Mostly Autumn are a York based (now) 6 piece band that can be described as Fairport Convention and Celtic folk-rock mixed with snippets of: Genesis, Steve Hackett and Pink Floyd. The band plays a large array of instruments and do not shy away from powerful use of keyboards and electronic guitars incorporated with flute, violins and harmonious vocals. The band is well-known in Holland and Belgium.
Though founding member- Bryan Josh (was in a band called Expressions in his teens), started writing Mostly Autumn music six years before the band, it became a reality and in 1997 Mostly Autumn was formed. The album- 'For All We Shared' was recorded as a tribute to Bryan's father- Rob Josh, who died prior to the bands formation.
Known for their live show filled with power, emotion and musicality, they started gaining a strong following in the UK and from this reputation, G..F.T. Cyclops records signed them.
The band then recorded their next album 'The Spirit Of Autumn Past,' it received rave reviews as the band continued to play at festivals all over Great Britain. Mostly Autumn was voted best new band by the 'Classic Rock Society' (and Heather Findlay was voted the best female vocalist). In 2000, Mostly Autumn broke their UK-touring bonds as they were invited to tour in Germany, France, Belgium and Holland.
Their third and most recent recording- 'The Last Bright Light,' released on March 26th 2001. The band is promoting the album with a tour all over the UK, Europe and Scandinavia. More and more people are opening their eyes (and ears), to Mostly Autumn. A DVD of interviews and live material has been released.
Mostly Autumn have recently signed a major record deal with Classic Rock Legends and are touring acoustically supporting the superb Blackmore's Night on tour in the UK, Europe, Scandinavia and Russia.
The band recently took a 14 day recording session and released `Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings' in 2002. Some reviews say that fans of Camel and Division Bell-era Pink Floyd will enjoy their latest work.
In 2003, Passengers was released to solid reviews. The band is approaching being a fully professional group, a few members still are continuing their present careers but they have great flexibility within their work. Along ting timeline, a slew of live DVDs were released by the band (some on Classic Rock Productions). Some of the shows have been criticized by reviews as being cheaply made to make a buck, but IMHO, they aren't too bad.
In 2004, Heather Findlay contributed to Arjen Lucassen's Ayreon project on The Human Equation album, singing the parts of Love.
Iain Jennings left the band at the beginning of 2006 to pursue his own musical ambitions (he released a solo album, Breathing Space, in late 2005). Ben Matthews of Thunder stood in on keyboards for the band's headline gig at the Baja Prog Festival in Mexico in March 2006. During the band's UK and Dutch spring 2006 tour keyboards were provided by Angela Gordon and Chris Johnson.
At the beginning of 2007, both guitarist Liam Davison and drummer Andrew Jennings left the band; Davison to concentrate on his solo album and Jennings to devote his time to his other projects. The guitar parts were shared out amongst the rest of the group. Ex-Karnataka drummer Gavin Griffiths stood in on drums for most of the 2007 live shows; Andrew Jennings temporarily rejoined the group at the end of 2007, until Henry Bourne took over in 2008. Gavin Griffiths returned for the first shows of 2009 in Manchester and London. After Chris Johnson and Angela Gordon left in 2007, Iain Jennings and Liam Davison returned to the group on keyboards and guitar respectively. Anne-Marie Helder (who had played support slots in the past and stood in for Angela during her pregnancy) took over the role of flute, keyboards and backing vocals. A new studio album entitled Glass Shadows was released in early 2008 and an accompanying tour took place in spring and early summer. A 100-minute DVD, 'The Making of Glass Shadows', accompanied the special pre-order version of the album.
During October 2008, Mostly Autumn performed two gigs with an alternative, semi-acoustic line-up in support of the Bad Shepherds. The line-up consisted of Bryan Josh (guitar and vocals), Olivia Sparnenn (lead vocals), Andy Smith (bass), Anne-Marie Helder (keyboards and flute) and Robbie Baxter (drums). This tour was truncated after the Bad Shepherds cancelled many dates.
Mostly Autumn have their own independent record label and choose to finance each album release itself. The group typically prints a limited edition of each album and sells those to cover their recording costs. A retail version of the album is then made available via retail outlets, distributors, the group's concerts and through their website.
Up to and including Heart Full of Sky (2006) Mostly Autumn's albums have started with the last few seconds of the previous album's final song. This tradition was dropped with the release of Glass Shadows (2008).
At the beginning of 2010, Heather Findlay announced her intention to leave the band to focus on solo work and her family. She performed her last gig with the band at Leamington Spa Assembly on 2 April 2010. This was filmed, and released as a 2-disc DVD under the name That Night in Leamington, which also included a 30-minute interview with Josh and Findlay. After her departure, Olivia Sparnenn stepped into the lead role, and the band's next album Go Well Diamond Heart was released in 2010.
