“Sometimes there are gigs where you simply pinch yourself and say, ‘I was there’, and tonight was one of those …” ROCK REGENERATION
BLACK WATER COUNTY have released their new single, THE ONLY LIFE WORTH LIVING, their first new music in almost three years and the opening chapter in a series of singles over the summer and the autumn leading to the release of their third studio album of the same name towards the end of the year. The single is a frantic and thrilling juggernaut of joyous guitars and frenetic drums, a chorus that will remain long in the memory and rhythms that simply demand movement from anyone who gets in its path. To accompany the single comes a video splashed with irreverence and humour. Watch here:
“The Only Life Worth Living is about keeping an open mind, opening doors and moving forward,” explain the band, “The song summarises our feelings coming out of a hard couple of years for both the band and the industry as a whole. To us, it means full ‘balls-to-the-wall’ energy because life is too short.
“As times have become tougher our writing has reflected some of these struggles and we’ve found ourselves focusing on what really matters to us. This track was initially conceptualized pre-covid but was refined over many video calls during lockdown, forcing us to think outside our normal writing process. Because of this, we think that it has grown into a track that longs to be shouted from the rooftops and, now that we’re back out on the road, we’re so thrilled to be performing again to our audience, knowing that they’re stoked to be back out in the wild too.”
The Only Life Worth Living was recorded with their close friend and long-term producer Lewis Johns at The Ranch in Southampton. “He’s once again worked his magic,” say the band with palpable gratitude, “to create a track that we couldn’t be more proud of.”
“A beautiful cacophony of distilled folk-punk bliss …” LONDON CELTIC PUNKS
Hailing from the South West and now celebrating a decade making music together, the award-winning Black Water County have, as their comments demonstrate, deviated over time from the well-trodden path of alcohol-fueled teenage insolence to a vigilant state of introversion. Gone is that insolence, replaced by an aspiration to glean affinity through stories of the downtrodden and the heartbroken. With a necessary touch of both spirit and spirits, naturally.
In 2017 they independently released their debut album, Taking Chances, and embarked on their first UK tour before signing with the renowned booking agency Midnight Mango the following year. The two subsequent years saw three national headline tours, gaining ever-increasing audiences, sold-out shows and a number of support slots across the UK playing with genre-diverse bands.
Black Water County also twice earned a place on the Fireball Fueling The Fire tour supporting legendary acts such as Less Than Jake, Flogging Molly, The Bronx and The Skints.
“Ultimately it was Black Water County who landed themselves on the stage with Flogging Molly. The Emerald Isle-influenced five piece started the first moshpit of the evening and cemented themselves as firm favourites …” KERRANG
The band’s sophomore album, Comedies and Tragedies, was again independently released, but sadly just three days later the plug was pulled on the album tour when the global pandemic hit the UK. When venue doors finally reopened, the band emerged back into the live music world in March 2022 with a celebratory first headline show at the O2 Academy in their hometown of Bournemouth. The spring of 2022 saw another sell-out UK tour before an even bigger national tour in the autumn.
The band’s prestigious UK festival appearances have included WOMAD, Boomtown Fair, Beautiful Days, Belladrum, Black Deer, Camp Bestival, Larmer Tree, Teddy Rocks and Takedown, alongside hundreds of further festival appearances in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands and France.
With further new music on the horizon, 2023 is a year of evolution for Black Water County, a new age of refined direction and purpose. A time to embrace the promise of the next decade to come.
To coincide with the single release, the band have announced a number of UK festival appearances for the summer, followed by a further headline UK tour later in the year. Full headline dates as follows:
THE ONLY LIFE WORTH LIVING HEADLINE TOUR
NOVEMBER
Thu 09 NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Fri 10 LONDON Camden Assembly
Sat 11 BRISTOL Thekla
Sun 12 PLYMOUTH Junction
Thu 16 LEEDS Key Club
Fri 17 NEWCASTLE Anarchy Brew
Sat 18 GLASGOW Audio
DECEMBER
Sat 16 BOURNEMOUTH Old Fire Station
Tickets available from: www.blackwatercounty.co.uk
Shan Borovnicke Byrom – vocals and tin whistle
Tim Harris – vocals and bass
Bradley Hutchings Clarke – guitar
Gavin Coles – guitar, mandolin and banjo
Ollie Beaton – drums
WEBSITE www.blackwatercounty.co.uk
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/BlackWaterCounty/
INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/blackwatercounty/
