Dave Sharp's first solo album Hard Travellin' is scheduled to be re-released by EMI records on Feb 10th as a download.
Almost 20 years since its first release on IRS/EMI records Hard Travellin has become somewhat of a cult classic and, untill now, has been almost impossible to obtain.

To coincide with the EMI re-release of Hard Travellin' Dave Sharp's second album Downtown America will be made available for the first time in the UK.
Downtown America features a stunning group of musicians including Dave Grisholme and Larry Crane (John Mellencamp) Al Cooper (Bob Dylan) Chris Soulberg (Santana) and Prairie Prince (The Tubes)

The Ghost of Preacher Casey and album title track Downtown America are available now as singles to preview the album.
Downtown America has never before been released in the UK so we hope you take advantage of this opportunity to obtain your copy of what has been described by the American music press as Dave Sharp's "seminal album."

Details for all the downloads can be found on Little London Studios website.

AOR NEWS

Following their first UK appearances, AOR release their debut single A Little Help From My Friends as a download.

AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD NOW---Hear a sample clip of AOR (here)

ATTENTION----CHANGES TO UPCOMING RATS/DAVE SHARP DATES SCHEDULE

Dave is exited to have been invited to play at The Gathering this weekend ahead of some acoustic shows throughout February with The Rats.

We strongly advise that you check ahead with the venues if you plan to attend the Rats shows as the band are having to cancel some events.
Burgess Hill and Croydon have already (apparently) been cancelled--
We will of course keep you fully up to date with any changes to the Rats/Dave Sharp schedule as soon as we receive information from the Rats management team.

Again we urge you to check thouroughly with the venues beforehand if you are planning to attend the Rats events.

We hope you will all enjoy the Dave Sharp download material and we look forward to seeing you on the road.

The DaveSharp.org team would also like to wish Dave all the best on this very special birthday!

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All of us here at Dave.org would like to pass on our best wishes to all of you who supported us throughout 2008...Here's hoping everyone is having a great holiday season. We'd like to wish everyone the very best for 2009 and a wonderful year ahead.

Its been a very busy 12 months with the formation and launch of 2 projects--The Hard Travelers and The AOR both of which were able to make recordings and appearances this year.

Dave had a wonderful time teaming up with Mike on the recent Guerilla Tactics tour and passes on his heartfelt thanks to all who showed up early to catch his sets

2009 kicks of with part 2 of the BBC Radio Wales interview Dave recorded whilst on the road with the AOR in December. Tune in on January 2nd to "The Evening Show" when
Dave will also be performing 2 tracks live in the studio.. Aint Got No Home and a brand new version of The Ghost of Preacher Casey.

There will be a web feature on Dave's guitar work on the New Year edition of 300 Guitars, a new tech site begun by Bill Penn who most of you will know as the guitarist on Dave 1st solo album Hard Travelin.

Dave begins the new year with some acoustic shows beginning Feb 1st and plans for the next round of Hard Travelers activity are well underway

Dave is planning some Scottish dates solo and with his good friends The Junkyard Dawgs early in the New Year...stay tuned for those dates as they come in...

Once again we'd like to thank you all for your support throughout a long year in 2008 and we look forward to bringing you a fantastic 12 months of music in 2009.

Happy New Year to all in 2009...

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Dave is proud to announce the premiere of AOR's new single "With A Little Help From My Friends" on Radio Wales Evening Show tomorrow night, Friday 12 December.
The show starts at 7pm and Dave will also do an acoustic performance of Ain't Got No Home.

AOR is also playing live in Cardiff tomorrow, details on the Tour Dates Page

A review by long-time Alarm fan Dave Chinery has been posted to the Reviews section including video links to Sunday's concert.

A radio interview by Mike Sweeney in connection with last months Sophie Lancaster Foundation benefit gig can now be found on AOR Media Page along with a video of Knife Edge from the show.

