The Sham

David Sneddon & 'The Sham'

"David Sneddon's unique and powerful voice still tears and sears, but the context complements and lends depth to his performance. It's altogether a more mature sound and, unarguably, it still gets me where it hurts."'

shamfansite.moonfruit.com/

GIG Reviews2004-05

THE SHAM band

In 2004 and 2005 David was lead singer with rock band the Sham.

They put out a download single in Oct 2004 'Goodbye Baby' and played gigs in London and Scotland - and headlined at Aberdeen new year 2005.

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REVIEWS

"The highlight of both gigs for me was hearing 'No More Words.' It is an incredibly beautiful and moving song, it has a hypnotic quality that stays in your head long after the performance is over.

The most exciting thing to me was the whole scope and breadth of the set. The quality and variety of the songs; the seamless transitions between the slower, more emotional songs and the joyful verve and spiky attitude of the rockier ones..."
Kate review Boardwalk Seffield Feb 2005

"David stood still to sing Star. This is a touching personal song, I love the way it changes pace and is charged with nervousness and excitement: 'Don't run away, you put me where I am, now I can."
Pauline Merchant City Glasgow

"David Sneddon's unique and powerful voice still tears and sears, but the context complements and lends depth to his performance.
It's altogether a more mature sound and, unarguably, it still gets me where it hurts."'
Bet The Metro July 2004

THE SHAM!

In 2004 David continued songwriting with John and they visited music producers in the States, in Los Angeles and New York. They received a good response and on the back of that decided to start a rock band in May. Calling themselves 'The Sham' and bringing on board Ed, Si, Jake & Jay, they kept things low key doing small venue gigs around London.
'I played some of my new songs to Universal. They asked why I wanted to write for others when my songs were good enough to be sung by me. John and I have spent the last nine months writing new songs, and it has been like expecting a child, we've made 40 babies.'
The Sham performed their debut gig at Madam JoJo's in Soho London on June 23rd.
They performed six new Sham songs - Hiding From Me, Fallen Angel, Little Blue, Only A Boy, Star. They had interest from Labels but felt it was too early and wanted to keep things fairly low-key and take things at a natural pace.
A dynamic mix of lyrical melodies over a urgent rockiness, & with David's expressive voice.
The Sham is built around David Sneddon’s mature and thoughtful repertoire of heartfelt songs, their unique take of pop/rock. The band is a six piece set up, and they do an unique mix of melodic songs backed by an energetic rockiness from the band. Their set has broad range & structure, from moving ballads to rhythmic rocky songs. With Si adding a spirited electric guitar, Jake playing up a good deal of drama on the keys, Ed keeping the energy going with high-powered drums, backed up with effective harmonies from John on acoustic and Jay on bass.

AUGUST 2004, saw the band doing their first gigs, the Bedford, Metro and Roadhouse. Fans travelled from far afield to catch the new band performing a set of their exciting new songs.
SEPTEMBER 2004 - The Sham returned to John and David’s home turf to play the Merchant City Festival in Glasgow. John & David visited Scottish radio stations and performed Only a Boy and Goodbye Baby. They also did acoustic sessions on several English stations. Fans claimed the Water Rats gig as their best yet.
OCTOBER 2004 – This month the boys did promotions - radio, publicity photo shoots, and press interviews. The single is out on the 10th, with a launch party at the Cargo club in London.
*Goodbye Baby was made available for Download on their website. They are thrilled it made No 2 on the Digital 7 site, just under U2! Gig at cityfest Guildford and the first performance of No More Words, plus a welcome return of Lazy.
NOVEMBER 2004 - The band supported Rob Reynolds at Bush Hall, London and was attended by many fans. The boys took time to chat. The Sham played at the Childrens Trust, black tie event on the 25th.
FEBRUARY 2005 - The Sham played gigs in Sheffield and Scunthorpe with the Freeloaders - many fans braved the snow to get there. February also saw the return of The Sham to The Bedford.
DECEMBER 2004 - The Sham headlined at Aberdeen for the Hogmanay celebrations.
Earlier in the day they did an acoustic set at the Café Society, which raised £18,000 for Cash for Kids. At the New Year they rocked Union Street and Northsound radio broadcast both gigs.
Fans travelled from all over and reported back that the new songs were brilliant and the band on top form. David spent the earlier part of 2004 building a recording studio in London. He says he felt he needed a break from the limelight. Daily Record May 2004

The Sham's set
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HIDING FROM ME - The set starts with a questioning, discordant guitar anticipating so much more to come; with hesitant keys speaking of hurt and confusion. And Daves intense vocals -
'No sign of you, have I gone too far this time?'
This song has powerful lyrics,an infectious beat and shimmering rhythm. A firm favourite.

