And it’s a good night of hymns...
Life on the road for Russell Watson is a bit like the job of painting the Forth Rail Bridge – it’s never-ending. “People ask me when my tour finishes and I tell them it doesn’t, I just have breaks in between,” smiles Russell as he gets set to take to the stage for his latest musical odyssey. “There isn’t a single month this year when I don’t have a concert. I’m a creature of habit and I like to get into routines,”he says. “In the last couple of years I’ve gotten home and only had a short time before I’m away and the routine I’ve got into is broken again. Sometimes it’s difficult, but I really can’t complain. I’m doing something I love and I get a great deal of enjoyment from it.” Ask what the downsides are and the answer come shooting straight back. “Travelling,” says Russell firmly. “I seem to spend forever on the M6 motorway with traffic cones and idiot drivers. I am officially now a grumpy old man.” Russell at least has some company
and the opportunity for a good bit of banter on his latest outing around the highways and byways of the UK. The In Harmony Tour is a joint affair with his old pal Aled Jones. “It’s going to be a collection of songs, first and foremost from the In Harmony album we released last Christmas,” said Russell. “It’s a mixture of arias, the nation’s favourite hymns and some great pop standards.We feel it’s a good balance.” The tour kicks off on September 17 and runs right through until October 15. “It’s a first for me to share a stage on a tour, although I’ve done one-off concerts,” said Aled.“It’s nice to have someone else to bounce off. “Someone said that it’s half the money with there being two of us – but we can do double the number of concerts. “The tour isn’t just about the singing, although we want to make that the best we can, it’ll be about sharing stories as well. And there will no doubt be a lot of teasing.” The duo’s friendship goes back
almost 20 years.“I came on the scene back in 2000 and that’s when we first met,” said Russell. “I think it was backstage at the Royal Albert Hall. “With the kind of music we do, it’s a pretty small world so our paths have crossed all the time since.” Like Russell, Aled is as busy as ever with his Classic FM shows and he is coming up on two decades of presenting duties on perennial BBC favourite Songs Of Praise. “I didn’t realise it was as long as that, it’s really scary,” he says.“It’s been a lot of travelling. “In fact, when I was doing Cash In The Attic as well I was on the road such a lot of the time. “I’m home much more now and I like that I’ve got the balance a bit better. “But I did get to go to Normandy with an old veteran for a programme for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. “I feel very honoured when you get the opportunity to do things like that. “Songs of Praise has got such an appeal. It’s always had the hymns that take you back but the stories always resonate, too.”