Lewis & Leigh – Al Lewis from Wales and Alva Leigh from Mississippi – released their debut album ‘Ghost’ (Celticana Records) on August 26th 2016. A stunning collection of self-penned originals, ‘Ghost’ is the culmination of a collaboration that began in 2014 when the two solo musicians first began writing together. Recorded in January 2016 at Urchin Studios in London with Matt Ingram, ‘Ghost’ celebrates the differences in their individual experiences whilst finding common ground.
Three well received EPs have built a growing following and Lewis & Leigh received two nominations (Best UK Song & Best UK Act) at the inaugural UK Americana Awards earlier this year. A stand out acoustic performance around one microphone at that event led to invitations to join Billy Bragg’s songwriters’ round at Glastonbury (where they were the only artists playing two shows – the Acoustic and Leftfield stages), to open shows for Deacon Blue on their UK tour in November and to make a return visit to the US Americana Festival in Nashville in September.
They’ve played some amazing festivals over the last two years such as Glastonbury, Celtic Connections, Cambridge Folk, and Greenbelt. They have performed live radio sessions with Dermot O’Leary and Janice Long on BBC Radio 2 and Ricky Ross on BBC Radio Scotland. In August, they took their first promo trip to Germany, visiting FLUX, RadioEins, PULS studios and performing on Inas Nacht. The album was also No.1 on the Amazon Folk chart pre-order.
In 2015 Lewis & Leigh flew the flag for the UK at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville and were named ‘artists to watch’ by Rolling Stone and NPR. They were invited back this year by the Americana Music Association to perform an official showcase and had support from the Wales Arts International Fund. They are looking forward to supporting Deacon Blue on their UK tour in November and of course their own headline tour in February and March before returning to continental Europe.
