Steve Hackett is renowned as an immensely talented and innovative rock musician. He was lead guitarist with Genesis as part of their classic line up with Gabriel, Collins, Banks and Rutherford, that produced acclaimed albums such as Selling England by the Pound (a favourite of John Lennon). With Steve’s extraordinary versatility in both his electric guitar playing and his composing, he involves influences from many genres, including Jazz, World Music and Blues. He is equally adept in his classical albums that include renditions of pieces by composers from Bach to Satie, his own acoustic guitar compositions that have gained the admiration of many, including Yehudi Menuhin, and ambitious guitar/ orchestra albums such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic.

With Genesis, Steve’s guitar playing produced some of the most memorable moments, from the sensitivity of his acoustic sound on Horizons and Blood on the Rooftops to the dramatic rock guitar solos of Firth of Fifth and Fountain of Salmacis. As he embarked on his solo career he developed his exceptional range, pushing musical boundaries into exciting areas, inventing new sounds and also techniques such as ‘tapping’. His solo career went from strength to strength and the mid eighties not only saw the hit single Cell 151, but also the Steve Hackett and Steve Howe super group GTR, highly successful in America.

After GTR Steve worked further with many renowned musicians such as Paul Carrick, Bonny Tyler, John Wetton and Brian May, who has credited Steve as an early influence. Steve went on to produce his hit album Genesis Revisited. He went even further back to his roots with Blues with a Feeling, whilst continuing to challenge his own ‘horizons’ with an amazingly eclectic mix of sounds, genres and a sense of the exotic that excites his many followers to this day.

Recent albums have possessed a high level of sophistication, along with an ever-present powerful dynamic, from the dramatic and atmospheric darkness of Darktown and Wild Orchids to the colourful voyage through time and space of To Watch the Storms. Steve’s live electric gigs take his fans on an extraordinary journey that embodies all areas, from his Genesis days right through to the present, all woven together with his exceptionally unique and distinctive rock guitar sound. Audiences in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the Canary Islands were recently enthralled with his new electric band now poised to tour much of Europe and the UK, and he is working on an exciting-forthcoming rock album, Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth.

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Renaissance's current resurgence coincides with the 40th anniversary of the classic English band's formation. 2009 saw singer Annie Haslam, whose five-octave voice is one of the most distinctive in rock history, reconnecting with longtime bandmate Michael Dunford, Renaissance's guitarist and principal composer. Haslam's soaring vocals and Dunford's evocative acoustic guitar work were cornerstones of the group's sound during its most prolific era, 1972-1978. During that period, Renaissance's pioneering fusion of rock, folk and classical elements attracted a devoted worldwide fan base that continues to support the band to this day. Renaissance's lush, orchestral approach, incorporating symphonic textures, poetic lyrics and a free-spirited sense of experimentalism, has always been particularly popular in America, where the band's classic '70s albums Prologue, Ashes Are Burning, Turn of the Cards, Scheherazade and Other Stories, Novella, A Song for All Seasons and Azure d'Or, as well as "Live" at Carnegie Hall became staples of progressive album-rock radio. So it's appropriate that the group launched its return to active duty with a series of intimate concerts in Fall 2009 for its loyal American fans.

Renaissance's new lineup finds Haslam and Dunford joined by four world-class instrumentalists whose talents provide new creative blood, while maintaining the band's traditional standards of sterling musicianship. Keyboardist Rave Tesar and bassist/vocalist David J. Keyes are veterans of prior editions of Renaissance as well as several Haslam solo projects, while keyboardist/vocalist Tom Brislin's resume includes work with Yes, Debbie Harry, Meat Loaf and Francis Dunnery, and drummer Frank Pagano has collaborated with artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow and Smashing Pumpkins.

Renaissance was originally formed in 1969 by former Yardbirds Keith Relf and Jim McCarty. By 1971, though, a series of personnel shifts had resulted in a completely new lineup, and it's that incarnation of Renaissance that would continue successfully through the end of the decade. The visionary approach of their albums soon captivated American listeners, and the band experienced considerable success as a touring act, thrilling concertgoers on such prestigious stages as New York's Carnegie Hall and London's Royal Albert Hall.

In the 1980s, Haslam and Dunford took Renaissance into new sonic territory, exploring a more electronic sound on the albums Camera Camera and Time Line as well as performing with an all-acoustic version of the band. Following an extended hiatus (during which they worked on individual musical projects, and Haslam pursued her passion for painting), Haslam and Dunford reactivated Renaissance for the 2001 studio effort Tuscany and the in-concert release In the Land of the Rising Sun: Live In Japan.

Now, Renaissance begins an exciting new chapter, while honoring its beloved body of vintage work. Haslam and Dunford promise that the new six-piece lineup will perform the band's timeless classics with the same care with which the material was originally crafted, while
utilizing technological advances to reproduce the music's original symphonic textures like never before. They're also enthusiastic about introducing the music to a new generation of listeners as well as longtime fans.

"I'm thrilled to be performing these songs again, and to be performing them with Michael Dunford and a great group of musicians," Haslam states. "These songs are a big part of my life, so I'll be singing my heart out."

"We're very excited to be playing for American audiences again," adds Dunford. "With these great musicians, I'm expecting the songs to sound better than ever, and I'm looking forward to it with great anticipation."
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