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As always, it was a delight to welcome Yes guitarist Steve Howe back onto the show to talk about his new solo album, Guitarscape. It was a fun discussion during which Mark and I enjoyed asking some searching questions about the new record. Of course, we also slipped in a few questions about Yes and Tales from Topographic Oceans!
Steve and Dylan Howe:
Guitarscape is a little different to other Steve Howe solo albums and I’m sure you will enjoy it when it is released in September.
- What’ did Igor bring to the Yes keyboard role’s different about this Steve Howe solo album?
- How was it put together?
- Who else worked on it?
Let us know if you agree with us!
16th July 2024: Guitarist Steve Howe releases his new solo album Guitarscape on 27th September on his own HoweSound label. The album will be available on CD, vinyl and digital downloads, including Dolby Atmos. Pre-order the album here: https://lnk.to/hkKdov
Guitarscape marks a new chapter for the YES and ASIA legend as he presents, what amounts to, a guitar masterclass. “What I’m doing,” said Steve, “is focusing on what I do well and what I love to do.” Guitarscape features 14 new instrumental tracks in a host of musical styles, from rock through to acoustic and classical, each bearing that unmistakable Steve Howe sound. Steve plays acoustic, electric, steel and bass guitars along with keyboards and is joined by his son Dylan on drums. Steve has written all of the tracks and produced the album.
“This album has given me the opportunity to do something different,” says Steve. “I bought a Novation Summit keyboard and found that it had a wealth of inspiring sounds. It gave me a golden opportunity to create my own keyboard structures – chordal movements and structures that I thought were a bit different. I think differently on a keyboard, I don’t see the chords looking the same but then I had fun playing around with the guitar to see where that goes.
“I’ve utilised most of the colours, as I like to I think of my styles, and I’m always pleased when I hear them running through and it moves from a steel, maybe, to a Spanish guitar. Because it’s a different sort of album, I’m not using terribly conventional chord sequences but things that give me a fresh feeling and opportunities to improvise and stretch out as well as be melodic and make this a nice tuneful experience.
“I began feeding the tracks to Dylan. We get on great and he seems to know what to play around my guitar, it’s almost instinctive. Dylan and I fit together really beautifully. We’ve had the chance to do this together, so it’s wonderful.
“The bass parts and the keyboards are pretty interesting, everything had to be interesting but also work together. I like doing things that are super fresh and this album says what I am today.”
Steve Howe – Guitarscape is released by HoweSound on 27th September 2024.
Guitarscape – Track Listing
1. Hail Storm (2.22)
2. Spring Board (2.45)
3. Distillations (1.48)
4. Up Stream (3.17)
5. Secret Mission (3.26)
6. Passing Thoughts (2.36)
7. Touch The Surface (3.21)
8. Spring Rhyme (2.02)
9. Equinox (3.04)
10. Seesaw (2.12)
11. Gone West (3.03)
12. Suma (1.34)
13. Spring Tide (2.41)
14. Steel Breeze (2.57)
All tracks written by Steve Howe
Produced by Steve Howe
Assembled and mixed by Curtis Schwartz
There are only 100 of these packs available, so buy yours now! (Opens in a new window)
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Theme music
The music I use is the last movement of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. This has been used as introduction music at many Yes concerts. My theme music is not take from a live concert – I put it together from: archive.org
6 replies on “Steve Howe on his new solo album, Guitarscape – 636”
Wow what a great interview…Steve sounds like he is really enjoying his music and he sounds like he is pretty geeked up about this summer tour with Deep Purple
Always a great show thank you for all the hard work!
Hi Paul,
Thank you very much for your kind words and your support.
Yes… Steve seems to be pleased with the new album and life in general.
Take care
Mark Anthony K
Very nice interview, guys. Steve seemed to be in good spirits.
He also did a nice one with Barry from Classic Album Review. I have to say I share Steve’s views on Open Your Eyes.
Hi Aaron
Thanks for the kind words in regard to the episode. I checked out the Classic Album interview…and not surprisingly…I didn’t agree with their views. Sometimes different people step up and try to motivate band members to make an album. Chris and Billy stepped up. Jon did it for ABWH…Steve and Jon did it for Tales. And to me those are all just as much Yes albums as Fragile or Close to the Edge.
Mark Anthony K
Hi, Mark.
Thanks for the response.
I understand your point of view. But in my opinion, there are few albums, especially from prog bands, that hold up well when just one or two members bring the vast majority of ideas. That said, there are exceptions — but those exceptions tend to be rare and usually involve bands for which there was already one dominant writer of both the lyrics and the music.
I didn’t mean to say that Open Your Eyes shouldn’t be considered a legitimate Yes album. Though I understand why some people might feel that way. Rather, I think it is a much weaker record than most if not all the rest because of such minimal participation from other members.
Again, great interview with Steve. Keep it up, guys! You are always a must listen for me.
Best,
Aaron
Thank you for the very enjoyable interview. “The Grand Scheme of Things” (1993) is a lovely album, and it was when I was first introduced to singer Keith West and learned of his and Steve Howe’s participation in the band Tomorrow.