The Guilty Men are gearing up for Oldham date

After releasing their debut album Invisible Confetti in September 2024, well-respected folk rock outfit The Guilty Men have announced their first UK tour with nine dates in December.

Included in the tour is an eagerly-anticipated gig at Whittles in Oldham on December 5.

You can purchase tickets by clicking the link here

The first single ‘Susan’s Back Drinking’ was written by accomplished singer, musician and record producer Clive Gregson with a video filmed in Colorado, USA produced by award winning film director Nigel Dick.

Nigel directed the Britney Spears video ...Baby One More Time, Band Aid, Do They Know It's Christmas? Oasis, Wonderwall, and videos for REM, Cher, Paul McCartney, Tears for Fears and more.

When released in September, ‘Susan’s Back Drinking’ was featured as ‘Single of The Week’ on over 50 UK radio stations and the band’s debut album went Top 50 on the Amazon rock chart.

The days of the Supergroup may be long past… but The Guilty Men would surely qualify for that description!

The band is made up of five of the finest musicians from the north west of England.

Between them, they have played over 10,000 gigs on planet Earth, recorded thousands of songs and made countless radio and TV appearances.

The story starts in 1979, in Manchester.

Clive Gregson and Neil Cossar met through a mutual friend, John Martin, the bassist in The Cheaters… Neil was the band’s guitarist.

Clive was the leader of Any Trouble. The Cheaters had a PA, Any Trouble owned a van.

It made sense to pool resources, often with both bands on the same bill… so it was happy days!

Any Trouble signed to Stiff Records, The Cheaters signed to EMI.

Both bands released several albums and played thousands of shows.

Both bands ran their course… Clive then went on to a successful partnership with singer Christine Collister, released over 20 solo albums, and spent 15 years in Nashville working as a session musician and producer.

Neil became a radio DJ, formed a Music PR company and launched the online brand This Day in Music, before becoming a music book publisher.

Cut to 2021… lifelong friends Clive and Neil are catching up over lunch and thought it might be fun to try and write some songs together.

Several weeks and quite a few songs later, they decided to expand the enterprise from a songwriting workshop to a full blown band.

Clive recruited keyboardist Jez Smith and bassist Craig Fletcher from John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest, and the lineup was completed with the addition of legendary drummer, Paul Burgess, who has played with 10cc since 1973.

They named the band The Guilty Men… and headed into the recording studio.

Cut to 2024… and The Guilty Men’s debut album “Invisible Confetti” is ready to roll.

Thirteen brand new songs recorded in the old-fashioned way: everybody playing live in the studio, intent on catching the moment.

Most of the songs were laid down in no more than two or three takes… and with four featured lead vocalists, the album covers a lot of musical bases.

“Invisible Confetti” rocks, with nods to Americana, country, folk, pop, psychedelia - it’s an exhilarating ride from start to finish.

The Guilty Men are:

Singer-songwriter Clive Gregson (Any Trouble, Gregson & Collister)

Drummer Paul Burgess (10cc)

Bassist and singer Craig Fletcher (John Lee’s Barclay James Harvest)

Keyboardist and singer Jez Smith (John Lee’s Barclay James Harvest)

Guitarist and singer Neil Cossar (The Cheaters)

Another 20 UK live dates are being lined up for February/March 2025.

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.