This page last updated: 31 Aug 2017
Following Squire's death in 2015, Sherwood has re-joined Yes. Yes news is on
the main page. Following John Wetton's death, he has also
joined Asia: see
under Asia for details.
| Solo
work Sherwood is working on a new solo album. On 27 Sep 2016 on Facebook, he described working on a song entitled "Until Further Notice", also the working title for the album. Another song is "Talking with Siri". Late Sep 2015, Sherwood announced that he is working on another project, Earth and Science, consisting of 5 original songs by Sherwood and 5 covers, again to feature an array of guests. He said on 24 Sep 2015: "Back in studio production mode [...] It's early going but everything is tracked already, now I'm filling in the guest slots". He played four solo shows on 5-6 Nov 2016 at The Iridium club in New York, NY, at the suggestion of the venue. He is joined by drummer Jay Schellen (working with Yes, ex-CIRCA:), guitarist John Thomas (XNA, worked with Toni Childs, Vixen, Graham Bonnet) and keyboardist Scott Walton. The set is advertised as including songs by Yes, CIRCA:, World Trade, Conspiracy and from his solo album Citizen. Set for first 5 Nov show: intro, "Never Enough", "Life Going By", "Together We are", "Euphoria", "In My Sky", "Age of the Atom", "The More We Live—Let Go", drums & bass, "Cut the Ties", "Open Your Eyes", "Say Goodbye". The second 5 Nov set was similar, but also included "No Way We Can Lose". "Castaway" and "Great Depression" were also performed at some point. A live album/DVD from the shows is in preparation: Sherwood was mixing it in Dec 2016. Citizen was Sherwood's most recent solo album—details on the main page given the number of Yesmen guesting. Cherry Red's reissues of his back catalogue continue, with the re-release (BS0005CD) of his 2015 solo album What was the Question? on 1 Sep 2017 (note the Cherry Red link gives a mistaken tracklist). This appears to be with an additional track, "On Live", inserted into the running order. |
Buy from Amazon (UK): |
Buy from Amazon (US): |
The original line-up of World Trade have
reunited and their album Unify was released 21 Jun
2017 in Japan (King Records, KICP-1852), 7 Jul in the US and
4 Aug in Europe (Frontiers Music Srl). The band are Sherwood
(bass, vocals), Bruce Gowdy (guitars), Mark T Williams (brother of Joseph Williams; drums) and
Guy Allison (keys). Gowdy and Allison were already working
together in Unruly Child: see
under Gowdy for details. The reunion was announced Feb
2015: Sherwood said online that the band had "just signed a
record deal to make another ‘WORLD TRADE’ record !!! After
many moons we are returning to the studio to create that
sound once more." Sherwood described the new album in Apr
2015 as taking a "musical direction close to Toto's most
recent releases and 90125/Big Generator-era Yes." In a Nov 2015
interview, Sherwood said the impetus for the new album
came from Derek Shulman, who originally signed the band to
Polydor in the 1980s and is now working with Frontiers. He
also said the band were planning to work further on the
album in Dec 2015-Jan 2016, having already recorded about
half of it. On Facebook on 16 Mar 2016, Sherwood said,
"Mixing the last song for "WORLD TRADE" this afternoon !!
[...] You would never know there was a 27 year gap between
records lol (from the original line up). Sounds like we
picked up right where we left off". In a 6
Apr Q&A, Sherwood said he was "finishing up a
World Trade album". Sherwood announced in Aug 2016 that the
album had been mastered by frequent collaborator Maor
Appelbaum. Tracks:
|
Buy "The New Norm" as MP3
from Amazon (UK): |
Buy the album from Amazon
(US): |
The album was largely written by Sherwood and Gowdy. In an Aug 2017 interview, Sherwood explained it thus: "It's really 50/50 with Bruce Gowdy and I. Bruce handles the musical side and gets the arrangement together and the chordal structures and whatnot, then he'll present me with some music. As I'm listening to it I'll start to hear melodies and lyrics." Work had begun late in 2003 on a new World Trade album. In a Jun 2004 interview, Schellen says, "We [Sherwood and Schellen] have recently begun a new World Trade record with Bruce [Gowdy]", but the project stalled. In a Jan 2006 interview, Sherwood was asked whether World Trade is now defunct and replied, "It lives on in my mind and in Bruce Gowdy's mind and in Jay Schellen's mind. We talk about it, but life gets busy and it just doesn't seem like it's something we ever focus on. Two of the tracks on the new Conspiracy project [which in turn stalled and was subsequently abandoned] were written by Bruce and me with the idea that maybe we would start working on a new World Trade record. But Bruce got really swamped, and so did I, and it fell on the back burner. But those two tracks blend in perfectly, so there's a World Trade flavor to the new Conspiracy record." One of those Sherwood/Gowdy co-writes was "Gone All the Way", the song now appearing on Unify. An excerpt from the planned Conspiracy version of the song was available (around 2008) for download from Sherwood's website. Sherwood described the song as "a story of a man dreaming he is the only human left on earth after a nuclear holocaust, by the middle of the song he reailizes he in fact isn't dreaming, warmakers had finally "Gone All The Way"."
