Tim Bowness, Noel McCalla and Ms Amy Birks guest on new rock opera

Tim Bowness
(Image credit: Mark Wood)

Tim Bowness, Ms Amy Birks, former Manfred Mann/Mike Rutherford vocalist Noel McCalla, David Cross (King Crimson), Kate St. john (Dream Academy) and Squeeze's Chris Difford are the guest stars on a new rock opera/concept album from US collective Rocking Horse Music Cub.

They will release Circus Of Wire Dolls on CD on September 16 with vinyl to follow on October 21. You can watch a video trailer for the project below.

"The album tells the story of a man who creates a miniature circus out of wire, string, and cloth," explains Rocking Horse Music Cub leader, vocalist and keyboard player Brian Coombes. "In his imagination, the performers of his circus come to life with human thoughts and emotions. As the circus plays out, the performers each tell their own stories, revealing the aspirations, fears, and thoughts of their creator. On the surface, it’s a story about a miniature circus, but it’s really about a man looking back at his life, his work, the people who entered and existed his world, his successes, his failures, his regrets."

Rocking Horse Music Club released Which Way The Wind Blows: The Music Of Anthony Phillips, a tribute album to the music of Anthony Phillips in 2019 and aso performed a couple of live shows at Trading Boundaries which featured McCalla and St. John alongside Steve Hackett, John Hackett, Nick Magnus and John Helliwell.

Circus Of Wire Dolls also features contributions from Kenwood Dennard (Brand X), John Hackett, Rob Townsend (Steve Hackett) and Greg Hawkes (The Cars).

Circus Of Wire Dolls will be available through Burning Shed shortly.

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Rocking Horse Music Club

(Image credit: Press)
Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.