Sponsored by
'I've been very lucky so far,' says David Gray ahead of Halifax gig
Music that touches the soul is the specialist subject of David Gray, who comes to Halifax on Monday. Pauline Hawkins reports
THE wild, rugged scenery of Wales fired David Gray's imagination when he moved there as a child from Sale, Manchester.
Huge woods and a far-reaching coastline provided a giant natural playground for the young David, filling him with wonder and providing the inspiration for so many of the hit songs he has released over the past decade.
Those tracks – including Babylon, Sail Away and Be Mine – will be bringing back memories for Calder-dale people when the singer-songwriter plays the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, on Monday, as part of a UK tour supporting his first Greatest Hits album.
There may not have been hordes of people queuing around the block in the early hours to snap up the tickets, as was the case for Paul Weller and Morrissey, but David's followers have proved true and as a result his gig at the Victoria Theatre is all but sold out.
He said: "You hope that you are doing something that is going to endure, although the whole pop industry is very much overnight success and then you're gone the next year.
"I see the long game and hope that people will turn up. I've been lucky so far."
It's 10 years since his fourth album White Ladder was a nine times platinum seller in the UK, achieving more than 2.7 million sales and more than six million worldwide.
His music transcends the generations. Grieving Calderdale couple Anne McCarthy and Mick McBride recently allowed their teenage son Bobby, who suffered from a rare muscular disease, to slip away to the sounds of one of David's best-known songs after the decision was made to turn off the youngster's life support machine.
Anne told the Courier: "It was 8pm when we switched his life support off, and for 15 minutes we kissed him, held him and talked to him. We put his iPod on and put in his earphones. He listened to David Gray's Sail Away for those last precious minutes."
David, who was at his father's bedside when he died seven years ago, was moved by the family's use of his song at such an emotional time. The lyrics include the lines: "Sail away with me, What will be will be, I wanna hold you now..."
He said: "These little snippets are mind-blowing in their intensity. I know what it's like to hold someone's hand when they die. The music is out there and in people's hearts – it's not mine to own.
"It's amazing when you get reflections back about how much it means to people and you are enmeshed in their most poignant moments."
David Gray is a Red Devils fan and the recent 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster brought back memories of his dad, also an ardent United supporter.
"I have come to terms with his death but things like the anniversary of the death of the Busby Babes makes the grief come back," David said. "My dad would have been watching them when he was growing up, he was a teenage boy at the time.
"Song-writing is cathartic, it's definitely a coping mechanism and provides a huge amount of release."
David, who will celebrate his 40th birthday in June, said: "I hope the gigs mean something to people. I am covering parts of the country that I've so far been unable to reach, which is always a thrill, and I'm looking forward to playing in Halifax.
"I think the music industry is looking quite healthy at the moment. Amy Winehouse seems to have sparked an interest in people with charisma, who can sing with a bit of gravity." I am covering parts of the country that I’ve so far been unable to reach, which is always a thrill, and I’m looking forward to playing in Halifax.
“I think the music industry is looking quite healthy at the moment. Amy Winehouse seems to have sparked an interest in people with charisma, who can sing with a bit of gravity.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