Bryan Josh and Olivia Sparnenn were married on 21 June 2013.
From mid-2013 onwards, Helder and Griffiths were absent from the band's touring line-up due to other commitments; their positions being temporarily filled by keyboardist Hannah Hird and drummer Alex Cromarty. In March 2014, it was revealed by Bryan Josh on the band's official website that Griffiths had decided to leave the band and that Cromarty was now his official replacement.[12] With this line-up the band then recorded their eleventh album, "Dressed in Voices". In May 2014, shortly prior to the release of "Dressed in Voices", Josh announced that founding member Liam Davison had left the band and had been replaced by returning member Chris Johnson, and this new line-up recorded the live album "Box of Tears".
In the autumn of 2014, Josh and Sparnenn – as "Mostly Autumn Acoustic" – supported Steve Hackett on the UK leg of his "Genesis Extended" tour.
In mid-2015 former Mostly Autumn flautist and keyboardist Angela Gordon replaced Hannah Hird in the band's touring line-up whilst no official statement was made at the time, the band have now acknowledged that Gordon had officially replaced Helder in the band's line-up, and with this new line-up the band recorded its next album, "Sight of Day"
On 5 November 2017 the band announced that founding guitarist Liam Davison had died.
Heather Findlay contributed to Arjen Lucassen's 'Ayreon' project on The Human Equation album in 2004, singing the part of "Love".
Jennings left the band at the beginning of 2006 to pursue his own musical ambitions and formed his own band, Breathing Space, as well as contributing to projects by other artists and even becoming a Music Technology teacher at Huntington School, a local comprehensive school. He recruited then-Mostly Autumn backing vocalist Olivia Sparnenn to sing lead vocals and the pair, along with various other musicians recorded three different albums. Despite his return to the Mostly Autumn fold in 2008, Iain remained a member and core songwriter in Breathing Space. In April 2010, Sparnenn took over lead vocals in Mostly Autumn so decided to stop working with Breathing Space. Breathing Space continued for a short while with Heidi Widdop over on vocals before eventually splitting up.
During 2005 Heather Findlay and Angela Gordon formed an acoustic side project called Odin Dragonfly, making live appearances both as a support act and as headliners. In August 2007 they released their first album, Offerings.
Both Anne-Marie Helder and Gavin Griffiths are members of Panic Room, and were previously members of Karnataka.
Updates are courtesy of the MA Wiki Page.
Bryan Josh – vocals, guitars, keyboards (1995–present)
Iain Jennings – keyboards, backing vocals (1995–2006, 2007–present)
Angela Gordon – flutes, keyboards, recorders, whistles, percussion, backing vocals (1999–2007, 2015–present)
Andy Smith – bass (2000–present)
Olivia Sparnenn – vocals, percussion (2004–present)
Chris Johnson – rhythm & acoustic guitars, keyboards, vocals (2006–2007, 2014–present)
Alex Cromarty – drums (2014–present; touring – 2013–2014)
Discography
Studio albums
For All We Shared... (1998)
The Spirit of Autumn Past (1999)
The Last Bright Light (2001)
Music Inspired by The Lord of the Rings (2001)
Passengers (2003)
Storms Over Still Water (2005)
Heart Full of Sky (2006)
Glass Shadows (2008)
Go Well Diamond Heart (2010)
The Ghost Moon Orchestra (2012)
Dressed in Voices (2014)
Sight of Day (2017)
Live albums
The Story So Far... (CD and VHS 2001)
Live in the USA (CD 2003)
The Fiddler's Shindig (CD 2003, DVD 2005)
Live at the Canterbury Fayre (CD 2003)
Live at the Grand Opera House (CD & DVD 2003)
The Next Chapter (DVD 2003)
The V Shows (DVD 2004, CD 2005)
Pink Floyd Revisited (DVD 2004)
Storms over London Town (CD 2006)
Live 2009 (CD 2009)
That Night in Leamington (CD & DVD 2010)
Live at High Voltage (CD 2011)
Still Beautiful Live 2011 (CD 2011)
Live at the Boerderij (CD & DVD 2012)
Box of tears (CD 2015)
Acoustic in support of the Genesis revisited tour 2014 (CD 2015)
Anthologies
Heroes Never Die – The Anthology (2002, deleted)
Catch the Spirit – The Complete Anthology (2002)
Pass the Clock (2009)
EPs and singles
Goodbye Alone (2001)
Prints in the Stone (2001)
Spirits of Christmas Past (2005)
A Different Sky (2008)