Project with Ciago & Goodsall
On 9 Jun 2015, Ronnie Ciago (ex-CIRCA:, worked with Brand
X, Patrick Moraz, Jaco Pastorius, Bill Ward, Mick Taylor)
announced
on Facebook that he was recording that week a project with
himself (drums, composing), Sherwood (bass, composing), John
Goodsall (ex-Brand X; guitar, composing) and Franz
Pusch (ex-Brand X; keys, engineer, producer).
Tribute
albums & related
Sherwood is working on a Chris Squire
tribute album: see
details on main page.
In an Apr 2008 interview, Sherwood said he was working on a tribute to The Police, saying, "I was planning on kind of inviting just like great guitar players to come on and play some great solos and play over the top of the stuff and keep the music kind of pure." However, further news on this has yet to emerge.
The Human Experimente is a King Crimson-related project from Jeffrey Fayman (Globus, ex-Empire) with Robert Fripp (King Crimson). They released a digital single of "21st Century Schizoid Man" with Maynard James Keenan (Tool; lead vocals) in late 2009. An album appears to be forthcoming, with Sherwood joining the collaboration. In Jun 2011 on Facebook, Sherwood said he had just finished mixing "21st Century Schizoid Man" with Fripp, Keenan, Gregg Bissonette (ex-Steve Vai, ex-David Lee Roth, ex-Toto, ex-Ringo Starr; drums) and Matt Bissonette (ex-Brian Wilson, ex-David Lee Roth, ex-Ringo Starr; bass), presumably a new mix of the prior single. Then in Jul 2011 on Facebook, he talked of mixing a version of "Epitaph" with Fripp, himself on drums and 5-string bass, and Fayman (drums).
Other news
Sherwood was announced as being part of the Shop. Sell.
Strut! benefit for autism in Lakewood, NJ on 29 Apr
2017, raising money for Autism
New Jersey.
The Rome Pro(G)ject's
Of Fate and Glory (TRP, CDALB02) features
Vincenzo Ricca on keys, Sherwood (bass, drums, electric guitar),
Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis, ex-GTR,
ex-Squackett; electric & classical guitars) and
David Jackson (ex-Van der Graaf Generator; saxes,
flutes), with Mauro Montobbio (Narrow Pass), Luca
Grosso (Narrow Pass), Riccardo Romano
(Ranestrane), Daniele Pomo (Ranestrane),
Lorenzo Feliciati, Franck
Carducci, Giorgio Clementelli, Paolo Ricca, and Jo Lehmann (Steve
Hackett's wife; voice on "Of Fate and Glory"). The
instrumental album, released Apr 2016, is 66 minutes long, with 11
tracks, and covers the mythical rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
Tracks:
The album was mixed by Riccardo Romano. Details
in the Yescography.
|
Directions
is the debut EP from Middlesong,
Joe Schneider (vocals, guitar, keys) and Phil Tomczak
(keys, guitars). Sherwood produced, mixed and played
bass, drums, keys and guitar on the release; Maor
Appelbaum mastered. Tracks: "See This Through" (3:53),
"Rain to Sun" (4:45), "Directions in D Minor (Make Sure
that You Learn)" (5:53). Tracks can be heard on their
SoundCloud page. Middlesong are continuing to work
on a full album for 2017. Sherwood produced and mixed Alpha
Lighting System's second album, 836 (promo
video), which was recorded at Uncle
Studios in California. The album was released 11 Aug
2017 through
CDBaby and various digital sites. The Mexican
band consists of Alam Hernández (lead vocals, keys),
Jaco Jácome (bass, backing vocals), Joshua San Martín
(guitar, backing vocals) and Juan Gabriel Hernández
(drums). Tracks:
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Sherwood co-produced, co-wrote and played on
the second release from Los Angeles prog band, Days
Between Stations, now out. The band consists of guitarist
Sepand Samzadeh and keyboardist Oscar Fuentes, who have
previously worked with The Pineapple Thief. Peter
Banks also contributed to the album before his death in
Mar 2013, while Rick Wakeman and Tony Levin
also guested. Sherwood is again co-writing/producing their next
album: in a 16 Dec 2014 Facebook update, he described "tonight
we are recording the 2nd song for the record (as yet untitled)."
He talked of mastering the album in a Mar 2016 Facebook post,
and in Apr 2016 listed Days Between Stations as one of the bands
he is currently in.
Sherwood is working with the
Sonic Reality music software development
company, founded by Dave Kerzner (working with Steven Wilson,
worked with Jon Anderson), including with Sonic
Elements, a.k.a. the Sonic Reality Progressive
Rock Project. The project entails plans to release various
pieces of music with various guests, some covers (including of
Yes, Genesis and Rush), some original, but where some of the
instrumental tracks are also available through Sonic Reality's
sample libraries. With other Yesmen involved, see on the main page for details. Sherwood was also on
Kerzner's solo albums New World and
Static.
Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts. Thanks.