JP's Music Blog 

Posted February 28, 2019

Music artist, Bobby Long is preparing to release his fourth studio album "Sultans" on March 1st through Compass Records. On this new release, Long pays homage to The Beatles as he bookends the album with the title song, a la The Beatles' "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band." The album carries a very nostalgic vibe with its wah-wah sound in "Nautical," as Bobby Long reaches back to his British roots as displayed in folk/rock appeal of "Mazarati." His vocals in "Goodbye" will grab hold of you, as you find yourself falling in love with his music. He dives back to the sixties rock sound once again with "Serpentine," before slowing down for the acoustic ballad "Love." Bobby finishes up his new album with the wonderful, gentle flow of "Venice" and the bluesy feel of "Sisters."  

Bobby Long will also begin his two-month tour on March 1st at the City Winery Loft in New York City, before making his way to World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA and Cafe Nine in New Haven, CT. For a complete list of tour dates and to find out more about his new album "Sultans," please visit musicbobbylong.com.

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Glide Magazine 

By Jim Hynes 

Posted February 27, 2019

New York-based British singer-songwriter Bobby Long has dabbled in folk and rock across his three albums with the usual comparisons to influences of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and others. Now we have a pop album. Sultans is unabashedly a nod to The Beatles. This crisp collection of ten tunes is bookended by its title, the first and last tracks. You’ll immediately be struck by the Eastern sounds reminiscent of “Within You. Without You.” Long explains, “I feel it sets the tone for the entire album and ends it quite nicely as well. We were obviously inspired by Sgt. Pepper when coming up with idea of the same start and end point. It gives the album a concept, and although the songs are quite similar, there are differences in dynamics and playfulness.” 

Long further elaborates, “Also, vocally this album was different for me. I was really inspired by John Lennon’s vocals and the rawness he would get, especially on early Beatles records or his solo stuff. Letting emotion get in the way and kind of showing my true colours. I wanted to be brave, especially on the deeply personal songs so I just left it all out there.” 

Most of us were introduced to Long’s spare arrangements and rather typical singer-songwriter style on Winter’s Tale and a conventional rock approach to his Wishbone. His sound here is entirely different (wasn’t that a hallmark of The Beatles too?) which he owes mostly to producer and multi-instrumentalist Jack Dawson, a close friend and the musician Long has most often played with. They took their time, experimenting with various sounds for an album a year in the making. Long plays guitar, Dawson plays bass, and studio engineer Dave Lindsay plays drums. The many psychedelic flourishes, electronics and keys indicate that there are more than just four musicians making this music. Yes, they tapped several others for those effects. 

Even though Long calls it a concept album, the subject matter is varied, touching on his usual themes of love and death while others were formed through daily observations. He was feeling lots of frustration toward religion and religious establishments. His wife was pregnant during most of the making of the album and their son was born near its finish. That sense of frustration is captured in this passage from “Mazerati” – if you’re looking for some truth, you’ve lost it, get saved, take the furthest thing that you can’t prove, believe it, you’re spared, or try to make some sense of it all” 

Although Long has published two books of poetry, his lyrics aren’t always the smoothest, however. Take this excerpt, expressing his frustration in “Nautical” – I fell from the sky, I rose from the ground, screaming out loud, not making a sound, I can’t be alone, or be alone with you, or be alone with you.” In fact, it’s easier to listen to the album as a complete work rather than trying to dissect his lyrics in some songs. “Serpentine” and “Venice” are especially challenging. 

Kudos to Long for trying something completely different. His love for The Beatles is evident and the album forces the listener to work a bit, which isn’t a bad thing. It does make for repeated listens. Some of the hooks and loops become infectious with additional listening too.

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The Bluegrass Situation 

Posted February 14, 2019 

Artist: Bobby Long 
Hometown: Wigan, England 
Song: “Love” 
Album: Sultans 
Release Date: March 1, 2019 
Label: Compass Records 

In Their Words: “I wrote this song to a family member because I wanted them to show love more and not hold back expressing it. Life’s too short to sit on the fence with that kind of thing. Especially when it comes to family. The irony though is that I moved away from my family in England, and although we are incredibly close, part of me feels like I let them down a bit. Like, with every song I write I guess I am still self-indulgently writing partly about myself and actions. I have missed a lot of weddings, birthdays and births so my family member had every right to tell me to bugger off. Kindly of course.” –Bobby Long

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One on One 

Audio and Video by Ehud Lazin 

Posted February 4, 2019 

Bobby Long sits down for a One On One Session at City Winery New York on January 22nd, 2019. 

