Brian Hughes and The Lonesharks

Brian Hughes and The Lonesharks

Brian Hughes and The Lonesharks are a rock group from New Jersey, United States, active from 1972 to the present. The line-up includes Vini Lopez, David Sancious, Danny Federici, Clarence Clemons, Garry Tallent, Ernest Carter, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg, צרויה להב, Little Steven, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, Charles Giordano, Jake Clemons, Anthony Almonte, Barry Danielian, Ada Dyer, Curtis King, Lisa Lowell, Ed Manion, Ozzie Melendez, Michelle Moore, Curt Ramm and The Asbury Park All-Star Revue. The group’s music is identified with heartland rock, pop rock and rock.

Background

The act centres on Brian Hughes, who is born on 19 June 1959 in Dumbarton, Scotland, an industrial town east of Loch Lomond. He shows an early interest in music and sings from a young age, but he does not get his first guitar until he is seventeen, when he begins on a Gibson Les Paul copy.

Over the following eight years, Hughes develops his songwriting and performance experience in live rock groups, including line-ups that feature future Sharks members Greg Porterfield and Ian Newport. In 1984 he becomes disillusioned with music and sells all of his guitars. He returns to songwriting in 1996 after being encouraged to play again, influenced by the American new country sound heard on UK radio.

Recording and releases

In 1998 Hughes records at Carlton Studios in Glasgow with producer Kevin Burleigh. The next year the album Days Gone Down appears. After strong audience reaction, he presents the material at a one-off show at The Renfrew Ferry in Glasgow in 2001. For that performance, an eleven-piece line-up is assembled under the working name The LoneSharks, including Greg and Ian.

In 2002 Hughes works with Ian Donaldson and Stewart Robertson and records at Maryhill Mansions Studio in Glasgow. This leads to the release of Windmills in 2003, which attracts critical attention. The songs also draw the interest of the American publishing company Atlanta Music Group in Georgia, and a contract follows.

In 2004 Hughes keeps the LoneSharks name for a new live line-up that includes Robert Jones. After another interruption, he again brings together Greg and Ian with Robert and newly recruited keyboard player Graham Cordiner. Around the same time work begins on the album Back to Where I’m Going, which is produced by Stewart Robertson and Hughes and released in 2006. The recordings are supported by a range of session players.

Career status

Brian Hughes and The Lonesharks establish themselves as a live original-material act in the UK and build a growing audience while releasing three albums: Days Gone Down, Windmills and Back to Where I’m Going.