'Lowbyrne (Ascent)' is re-imagination of our track 'Lowborn & Stargazing' that appeared on 2020's 'extended play one'. This version is by the genius that is Mr Choque Hosein from Black Star Liner, who tweaked, spliced, uptuned, downtuned and did all manna of delights to create an other worldly excursion into the Gorstey zone...

Check out more of Choque's superb songs, mixes, dubs here:
https://blackstarliner.bandcamp.com

'Lowbyrne (Ascent)' mastered by Mark Gardener @ his OX4 Sound studio in Oxford

'Lowborn & Stargazing' written by Russ and Michael 
Originally recorded at the Gorstey Shack and Magic Garden Studios with Gavin Monaghan
Originally mastered by Mark Gardener @ his OX4 Sound studio in Oxford

'...from Prince's Park to Farsley (Volume I)'

Lowbyrne (Ascent)

'Cinquante Cinq Six Huit' is re-imagination of our track 'Saint Marie' that appeared on 2020's 'extended play one'. This version is by the genius that is Mr Choque Hosein from Black Star Liner, who tweaked, spliced, uptuned, downtuned and did all manna of delights to create an other worldly excursion into the Gorstey zone...

Check out more of Choque's superb songs, mixes, dubs here:
https://blackstarliner.bandcamp.com

'Cinquante Cinq Six Huit' mastered by Mark Gardener @ his OX4 Sound studio in Oxford

'Saint Marie' written by Russ and Michael 
Originally recorded at the Gorstey Shack and Magic Garden Studios with Gavin Monaghan
Originally mastered by Mark Gardener @ his OX4 Sound studio in Oxford

Cinquante Cinq Six Huit

https://youtu.be/1zJNX7YE8B0

Written by Russ and Michael 
Recorded at the Gorstey Shack and Magic Garden Studios with Gavin Monaghan
Mixed by George Shilling
Mastered by Mark Gardener @ his OX4 Sound studio in Oxford

Hello brightness my old friend
Come and confide in me again
I know that it is sub-li-minal
So things can be far less complicated
Time is like a metaphor
For all the days that have gone by
I know that I am no great healer
No soothsayer just a faker

I'm leaving this burnt town
Tomorrow night on a runaway train
I need to seize this time
Sorry for lack of communication 
My heart and head in the sand
With carpe diem frustration

I keep on looking (I keep on looking)
They tell me it's not too far (…it's not too far)
I keep on asking (I keep on asking)
Praying for the flying car…

Hello blue line my old friend
I've come to reason life again
If you are buying we are selling
No time to stray I've got rent to pay kid
Time is washed away again
For every hour of yesterday
The magic isn't too far away
No time to save I've got bills to pay kid

I'm leaving this burnt town
Tomorrow night on a runaway train
I need to seize this time
Sorry for lack of communication 
My heart and head in the sand
With carpe diem frustration

I keep on looking (I keep on looking)
They tell me it's not too far (…it's not too far)
I keep on asking (I keep on asking)
Praying for the flying car…
I keep on looking (I keep on looking)
They tell me it's not too far (…it's not too far)
I keep on asking (I keep on asking)
Praying for the flying car….

I'm leaving this burnt town
Tomorrow night on a runaway train
I need to seize this time
Sorry for lack of communication 
My heart and head in the sand
With carpe diem frustration
I'm need to burnt this down
Sorry for lack of communication…

That Chitty Bang Majik

I wish I could turn back the clock
Back to 1992
I get a gold in the 100
And the high jump too!
I wish I could turn back the clock
Back to 1992

Give me your hand
I pawn it to the sea
I tell the world of my masterpiece
I will slay the dragons of Mont Blanc
Just to be oh just to be
Heart, heart, heart

With my sweetheart

In the sky lines above
A statue of Columbus
And on the 'Day of the Rose'
I will walk through these bars
To where the beaches were before
To where my hometown was before

Give me your hand
I pawn it to the sea
I tell the world of my masterpiece
I will slay the Dragons of Mont Blanc
Just to be oh just to be
Heart, heart, heart

With my sweetheart
With my sweetheart
With my sweetheart
With my sweetheart

I wish I could turn back the clock
Back to 1992
I get a gold in the 100
And the high jump too!

The Dragons of Mont Blanc (Part I) - Radio Edit

The Gorstey boys take on 'In The Bleak Midwinter' where sleigh bells are mandatory.

Inspired equally by the Peaky Blinders, Phil Spector's 'A Christmas Gift For You' and Simon & Garfunkel. 
Initially recorded for a BBC Introducing in the West Midlands session in 2019 alongside versions of The Isley Brothers/Housemartins 'Caravan of Love' and the Fleet Foxes 'White Winter Hymnal' and then dusted down in the summer (yes the summer) of 2021. 
Thanks to Alex Noble at the BBC for giving us the impetus to record this.

