This page last updated: 6 Oct 2020
 

YES and projects with several Yesmen	Jon Anderson	Chris Squire	Steve Howe	Alan White
Geoff Downes	Trevor Horn	Tony Kaye	Peter Banks	Patrick Moraz
Bill Bruford	Rick Wakeman	Trevor Rabin	Billy Sherwood	Igor Khoroshev Oliver Wakeman
Benoît David Jon Davison	Asia	CIRCA:	Yes ft. Anderson Rabin Wakeman	Others associated with the band

On this page: Solo projects - Album with Virgil - Steve Howe Trio - Guest appearances

On other pages: Yes news - Asia

Steve Howe's official sites: Homepage - News - MySpace page - Official YouTube - Official Facebook - Twitter

Yes
Howe remains in Yes—see details on main news page.

On Facebook on 9 Apr 2020, writing about the COVID-19 pandemic, Howe said, "I've noticed the focus of music has shifted and been reasserted as a vital link between people and to that end I have found myself able to turn my attention to the writing and recording of music of a new era. More information will follow about what, when and how this work will evolve." Further context for these comments is unknown. On 7 May, he posted on Facebook about "Recording my koto on a new song!"

In a Jul 2020 interview, asked about the impact of the pandemic, Howe said: "certainly, even in my own writing and recording work, this is gonna be a golden opportunity for that, and I daresay a lot of musicians will turn to their recording system and think, 'well: I could do some more!'"

In another Jul 2020 interview, Howe talked about having "just finished mixing" a song called "Penance", a vocal version of "Pennants" from The Steve Howe Album, having recorded it "quite recently". He continued: "wait for further information on its release".

Solo
Howe's next solo album, entitled Love Is, is due on BMG Records on CD, download and 180g black vinyl. It is now due 31 Jul 2020, having been delayed from 17 Apr. Howe composed the whole album and performs lead vocals, and electric, acoustic and steel guitars. He also contributes some keys, bass and percussion on the instrumental tracks. Jon Davison performs bass and harmony vocals on the songs. Son Dylan Howe (worked with Yes) drums throughout, recording some of his parts around 2018, although there was at least one earlier session with Dylan in Jun 2013. The album was co-engineered and produced by Steve, with Curtis Schwartz co-engineering and mixing. The album was mastered by Simon Heyworth (previously mastered New Frontier). Howe described the album in a Feb 2020 Facebook post as an "equal balance of guitar instrumentals and songs". In an interview in the Mar 2020 issue of Prog, Howe said, "I think it's a really out-there record, split between five instrumentals and five songs. [...] Some of the tracks I've been working on for years." Tracks:

In one Jul 2020 interview, Howe mooted the possibility of touring in support of the album with a band.

Back in an Apr 2016 interview, Howe talked of having several solo studio projects on the go. In a Sep 2016 one, he said, "I have a lot of projects started that are behind me. What I will do is go back through them and start to refine them. I usually come across one that makes me want to get back at it. All these projects and I am doing them all at once and they kind of a stock pile and none of them are finished. They will get finished when I think that it is time for that one to get sorted." A Mar 2017 Q&A described, among other things:

[a solo album] in progress, and it’s gonna be quite exciting. I’m looking forward to announcing it. But other than that I’m not saying much about it until it’s finished. Watch this space.

they’re really like jamboree. I mean, I’m playing jazz here and weird, psychedelic stuff here and a band here and then I’m singing and then I’m not singing. I kind of like those, but I think I should be more in the Turbulence mindset, where I pick a style and put all of my music around that. I’ve actually got a new album coming that, strangely enough — well, it is not finished yet so I can’t tell you the title, even though I do have it — it is actually a mixture of instrumental and songs, but not quite in the same way.

When I do [a solo tour] in other countries [i.e., not the UK] it takes a lot more organising and you’ve gotta get the CWA and IRS involved [...] But I would say that I’ve missed not doing either really. The solo tours I’ve done in America, the last one I think was way back in 2010, maybe 2008. So I’ve missed doing that in America. [...] doing a full band tour would be wonderful too. And like I say, I think I’ve got a vehicle for the future that will make that work. So, hold your breath on that one.

Asked about a next solo album in a Mar 2015 interview, Howe replied:

I’ve always got a backlog of music [...] I create a sort of nest egg [...] of music and song that I can back to. And they’re most probably going to be on another solo album, because once I start to become secretive or very introverted about them – because they really are personal, certainly if there are lyrics [...] – then I’ll tweak ‘em an awful lot, I’ll go back loads of times, and think, “Well, you know, I just want this to be something else. How’s this going to live up to my new expectations?”

So certainly there is a work in progress, but I’m not terribly clear which way it’ll go. But as you prepare, eventually you start to spot that you’ve got tracks that really are going in a startlingly different direction, and I think that’s what I’m waiting for. I’m not going to make another Turbulence. [Laughs.] Even though it’s a nice album!

[...] So the style of the music, I haven’t put my big toe in so deep yet. It might be that I’m waiting to see enough material in another style [...] and just say, “Well, when I feel it’s there, then that’s the album I’m going to do,” and I’ll start really building that album. [...] I’m not really pushed to do anything.

