FOUNDER member of the Beautiful South, Dave Hemingway, will bring his new band to Millom this summer, with tickets now available.

Sunbirds will perform at the town’s Beggar’s Theatre on Saturday, July 2.

Having retired from the live scene at the back end of 2016, Dave has been keeping busy together with Beautiful South colleague Phil Barton, singer/violinist Laura Wilcockson and drummer Marc Parnell.

Their album ‘Cool to Be Kind’ was released in November 2020.

Although born and bred in England, the band's sound features the instrumentation of traditional American roots music combined with the occasional outburst of guitar heavy melody more associated with Seattle in the late 80s/early 90s.

Dave said: “Although a lot of the songs have an Americana feel, they’re still about life in England. You’re going to feel a bit daft singing about pick-up trucks and low down honky-tonks when you live in Yorkshire.”

‘Cool To Be Kind’ is the result of a few transitional years in Dave and Phil’s individual personal lives.

It tells tales that cover contemporary themes as well as age-old matters of the heart and soul - all viewed through the bottom of a recently-drained pint glass.

Phil added: “Now we’re Sunbirds we’re free to dig a little deeper into ourselves.

"Having said that, there’s no exact science here, we’re just enjoying ourselves and expressing whatever we want whether it’s about love, longing, depression or Gary Lineker’s crisp adverts”.

Tickets for the show cost £16 and are available through the box office on 01229 775677.