Friday Night Live with Ian Lawton

Ian Lawton: I started writing songs and playing music quite late, at the age of 19. So there you go, it’s never too late to start! Before then I was stuck in dead end jobs and thought there’s got to more to life than this. I’d always played around with words and poetry, but I wanted to completely express myself and learnt to play guitar, then later the piano. These decisions changed and shaped my life forever and eventually defined who I am as a person. I met my best friend that first year, Dom, at music college and we started a band, Frame of Mind. Two years later we were touring Europe supporting ‘America’ encoring with them playing ‘Horse with no Name’. Absolute madness! I had to pinch myself back then. I did a lot with Frame of Mind. I learnt my trade most importantly, not to mention another two European tours with America, an Italian tour supporting ‘Chuck Berry’ had to be a highlight. Also, Pistoria Blues Festival with Jerry Lee Lewis, and winning a battle of the bands competition supporting ‘Status Quo’ in front of 10,000 people was pretty crazy. A few years later I started a band called ‘1913’. We wrote some amazing songs together and signed a record deal with ‘Modern English’. We released a single ‘Atlantis’ with them and played with ‘White Lies’ & ‘Reverend & the Maker’. Music has given me the chance to travel the world, especially the last few years, not to mention the people I’ve met and bonds I’ve made along the road. I’ll tell you one thing though, of all my musical accomplishments, there is no better feeling than being part of the biggest day of somebody’s life. Their Wedding! I still find it an honour and a privilege to be a part of their day. As cheesy as it sounds it’s incredible, you can feel the love and the energy in the room, especially combined with music. I feel like I’m on a journey sometimes too; I’ve made some great friends out of what some people might think of as just another gig. But when you’ve helped be a part of the best day of somebody’s life, it is just the best feeling. I have to say I feel very lucky to do what I do.