Look out Manchester – Josh’s Band is a-coming…

Since I last blogged, Josh’s Band has jammed in Bristol, London and Edinburgh. We’ve played with pipers, melodised with melodica players and harmonised with hurdy-gurdyists (don’t be fooled by the elaborate alliteration – all of this is true). Plus our mates are starting to get in contact to say they’ve heard us on the radio tonight – so the word is spreading…

It’s been an awesome journey so far and is set to continue in style with an enormous gig at Manchester’s Trafford Centre this Saturday. If you live in the area, make sure you get your butt down there. You won’t regret it.

And, if you’ve managed to miss out on this poptastic jamboree entirely, fear not – you can come and see The Lightyears headline The Troubadour in Earls Court next Friday 4 December. Josh will be making a special guest appearance and no doubt an impromptu singalong will ensue…

Historically we tend to sell this venue out so it’s advisable to buy in advance (click here to purchase tickets) or arrive early. Doors at 8pm; first act 8.15pm; LYs onstage 9.45pm. Visit the GIGS page for full details. See you there!

Come and star in a TV advert – this Saturday

This Saturday The Lightyears are joining Josh Ward (from the T-Mobile ads) to try to get 200 musicians together playing “Come With Me” (the song George and Chris recently wrote for the campaign). Top record producer Jonathan Quarmby will be there recording the session for a potential full-scale release in January on a major label (we’re not telling you which one..!).

All musicians and singers of all abilities are welcome to join in. Click here to read the lyrics and learn the chords. You can also download the sheet music. The audio of the song (as recorded at RAK studios a few weeks ago) is online on Josh’s Myspace page.

The session will be from 12noon until 3pm. Meet at Smithfields Market EC1A 9PQ at midday. Bring your instruments (acoustic is preferable).

Thank you Wembley… and hello Bristol!

Last night we played to 46,000 people at Wembley Stadium and who should turn up to join the crowd but that bloke off the telly, Josh Ward!

Seriously though, we had an awesome night and it was great to see so many LYs fans there. We took the opportunity to do a little onstage camera piece with Josh ahead of our trip to Bristol tonight – the next stop on Josh’s Band’s T-Mobile tour.

I studied at Bristol University so I have a special affection for the place… no idea where in the city we’re going to be or what we’re going to be doing but, if Birmingham was anything to go by, it should be cracking! Check out this quick clip from the first gig of the tour in Brum.

Expect more of the same from the rest of the tour dates – Bristol, London, Edinburgh and Manchester. Visit Josh’s Myspace page for details.

Click here to learn the lyrics and chords for our tour song, “Come With Me” (written by Chris and George Lightyear especially for Josh’s Band). Click here for the video tutorial.

Wembley Stadium – London – 17/11/09

Josh’s Band hits the road…

Well… Birmingham was awesome. Nobody knew quite what to expect from the first date on Josh’s Band’s tour but what we got was a mass singalong in the Bullring, just enough decent weather to perform outside and about 200 screaming fans! Josh, it seems, has become a minor celebrity overnight and his mere presence now sparks mass hysteria amongst his devoted groupies.

Our song, “Come With Me“, went down really well and a large proportion of the crowd had done their homework and learnt the lyrics, tune and chords (check out the video tutorial here). People were turning up with guitars, miniature drumkits, saxophones, kazoos and ukuleles and, despite the rain, British spirit endured and everybody had a whale of a time.

Next stop, Bristol – this Thursday 19 November. Details coming soon!

Now, if you’ll forgive me, I must return to Lightyears duties and go and prepare for tomorrow’s gig. Which is at Wembley Stadium. In front of 60,000 people.

Gulp.

Come one, come all, to Birmingham…

All the great tours start in great cities. That’s just a simple fact of rock and roll. It might be the Enormodome, Memphis, or the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, or New York’s Madison Square Gardens.

This tour, on the other hand, begins in Birmingham.

But you gotta start somewhere, eh?!

