Mark "Boo" Hewerdine (born 14 February 1961) is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. His work includes lead singer and creative force behind The Bible, formed in the 1980s, and reformed in 1994, as well as solo recordings and work for film. He has also produced records by several artists, including a long association with Eddi Reader. He has been described as "one of Britain's most consistently accomplished songwriters".

Career

Early life and The Great Divide

Born Mark HewerdineAzerrad, Michael (1989)
From the Pages of the Bible
, '' Spin'', January 1989, p. 19. Retrieved 30 December 2012 grew up in North London,Hoekstra, Dave (1996)
Boo Hewerdine's soulful folk is so good it's scary
, ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'', 25 October 1996, p. 6. before moving to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

while still a child, and as a teenager formed the short-lived band Placebo Thing with a friend. He worked in the warehouse of Andy's Records in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

, where he was exposed to a wide range of music.Frame, Pete (1999) ''Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain: Rock'n'roll Landmarks of the UK and Ireland'', Omnibus Press, , p. 165 He joined The Great Divide in 1983, and the band were signed to Cambridge independent label Wimp Records by local entrepreneur David Gowar, and recorded and released their debut single "Who Broke the Love Bank" in 1982.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , pp. 223–4 They were heard by Mike Scott of

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a rock band formed in 1983 by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott (Scottish musician), Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Britain and Ireland, with Scott re ...

, who recommended them to Ensign Records, who bought out their contract with Wimp, and they subsequently cut three commercially unsuccessful singles on Ensign.

The Bible

In 1985 Hewerdine, working once again in a record shop in Cambridge (The Beat Goes On), formed The Bible with jazz drummer Tony Shepherd, later recruiting former Great Divide bandmate Kevin Flanagan.Ankeny, Jason
Boo Hewerdine Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved 30 December 2012Cobley, Mike (2008)
Chris Difford & Boo Hewerdine Set To Link Up @ Komedia
, ''The Brighton Magazine'', 27 March 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2012Schulps, Dave
The Bible/Boo Hewerdine & Darden Smith
, '' The Trouser Press Record Guide''. Retrieved 30 December 2012Buckley, Peter (2003) ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Rough Guides, , pp. 88–89 Hornby, Nick (2003) ''31 Songs'', Penguin, They released an album of songs in 1986 through the independent

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

label Backs Records called ''Walking The Ghost Back Home''. The Bible became a fairly successful independent band, with a cult following spread mostly through word of mouth and live performances. Two tracks from the first album, "Graceland" and "Mahalia" were released as singles, but failed to bring them commercial success. The album however was very well received by music pundits, and this brought the band to the attention of

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

. Signing to Chrysalis at the end of 1986, "Graceland" was re-released as a single, and reached number 86 in the UK singles chart.Bible(Link redirected to OCC website)
, Chart Archive. Retrieved 30 December 2012 A new album, the Steve Earle-produced ''Eureka'' followed, but failed commercially. A new version of "Graceland" gave the band their biggest hit (number 51) in 1989. In 1990, Hewerdine decided to leave the group and pursue solo projects.

Solo

At around this time Hewerdine was introduced by a label A&R man to US "new

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

" singer Darden Smith, and this set him off in a new direction. Working together, he and Smith wrote the album ''Evidence'' in around nine days.Kot, Greg (1991) "Pop meets folk: Unlikely songwriting partnership opened new doors for Darden Smith", ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', 21 March 1991, p. 8 (Tempo section) The album was released in 1989 to critical acclaim.Heavy Rotation
, '' Spin'', October 1989, p. 16. Retrieved 30 December 2012Renner, Chip
''Evidence'' Review
,

. Retrieved 30 December 2012 The two went on to tour together in 1996. Hewerdine also worked on new solo songs, largely based on his earlier traumatic experiences in London. Eventually these were distilled down to produce his debut solo album proper, ''Ignorance'', released in 1992. Invited by

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

to play support promoting these songs, Hewerdine managed to find a new audience and ''Ignorance'' and a single from the album, "History", did relatively well commercially. As Hewerdine's star rose, he started to write for other artists, among them Eddi Reader,

