The Sons (band)

The Sons are a Derbyshire-based alternative rock band, though their music incorporates sounds from various other genres, including rhythm and blues, folk and country, with a heavy emphasis on intricately layered musical composition and lyrical complexity. Currently, The Sons are composed of lead singer/main songwriter and guitarist/pianist Paul Herron, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Steven Herron, guitarist and vocalist Stewart English, bassist Lee Blades, and percussionist Roger Millichamp.

The band runs their own record label Cannon Fodder Recordings.

Early days
The Sons' origins trace back to 1994, when Paul Herron met Ken Reeves while attending the University of Derby and the two of them, both aspiring singer/songwriters and guitarists, decided to form a band. Herron and Reeves soon recruited a bass player, Lee Blades, and a drummer, Matt Dewsnap, by hanging up posters around campus. When Herron and Reeves discovered that Blades lived only two doors down from their house on Uttoxeter New Road, Derby, the quartet adopted the name "New Road" as their band name.

New Road continued to play local venues like The Garrick in and around Derby until Reeves left for southern England in 1996. Before Reeves’ departure, New Road connected with Stewart English, the owner of Clostrophobia Recording Studios on Agard Street in Derby, and began recording one of the first of the band’s many demos. Unfortunately, English was later forced to close his studio, but quickly joined New Road – though, soon after the addition of English, Dewsnap left the group due to friendly but creative differences, and was replaced by Matthew Paton.

The change in line-up inspired a change in name – from New Road to Sub-marine – and the band continued to hone their skills by playing shows in their native Derby, London and France.

The Sons
In 2003, the band self-financed and released their first single "One Man Floats", followed by the four track EP1 in 2004. The release of "One Man Floats" required the band to settle on a permanent name, and after drawing up a list of possibilities, they settled on The Sons.

Visiting Hours and Popup-Records
After promoting several demos without being signed by a label, the band decided to produce and distribute their first album, Visiting Hours in 2007, followed by a seven-date British tour in the summer of 2008.

The Prime Words Committee and American release
The Prime Words Committee was recorded at Snug Recording Co. in Derby between May 2010 and February 2011. The thirteen tracks on the album were selected from nineteen completed tracks and the remaining six were set aside for future B-sides. At the special request of a Swiss fan that had previously seen the band at Gaswerk, The Sons flew into Zurich and played a private party at Portier in Winterthur on 10 September 2011.

The Sons' Heading Into Land won the award for "Adult Contemporary Album" at The 2015 14th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Style
In a 2011 interview with the Derby Telegraph, The Sons’ main songwriter, Paul Herron, said of his writing style: "I tend to write about quite dark themes for some reason and The Prime Words Committee has songs on it about plane crashes and things like that! But it's not in a horrible, black way; that darkness is combined with the happier, hopeful melodies we've come up with. Writing like that isn't a particularly conscious thing but I think it comes from a dislike of love songs. I'd much rather write about something darker than a load of cliché stuff about love and happiness. "

The Sons first European tour dates (2009)
6 March - Rockhouse, Derby, England 15 March - Golden Fleece, Nottingham, England 20 March - Ms Treue, Bremen, Germany 21 March - Michelle Records, Hamburg, Germany 21 March - Gruner Jager, Hamburg, Germany 22 March - De Cantine, Amsterdam 23 March - Kaltscha Club, Dortmund, Germany 24 March - Damen und Herren, Düsseldorf, Germany 25 March - Subway to Peter, Chemnitz, Germany 26 March - Riff, Magdeburg, Germany 27 March - Unikum, Halle, Germany 28 March - Sparte 4, Saarbrücken, Germany 29 March - Dimensione, Winterthur, Switzerland 30 March - L Club, Wurzburg, Germany 31 March - Cord, Munchen, Germany 2 April - Mokka, Thun, Switzerland 3 April - Cafe Pfeiffer Buchen, Germany 4 April - Club Im Park, Furstenwalde, Germany 5 April - Virgin Records, Berlin, Germany 5 April - Intersoup, Berlin, Germany 6 April - Blauer Engel, Kiel, Germany 7 April - Kinky Star Club, Gent, Belgium 10 April – Rockhouse, Derby

Paul Herron solo acoustic (2009)
10 June - Ms Treue, Bremen, Germany 11 June - Karo, Bremen, Germany 12 June - Irish Pub, Buxtehude, Germany 12 June - Indra, Hamburg, Germany

The Reeperbahn Festival (2009)
25 Sept. - Kaiserkeller, Hamburg, Germany

The Sons second European tour (2009)
16 Oct. - Rockhouse, Derby 26 Nov. - Musigbistrot, Bern, Switzerland 27 Nov. - Kellerclub, Stuttgart, Germany 28 Nov. - Gaswerk, Winterthur, Switzerland 30 Nov. - Pretty Vacant, Düsseldorf, Germany 1 Dec.- Cafe Video, Gent, Belgium 2 Dec. - Pools, Göttingen, Germany 3 Dec. - Astra Strube, Hamburg, Germany 4 Dec. - Cafe Momo, Rostock, Germany 5 Dec. - Riff, Magdeburg, Germany 12 Dec. - Bar One, Derby, England

The Sons third European tour (2010)
22 March - La Tana delle Rane, Reggio Emilia, Italy 23 March - La Salumeria del Rock, Arceto, Italy 25 March - MMB Club, Naples, Italy 26 March - Zena, Salerno, Italy 27 March - Contestaccio, Rome, Italy 28 March - Lofficina Della Musica, Lecco, Italy 30 March - Dimensione, Winterthur, Switzerland 31 March - Scopitone, Paris, France 1 April - De Rots, Antwerp, Belgium 3 April - Magnet, Berlin, Germany

Additional performances

 * 26 September 2010 – Market Place, Derby, England
 * 7 August 2011 – Ynot Festival, Derbyshire, England
 * 21 October 2011 – The Old Bell, Derby, England

Singles and EPs

 * "One Man Floats" (2003)
 * EP1 (2004)

Albums

 * Visiting Hours (2007)
 * The Prime Words Committee (2011)
 * Heading Into Land (2014)