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AOR are pleased to confirm that they will be joining The Damned at "Make A Noise 2" in aid of The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

The alternative music community throughout the UK was shocked by the attack on Sophie & her boyfriend Robert in a local park in August 2007. Sophie died from the injuries sustained during the attack by a group of youths, Robert was left seriously injured. The only reason they were attacked was because they were "goths".

S.O.P.H.I.E. Make A Noise 2 will be held at Heywood Civic Centre, Lancashire on 26th November 2008. It follows on from the original Sophie Lancaster memorial concert organised by Sophie's mother Sylvia on 25th November 2007, what would have been Sophie's 21st birthday, where Sophie's friends & family celebrated her life. This year others will be able to join them and support the S.O.P.H.I.E. (Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred + Intolerance Everywhere) campaign.

Joining The Damned & AOR are two bands featuring friends of Sophie's - Ded Mole Crikit and Eustacia Vye.

The event will end at midnight with a minutes NOISE, to show we will not stay quiet about the death of Sophie and the violence that damages so many lives.

Tickets are £16 each available by calling the venue on 01706 368130 or 01706 624104.
Please book them early as they are limited to 500.
For more details see:
http://www.myspace.com/inmemoryofsophie

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AOR is proud to launch their new MySpace site at www.myspace.com/aorlive containing all up to date and official news about the band.

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We're very pleased to announce that the AOR will be playing alongside 2 of rock's most influential bands... Bad Co and Ten Years After.. at the Regent Theatre Ipswich.

Originally planned for December 1st, this concert has been postponed to February next year.

Dave is very proud that the AOR have been chosen to be part of the show and excited to be performing the music of the Alarm with the AOR in such a great setting.

"I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mick Ralphs and Bad Co... it was Mick's White Strat that lead me to discover my guitar sound on the Strength album and I'm also very vibed that my good friend Smiley from the Mescaleros will be performing with the band.

To be sharing the bill with Ten Years After is also amazing. It was the legendary performance of Ten Years After at Woodstock along with so many other influential artists that showed me the way forward when I started out.

I reckon that when the spirit of Woodstock meets the spirit of Punk Rock on Dec 1st wonderful things will happen...I hope you can all be there to share in what I believe will be a magnificent moment."

Further details here

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Thanks for your comments on the AOR show in Glasgow - keep them coming. The band are overwhelmed by the 100%positive feedback received.

Si Smith sends the following message on behalf of the whole band:
We would like to thank everybody who attended the AOR Show.
You made us all feel very welcome, we enjoyed playing the Alarm songs and hope you enjoyed us playing music that has been the sound track to your lives.
We look forward to seeing you all soon, and spread the word.

Here is a selection of the comments received here at davesharp.org:

• Dave played with such a level of passion and skill that it simply left me dumbstruck....totally blown away within minutes. In that short moment I mustered more excitement about anything Alarm related than I've been able to in years, it certainly reawoke a hidden passion within me.
  
  
• You know the mark of any decent band when they leave you wanting more and these guys opened up the taps on that emotion big time.
  
  
• Wayne reminded me of a young Mick Jagger and Dave looked like he was having a ball.
  
  
• With perhaps the hardest job of all, lead singer Wayne Parry made no attempt to impersonate Mike Peters but instead gave his own unique interpretation of the lyrics. Faced with an audience who have known every word by heart for 20 years or more, he could have been forgiven for a degree of nerves, but he showed few.
  
  
• All in all, it was a special night and certainly one that this fan hopes will be repeated at some point in the future. Far too magical to be a one-off.
  
  
• It was really a magical night, one that almost brought a tear to my eye on 3 or 4 separate occasions as these wonderful songs were played live for the first time in who knows how long.
  
  
• There was a great deal of improvised soloing throughout, some of it utterly captivating, with Sharp acting almost like an orchestra conductor to bass player Dave Brown and drummer Simon Smith. It was a tribute to their ability that they managed to follow so effectively when their frontman was clearly winging it.
  
