THE INTRO
And comedian Al Murray confirms he’ll be hosting the seventh annual Prog Awards this autumn.
We announce the 2018 Progressive Music Awards host and Prog God, plus news on Coheed & Cambria, Sanguine Hum, Arcane Roots and more…
Yes guitarist Steve Howe will be lauded Prog God at the Progressive Music Awards 2018 in London on September 13. Previous award recipients include Carl Palmer, Peter Gabriel and Rick Wakeman.
Speaking to Prog from North America, where he’s currently on tour with Yes, Howe says, “It’s an honour to be heralded as somebody of importance. I’m flattered. I keep my awards on top of my guitar rack and this one will be added to them.”
Howe grew up in north London where his parents’ music collection provided the soundtrack to his childhood. Through it he discovered the work of jazz musician-turnedguitar inventor Les Paul, and by the age of 12 he’d started teaching himself how to play guitar. His formative years coincided with the birth of rock’n’roll, which cemented his career path.
“When Chuck Berry was doing the duckwalk I went, ‘This is amazing! I wanna do this!’” he laughs. “There was something about the guitar that was just so suitable for me. I taught myself, that’s been my strength and possibly the reason why I’m fairly original. I always wanted my own sound.”
His first professional outing was with the blues group The Syndicats, which afforded him the opportunity to work with experimental producer Joe Meek. He recalls, “Joe was the first producer I worked with and the first person from the ‘big time’ that I met. I learned the ropes [with him]. I went to the recording session and said, ‘Where’s everybody else?’ And he said, ‘It’s just you!’ I loved that attention so that was the best day in that period of my life.”
The turning point in his career came when he joined Yes in 1970. He co-wrote the following year’s breakthrough The Yes Album and has since spent the best part of five decades with them. He cites the band’s first performances at New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden in 1978 as a personal highlight.
“I wanted to be successful as a musician and there are certain things that are always indicators of your success. The fact is that we were filling out Madison Square Garden and we weren’t staying in crap hotels; to be able to enjoy one’s achievement is nice.”
Howe has played in numerous bands over the last six decades – including
Asia, and GTR with Steve Hackett – and has guested with Queen, Lou Reed and Fish. He’s also enjoyed successful a solo career and is now looking to release his third album with the Steve Howe Trio.
“I’ve been in 10 bands in my life and that’s a lot,” he says.“You could ask,‘When am I going to stop being in a band?’ And I relish the time when
I might because I would like to do more solo work. I’ve written a lot of tunes and I like playing them so let me play them please at some point!”
Meanwhile, comedian Al Murray is confirmed
“It’s an honour to be heralded as somebody of importance. I’m flattered.”
as host for this year’s Progressive Music Awards. He told Prog, “I’m delighted to be asked to present the Prog Awards this year. Prog’s a real of a passion of mine – as anyone who follows me on Twitter will know – and when I went to the event last year I knew I was among my people: nerds, dweebs, freak-outs, hippies, Mellotron-heads and odd-time groovers. As an occasional musician, too, it’s quite inspiring to be around people who created such incredible music, recordings that have given me so much pleasure and inspiration since I was a kid.”
Voting for all categories closes at midnight on August 24 so head over to www.loudersound.com/prog2018 and make your voice heard. NRS