Setlist: 
Mazarati 
Serpentine 
Nautical 

Songwriting has always been a soul-baring exercise for British singer-songwriter Bobby Long. From the dark themes of his earliest work through to the thought-provoking subject matter he has traversed since then, his body of work is at its core captivating and emotionally raw. Whether mining the depths of despair and alienation or exploring spirituality, apathy and even more mundane topics like love and passion, his songs are word pictures that transfix and transport. 

For his fourth album, Sultans, Long has chosen a somewhat different approach, from conceptualization through the recording process itself. Rather than working within the confines of a producer’s tight schedule, he chose to work with multi-instrumentalist and close friend Jack Dawson, with whom he had toured and collaborated on the 2012 EP The Backing Singer, and they took their time. “Usually with other producers I have worked with, we would meet just before recording. The relationship blossoms just as we record and work together, and by the end, we are really close. With this album, working with Jack especially, the friendship was already so deep, and there isn't another musician I have played with as much as Jack, so everything was intertwined.” 

The trio recorded at Lindsay’s Country Club Studio in Brooklyn over a one year period. “We became a little band during the recording,” says Long. “I played guitar and sang, Dave played drums and Jack played bass. We basically recorded those parts as a band live. We would jam songs out and work things out. We then built the song up by adding parts and using other musicians/magicians to play different instruments. Having the record based around the natural feel of a live performance really added a human element to the album and set the earthy feel, which I really felt was important. As much as I wanted to experiment and feel the freedom to add anything and everything, we all felt it was incredibly important to stay true to our own playing and build from there. Just like the Beatles would have done.” 

Sultans takes its name from the first and last tracks on the album—essentially “Sultans Part 1” and “Sultans Part 2.” “It was a song that was originally just drums, ukulele and a sample that Jack gravitated towards,” Bobby explains. “I feel it sets the tone for the entire album and ends it quite nicely as well. We were obviously inspired by Sgt. Pepper when coming up with the idea of the same start and end point. It gives the album a concept, and although the songs are quite similar, there are differences in dynamics and playfulness. 

In between albums, he channels his writing skills into poetry and has now published two volumes of his work, Losing My Brotherhood (2012) and Losing My Misery (2016). For Losing My Misery he also created the original illustrations. “I feel like a better songwriter after I write poetry,” he says. As for another book, he says, “I have a few things I’m stuck with or half way through. Sometimes you’ve got to wait for a bit of inspiration or timing.” Sultans represents Bobby Long’s continuation of his commitment to creating music that both challenges and entertains. “It’s about the whole body of work for me. It’s all part of the greater. I don’t think you can define anyone by one album. I certainly cannot. The good, bad, successful, underappreciated--it doesn’t matter. It’s about expressing yourself and feeling better for it. I want to do many more albums…no matter what.”

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Talent in Borders

By Lindsey Borders

Posted January 18, 2019

As evident on his newest album, Sultans, U.S. based, British-songwriter, Bobby Long‘s love of The Beatles shines through on this release, due out on Compass Records March 1. The two part title track pays homage to Sgt. Pepper, and of course, Long’s memories of the music being played at his home growing up in rural southwest England. The album features new songs of original material, featuring themes of love, loss and heartache, for which Long is known for. 

Long started out his music career playing at open mic nights in London in 2009, and had one of his songs featuring in the hit film Twilight. He then came to the US, relocated to New York, and has made it his musical home since. In that time, he released his critically-acclaimed debut album, A Winter’s Tale in 2011, followed by Wishbone in 2013, and Ode to Thinking in 2015. 

“The songs on this album are a definite continuation and development,” Long explains. “It’s about the whole body of work for me. It’s all part of the greater. I don’t think you can define anyone by one album. When you’re recording, you always have the greater picture in your head. Your imagination runs over the tracks, and they take all sorts of weird forms. The sounds of this record are the closest to what was in my imagination that I’ve come on a record.”  Sultans was produced by multi-instrumentalist Jack Dawson with whom Long had collaborated and toured with on behalf of his 2012 EP The Backing Singer. It was recorded over a one year period in a studio in Brooklyn. With Long on guitar, Dawson also played bass on the tracks while studio engineer Dave Lindsay played drums. 