FALLEN ANGEL - Sneddon/ Another rocky song, but with a lighter, intoxicating beat, wonderfully sung by Dave. Vocally it’s strong and Dave gives it an edge and warmth:
'Your wings are clipped but you will surely fly.'

UPBEAT BEAT - G Keilty/
An infectious, swinging beat with fabulous,fun lyrics; sung with that Sneddon magic.

LITTLE BLUE - Sneddon/J Keilty/
A light rhythmic number about a blue ghost?
Johns songs have an enigmatic, dreamlike quality, a lightness of touch, taking you to another place.
'..You are wired directly to the moon.' And backed energetically by the band.

LAZY - Sneddon/ Taken from Dave's debut album. A jazz influenced, deep down and sexy song with a falling catching rhythm - shades of Aerosmith. A wonderfully relaxing track, backed by Jakes inspired keys.
'Easy come, easy go......'

NO MORE WORDS -
Intense vocals match the depth of this powerful song. No More Words moves with focused emotion, and backed by charged instrumentation by the band. It is exactly suited to Daves heart-wrenching vocals.
'Too much to bear your gonna crack.'
This is a darker yet uplifting song and very different. Its like a jewel to treasure.

ONLY A BOY - Sneddon/Keilty/
A soaring ballad with memorable lyrics, meant only for Dave to sing. It has earnest tones, with guitar gently weaving over the heartwarming melody. Dave puts so much into ballads, an emotional shiver.
'I'm moving slowly,trying to be a man.. Theres gotta be more to life than this.'

STAR - Sneddon/
David stands still to sing Star, before the song really kicks in. This is a touching personal song, love the way it changes pace and is charged with nervousness and excitment. And backed with just the right amount of exciting energy by the band. ‘Don’t run away, you put me where I am, now I can.’
'Dave’s voice yearning for that which might have been and cannot be, dramatically countered by an urgent rhythm and building towards a dramatic, discordant climax that is both uplifting and disturbing.'

GOODBYE BABY - An energetic, catchy gig song with fun lyrics! The Shams first single which made number 2 on Digital 7. Great crowd pleaser.

TWENTIETH CENTURY BOy!
The new Sham cover - wow! A sexy, driven version of the T-Rex classic; giving it an urgent contemporary feel...mmm!

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Bush Hall Gig Nov 2004

tHE SHAM Band

JUNE 2005 - David and John are working on new songs for a collaborative album later in the year.
John has been writing a Martian TV pilot show and also a show for Radio.

MAY 2005 - The big news is that John and David gave us an unexpected treat with a fantastic acoustic set at the Colne Music Festival. They sang twelve songs, five Sham, three from Seven Years Ten Weeks and four Covers – Weather With You. Let It Be, Littlest Hobo, Sweet Home Alabama. With the familiar keyboards, John on acoustic and Harry Ward (Martians) on electric guitar. A very professional, highly entertaining and enjoyable hour of music.
Also dramatic developments on the Martian front - A Martians Radio Comedy
Series for BBC Radio 4, and a Martians TV Pilot. First zombie radio musical drama EVER!!!!

APRIL 2005 - Finds the band members very busy with other projects for now. Patience we need as fans! Jake and Jay have their studio in Windlesham to run and have been playing with Nate James. John has been recording brand new songs with brother Gerry. And David is very busy writing with a band and has been in France. Hoping for news of future gigs in the pipeline, so watch this space.

MARCH 2005 - David, Jay and Jake has been songwriting with new soul singer Nate James at Universal music. His first single- 'Set The Tone' is out now. David was at Nate’s headlining show at the Jazz Café. The track that Nate co-wrote with David, Jake & Jay - The Message - is a
great song and a potentially massive hit.