Tomorrow morning at 11am, Josh’s Band (featuring Chris and George Lightyear) will be premiering at the Birmingham Bullring in an attempt to get the good people of the UK singing the song we wrote last week in a studio in St John’s Wood. It’s called “Come With Me” and it’s invitingly simple to play and sing (click here for lyrics and chords; click here for recording and sheet music).

If you possess even just a modicum of musical talent or inclination, come join us and you could end up starring in a T-Mobile advert. It’s going to be exactly like the video for “All You Need Is Love”… except, you know, in a shopping centre.

Visit Josh’s Myspace page to find out more.

Tate Modern, here we come…

Over the past few weeks I’ve been spotting my face all over bus stops, underground stations and bins (no, really) as part of the new T-Mobile ad campaign. I know what you’re thinking – if a man sees his face on too many shopping centre bins then, eventually, he’s going to develop an intolerable ego. Well, true to form, the ego is burgeoning and well and truly on its way. But that’s not all. Not only have I found myself (semi-) immortalised in a mobile phone advert but, along with George and Tony, I have now been forever documented in a rather excellent painting by Charlotte Harris from Langtree School in Oxfordshire.

This may sound like an episode of Heartbeat but in fact Charlotte painted the above picture, along with a second one featured below, as part of her recent GCSE Art project.

If you’ve painted a picture of The Lightyears, or have perhaps built a shrine to the band in your front room complete with inflatable mannikins and potato print murals, please do send it in and we’ll publish it on the website.

LYs write song for T-Mobile ad campaign

Last week we were asked by T-Mobile and Josh Ward (the face of their recent “free texts for life” adverts) to write a song for their new campaign that would inspire thousands of people across the country to “Join Josh’s Superband”. We were up against a number of other musicians and songwriters but we’re excited to announce that T-Mobile have chosen our song!

The track is called “Come With Me” and a basic recording can be heard here. The idea is that, over time, loads of musicians and singers will add their voices and instruments to the track to create a joyous, ramshackle, ‘superband’ sound.

Click here to read the lyrics and learn the chords (it’s very straighforward!).

The other development from the past week is that George and I, along with the superb Mike Glozier on drums, have been recruited for Josh’s core band. The band will be touring around the country over the coming month and teaching “Come With Me” to as many people as possible. Visit Josh’s Myspace for details.

Where the project will go from there, only time will tell…

Visit the BLOG page to read about our experiences so far.

Come With Me (written for the T-Mobile ad campaign)

*Check out the music video for this song here*

(Russell, Owens, Ward, Glozier)

I pack my case in the night
You tell me I’ll be alright
I call up all of my friends
I hold my breath, count of ten, then you

Come to me, we go together and you
Stay with me, we stay together and you
Come with me, we go together and we
Run

First light and we’re on our way
I say all I have to say
You stand with all of my friends
I run and run and run and run and then you

Come to me, we go together and you
Stay with me, we stay together and you
Come with me, we go together and we
Run

Come with me
Stay with me
Come with me
Stay with me

Come to me, we go together and you
Stay with me, we stay together and you
Come with me, we go together and we
Run

Chord Sequence (repeated throughout):

One bar of A followed by half a bar of D and half a bar of E
|  A   A   A   A  |  D   D   E   E  |

Our song in a national ad campaign…!

Here’s the news – T-Mobile have selected our song “Come With Me” to be the signature song for their upcoming ad campaign. On top of this, George and Chris have now officially joined Josh Ward (the face of the ad campaign) and virtuoso drummer Mike Glozier to form the core band for the tour. This means that we’ll be bombing up and down the country over the next month or so performing the song and teaching it to – hopefully – thousands of people.

Click here to view the latest episode of Josh’s Superband Saga – featuring The Lightyears in the studio, working on “Come With Me”.

This whole campaign has grown organically and it’s impossible to say what will happen next… but there’s a good chance you’ll be hearing more about it soon, whether it’s in the paper, on the TV or in your hometown. Whether you’re musical or not, Josh wants you to Join His Band. And you should. He’s a lovely chap, you know.

You can read the lyrics for our song “Come With Me” on the LYRICS page.

You can here “Come With Me” on Josh’s Myspace page by clicking here.

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