Steve Howe pays tribute to son Virgil in Leaving Aurora video

By Scott Munro
( Prog )
published

Steve Howe pays tribute to late son Virgil in touching new video for their track Leaving Aurora - from upcoming album Nexus

A still from the video

Steve Howe has released a touching video tribute to his late son Virgil.

Virgil died unexpectedly in September at the age of 41, shortly after he and the Yes guitarist had completed recording their collaborative album Nexus.

Last month, Howe said he hoped the record would be a fitting tribute to Virgil and it is set to be released on Friday.

Howe has now launched a specially created new video for their track Leaving Aurora.

Howe said: “Virgil and I had only recently completed recording Nexus, which contains 11 of his tunes to which I added a guitar to suit each one. We delivered it to InsideOutMusic in August for release on November 17.

“We started to work together in 2016 by selecting about nine tunes from his ‘stockpile’ of piano based music that he’d periodically sent Jan and I each time he’d written and recorded a new idea. I began adding guitars to them, then I’d play them to Virgil. He’d then surprise me by bringing up other channels of instrumentation which I’d never heard.

“The tunes went from straightforward ‘duets’ to something bigger and better, more of a complete picture than a mere shape. Free Fall and Nick’s Star were added from earlier sessions, the latter being his tribute to the passing of his best friend Nick Hirsch.”

Howe continues: “Nexus explores a completely different side of Virgil’s ability, as a writer and keyboard player – in his own right. His talents were multi-diverse, so sitting at a keyboard and computer or in the middle of his drum kit, at all his regular DJ gigs or on the radio, he always gave his best.

“We hope that the music just completed will stand as a fitting tribute to his life and legacy.”

Nexus is now available for pre-order (opens in new tab). Find the cover art and tracklist below.

Virgil And Steve Howe Nexus tracklist

  1. Nexus
  2. Hidden Planet
  3. Leaving Aurora
  4. Nick’s Star
  5. Night Hawk
  6. Moon Rising
  7. Passing Titan
  8. Dawn Mission
  9. Astral Plane
  10. Infinite Space
  11. Free Fall

Steve Howe teams up with his son on new album Nexus

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.