GUN: Legendary Glasgow rockers collect two prestigious awards ahead of winter tour

GUN

Legendary Glasgow rockers GUN collect two prestigious awards ahead of winter tour

‘The Calton Songs’ UK Tour runs 30 Nov – 11 Dec 2022

Rock icons GUN have picked up TWO massive music industry awards in one week.

The band were honoured with the Rock Legend award at Hard Rock Hell in Great Yarmouth.

And then at the weekend they were awarded the Hard Rock Café Legends award at the Scottish Music Awards, the flagship event for the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity.

With their latest album The Calton Songs notching up a string of high chart appearances across various genres and their traditional Christmas show at the Barrowlands on December 10 selling well, things are very much on the up for the legendary rockers.

Giuliano Gizzi said: “It honestly means the world to us to be honoured in this way.

“We have had incredible support from our fans for years but for industry giants like these outside of our fan group to recognise what we do and what we work so hard on is beautiful, really fulfilling.

“It’s hard at times for bands these days and awards like these are a real boost, a lift to us all and just vindication really.

“Nordoff-Robbins are a charity we have loved and supported for as long as I can remember so receiving the Hard Rock Café Legend award from them is fantastic.

“And the Hard Rock Hell award was an amazing surprise too, that national recognition from an iconic brand means the world.

“Thank you all, and thanks most of all to the fans who buy tickets, buy our records and support us all day, every day. We started the band because of you and we are still here so many years on because of you.”

Gun have already finished writing their next album, an all-out full electric original rock album after the lockdown-inspired acoustic look back at some of their biggest hits on The Calton Songs – names after gang The Calton Tongs who ran the mean streets of the area the Gizzi brothers who formed the band grew up in.

In fact, the songs were originally written in Dante and Giuliano’s Calton bedroom – in their mum’s house – and the boys STILL prefer to write there rather than in the lavish Morsecode Studios complex where they record.

Bass player turned frontman Dante said: “There’s just something about that wee room at our mum’s – it’s where we wrote those songs back in the day and where Jools and I still feel at our most comfortable writing.

“It just takes us back and captures that spirit and excitement we had as young guys starting out – Taking On The World like the album title said. That’s the spirit of Gun, we still feel that way.

“Calton and Glasgow will always be home for us personally and as a band. The area is where we belong and where our band belongs.

“That’s why the Christmas Barras show is a must for us – it’s a homecoming to celebrate another year of doing what we love so much.”

‘The Calton Songs’ Tour 2022

NOVEMBER

Weds 30 Nightrain, BRADFORD

DECEMBER

Thurs 1 O2 Academy Islington, LONDON
Fri 2 Queen’s Hall, NUNEATON
Sat 3 BARNOLDSWICK*
Sun 4 The Waterloo, BLACKPOOL
Mon 5 Komedia, BATH
Tues 6 Fire Station, SUNDERLAND
Weds 7 Mac Arts, GALASHIELS
Sat 10 Barrowlands Ballroom, GLASGOW
Sun 11 The Lemon Tree, ABERDEEN

* Full Band Acoustic Show

From the band:

Welcome to The Calton. The Calton District in Glasgow’s East End has always been home to Jools and Dante from GUN. In their parents spare bedroom just a stone’s throw from Glasgows famous Barrowland Ballroom, the boys fashioned their songwriting skills alongside former GUN lead singer Mark Rankin. 

Barring ‘Word Up’, the other fifteen songs were inspired by the sights and sounds of The Calton. This new take on GUN’s classic hits and favourites are semi-acoustic versions of what appeared through the years as full on rock tracks. The songs feature all the current band’s lineup plus some amazing backing singing from Beverley Skeete and The Sisterhood, giving a gospel slant and an original spin to these rock classics. 

Recorded initially by Dante in the spare bedroom, the songs were completed after the lockdown situation ended in January 2022 in Glasgow’s Morsecode studios. We hope you all enjoy this departure from our guitar amps being up at full blast, we wanted to do something different for our fans. We’ll be touring this with the full band and doing some acoustic shows, so we hope we’ll see you out on the road somewhere along the line. 

Rock On