Clive Gregson Clive James Gregson (born 4 January 1955, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, England) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He has toured in bands, provided backup for well-known musicians, and written songs that have been cov ...

and Christine Collister. The Bible reformed in 1993 for a tour the following year and also released an EP of new material (''The Dreamlife EP'') and an album of b sides and extra's called ''Random Acts of Kindness''.Smith, Giles (1994)
Major miracle ; The Bible, Borderline
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 23 December 1994. The band split again in December 1994 and a new album remained unreleased (the title was used for a later compilation), although songs from the album were re-recorded by Hewerdine on his John Wood-produced 1996 album ''Baptist Hospital'', which featured contributions from Eddi Reader and Richard Thompson.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books, , p. 43 ''Thanksgiving'' followed in 1999, which featured a guest appearance from

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and the younger si ...

and was described by

writer Rick Anderson as "sometimes very pretty in a Beatlesque way and sometimes moving", and ''Anon'' in 2002.Anderson, Rick
''Thanksgiving'' Review
,

. Retrieved 30 December 2012Lake, Kirk (2009) ''There Will Be Rainbows: A Biography of Rufus Wainwright'', Orion Books, In 2001 Hewerdine was invited to act as 'songwriter in residence' at the Performing Rights Society's ''The Song's the Thing'' concert series in London, also performing at one of the concerts.Sexton, Paul (2001)
U.K. Body Insists 'The Song's the Thing'
, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', 29 September 2001, p. 42. Retrieved 30 December 2012 ''Harmonograph'' was released on MVine/Red Grape Records in February 2006, a collection of his songs originally recorded by other artists such as Eddi Reader and Hepburn, recorded by Hewerdine for the first time, with accompaniment from another former member of The Bible, Neill MacColl."Boo Hewerdine ''Harmonograph''", ''Hi-Fi News'', volume 51, Issues 1–6, p. 105Coleman, Nick (2006)
Boo Hewerdine Harmonograph
, ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'', 8 January 2006. Gleeson, Sinead (2006)
Boo Hewerdine ''Harmonograph''
, ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', 3 February 2006.} The ''Toy Box'' nos. 1 and 2 EPs were released in 2008.Nickson, Chris
''Toy Box no. 2'' Review
,

. Retrieved 30 December 2012Hodgkinson, Will (2008)
Folk review: Boo Hewerdine, Toy Box No. 2
, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', 9 November 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2012 ''God Bless The Pretty Things'', was released in 2009. Recorded in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, with a band including John McCusker, Alan Kelly, Ewen Vernal, and Heidi Talbot, the album was described by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

as "timeless songs for all seasons" and "an album of unusual class and sensitivity". '' Scotland on Sunday'' gave the album a four-star review, calling it "exceptional, an album of superior Anglo-Saxon Americana".Album Review: Boo Hewerdine – God Bless The Pretty Things
, '' Scotland on Sunday'', 8 November 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2012 In 2010 he appeared with Chris Difford and Justin Currie on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

programme ''Songwriters' Circle''.Hodgkinson, Will (2010)
Tonight's TV highlights
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 8 October 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2012

State of the Union

Hewerdine first performed with Cambridge-based American guitarist Brooks Williams in 2010 after adding him to the bill of his annual Christmas show in his home town of Ely at the last minute when guests Chris Difford and Barry McGuigan were unable to attend due to weather conditions.Wood, Michael (2012)
Chance creates the perfect Union
, ''

Birmingham Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country and ''Birmingham Live'' online) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England, but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts ...

'', 23 November 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012 In 2011, Hewerdine teamed up with Williams to form the band State of the Union.State of the Union, Selby Town Hall, December 15
, '' York Press'', 7 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012 Their plan was to record an album using vintage microphones and equipment live at Kyoti Studio with Mark Freegard

studio in just five days, although they completed the album in only a day and a half.Bruce, Keith (2012)
State of the Union, State of the Union (Reveal Records)
, '' Glasgow Herald'', 11 April 2012. They followed the album with the EP '' Rent'', the title track of which (a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

' song) was performed on ''

The Andrew Marr Show ''The Andrew Marr Show'' is a Sunday morning talk show presented by Andrew Marr. It was broadcast on BBC One from 2005 to 2021. The programme replaced the long-running ''Breakfast with Frost'' as the network's flagship Sunday talk show when Dav ...