Recorded @ the Gorstey Shack in Burntwood, Staffordshire with some added electric guitar by the extremely talented Luciano Narcisi from Bristol based Captain Suun & Los Suns.
Mixed by George 'Sleigh Bells' Shilling in deepest Devon.
Mastered by Mark 'Tinsel & Trimmings' Gardener in his OX4 Sound Studio in rural Oxfordshire.

*************************
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow
In the bleak midwinter, long ago

Angels and archangels may have gathered there
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air
But his mother only, in her maiden bliss
Worshiped the beloved with a mothers kiss

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb
If I were a wise man, I would do my part
Yet what I can I give him, give my heart

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow
In the bleak midwinter long ago
In the bleak midwinter long ago
In the bleak midwinter long ago

In The Bleak Midwinter

Featuring Junkyard of Silenced Poets

I wish I could turn back the clock
Back to 1992
I get a gold in the 100
And the high jump too!
I wish I could turn back the clock
Back to 1992

Give me your hand
I pawn it to the sea
I tell the world of my masterpiece
I will slay the dragons of Mont Blanc
Just to be oh just to be
Heart, heart, heart

With my sweetheart

In the sky lines above
A statue of Columbus
And on the 'Day of the Rose'
I will walk through these bars
To where the beaches were before
To where my hometown was before

Give me your hand
I pawn it to the sea
I tell the world of my masterpiece
I will slay the Dragons of Mont Blanc
Just to be oh just to be
Heart, heart, heart

With my sweetheart
With my sweetheart
With my sweetheart
With my sweetheart

I wish I could turn back the clock
Back to 1992
I get a gold in the 100
And the high jump too!

The Dragons Of Mont Blanc (Parts I & II) - Full Length Version

Enter The Dragons - NeonCrow Prelude

Back To Drag - BlackStarLiner Excursion

Junkyard Sweetheart Number 13 featuring The Junkyard of Silenced Poets

An ode to treasured summers past/future. 
Hopeful
Longing

My heart belongs to the beaches it's a little bit like saying goodbye
To your soul yesterday I've reached through the old leaves of time for a while
The blue throats now will leave us Following the sound of your melody
Blowing in the cool winds of this stone

If we could fly, oh how we'd follow there'd be no mistake, no goodbye
To your soul, walk out and swallowed the cool breeze of time of tomorrow
The field fair now will join us from the other side of the satellite
Fleeting in the cool guidance of gold

My heart belongs to the beaches it's just a little bit like saying goodbye
To your soul yesterday I've reached through the old leaves of time for a while
My heart belongs to the beaches it's just a little bit like saying goodbye
My heart belongs to the beaches it's just a little bit like saying goodbye

(My Heart Belongs To...) The Beaches

Gorstey Lea go country whilst sticking to their indie [punk] roots... 
Imagine The Clash gatecrashing a Pogues party and creating a hoedown humdinger with lashings of country style guitar and blues harmonica.

This song was written for a short film also called 'Dusty Do Good'. 
Our hero of our song is a young boy with Down's syndrome who escapes his troubled home life through an old cowboy TV show and models himself on the main character, a righteous lawman. 

This short movie was directed by Jack Hughes and the story written by Jack & Billy Mullaney

DUSTY DO GOOD

'...from a boy'
https://youtu.be/dpGAmp17HS8

September came like a Pacific breeze
In the air and on a wave
The best since '76
From a boy… 
I came all the way back here again
A man on a rooftop over a sunrise rhythm
And the waters of my soul
The waters of my 

Ocean soul will call me for the first time
Spread these words my bless-ed boys
Going to be here
Always be here

The ocean bird has burned my soul
I'm wild as a fire

The battle horn
Like a bullet to my soul
From the valve and on a skip
The best since '81
From the coast land 
Running my way back home again
A tale from a b-side under a new soul vision
And the waters of my soul
The waters of my 

Seven souls will call me for the first time
She could see those dancing flames
Pastel fields to the river bankers

The ocean bird has burned my soul
I'm wild as a fire

September came like a Pacific breeze
In the air and on a wave
The best since '76
From a boy... 
I came all the way back here again
A man on a rooftop over a sunrise rhythm
Over a sunrise rhythm

A man on a rooftop over a sunrise…
A man on a rooftop over a sunrise…
A man on a rooftop over a sunrise…
Rhythm


The piano and bass driven ‘…from a boy’ was conceived during conversations via text between Russ and Michael as Russ travelled back and forth on a pilgrimage to Brighton in September 2018 to celebrate a family wedding, where a long night turned into the following morning of reacquainting with friends and family inspiring the story of ‘the man on a rooftop over a sunrise rhythm’. 

