Four versions of Steve Hackett track Spectral Mornings have been recorded and will be released as an EP to raise cash for charity, it’s been confirmed.
It’s the brainchild of Rob Reed, who recruited his Magenta bandmate Christina Booth, along with the Steven Wilson Band’s Nick Beggs, and Big Big Train’s David Longdon and Nick D’Virgilio for the project. Hackett also plays on the record which is scheduled for an April 27 release, with all proceeds going to Parkinson’s Society UK.
Reed says of the track which originally appeared on the former Genesis man’s 1979 solo album of the same name: “I’ve always loved the piece. It had a great guitar melody and I thought it would be amazing to re-record with the addition of lyrics.
“David Longdon wrote them and we did a demo, which sounded fantastic. I also had the idea of it being a duet so we asked Christina to sing it.
“We then had to play the demo to Steve to make sure he liked it, which thankfully he did. He kindly agreed to play guitar on the track, which was wonderful. I really think we have been respectful to the original piece and hopefully brought something new to it as well.”
On the decision to launch a charity record, Reed adds: “Myself, Christina and Steve have all lost close family members to Parkinson’s, so we decided to donate all the proceeds from the sale to Parkinson’s Society UK, who are funding research into a cure for this terrible affliction.”
The EP is available to pre-order from Cherry Red Records.
Tracklist
- Spectral Mornings 2015 2. Spectral Mornings 2015 (Acoustic Mix) 3. Spectral Mornings 2015 (Instrumental) 4. Spectral Mornings 2015 (Classic Mix)