“Jack and I have a shared love of so much music, and we would talk endlessly about records we love,” Long explains. “Jack, like myself, is a feel guy so we were never too picky about tone or instruments. The album is basically a reflection of our friendship and love of songs. Jack really added his own colours and personality to the album, and it’s definitely the best thing I’ve ever done. Of course, I always feel that the new one is the best one, but I feel pretty strongly about this one. I really love creating and writing. It feels as magical today as it did when I was a child.” 

Tour Dates in support of Sultans: 

March 1 – NYC – City Winery Loft 
March 2 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live 
March 6 – New Haven, CT – Cafe Nine 
March 7 – Portland, ME – Portland Empire 
March 8 – Cambridge, MA – Club Passim 
March 16 – Vienna, VA – Jammin’ Java 
March 22 – Asheville, NC – Fat Tire Friday, New Belgium Brewery 
March 24 – Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic 
April 5 – Fort Collins, CO – Fat Tire Friday, New Belgium Brewery 
April 11 – Austin, TX – Cactus Cafe 
April 12 – Dallas, TX – Poor David’s Pup 
April 13 – Oklahoma City, OK – Blue Door 
April 16 – St. Louis, MO – Duck Room at Blueberry Hill 
April 17 – Des Moines, IA – Gaslamp 
April 18 – Davenport, IA – Raccoon Motel 
April 19 – Fort Atkinson, WI – Cafe Carpe 

Tickets will go on sale shortly.  More U.S. shows will be announced soon. 

Connect with Bobby on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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WVCW

Posted November 21, 2018 

Recently Bobby visited radio station WVCW in Richmond, VA to talk about his new album coming out in 2019 and to perform for their Chalkboard Sessions. Below is the video of Bobby's performance. 

BWW Music World.com

Music News Desk

Posted September 10, 2018

British singer-songwriter Bobby Long has scheduled a series of shows through to the end of the year as plans are being finalized for the release of his fourth album. Kicking off the run of shows will be his Official Showcase at the annual AmericanaFest in Nashville on Thursday, September 13 at the City Winery.

The new album of original material was recorded in New York over the past year and was funded by his second successful PledgeMusic campaign. Collaborating with New York-based musician Jack Dawson, with whom he worked on his 2011 EP, 

THE BACKING SINGER, the new album promises to comprise a diverse collection of styles and songs. "I think it's the best thing I've done, but then again, I always feel like the new one is the best one I've ever done. It is a lot more psychedelic than my previous records and influenced by The Beach Boys, The Beatles and ELO," he explains. 

The Bobby Long catalogue to date includes three full CDs--the most recent of which is ODE THINKING from Compass Records--and an EP as well as two collections of poetry: Losing My Brotherhood, published in 2012, and Losing My Misery, published in 2016. Known for his hauntingly poetic lyrics, writing poetry is a natural sidebar to his songwriting. Losing My Misery, infused with candor, raw emotion and his signature wry humor, is at once brash, funny and heartbreaking, exposing the writer's foibles as well as his poignant insights into the human condition. 

When it comes to writing, he makes it clear that he needs to work at songwriting and poetry as separate crafts, but, he says, "I feel like a better songwriter after I write poetry."

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The Alt

By William Belcher

Posted September 28, 2017

On Saturday, September 30, Bobby Long will play Caffe Lena for the first time. Long, a singer-songwriter who cut his teeth in the London folk music scene, has earned a reputation as a gutsy, captivating performer with a blues-infused voice and a poet’s sensibility. His vivid song lyrics and distinct guitar work grab the audience by the shirt collar, and his raw, honest, and skillfully vulnerable performance style pulls them close. 

It just may be that Caffe Lena is the perfect place to see Long on stage. In addition to launching careers and keeping the music alive, Saratoga’s legendary coffeehouse has remained steadfastly committed to storytelling in all forms. And Long is a storyteller. He’s a wordsmith whose lyrics will linger in your head for days. The imagery he embeds in the songs is a throwback of sorts to poet-songwriters like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, or Tom Waits, but his unique voice cuts through the lines and strumming. As much as his musical influences seep in, the songs feel entirely his own. 