'' in December 2012.Music on Marr: State of the Union
,

, 9 December 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012 State of the Union played their first gig at the 2011 Ely Folk Festival, and played at the Celtic Connections festival in January 2012. The album was released in April 2012 on Reveal Records and was followed by a tour.

Film and television

Hewerdine was invited by

Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer. He is best known for his memoir '' Fever Pitch'' (1992) and novels ''High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequen ...

to write music for the soundtrack of the 1997 ''

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

'' of his book '' Fever Pitch''.Groom, Chris (2005)
Boo is cleaning up in soap music
, ''

Richmond and Twickenham Times The ''Richmond and Twickenham Times'' is a weekly local newspaper that was established in 1873 and is published on Fridays. It covers the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London and surrounding areas. History The ''Richmon ...

'', 14 July 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2012 With Neill MacColl he also wrote music for the soundtrack of Shane Meadows' '' Twenty Four Seven'' and David Evans' television film '' Our Boy'', both also from 1997.Strong, M.C. & Griffith, Brendon (2008) ''Lights, Camera, Sound Tracks'', Canongate, , p. 878 He also had a track included in the soundtrack of Christine Lahti's '' My First Mister'' (2001), and in 2003 his "Different God" was used in the film ''

Intermission An intermission, also known as an interval in British and Indian English, is a break between parts of a performance or production, such as for a play (theatre), theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening. It should not be confused with ...

''. Hewerdine's song "Bell, Book and Candle" (from ''Thanksgiving'') has been used in several television dramas, including an award-winning death scene in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''.Heslam, Mary (2008)
Boo Makes Audience Laugh and Cry
, ''

News & Star The ''News and Star'' (formerly the ''Evening News and Star'' and ''Cumberland Evening News'') is a local tabloid newspaper in Cumbria. As of 18 October 2018, it belongs to Newsquest who produce several regional newspapers throughout the UK. ...

'', 28 July 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2012 Coe, Gideon (2004)
Soundtrack of their lives
, ''

'', 28 February 2004. Retrieved 31 December 2012

Production and writing work

Hewerdine collaborated over several years with Eddi Reader, as producer, songwriter and guitarist in her band. His song "Patience of Angels", originally written for The Bible, was recorded by Reader for her self-titled 1994 album, which featured several Hewerdine compositions, and was a top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart when released as a single.Patience of Angels
, Chart Archive. Retrieved 30 December 2012Clark-Meads, Jeff & Duffy, Thom (1994)
Eddi Reader is the Main Attraction on New Album
, ''

'', 30 July 1994, p. 10, 133. Retrieved 30 December 2012 Hewerdine also co-produced Eddi Reader's 1999 album '' Angels & Electricity'' and her 2003 album '' Sings the Songs of Robert Burns''.Eddi Reader ''Angels & Electricity''
, ''

CMJ New Music Report CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

'', 26 April 1999, p. 37. Retrieved 30 December 2012 His other production work includes albums with The Corrs, Heidi Talbot, and Laurie Freelove.Boo Hewerdine
, ABC, 2002. Retrieved 30 December 2012Foege, Alec (1991)
Born Freelove
, '' Spin'', November 1991, p. 36. Retrieved 30 December 2012Pareles, Jon (1991)
Review/Pop; Drawing the Listener Into Dreamscapes
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 26 November 1991. Retrieved 31 December 2012Long, Siobhan (2009)
Heidi Talbot, John McCusker and Boo Hewerdine
, ''

'', 9 October 2009. He co-wrote and produced Chris Difford's 2008 album ''The Last Temptation of Chris''.Bray, Elisa (2007)
The 5-Minute Interview: Chris Difford, Musician
, ''

'', 9 January 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2012 He has also written songs recorded by

K.d. Lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang (stylised in all lowercase), is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical pe ...

("Last Cigarette"), Paul Young,

Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...

Marti Pellow Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan; 23 March 1965) is a Scottish singer. He was the lead singer of the pop group Wet Wet Wet for 28 years: from their formation in 1982 until their split in 1997, and again from their reformation in 2004 to his d ...