On Russ’s return from Brighton Michael handed the lyrics over, Russ taking the lead vocal and Michael providing the harmony. The duo recorded all parts for the song @ Gorstey HQ and with the aid of long-term collaborator and friend Gavin ‘Rattlesnake’ Monaghan the song was brought to life at the Magic Garden Studios in Wolverhampton in the summer of 2020 whilst working in isolation.

Honorary members of The Gorstey Lea Street Choir that feature on the debut EP are: 
Sebastian ‘Bid’ Beresford (Leftfield/Rodriguez/Edwin Starr) adds electronic percussion flourishes
Mark Gardener (Ride) adds strings to ‘Saint Marie’ and has mastered all tracks @ his OX4 Sound studio in Oxford
Ash Sheehan (The Twang, Dead Sea Skulls) adds trumpet/flugelhorn and percussion
Further contributions from musical allies Gary Hill (piano/additional guitar), Paul Newton, Woz Szpalek (both bass) and Craig Glover (drums) complete the roll call.

Stay safe, be well
Over and out… for now…

The Flat White Kid.
‘The Sunlit Sound of Staffordshire’

Extended Play One

'...from a boy'

'Saint Marie'

At 55 Saint Marie 
How you stole my heart on a summer breeze 
The wind and rains had took this breath away 
We rumbled home on a downtown train 

At 55 Saint Marie 
A piano played with naivety 
A 3 note phrase that would replay
‘I love you’ 
 
We’ll walk this earth as ‘a’ one 
Daughter to mother, father from son 
All is love

At 55 Saint Marie 
Stands a light house to guide this fleet 
The Great Western warms the wanderer 
A soulful song

In this book of days, a day to daydream
Love is all, love is all, love is all that you need
Illuminate
Illuminate

Be still my heart come the fading light
Be still my heart come the changing times 
How the magic comes to the spaces in between
The rain drenched flags of Saint Marie
The rain drenched flags of Saint Marie

At 55 Saint Marie 
How you stole my heart on a summer breeze
A 3 note phrase that would replay
‘I love you’ 
‘I love you’

For Saint Marie read this is Gorstey's take on a 'love song'.
Written on a cold wet morning in Cardiff, January 2020 and then demoed in the Gorstey Shack not soon after to 'keep zee vibe'. 
With the aid of long-term collaborator and friend Gavin Monaghan the song was brought to life at the Magic Garden Studios in Wolverhampton.
Honorary members of The Gorstey Lea Street Choir that feature here:
Gary Hill adds piano and additional guitar
Ash Sheehan (The Twang, Dead Sea Skulls, Glen Hughes band) adds trumpet/flugelhorn and percussion

Mark Gardener (Ride) adds the haunting 'shipwreck' strings and he mastered the tracks @ his OX4 Sound studio in Oxford

Stay safe, be well
Over and out… for now…

The Flat White Kid.
‘The Sunlit Sound of Staffordshire’

extended play one

Saint Marie

'Broken Down Radio'

I reached out for a timeless branch of hope
A call out from the rooftops
A story from a broken down radio
Pack your bags and shelve your fears

Now you’ve gone and missed your ‘blue sky boat’
For a generation…
Dangled by the rise of tomorrows sun
Smell your blood and chase your fears

I won’t march alone
I’ll sing until my throat runs dry
Building bridges over forgotten tales
On a broken down radio 

Standing there with your eluded smile
Are you ready to jump?
Turn the volume up and change your gear
Are you ready to run?

Run, run, run, run, run, run, run…

Caught inside a storm of bedtime stories
Luckily kings will crumble
Tired of all the mid ships gathered round
Spread your seeds and take your clear

I won’t march alone
I’ll sing until my throat runs dry
Building bridges over forgotten tales
On a broken down radio

The opening track on our debut EP 'extended play one'. 
A call out for simpler times. 

Recorded in the Gorstey Shack and moulded into shape by Gavin Monaghan at his Magic Garden Studios in Wolverhampton in the winter of 2020. 
Russ and Michael played and sang most of the stuff.
Gavin added bass and 'monotronics'
Craig Glover provided drums.
Mark Gardener mastered the track at his Ox4 Sound in Oxford...

And here it is for you here in it's full glory. Enjoy.

Stay safe, be well
Over and out… for now…

The Flat White Kid.
‘The Sunlit Sound of Staffordshire’

Broken Down Radio

'Lowborn & Stargazing'

Lowborn 
Sundown
Stargazing 
Tomorrow 
The maps are set 
To be redrawn 
Lowborn 
Stargazing 

Tinderbox 
Memories 
Hymnal 
Blessed
Beliefs
Starless and bible black 
Under a red moon glow 
Tomorrow 
Hymnal

Promises. Of harvesting. Of hope. And home
Dreams. From the embers. Ashes. Gold
Ashes. Gold. Go! Go! Go! Gold

The Future: Inside 

You in my arms. You in my arms… You… Here…
You in my arms. You in my arms… You… Here… 
You… Here…

Sunset
Sunrise… 
HEY! the sunrise

The upbeat brass tinged ‘Lowborn & Stargazing’ was initially conceived in the aftermath of an emergency operation Michael had in the Summer of 2018, a song written in isolation whilst recovery commenced, ‘Sketches of Spain’ by Miles Davis was an influence and inspiration.