An Apr 2020 interview described Howe as planning solo shows for autumn 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have stopped that.

Howe has been working further with Paul Sutin. In a Jan 2012 interview, Howe they have some "new tracks we haven't released yet", "kind of a mix up of some things we've done where we've re-arranged them, re-played them, they're almost like different tunes because they have such a different feel", plus some new tracks which are "almost Europop influenced". He goes on to describe how they've worked together: "What I like to do [...] if you've got a sort of semi Euro dance track, I don't play like semi Euro dance track guitar. [...] I play [...] different sorts of things [...] It came alive because of the contrast."

Howe previously released Motif Volume 1, a solo guitar album consists of existing pieces plus four new compositions. Howe explained that the album:

He has been working on a second volume, due "perhaps this year [2009]" according to a May 2009 Billboard article, and "soon" according to a Jul 2009 article. In an update on his website in Mar 2010, Howe describes Volume 2 as being "in the planning stage" and that he will tour in support of it in due course. In the Oct 2011 interview, he talks of working on Volume 2 and says "maybe next year [2012]" for when it will appear. In another Oct 2011 interview, Howe said:

I am writing new material, I am going to follow up 'Motif, Volume 1' with, surprisingly, wait for it, 'Motif, Volume 2'. I've got new material, I'm going to record it in the studio, as opposed to how I've done it before. I enjoy that side of my life, probably more than Yes or Asia, I don't want to make that seem unappreciative, but the older I've got the more I've dug in to that solo side. That's why 'Motif, Volume 1' was a very important release for me, because it pulled together that side of my life that had been spread over Yes, Asia, solo records, Trio records

Promo for his 2015 solo tour still referred to the Motif series, and in one of the Mar 2015 interviews, Howe said, "I hope to do Volume 2". In his autobiography, finished late 2019, he said, "I'm now preparing and writing volume two."

In a Feb 2013 interview, Steve said how his two sons (Virgil and Dylan) "[ha]ve just played on a whole project that's not been released, that's in the pipeline. Virgil plays drums." It's unclear whether this is related to any of the other projects discussed on this page. It doesn't obviously fit anything we know.

The Steve Howe Trio The Steve Howe Trio brings together Steve on electric guitar, son Dylan Howe on drums and Ross Stanley (Dylan Howe Quintet) on Hammond XK3 organ. They released a new, instrumental album, New Frontier (Esoteric Antenna (Cherry Red)), in Sep 2019 on CD (EANTCD1077) and 180g LP (EANTLP1077); sample on Facebook. 3 pieces on the album were co-written by Steve and Bill Bruford. Howe described the album to Prog as "more prog, less jazz and less of our biggest influences - Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell". Details at Yescography. Tracks: "Hiatus" (2:24), by S Howe/Stanley "Left to Chance" (6:31), by S Howe "Fair Weather Friend" (4:25), by Bruford/S Howe "Zodiac" (3:05), by S Howe/Stanley, began when Howe was first writing it as a piece with lyrics "Gilded Splinter" (3:58), by Bruford/S Howe "Showdown" (4:35), by Howe; side B of LP starts here "Missing Link" (5:01), by S Howe/D Howe "Outer Terrain" (4:59) {but "Outer Limit" according to Cherry Red's website and some early listings}, by S Howe "Western Sun" (4:31), by S Howe/D Howe "The Changing Same" (3:51), by Bruford/S Howe

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S Howe played electric guitar, plus acoustic guitar on (1) and (9), and bass on (3) and (9). The album was produced by S Howe, engineered by D & S Howe, and mixed by Ben Farestvedt. It was mastered by Simon Heyworth (on Bruford's recommendation). Photos were by D Howe. Steve talked about the Bruford co-writes in a Sep 2019 interview, saying:

Bill gave me some tunes years and years ago. They gathered a bit of dust but in this writing period with the Trio I played a couple of these tunes to the guys and they went, ‘Oh wow. This is great. Let’s arrange this.’

So, again, we developed them and [...] I, in particular, [...] kind of took those ideas on and developed them to which Bill wanted to share in the credit with me because he felt I had kind of brought them back into the frame by development.

[...]

music in a way often gets buried. Some good stuff gets buried along the way. I don’t think there was a way Bill and I could have done those tunes earlier than this, strangely enough. I didn’t have a vehicle and Bill had kind of left them with me and they’d just sort of sat there. I’d messed – I’d doodled with them. But once the Trio got hold of them we were able to bring the melodies into line with the other things we were doing.

In an Aug 2019 interview, he said, "it must have been about 10 years ago, or maybe a bit more, when Bill he sent me some tunes – just embryonic recordings of the melody – and I dabbled with them a bit without really seeing how to use them at the time. But when the Trio were composing different titles, I said 'look guys I've got these tunes, what do you think about these?' And their faces lit up and they said 'this fits, this works, we can take this and build on it!'" That date would be from shortly before Bruford retired.

Asked about touring, Steve said, "We'd love to[,] but we haven't got any plans yet. We'll see how next year's [2020] plan shapes up. We just hope there will be a time when we can." Interviewed on the Yes Music Podcast #403 (Oct 2019), Dylan replied "Maybe" when asked about touring, but said there were no plans as yet.

