The flip side of the Proclaimers
No band on this tour. They're back to their acoustic roots.
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Craig and Charlie Reid spent the first 18 months of their careers as the Proclaimers touring as an acoustic duo, but since the time of their second album, 1988's Sunshine on Leith - the one that spawned the hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - the Scottish twin brothers always had toured with a band. Until now.
Although with their full band they sometimes headline festivals in the U.K. in front of 50,000 people, the Reids come to the intimate 115-seat Tin Angel this weekend for two shows and another on Tuesday at the slightly larger Sellersville Theater.
"It's really important that you don't fall into a rut, and that's what we're trying to do this year," Charlie Reid says of the brothers' decision to do an acoustic tour.
They have a new acoustic EP out that includes a strummy version of the Kings of Leon's sex-obsessed "17," and their eighth album, Notes and Rhymes, is due this summer. On the phone from his Edinburgh home, Reid says the new album includes "a number of up songs, what we would call straight-ahead Proclaimers stomping songs," as well as covers of Ireland's Damien Dempsey and American cowboy singer Moe Bandy, and even a few minor chords ("we tend not to use minor chords," says the guitar-playing brother, laughing).
Of course, "500 Miles" is the original straight-ahead Proclaimers stomping song. It became a surprise worldwide hit five years after its release when it appeared in the film Benny & Joon, and it will forever be the song the Proclaimers are known for, at least stateside. It could easily be an albatross for a band wanting to avoid falling into a rut, but Reid is pragmatic.
"I always think, even if you might not think it's your best song, it's the song people identify with, and to be honest, that's the song that keeps us traveling the world," he says. "If you get one record that's as big as that in your entire career, then it's very helpful because it does open doors for you."
And now, they're opening a door back to their roots - just the two brothers and acoustic guitars.
"It's kind of going back to that, but with now a . . . lot more material," he says. "Hopefully, it'll be a little better show than it was 20 years ago."