Tracks from the debut EP 'extended play one' were recorded at the Gorstey Shack, and brought to life by long term collaborator and friend Gavin Monaghan at the Magic Garden Studios.

Honorary members of the Gorstey Lea Street Choir that feature on this EP are: 
Ash Sheehan (The Twang, Dead Sea Skulls) adds trumpet/flugelhorn and percussion
Sebastian ‘Bid’ Beresford (Leftfield/Rodriguez/Edwin Starr) adds electronic percussion flourishes
Mark Gardener (Ride) adds strings to ‘Saint Marie’ and has mastered all tracks @ his OX4 Sound studio in Oxford
Further contributions from musical allies Gary Hill (piano/additional guitar), Paul Newton & Woz Szpalek (bass) and Craig Glover (drums) complete the roll call.

Stay safe, be well
Over and out… for now…

The Flat White Kid.
‘The Sunlit Sound of Staffordshire’

Lowborn & Stargazing

'A tonic for the times' Chris Hawkins BBC 6 Music 

So here's a story that you may need to grab a cup of tea and the biscuit barrel for, are you sitting comfortably? Then, let us begin...

Gorstey Lea AKA 'The Gorstey Lea Street Choir' formed one cold winters night in 2016. Two friends on a life long journey. 

Michael first met Russ in 1985, Michael was 15, Russ was 19. Russ played in 'the' up and coming local band ‘Soul Exit’. Michael admired his musical craft and ended up following the band around the country. A gig in Manchester was planned. Michael needed to go and went to Russ’s house (on Gorstey Lea) with a gift, a tape in hand. On one side The Pale Fountains ‘… From Across the Kitchen Table’ on the other Dexys Midnight Runners ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’. Russ welcomed Michael in and he attended the gig travelling in the bands van. 

The future was cast... the following year Michael formed his first band ‘The Great Divide’ inspired by what he had seen and the world of endless possibilities and free expression.

Fast forward some 31 years to August 2016 and a big birthday bash for Russ. Michael attends Russ's party. Talk turns to days gone by and Russ pops the question... “It’s about time we got together and did some music Michael, what do you reckon? No pressure. I have converted my garage into a recording studio, you should come round and we’ll have a play”. 

Michael was not sure, for 15 plus years he has not played an instrument, not sung a song, not written down his thoughts. The conversation was left. A mutual friend then messages Michael 4 months later to tell him that Russ is doing a gig and he thinks it would be good if they did a couple of their favourite cover versions together. 

Messages are exchanged and the meeting is arranged at Russ's new house in Gorstey Lea, 4 houses up the road and 31 years since that first knock on the door. Without any rehearsal the two friends agree to play together for the first time on that Friday evening… 

The reaction from the crowd and the landlord is overwhelming 2 songs turn to 2 hours and at the end of the evening the landlord books the duo to play the following month. ‘What’s your band name boys? ‘The Gorstey Lea Street Choir’ is quickly retorted an amalgam of that first meeting point and Van Morrison’s LP ‘His Band And The Street Choir’ … a door is unlocked, a journey is born.

So, to the ‘here and now’. The duo release their first track in October 2019 'The British Isles' which picks up national radio play from 6 Music, BBC Introducing and great digital stations such as Brum Radio, with the wind in their sails a double A side limited vinyl 'Lions' and 'Somedays' follows in January 2020 and in December 2020 their debut EP snazzily titled 'extended play one' hits the digital shops... 

Summer 2021 - the boys release an 8 track mini LP ''...from Prince's Park to Farsley (Volume I)' a tale of new found collaborations and two towns... aided and abetted by Gavin Monaghan, George Shilling, Choque (Black Star Liner) and Mark Gardener... Volume II will be a long before you know it!!!!

Well it should have been... Covid came and went, then Russ and Michael regrouped and decided to put the 5 piece 'live version' together. 
Joining Russ and Michael are:

Martin Betts on Bass
Sean Bradnick on Drums
Swiss Harris on all manner of musical gadgets

New songs are been written and recorded sporadically. Live dates are just  been announced (see Bands In Town Link) 

The first fruits of this new harvest are now available in their latest release '(My Heart Belongs To...) The Beaches'... just like buses there will be more along very soon

Stay safe, be well

The Flat White Kid

Gorstey Lea AKA

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