Winter Mountain

Winter Mountain is the stage name of singer-songwriter Joseph 'Joe' Francis (Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Piano, Harmonica), based in Cornwall, UK. The brand of music is predominantly Indie Folk / Rock. He is becoming known for his songwriting abilities, high energy live performances and soulful voice.

Initially a duo, Winter Mountain, (Francis and Irish songwriter Marty Smyth) toured the UK and Ireland extensively, becoming recognised for their close vocal harmonies (Similar in style to that of Simon and Garfunkel) and distinctive songwriting. They attracted the attention of many major record companies before signing to indie label 'Charcoal Records' in 2011. In 2015, after releasing one album together, Smyth left Winter Mountain and Francis opted to keep the name for his solo work.

In summer of 2016 Francis performed one of his first solo shows as Winter Mountain, opening for Seal. Later that same week, a solo Winter Mountain opened for The Feeling and the lead singer of Elbow, Guy Garvey.

Winter Mountain released the self-produced 'I Swear I Flew' on his 'Astral Fox Records' label in November 2016. A song from the record, 'The Lucky Ones', received radio play across the UK and Europe from multiple stations including BBC Radio 2. Extensive grass roots touring followed the release, including a 2 week Spring Full Band Tour of the UK, Winter Mountains first with a backing group ^[1]. Solo support sets for folk star and occasional Winter Mountain collaborator Seth Lakeman on his March '17 UK tour included performances at The Minack Theatre, Cornwall, The Hexagon, Reading and The Stables, Milton Keynes.

In June 2017 Joe toured as support for Ben Ottewell, lead singer of British indie group Gomez on the Irish / UK leg of Ottewell's 'A Man Apart' world tour.

History

Hugely passionate about music from a very young age, Francis got his first taste of songwriting and performing in local bars with school friends before going professional in his late teens. The signing of his first band to a London based Indie label led to Francis recording his debut album of original music at Abbey Road Studios, London. In 2008 Joe travelled to Memphis where he demoed some new material at Sun Studios, Memphis.

Discography

• Winter Mountain^[3][4]

• "I Swear I Flew" ^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

References

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