Long grew up in Wiltshire, England, but he’s lived in New York for the last seven years. In the fall of 2009, I saw him perform at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village. The crowd was enthralled – they hung on his every word. Even though he was a bit uncomfortable with the spotlight, or perhaps because he was uncomfortable, he charmed the room. In today’s crazy, hyperactive, often overproduced music scene, it’s easy to forget the power of that lone performer on stage, armed only with a guitar, a mic, and lyrics. A few years ago, Branford Marsalis noted that “superficiality is in and, you know, depth and quality are kind of out” – Long proves that’s not always the case, especially when he’s on stage.

I admit that when A Winter Tale, his first studio album, was released, I found myself scrolling back to older versions of songs on the self-released Dirty Pond Songs and Live at Arlene’s Grocery. I wanted to recall that live experience, but that’s only because the live show was such an experience. A few years later, I caught Long at The Linda in Albany. Coming off of the release of The Backing Singer (EP), his stage act was more practiced and he was more confident as a performer, but the concert was just as open, heartfelt, and moving as the set at The Bitter End. I felt then, as I do now, that he was a musician to keep an eye on.    

Over the phone, with his five-month old son in the background, Long and I talk about how his music has evolved since The Bitter End in 2009, and what he makes of it all. 

“I’ve become a bit more interested in writing music that’s slightly larger and grander,” Long says. “But I still love playing on my own. I haven’t played with a band for a year or so, at least for a proper show. My sound has developed and changed quite a lot, but it’s still always rooted around me and an acoustic guitar.” 

Long’s latest album, Ode to Thinking, was released by Compass Records in 2015, and it features a return to his roots. Looking back, Long mentions that his first record had an old school country influence. Then, after The Backing Singer, his next studio record (Wishbone) was rock-based. “I felt like I hadn’t really done that singer-songwriter album,” he says. “So it was worth a revisit.” The result was Long’s strongest outing yet. The 11 tracks on Ode to Thinking are varied in their subjects and approach, but they all showcase Long’s vocals, guitar, and songwriting skills. When compared to his earlier work, they also suggest someone who is older, more mature, road-tested.       

Long’s music sometimes feels like a freight train beating down the tracks. (This is especially true in the country-influenced A Winter Tale.) Other times, his songs are patient, whisky-sipping, and contemplative. Through it all, the one constant is his lyrical styling. Each song is colorful, surprising, and haunting. For example, lines like “my wounded eyes will see again” in “The Bounty of Mary Jane” stick with you. Newer songs like “Kill Someone” and “I’m Not Going Out Tonight” are character-driven vignettes.

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Long is skilled a expressing both wry humor and many other shades of emotion from despair to hope and contentment within the poetic framework, with or without music.

Bobby Long is a British blues singer who writes powerful lyrics and also writes evocative  poetry.  Losing My Misery is his second book of poems, following 2012’s Losing My Brotherhood.  To be honest, i don’t especially like the rhythmic quality of Long’s poems. The cadence is often a bit jerky. in that sense, I prefer his lyrics. However, as prose poetry, concentrating on the message of each poem, it is very much worth reading. The main themes in the book include his family and English childhood and then the demons of anxiety and depression he has had to work through growing up. The poems about his childhood reflect a family life that was definitely different but happy and often wildly funny. These contrast to the darker moods which descended upon him later that he reflects on with great honesty. In the press release, he explains the motivation for the book:

"I’ve had a constant thorn in my side most of my life, and I had a moment of clarity in dealing with some obstacles-mainly anxiety and depression-and this book reflects the journey in it and through it. I addressed the problems, and I feel like I’ve lost my unnecessary misery."  

Long certainly has a way with words, and while his words do not flow to my ear like those of Dylan Thomas, or for that mater Bob Dylan, he is skilled a expressing both wry humor and many other shades of emotion from despair to hope and contentment within the poetic framework. And in some of the darker poems, the irregular rhythms do seem quite effective. “Essentially, I’m a musician who loves poetry, and I love writing it,” he says, and while this writer prefers his lyrics, Losing My Misery is definitely worth your attention.  Also notice the 10 drawings which illustrate the book, which were also done by Long, allowing him to reveal yet another artistic side. Long seems, like most songwriters and poets, ready and willing to share as much of himself as possible with as much openness as words can summon, and this book is a giant step in that endeavor.

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