About this Event

Future Perfect & Truck Store presents

Rhys Lewis

The Cellar - Oxford

Thursday 9th February

16+ / 7pm / £6adv



We're back with our third instalment of our new monthly series of shows. Running in partnership with Truck Store, we aim to showcase the best talent Oxford has to offer.



With a deal with Decca Records in the bag, we reckon Rhys Lewis has a huge future ahead of him. Don't miss this opportunity to catch him in an intimate setting before he's playing much bigger venues.



On sale now: http://bit.ly/RhysLewisTheCellar



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"Al Green, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, James Taylor... When I need to be inspired, I listen to those guys. They're real, they're authentic and I hope that with a modern twist, that's what my songs feel like."



After 12 months of writing music for his debut record, Rhys Lewis reveals his new single 'Waking Up Without You,' a soulful track with a driving chorus that speaks of lost love and regrets.



Premiered on online tastemakers, Crack in the Road, 'Waking Up Without You' quickly garnered a whirlwind of online excitement, shooting it to the #1 spot on Spotify's Viral Chart and racking up over 170,000 streams in two weeks. Rhys also performed at a headline show that sold-out within 48 hours at Servant Jazz Quarters in London on 22nd November.



23 years old from Oxford, Rhys' past year has been spent between studios in London, Nashville, Stockholm, LA and Berlin; a formative year that has allowed him to develop a maturity to his songwriting. Binding together rich soul with a lyrical immediacy straight from the heart of Bill Withers, James Taylor and Carole King, Rhys has an uncanny ability to capture the moment of love's ending: the loaded silences, the tensions, the irony of still wanting someone when you no longer have the right.



'Waking Up Without You' has been recorded with Boe Weaver, a production duo based at 'Studio Humbug' on the Isle of Wight. Jim of Boe Weaver explains the thought process behind the recording of 'Waking Up Without You', "the approach came from a discussion we had with Rhys during pre-production. We talked about the lost art of keeping things simple and how capturing a song with minimal elements would make us really consider every part we played.".



Rhys Lewis has worked with a number of producers on the hunt for something special. On Boe Weaver, he says, "I feel like I've lucked out. They are incredible producers and they produce a wonderful organic sound... They are largely unknown, which is pretty mad. They ooze soul. We just clicked... I feel very lucky to have met them."



Debut single 'Waking Up Without You' is available to now on Decca Records. Rhys' full length album is expected to arrive summer 2017.