Boo Hewerdine made his long awaited return to Barrels Alehouse on Sunday 11 th November 07 to promote his latest album, Harmonograph. This new album was created after Boo resolved to record his own versions of songs he had written for, and often with, other people.

From around 400 such songs he drew up a shortlist of 140, he then settled on a shorter list of 80. Boo resisted any pressure simply to stack together versions of his most successful collaborations. “It’s not like a CV,” he says. One song seemed to lead on to the next: “There just seemed to be an atmosphere emerging”. That was what he was after. The twelve songs that eventually surfaced – some well known, like the Eddi Reader hit single “Patience Of Angels”, some not, and some never recorded previously – became Harmonograph.

The life and career of Boo Hewerdine first began to blossom with the group he formed in the mid-Eighties, The Bible. Two of their finest songs, “ Graceland” and “Honey Be Good”, came tantalisingly close to becoming huge hits. (A third, “Glorybound”, is one of the recordings about which Nick Hornby rhapsodises in his book 31 Songs.) Since those early days Boo has become a hugely successful solo artist in his own right and a leading songwriter for both alternative folk acts as well as a wide range of pop artists. Amongst the many artists he has written for are Natalie Imbruglia and Mel C. An incident from one of Boo’s recent gigs explains his songwriting talents a little better; one new fan approached him after a concert in Portsmouth, otherwise full of praise, expressing only one reservation: “I’m just surprised you do so many covers”. In reality, less a criticism than a nice, accidental compliment – as is often the case, that night Boo hadn’t played a single song he hadn’t written himself.

Boo Hewerdine plays Barrels Alehouse on Sunday 11 th November 07 . Tickets cost £8 and should be bought in advance to avoid disappointment. Local support comes from Lizzie Bell who sings with uncorrupted vocals accompanied by folky- blues guitar. Doors open at 7.30pm.