In a statement WENDY JAMES said: “By doing simple math, it was easy for me to see that in one month’s time when I’d be due to begin rehearsals in April in LDN, it was just not going to happen, nor an all-clear of COVID 19 by 5th May when my tour was scheduled to begin. So making a calculation as best as possible, I’ve postponed all the dates until September 2020. All the ticket links are still valid and working! All the VIP tickets are still valid and welcome!”
Wendy will release her 5th solo album QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT on 1st May 2020. On the upside she said, “QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT will have been with you all through the summer months and I expect you to all be able to sing every lyric along with me in September! A successful record could make these gigs very electric!”
An English singer-songwriter born in London, Wendy exploded onto the British music scene in 1988 as the fearless front woman of chart-topping alt-rockers Transvision Vamp. When the band disbanded Wendy went on to collaborate with Elvis Costello, James Williamson (Iggy & the Stooges), Lenny Kaye (The Patti Smith Group) and James Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), who joins her on drums and percussions for QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT. Also joining her on this album are James Sedwards (lead guitar), Harry Bohay (bass), Alex J. Ward & Terry Edwards (horn section) and Louis Vause (accordion).
Wendy began writing QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT after a long stretch of writing/recording/delivering/touring her previous album The Price Of The Ticket, which charted in the UK at No.14. Wendy says of the title track, “I gravitated toward some jazzy type of chords which lent a gentle lilt to the song, it sounded smooth and it reminded me of when I was a young child listening to Sergio Mendes Brazil ’66! Some of those lovely chord progressions, some of that lovely harmonizing the singers did and of course Bacharach and David.”
“Overall, my taste and style have not changed with time,” Wendy says. “The music that excites me now, ultimately, is the same as when I was starting out songwriting and back through my days in Transvision Vamp. I continue to marvel at Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, I continue to be blown away by The Stooges, I continue to be everlastingly enthralled by Bob Dylan, but of course, the older one gets the more one discovers and I am now informed more cohesively and fully by all the music, new and old, which settles into my consciousness.”
Wendy recently toured the UK with her permanent band THE WENDY JAMES BAND opening for The Psychedelic Furs, which was a huge success. Wendy will perform at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds on September 17th.