The album was expected for a while. He described the forthcoming album as having been completed in comments at his 8 Oct 2016 solo show. In a Sep 2013 interview, Steve said, "We've got a lot of new material for the new album, and we've been recording that. [...] [Music] partly of mine, but also bringing their music into play." At a Sep 2014 solo show, he said the Trio may change their name to Howe Stanley Howe. He said in an Aug 2014 interview that in Oct 2014 he will be "doing recording, and finishing up a new trio album [...] that's all original in music. No direct Jazz music in it at all. But we do swing". In an interview with Vintage Rock conducted around the beginning of Apr 2014, Howe said: "We're going to release a new album eventually — well we've recorded most of it — which is completely original, and not relying on a jazz kind of repertoire, which is maybe going to hold us back. Because, strictly speaking, I'm not into playing standards." In a Nov 2014 interview for YesFANZ, Steve said:

The Trio have just recorded a new album that should be out next year [2015] we hope, which is unlike, The Haunted Melody', because we just thought “I know what we will try to surprise them or we’ll deviate from the….’  The program was you know we will take music from my career sometimes but also Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, Roland Kirk.  A kind of jazz, but this time it’s all original and it’s new original music and I think that has been good for us.

He also says he would like to tour in support of the album. In the Mar 2015 interview, Steve said:

we have almost finished – and it’s only a hairsbreadth away from being finished – a new Steve Howe Trio album. But we’re not in a hurry. [...] We’re just going to take our time [...] we may be looking at much later in the year [2015] to release that, but if the album’s not ready ‘til next year [2016], we won’t release it ‘til next year. I’m not really pushed to do anything.

There has also been talk of a live release. A Mar 2016 interview with Steve opened: "[Howe ha]s spent a bit of time lately sifting through various concert tapes of the Steve Howe Trio [...] for a future live release. [...] "We're going to hone down to a final mix and then we'll look at how we should release it."" The band last toured in Sep 2013, with 11 UK dates. The London set list was typical: set 1—"Mood for a Day", "My Buzzard Friend" (new piece), "The Ancient" (excerpt), "The Haunted Melody", "Tune Up", "Heart of the Sunrise"; set 2—"Dream River", "Devil of a Chance" (new piece), "Siberian Khatru", "Conversation" (originally by Joni Mitchell), "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Blue Bash", "Close to the Edge" (new arrangement compared to Travelling), encore: electric guitar solo piece by Steve, "Kenny's Sound". The Portsmouth set list was shorter: set 1—"Mood for a Day", "My Buzzard Friend", "The Ancient" (excerpt), "The Haunted Melody", "Tune Up", "Heart of the Sunrise"; set 2—"Dream River", new piece (probably "Devil of a Chance"), "Siberian Khatru", "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Blue Bash", "Close to the Edge", encore: "Kenny's Sound".

Guest appearances & collaboration
Howe guested on Jon Anderson's 1000 Hands: see under Anderson for details.

Howe has professed to being a fan of Alison Krauss & Union Station, particularly their dobro player Jerry Douglas (worked with Ray Charles, Phish, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello). In an Apr 2011 article, he said they have discussed collaborating:

"I asked them if they would work with me and they said yes," Steve says. "It has taken some time, but I have not stopped writing tunes [for the project]. I have a country side that I want to explore. I will do country records.

Asked about the collaboration in the Feb 2013 interview, Howe said:

I’ve got immense respect for Alison and the band. I just love them to bits. Things were mooted and there were was a little opportunity to try something. In the time that these things were talked about and mentioned, shifting sands changed here and there. So I never count on things like that. [...] My determination is to do some recordings that reveal some more of my connection with country and bluegrass through people like Chet Atkins [...] also Mel Travis and Tony Rice, Stevie West, Jimmy Bryant, I could go on and on. I’ve written 30 solo pieces, half of which are in the country style

I’ve been thinking about it since the first collection is now out of print [...] I’ve had some ideas about something more like a Steve Howe catalog of great guitars that I did keep, because since then I’ve traded, given, and sold instruments; a few a year, so that my collection would get smaller. [...] it’s more about things that, over the last thirty or forty years, I still value, as oppos ed to when the book was done, I was having a great time; buying shed-loads of guitars, and that doesn’t interest me now. [...] I have done some preparation, it’s just a matter of when and if I put it into action.

NVP (Nicolet Vidéo Productions) described on their website filming in Oct 2008 a 3D film and an accompanying one-hour, 2D film about Howe, but Howe says in the autobiography that the footage was lost. In a Jan 2009 interview for Notes from the Edge, Howe talked about "a lot of my films that I've been preparing for many years that will eventually come out on a DVD" (including performances of "Corkscrew"), which may have been related to this project or be something else. Howe has previously talked about a documentary of his career, concentrating on his solo work from 1975-1994. In his autobiography (finished 2019), he again talks about hoping to do a DVD compilation, mentioning a performance by The Syndicats on the BBC's The Beat Room and his 3-track promo video for his debut solo album, Beginnings.

Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts. Thanks.