FEBRUARY 2005 - The Sham and The Freeloaders played two brilliant Gigs in Sheffield and Scunthorpe in Feb. Many fans braved the snow. Sheffield was like a party and The Sham gave a loose and exciting performance. February also saw the return of The Sham to The Bedford a venue popular with the fans.
Press release 23/02 - The Sham is built around David Sneddon’s mature and thoughtful repertoire of heartfelt songs. “Working as a songwriter is good and it pays the bills, but I’ll always be a performer. Fronting a band like the Sham excites me as a musician and as a six piece set up we enjoy influences from all sorts of rock n roll music. Hopefully, it’s just fun to watch and music to dance to! This is the complete antithesis of that Fame Academy adventure. We turn up in a strange town tell our own stories, connect with the people and share each others lives and hopefully part at the end of the evening firm friends” says an older and visibly wiser Sneddon “It’s fresh and exciting but most importantly it’s real”.

December 2004 - The Sham headlined at Aberdeen for the Hogmanay celebrations.
Earlier in the day they did an acoustic set at the Café Society,followed by a Q & A session. The bar raised £18,000 for Cash for Kids. At the New Year they rocked Union Street; the Sham were outstanding. As well as the usual set, they performed 2 new covers- Mustang Sally and Twentieth Century Boy. Northsound radio broadcast both gigs.
Charity - Dave generously donated the piano he wrote Stop Living The Lie on when he was 17 for the Struan charity. The piano raised £1500 and the generous bidder donated the piano to the new school. At the Aberdeen Acoustic gig he spoke about his interest in the charity and asked people to donate to such a good cause. Link - www.autism-in-scotland.org.uk

NOVEMBER 2004 - Kicked off with supporting Rob Reynolds at Bush Hall, London. Attended by many fans, the boys took time to chat. The Sham are playing at the Childrens Trust, black tie event on the 25th, costing £95 a ticket.
Congratulations to John and Dave for being the ‘Guest of the Year’ on the BBCs Off the Ball, for their entertaining ‘Dae Somthin’ song for the Scottish football team.

OCTOBER 2004 – This month the boys are doing promotions - radio, publicity photo shoots, and press interviews. The single is out on the 10th, with a launch party at the Cargo club in London. Some 30 fans are invited after winning a website comp. In a press interview Dave talks about how there is less pressure doing things their own way.
*Goodbye Baby was made available for Download on their website. They are thrilled it made No 2 on the Digital 7 site, just under U2!
Gig at cityfest Guildford and the first performance of No More Words, plus a welcome return of Lazy.

SEPTEMBER 2004 - The Sham are to return to John and Dave’s home turf to play the Merchant City Festival in Glasgow. John and Dave visited Scottish radio stations and performed Only a Boy and Goodbye Baby. They also did acoustic sessions on several English stations.
Fans claimed the Water Rats gig as their best yet.

AUGUST 2004 - Saw the band doing their first gigs, the Bedford, Metro and Roadhouse. Fans travelled from far afield to catch the new band performing a set of their exciting new songs. They were not disappointed, the new band has far exceeded their expectations!

JULY 2004 - David, Jay and Jake gave an informative chat on Radio London July 28th. At the moment they want to keep things ‘open and loose’, see how it plays out. They also announced plans for more gigs in the autumn. David is keen to get out and play before committing to too much. They plan to set up their own website soon selling their music online.

JUNE 2004 - The band do their debut gig at Madame JoJo in Soho London. They have interest from a major Label but feel its too soon.

May 2004 - David returns to performing at a Charity concert in Glasgow accompanied by John Keilty. David announced the plans for a new band! Fans held an after party at the City Inn Hotel.

April 2004 - John and David took the powerful ballad 'Only a Boy' plus other songs they had co-written to Universal. They were so impressed with the new material they suggested David put a band together and perform the songs himself.

Press release 23/02/05 -

The Sham is built around David Sneddon’s mature and thoughtful repertoire of heartfelt songs.

“Working as a songwriter is good and it pays the bills, but I’ll always be a performer. Fronting a band like the Sham excites me as a musician and as a six piece set up we enjoy influences from all sorts of rock n roll music. Hopefully, it’s just fun to watch and music to dance to! This is the complete antithesis of that Fame Academy adventure. We turn up in a strange town tell our own stories, connect with the people and share each others lives and hopefully part at the end of the evening firm friends” says an older and visibly wiser Sneddon
“It’s fresh and exciting but most importantly it’s real”.