Michael Weston King (My Darling Clementine)
Michael Weston King hails from the English coastal town of Southport, 20 miles north of Liverpool, though it could be said he is a victim of geography.
He cut his teeth in bands on the fringes of the Liverpool post punk, new wave and power pop scene of the early 80’s until he discovered a deep-rooted love of Country and American folk music along with the jangle and twang of bands such as R.E.M. Green On Red and the new country sounds of Dwight Yoakham and Lye Lovett.
Aiming to try and fuse the Texan songwriting style of the likes of John Prine and Guy Clarke with the burgeoning No Depression sound of Uncle Tupelo and The Jayhawks he formed The Good Sons, who, from 1992-1999, made 4 critically acclaimed albums recording for Glitterhouse Records in Europe and Watermelon Records in Austin, Texas. They toured with, amongst many others, Joe Ely, Steve Earle, Joe Henry and Son Volt.
During this time Michael also met, toured and collaborated with Townes Van Zandt. The great songwriter who was to prove something of a mentor to him
Townes duetted with Michael on the bands debut album Singing The Glory Down and later recording Michael’s song Riding The Range.
By album 3 a deal with Sire Records was in the offing but a mix of mis-management , bad luck and near fatal car crash put paid to that.
“The British band that played alt. country before anyone knew what the hell it was, and who must rate as England’s very own Uncle Tupelo. MOJO
After The Good Sons split Michael went solo and for the next 10 years became a fully fledged troubadour travelling all over the world. Hundreds of shows and tours with the likes of Nick Cave, John Cale, Roger McGuinn, Guy Clark, America, Nils Lofgren, Arlo Guthrie, Steve Forbert, He released 5 studio albums, 3 live albums and a career retrospective DVD, The Crowning Story. Collaborating in the studio and on stage with the likes of Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen, Ron Sexsmith, Peter Case, John Doe, and Jackie Leven
“Michael Weston King has a voice part Nashville balladeer and part Alt Country hero………a cross between Nick Cave and Rodney Crowell.”
THE INDEPENDENT
“Like Tim Hardin, Phil Ochs or Townes van Zandt, King transmutes squalor and self-laceration into pure gold.”
MOJO
His last solo album came out in 2011, the protest album, “I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be Soldier” and it led to appearances at protest festivals, political rallies, and human rights events in the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, and, his first ever concerts in China.
He also curated a fund raising album for the British newspaper The Morning Star entitled We’re All In It Together, featuring 33 of Britain’s finest musicians and writers.
“I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier wields a potent eternal truth. This is music of intelligent dissidence.”
MOJO
“Hey Ma, Im Coming Home is simply one of the best protest songs ever written.”
PENNY BLACK MUSIC (9/10)
Nov. 2011 saw another musical departure with the release of an album of pure, country duets, recorded with his wife Lou Dalgleish, (the music loved singer, songwriter and former dancer / actor) under the name of My Darling Clementine. Entitled, How Do You Plead? their debut took the Country / Americana world by storm. It garnered incredible critical acclaim, the debut single, “100,000 Words” became a BBC Radio 2 hit, while the album was hailed by Country Music Magazine as the “best British country record ever!” and both the New York Daily News and American Songwriter, placing it in their albums of the year in the USA
Consequently the past 6 years has seen Michael devote most of his musical time to My Darling Clementine, with the release of 2 more very successful albums, an average of 100 shows a year across Europe and North America, and also a song and story / stage play collaboration with best selling crime writer Mark Billingham entitled The Other Half. The show toured from 2015 - 2017 and the album of the same name features guest appearances from Graham Parker, Kinky Friedman, The Brodksy Quartet and one of Britain’s finest actors, David Morrissey
Over 60 different artists have recorded his songs including American Folk Music icon Carolyn Hester and the aforementioned Townes Van Zandt, while a number of his songs have also been used in TV shows in America and Germany.
The songbook, Beautiful Lies, was published in 2005 and forth coming book of complete lyrics (100,000 Words) will be published in the 2019, along with his first solo album in 8 years, entitled “The Struggle of Mickey Newbury” .
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