As with all King's releases, the album was beautifully packaged, this time in a triple fold-out, digi-pack format, and features extensive liner notes written by Jackie Leven.
To promote the album, MWK joined forces with two of America's finest singer songwriters, John Doe and Peter Case for a European tour throughout November 2005.
In the same year MWK appeared on the new album of his close friend Jackie Leven, the stunning 'Elegy for Johnny Cash', and he also wrote the liner notes for the album, 'Townes Van Zandt Live at Union Chapel, London 1994'. This was the first show he ever opened for Townes, and also the first time he ever saw the great man live.... an evening that was to become something of a "road to Damascus moment" in Kings career.
The early part of 2006 was taken up with lengthy tours of America and Europe and various on-off negotiations with numerous labels over the release of A New Kind Of Loneliness.
While all this was going on MWK still found time to edit a career retrospective DVD, Michael Weston King - The Crowning Story - From A Good Son to A Decent Man, 1993 - 2005. A visual look back over King's 12 year career as leader of The Good Sons and his work as a solo artist. Featuring promo videos, live footage, TV appearances & interview, the DVD was released in Summer 2007 by Borderdreams
He also went back into the studio to record some more songs for what had been a long held desire to make a covers album. Using some songs previously recorded for earlier albums, along with some songs recorded for cover mount c.d.s and other tribute albums, he recorded a further 7 songs to end up with a collection of 15 of MWK's favourite songs by some of his most admired writers (includes Big Louise/Scott Walker, She's Leaving/Ronnie Lane, Alone Again Naturally/Gilbert O' Sullivan, No More Songs/Phil Ochs, Someday Never Comes/John Fogherty, A Song For/Townes Van Zandt, Blue Red and Grey/Pete Townshend, and many more). Love's a Cover was released in October 2006 on Glitterhouse Records.
But , where did this leave arguably Kings latest, and most important record to date, the new album, A New Kind of Loneliness? Well, 2 deals were finally done , one with Poptown Records in the US, who released the album in N America and Canada in January 2007, and one with Floating World Records in the UK who released the album in Europe in April 2007. The reaction was one of incredible praise, with most critics hailing it as his finest album to date.
Autumn 2007 found King having just finished a short summer tour with Jackie Leven and Robert Fisher, under the name of Fisher King Leven, as well as having contributed his version of the traditional folk song, What Is The Life Of A Man, to the album called Old Wine, New Skins.
With a new year just beginning a number of new projects are now in the pipeline for 2008.........
King is currently in discussion with a number of theatres and producers about the a staging of the play, Happy Infidels, written the Irish writer Brian Richmond. The play features 12 MWK songs and is based around the lives, loves, hopes, fears and personal disasters of a young aspiring English musician and a road weary, alcoholic American musician touring across Europe. Michael is very much hoping the play will make it to the stage, if nothing else, by way of tribute to Brian, who tragically died of cancer in August 2007. www.captpancreas.blogspot.com
Also due sometime in 2008 is the tribute album, "From Lovers lane to Liverpool - The Songs of Michael Weston King" - an album of MWK songs as covered by various wonderful artists including Townes van Zandt, Jackie Leven, John Howard, Terry Lee Hale, Vinny Peculiar, Duane Jarvis, The Reveres, The Rizdales, Dean Owens, Lou Dalgleish and others.
With the albums A New Kind of Loneliness, and Love's A Cover, and the DVD, The Crowning Story all still fresh off the press, MWK will be doing what he does best for the next few months, touring and touring, acoustic guitar in hand.....and all the while, observing and writing, and planning the next chapter, with work on the next album due to start in the Spring.