Belle Union - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Belle Union were formed in 2006 to provide a channel for the songwriting talents of John Pritchard and the singing of Linda Leeming. The band's name is taken from the Belle Union saloon bar in Barkerville, one of the small towns at the heart of the Canadian gold rush. In common with the original Belle Union, we have an open door policy and welcome contributions from anyone who enjoys our music and is able to add colour to our songs. Our recordings feature the multi-instrumental talents of Sam Holdstock, and a host of other musicians from the York area and further afield. Recent guest Union Belles include Maggie Allred (Union Central, Purple Delta), Helen Bell (Pillowfish), Rachel King (Flute) and the Scottish singer Ali Tait. Guest Union Beaus include Stan Graham (York Singer-Songwriter), Mark Hopwood (InVitro), Mauricio Pauly (Costa Rican Composer and Fretless Bass player) and David Swann (North Yorkshire Singer-Songwriter).Our debut album 'The Light and the Dark" was issued in August 2007. The album includes eleven original songs with lyrics that address subjects as diverse as the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in England, the healing power of nature and the Hungarian Revolution. Four of the songs from the album gained distinctions in the 2007 UK Songwriting Contest: three of the songs were awarded places in the semi-finals, while a further song was Highly Commended. The title track of the album narrowly missed out on a Finalist's place by a single point. Our songs have been played on BBC Radio York and Pulserated.com.

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Member Since: 8/2/2006
Band Members: Linda Leeming (Vocals)John Pritchard (Guitar)Sam Holdstock (Keyboards, Drums and Percussion)Guest Union Belles and Beaus
Influences: Show of Hands - Natalie Merchant - 10,000 Maniacs - Arcade Fire - The Byrds - Nick Drake - Seth Lakeman - Oysterband - Orange Blossom - The Czars - Led Zeppelin - Emmylou Harris - Kate Rusby - Lisa Gerard - Nico - Sandy Denny - Eliza Carthy- Abba - Souad Massi - Cowboy Junkies - Velvet Underground - Rainer - Christy Moore - Shiva Burlesque - The Who - David Francey - James Keelaghan - Dead Can Dance
Sounds Like: Innishboffin on a Sunday morning. Sunlight, turfsmoke, seagulls, boatslip, diesel. Like the zig-zag hieroglyph for life itself.
Record Label: Solar Music
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Review in The Link Magazine (Jan 08)

The Light and the Dark - Belle UnionFormed in York in 2006 by Linda Leeming (vocals) and John Pritchard (songwriter/guitar) along with Sam Holdstock on piano, organ, percussion. A bittersweet ac...
Posted by Belle Union on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:07:00 PST

Debut Album

Our Debut Album 'The Light and the Dark' is now completed. The album comprises eleven orginal songs and one cover. We will be having a joint album launch with the award winning singer-songwriter David...
Posted by Belle Union on Sun, 01 Jul 2007 10:41:00 PST

Radio Play and New Songs

Three of our songs have been selected for airplay on PulseRated.com "The world's only integrated on-line radio station and download station dedicated to new, unsigned and emerging artists". The songs...
Posted by Belle Union on Sun, 22 Oct 2006 03:57:00 PST

Yorkshire Songwriters

A songwriting circle has been meeting since June at the Black Swan in York. The group is open to all who have an interest in the craft of songwriting, with a bias towards acoustic and folk orientated ...
Posted by Belle Union on Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:32:00 PST

Belle Union Visits Hungary

How lovely it was to visit our good friends Gyula and Esther in Budapest recently, and of course Gyula's parents and brother Lotsi. It felt strange to hear our music in your home, but your kind ...
Posted by Belle Union on Sat, 02 Sep 2006 05:33:00 PST

Songwriting Success

We were thrilled to learn this week that our song 'Angel Street', written by guitarist and songwriter John Pritchard, was awarded third place in the BBC Song for Yorkshire category of the songwriting ...
Posted by Belle Union on Fri, 18 Aug 2006 06:17:00 PST