Charlie's ready to hit the road again (From Wirral Globe)

Charlie's ready to hit the road again

3:10pm Wednesday 22nd August 2012 in News By Craig Manning

CHARLIE Landsborough returns to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall later this year.

 

The Birkenhead-born singer/songwriter comes to the city on November 4 with his own brand of country/spiritual music as part of a 19-date tour.

 

Looking forward to hitting the road again, Charlie told the Globe this afternoon: “It’s pretty much dancing round the old garden, in many respects, because the show will feature a mix of old and new material.

 

“One thing that has changed is the band’s line-up. I’ve got mainly local musicians involved, including my son Jamie.

 

”He is brilliant and far more capable than I am, definitely one to watch. But if people turn up expecting to see a younger version of me, they won’t.”

 

This year has also seen the release of Charlie’s 25th album and he is planning the next.

 

On the current album, he said: “It’s gone down very well, so far. It’s more uptempo than my other stuff and a variety of musicians have been involved.”

 

His recently released autobiography “Storyteller” proved so popular wth his fans that it is already in reprint.

 

It details his early years in Birkenhead, his time in the army, his Christianity and many years of teaching.

 

He had his first big hit in his 50s his meteoric rise with “What Colour Is the Wind” and has never looked back.

 

On the book's success he said: “I never thought I’d get as far as having a book published, and there are a lot of tales in there.“

 

His talent was recognised by the British Country Music Hall when he was inducted into their Hall of Fame.

 

Now in his 70th year Charlie continues to tour and work relentlessly. At a time when others might be slowing the pace Charlie is still pleasing crowds all over the world, even as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

 

Looking back, he said: ”There are many highlights and if I had a chance to think about it I could come up with dozens.

 

“One of them would be performing for three nights at the home of country music, the Opry in Nashville Tennessee.“

 

He said: “As long as I still enjoy doing this, and people want to hear me, then I can’t see any reason to stop.”

 

On future plans, he said: “I’m going back to Australia in May next year. It’s a great part of the world.

 

“I’ve also only just discovered that I’ve got a fanclub of 1000 people in Sweden.

 

“I didn’t think anybody had even heard of me over there. It would be nice to do a show over there someday, but we’ll see what happens.”

Tickets for his show at the Liverpool Philharmonic, which starts at 7.30pm, are from the box office on 0151 709 3789.