Following on from our interview with Stuart’s manager, Charlotte Elizabeth, we thought this would be a good time to put him in the spotlight and tell you everything you need to know about one of the best male vocalists in country music!
Likened to Chris Stapleton, Stuart has a legion of loyal fans that he has built up through his many years in the music industry and the momentum is still building.
Angels With Dirty Faces burst onto the scene back in 2016 when Stuart formed the exciting group. They quickly built momentum and played festivals including FSA Fest, Middle of Nowhere and headlined the UK Country Radio Awards where they were nominated for UK Country Group of the Year.
Their debut single, ‘Shatter Like Glass’ debuted at number 4 on the country charts behind tough competition from The Shires and the 50th Anniversary song ‘Forever Country’
The song was awarded semi finalist position in the UK Songwriting Competition, was the most heard song at the top of the charts on UK Country Radio and now has recently been re-released as an acoustic version on Stuart’s EP ‘Outmanned, Never Outgunned’.
His debut solo single ‘I Can’t Take It Anymore’ went straight to number 1 on the iTunes and Amazon country music charts.
Stuart was nominated as ‘One to Watch’ for 2019 by UK Country Music and you can see why.
This year has already got off to a flying start.
We caught up with Stuart to get a little insight from him about his band, his future plans and how having management has helped his career.
Q: Stuart, your success as a solo artist and indeed as a band, Angels With Dirty Faces, has been great to watch. What makes you so successful?
I’m not really sure how you judge success. Success to me is to constantly strive to be better. Never think you are successful because if you think you have ‘made it’ then you might take your foot off the gas.
I think it’s important to just keep working hard and improving all the time. You can never stop learning.
Q: How did you choose your band members?
I have been playing music together with Neil, my bass player for a long, long time and we both decided to put the Angels together.
I’ve worked with Chris, our keyboard player on lots of different projects in the past and he is one of the best I know. He then got Jack our guitarist on board.
Danny, our drummer, is another guy we have worked with on lots of occasions in the past so it was really easy to put together and it just feels right musically.
Q: What has been your biggest achievement to date?
I think getting a number 1 single in the iTunes country charts is the pinnacle at the minute but also having other chatty success with our EP and other singles.
The EP, Outmanned, Never Outgunned has spent over 3 months in the iTunes All-Time Best Selling country charts which kind of blows me away!
Q: We interviewed your manager recently. Why did you choose Charlotte as your manager?
Well I think it was a partnership that was meant to be.
I met Charlotte at a gig and we said hello and then I got involved with her songwriting EP ‘Survive’ which gave birth to the song Shatter Like Glass which, after a couple of years, is still getting airplay all over the world so it wasn’t a bad start!
She put together the promotional radio tour herself and it impressed me how organised and hard working she was.
After that, she asked if we had a manager, I said no and then we did – Charlotte! There was no meeting as such, it just felt right. I think in this industry it’s important to trust your instinct from time to time, and on this occasion it was right.
Since then we have gone from strength to strength. She’s amazing, she works so hard and is as brave as they come, I trust her 150%.
Q: Do you think a manager is necessary to gaining success in the music industry?
I think every artist is different but what is important is that if you have a manager that you have the right one. Your manager has to have your best interests at heart and you have to trust them. There are a lot of assholes in this industry who will take advantage.
In the same respect, there are some artists who will have a manager but they won’t work hard enough to make the managers job work.
It’s a two way street. You both have to be prepared to work together and as hard as each other in your respective roles. It’s ok to disagree, that happens but what is important is that you both have the same goals and are both prepared to sacrifice to get it.
Some artists will be successful without a manager but not many because there is so much work to do to be successful. A manager will do the work in the background that allows you to be the creative force for your music.
Q: Can we expect any new music soon?
Yeah we are working on a new album for release in the summer and we will put out a couple of extra singles before that to keep up momentum.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
Just to keep working hard and see where this journey takes us. I have no real expectations of what can or can’t be achieved. Music is life to us and you have enjoy the ups and downs because it’s all experience gained in making us better at what we do.
For more on Stuart Landon & The Angels With Dirty Faces visit:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stuartlandonandtheangelswithdirtyfaces
Website: www.stuartlandon.co.uk
We hope you enjoyed this spotlight!
Next week, we are featuring reviews from the upcoming album releases of Sara Evans and LOCASH!
Love, Terri x
Lost In Music 