, David McAlmont, Brian Kennedy, Kris Drever, Sarah Jane Morris, Alex Parks, and

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian and British singer and actress. Born and raised in New South Wales, Imbruglia became widely known in the early 1990s playing Beth Brennan in the soap opera ''Neighbours''. A ...

.Denselow, Robin (2010)
Kris Drever: Mark the Hard Earth
, ''

'', 11 March 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2012Fordham, John (2009)
Sarah Jane Morris/Ian Shaw – Pizza Express, London
, ''

'', 21 January 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2012

Awards and recognition

"Patience of Angels" brought a nomination for the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for Hewerdine in 1995.Word Play and Music
", ''

'', 17 April 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2012 In a 2009 review of his album ''God Bless the Pretty Things'', the

described Hewerdine as "one of Britain's most consistently accomplished songwriters".Irwin, Colin (2009)
Boo Hewerdine God Bless the Pretty Things Review
,

, 20 October 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2012 Nick Coleman of ''

'' described Hewerdine as "one of the best songwriters we have".Coleman, Nick (2004)
Boo Hewerdine A Live One
, ''

'', 10 October 2004. The '' Birmingham Evening Mail'' described him as "one of the country's finest lyricists".Johnson, Steve (2004)
Man of Many Talents
, '' Birmingham Evening Mail'', 23 January 2004.

Discography

''For his releases with The Bible see The Bible (band)#Discography''

Albums

* ''Ignorance'' (1992),

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

/Compass * ''Baptist Hospital'' (1996), WEA * ''Thanksgiving'' (1999), Compass * ''Anon'' (2002), Haven * ''Harmonograph'' (2005), MVine * ''God Bless the Pretty Things'' (2009), Navigator – reissued in 2012 by Reveal Records as a 2-CD set including both ''Toy Box'' EPs * ''Open'' (2015), Reveal * ''Swimming In Mercury ''(2017), Reveal * ''Before ''(2019), Reveal * ''Understudy ''(2022), Reveal ;with The Great Divide: * ''Money and Time'' (2007), Gott Discs ;with Darden Smith: * ''Evidence'' (1989),

Chrysalis A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...

/ Capitol ;with State of the Union: * ''State of the Union'' (2011) (with Brooks Williams), Reveal * ''Snake Oil'' (2012) (with Brooks Williams), Reveal * ''The Saltwell Sessions'' (2017) (with Brooks Williams), Reveal ;Compilations: * ''A Live One'' (2002), Madan * ''My Name In The Brackets (The Best Of Boo Hewerdine & The Bible)'' (2014), Reveal

EP's

* ''History'' (1992), Ensign * ''59 yds'' (1992), Ensign * ''Extras'' (2001), Shellshock * ''Ontario'' (2005), MVine * ''Toy Box No. 1'' (2008), Navigator * ''Toy Box No. 2'' (2008), Navigator * ''Born'' (2016), Reveal * ''A Letter To My Younger Self'' (2018), Reveal ;with State of the Union: * ''Rent'' (2012) (with Brooks Williams), Reveal ;with Kris Drever * ''Last Man Standing'' (2015), Reveal

Singles

* "World's End" (1995), Blanco y Negro * "

Joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

" (1996), Blanco y Negro ;with The Great Divide: * "Who Broke The Love Bank" (1982), Wimp * "Whispered In Heaven" (1983), Ensign * "It's Got To Be Love" (1984), Blue Murder * "Money And Time" (1984), Ensign ;with Darden Smith: * "All I Want Is Everything" (1989), Ensign ;with Eddi Reader and

: * "Wonderful Lie" (1993), Haven

Compilation appearances

* ''Rubber Folk: A Folk Tribute to the Beatles'' (2006), Gott Discs: "What Goes On" (Boo Hewerdine & Eddi Reader)

DVD

* ''Transatlantic Sessions 2'' (2011) – Various Artists DVD

References

External links

*
State of the Union official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewerdine, Boo 1961 births Living people English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters Musicians from Cambridge People from Ely, Cambridgeshire English male new wave singers English new wave singers