  
• The Alarm in their original incarnation alternated between straight forward rock and alt-rock. Tonight the emphasis was very much on the latter with the songs chosen featuring Sharp's spooky echo filled guitar sound such as "Black Sun", "Dawn Chorus" and "Prison without Prison Bars".
  

Photographs by Doug Watson www.myspace.com/soundtrack4life

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If so then A.O.R. want to hear from you. What did you think of the show? The sound? The playing? The choice of tracks?

It doesn't matter if it is only a few words, good, bad or indifferent - your feedback is important to the band.
You can leave a review of the show in the reviews section, add a message to the messageboard, or e-mail your comments to:
aor-feedback@davesharp.org.

Read the first review of the show here.

The band would also love to see your photos and videos of the show. E-mail them to the address above.

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Dave is hoping someone can help him get in touch with Alan Wilkes from Reading, the current keeper of his Gibson Firebird, or alternatively Alan's brother Gordon, who Dave believe's lives in the Midlands somewhere.

Dave would dearly like to play the Firebird at the AOR gig in Glasgow, so if anyone knows how to reach him it would be greatly appreciated if you got in touch with info@davesharp.org

Thank you

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Dave Sharp was recently asked by one of his favourite venues, Rockers in Glasgow, if he'd like to perform some Alarm songs for an upcoming evening concert. Surprisingly Dave agreed to the event.

We asked Dave for a few words about the show and he replied asking us to publish his comments below .....

"I've always felt that it would be spiritually challenging for me to play the Alarm's music without the four of us being together and so, until now, I've turned down hundreds of offers to do so.

Late last year I had an opportunity to spend a little time with Mike when we met for the voice-overs for the Spirit of 86 re-release DVD. I think both of us were pleasantly surprised to find how well we got along whilst re-visiting The Alarm's UCLA gig and the times surrounding it. We were able to talk through so many things we'd not had an opportunity to discuss after the accrimonious split of the band in 1991, and watching the performance together with Mike was a very healing, cathartic and positive experience for me.

I was appoached by "H" and the folks at Rockers recently, who have been a very supportive venue to both my solo careeer and my work with the Alarm. They have often asked if I would like to perform some Alarm songs in concert for them and when they approached me this time, following the Spirit of 86 DVD release, I was surprised to find myself warming to the idea and even more surprised to find myself agreeing to consider it...The Alarm and The Tartan has always been a magic mix!!!

Mike and I recently had a very positive discussion about my playing Alarm songs again after all this time. I voiced my concerns that folks should not see this upcoming concert as an intrusion into all the great work Mike has been doing in keeping the name and spirit of the original band alive. Mike was very supportive, positive and encouraging so I'd like to take this opportunity to emphasize that this project is in no way intended to be a replacement for the original band and to say also that I truly hope it will be something that will add positivly to all the good work Mike is doing so effectively with The Alarm MMVIII.

I contacted an old friend, drummer Simon Smith, and asked him to help me to put together a band of intuitive musicians who are able to express themselves through the chemistry and spirituality of the music. He introduced me to Wayne Parry (lead vocalist with '19th Century'), Dave Black (bass player with Omkara & The Sons) and Tom Szakaly (keyboard player with Noddy's Puncture and occasionally Keith Emerson). I decided to chose the name "AOR" for the project, an acronym for "Alarm Oriented Rock" which I thought would be appropriate. The focus of the show will be a selection of The Alarm's album songs.

I'm most definitely excited and looking forward to playing electric guitar on The Alarm's music again. I do hope all who choose to attend the show will share a wonderful and joyous evening of music and that it will reflect the harmony and friendship I feel towards Mike, Ed and Nige. Above all I hope the evening will do justice to the memory of the wonderful times we all shared with the best rock & roll band in the world... "The Alarm."

God Bless us all.
Dave"

More details on the Tour Dates Page

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