Now playing "Guardian Angel" by Simon Clothier. Produced by Curtis Schwartz
With his beautiful vocal range & talent for creating heartfelt songs, singer/songwriter Simon Clothier
offers a refreshing difference. A lengthy sojourn from music (during which time he carved out a living in
construction, working on the iconic Wembley Stadium & London 2012 Olympic sites ) ended when his daughter hassled him to play uke at a school charity event to raise money to buy instruments.
A spontaneous (if maybe murderous) performance of Beach Boys classic God Only Knows was
exuberantly received prompting him to record the song for his daughter. The demo found its
way to Hawaiian uke specialist Roy Sakuma & he invited Simon to Honolulu to perfom at
Starbucks Ukulele Festival of Hawaii on a bill headlined by Jack Johnson. The experience
inspired album Songs From A Small Guitar, a stimulating slant on the singer/songwriter
genre that acknowledged the Pacific adventure whilst being true to his innate musical foundations. His foray into the U.S. radio arena with poignant avowal 'Playing For America' delivered crossover success in New Music Week's AC Hot 100, Indie Top 30, Country & National College charts. A series of UK media performances & a defining slot on Libby Purves' national BBC show 'Midweek' led to an opportunity to open for Platinum sellers 'The Soldiers' on a UK tour. ITV quickly labelled him 'The Singing Builder' & emphatic responses from capacity audiences prompted a collaboration with Grammy winning producer
Peter Vitesse on invigorating romcom single 'Just Saying.' However, the needs of a growing family meant a return to the comparative but neccesary sanctury of the construction job. Simon again put his music on indefinite hold.
Difficult times followed, the excitement of previous years manifesting as overwhelming personal disappointment at yet another near miss and disillusionment with an often disingenuous industry. Most challenging was the loss of a once insatiable appetite to write & record songs. Fast forward to 2016 & the creative juices flooded back and with them a renewed thirst to write and skecth out ideas on the Mac. There's a new single, 'Nigella' (under the alias band name of Nigellarox) which will feature on a new album planned for 2017 . It all adds up to a hard earned
acoustic re-invention for a humble but
accomplished journeyman from West London; his pop/rock origins still very
evident in the massivley infectious
melodies and emotive lyrics that are
continuing to win admirers in the UK, over the pond to the USA, across the Pacific and on to Honolulu...naturally.