Rockstars and whisky.... infinitely brilliant bed-fellows. From the iconic imagery of 'Zeppelin's Jimmy Page necking Jack Daniels from the bottle, to the raw emotion laid bare in Robert Johnson’s seminal recordings of the late 1930s, whisky, of some kind, seeps with abundance from virtually every pore of a rockstar's body.
But hellraising seems so tedious these days, especially when all the best stunts have been done, to a far greater degree by legends of the yesteryear, who most modern day rockstars just couldn't hold a candle to. So it's heart warming when you hear about a few musicians channeling their love of whisky into something all the more wholesome and creative for a change, rather than just p***ing it up the wall.
One such fellow is the sensational Richard Hawley, whose solo career has gone on to achieve superb success over the last few years. Hawley's breakthrough album, 'Coles Corner' was highly acclaimed by the press and received a coveted Mercury Music Prize nomination (narrowly losing out to local Sheffield lads, The Arctic Monkeys)
Taking time out of his schedule to promote his new album, Truelove's Gutter, Richard recently visited the Glenfiddich distillery, using the trip as inspiration for writing a new batch of songs, which will be released later this year in collaboration with Glenfiddich.
I got to chat to Richard recently about his experiences and it was amazing to hear just how influential the visit was- from observing the journey whisky takes from the still, to full maturity in a cask, as well as the experiences and stories of the distillery staff, some who have been working there for upwards of 40 years.
The material was recently recorded at a studio in Manchester and we for one (as huge fans of Richard's albums) are very keen to hear the results.
There is also a competition for fans to win tickets to an exclusive gig planned at the distillery in the near future. Click here for more details:
You can of course hear Richard's wonderful music Here. Stay tuned for a longer interview with the man himself in the next issue of Whisky Magazine.
