Adam Masterson’s 2003 debut album One Tale Too Many received much critical praise and was hailed for its Van Morrison song abilities. Signed by Nick Stewart (the man who signed U2) and produced by Mick Glossop, One Tale Too Many also featured many Van Morrison alumni and session musicians in the production.
To support the album Adam opened shows for The Stereophonics at Earls Court and the Cardiff Millennium Stadium and headlined a ‘City Showcase’ event at London’s Borderline sharing the bill with Amy Whinehouse. He also supported Tori Amos and toured the US and UK with Philadelphia-based band Marah. Since his debut album “One Tale Too Many”, Masterson has also performed with Mick Jones of The Clash, Patti Smith, and Joseph Arthur.
Masterson is now back and working on a new album due in Spring of 2018 and Glide is premiering the video for the lead single “Runaway” (below). The clip tells the tale of an ex-champion Boxer who has fallen from grace and is doing his best to battle his demons until a chance meeting with a heroine figure steals his heart and causes him to back-slide. Losing everything, he pins his hopes on a comeback fight. The song retains Masterson’s masterful rock/soul delivery that reminds listeners of rock’s more luminous voices of the 60’s and 70’s.
“I’d written ‘Runaway’ a few weeks before the session, I’d made an acoustic demo of it with James Hallawell and he’d dug the tune, Charlie Jones also dug the demo and said we should record it, it was one of the first tunes we laid down,” says Masterson. “Paul opted to play a high-strung acoustic guitar, the barn is a small studio, Charlie me and Paul and me clustered one side of the control board with James on his B3 Hammond Organ on the other side. Jeremy played in the other room, behind glass sliding doors a few feet away from the rest of us we could all see each other we cut it in 4 or 5 takes.
“I saw Peter Halpin staring in the New York screening of short film ‘Narcan’ and thought his gritty performance would work really well for the character in my song ‘Runaway’. The treatment tells the tale of an Ex-Champion Boxer who has fallen from grace and is doing his best to battle his demons until a chance meeting with a heroine figure steals his heart and causes him to back-slide. Losing everything he pins his hopes on a comeback fight.”
The single was mixed stateside by Sonic Youth’s legendary producer Ron Saint Germain and mastered by Bob Ludwig. The video was directed by Anna Gabriel (daughter of Peter Gabriel) and stars actors Peter Halpin and Samanth D’Giff.
Recorded in the UK, the project began by Masterson meeting James Hallawell in 2016 and the pair deciding to lay down some songs at Hallawell’s studio. Calling in favors from musicians and friends, the single assembled a gang of top British session players who are associated with some of rock’s biggest names including Paul Stacey on high strung guitar(Oasis/Black Crowes), Charlie Jones on bass (Page and Plant/Goldfrapp). and David Rhodes on electric Guitars (Peter Gabriel/Scott Walker).
