ROB DICKINSON

Many will recall Britain’s Catherine Wheel as one of the most range-roaming, seminal and viscerally intense alternative rock bands of the 1990’s. “Eat my dust, you insensitive fuck,” purred silky vocalist Rob Dickinson on the band’s 1994 release, “Happy Days”.

In Dickinson, the band possessed a songwriter and lyricist of rare talent. His scalpel-sharp statements emanate from epics such as Catherine Wheel’s breakthrough, feedback-soaked "Black Metallic": "…it's "Like a Hurricane" for the ‘90’s," drooled the NME. This song in particular heralded Dickinson’s ability to skillfully knit together beauty, wit – and power! - in the music. Through constant evolution and a steadfast refusal to repeat itself, Catherine Wheel grew into a swaggeringly assured, devastatingly effective, scene-setter of a band, often cited as incredibly influential by many of today’s indie chart toppers.

Criminally overlooked, (Rolling Stone famously sub-editing its review of the band's 1997 masterwork “Adam and Eve” down from 4-1/2 stars to 3-1/2), never was a band so influential and yet so invisible. Catherine Wheel quietly unleashed six brilliant albums, each an artistic development of the last, and all reflecting a musical force that could crush any band that dared share a stage - ask Radiohead, INXS or The Smashing Pumpkins about that.

Whatever merit his past with the band may confer on him, Dickinson's inevitable stardom would now appear to be as a solo artist with the breathtaking collection of music on his debut album, “Fresh Wine For The Horses”. Handpicked to be released on Universal Canada by legendary producer Bob Ezrin of Pink Floyd, Kiss and Lou Reed fame, “Fresh Wine For The Horses” bristles with romance but still keeps its manly charm. From a conversation with Venus on "My Name Is Love" to the whimsical heartbreak of "Oceans" ("As far as I can tell, you already bare the scars of love") to the emotional highs of "Towering and Flowering", as Dickinson says, “This record is about recognizing and accepting the sometimes ugly truth. It's about love, devotion and enlightenment.”

At the personal request of the CEO of his record label, Rob added a bonus disc to “Fresh Wine For The Horses” and revisited six Catherine Wheel classics, putting an acoustic twist on these old favorites. These unembellished melodies transcend time, resonating and eliciting powerful emotion years after first being fervently embraced by the masses.

As the stripped-down renditions of the Catherine Wheel songs have been so favorably received, Rob currently has his plaintive version of the Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” available for download on his own Carrera Records while he continues to write and record his next album.