INTERVIEW: Annie Haslam, the original Renaissance woman
Photo: Renaissance will perform throughout the Northeast in October. Photo courtesy of Richard Barnes / Provided by Glass Onyon PR with permission.
As the music of symphonic rock band Renaissance continues to delight dedicated fans and win over new converts, the members of the group never cease to take risks and build a bigger sound. Renaissance is known for its multi-minute compositions of progressive rock. They have numerous hits, including “Northern Lights,” “Mother Russia” and “Ashes Are Burning,” and lead singer Annie Haslam is the torchbearer who still loves to bring the sweeping melodies and five-octave voice to audiences around the world.
“It’s quite amazing actually,” Haslam said in a recent phone interview. “I never even thought what I would be doing when I was older at all. It never came into my mind. Nothing stops me, not even age.”
Renaissance, today featuring a different lineup compared to when it first formed in 1969, keeps busy with a touring schedule that takes them far and wide. In recent years, they have also added live orchestras to their gigs, which makes for an even grander sound.
“It’s down to myself to choose the songs really, and the thing is there are so many great songs,” Haslam said about the setlist for the tour, which honors the band’s 50th anniversary. “Of course, the classics are long, so you can’t play for three hours. You have to be selective, and then you have to play what people expect and try not to hurt people’s feelings. There’s so many great songs from the past.”
In the string of upcoming dates, five gigs will feature an accompanying orchestra (Albany, New York; Ridgefield, Connecticut; Red Bank; Glenside; and New York City), and these concerts are particularly exciting for Haslam and the group. Joining her in this musical adventure will be Rave Tesar on keyboards; Mark Lambert on guitars and vocals; Frank Pagano on drums, percussion and vocals; Leo Traversa on bass and vocals; and Geoffrey Langley on keyboards and vocals.
“We’ve got five shows with the orchestra this time, and Rave Tesar, who is the keyboard player, he’s been with me for many years actually since my solo band, and he’s just orchestrated ‘After the Burning,’ which is one of our big classic songs,” she said. “So that’s going to be absolutely phenomenal. I’m really excited about that, but it’s not easy. Even when [longtime member] Michael Dunford was alive, we used to say, ‘God, what do we do this time?’ There are so many great songs to choose from, but also a lot of them are long. That leaves me standing in the background for a long time because a lot of it is instrumental, but that’s fine. We still have to have some type of balance.”
A special treat for at least one select audience will be the inclusion of Jim McCarty, known for his time drumming in the Yardbirds. Why this reunion is extra special is because McCarty actually founded Renaissance in 1969 with fellow Yardbird Keith Relf. Haslam came along in 1970-1971, and she remembers her first meeting quite well.
“It was New Year’s Eve actually 1970, and he was there, Jim was there, and Keith was there,” she remembers. “What I did is I learned the first Renaissance album, which is fabulous. … I learned it back to front so that I would be sure of knowing something that they were going to ask me to sing. They asked me to sing the song called ‘Island,’ which was my favorite anyway, and that got me the job.”
Haslam, who is originally from England, has been a steady presence with Renaissance ever since, although there were years when she was more focused on her solo efforts and visual art. At each stage of her career, it appears there have been new challenges, and she keeps setting the bar even higher when tackling her latest creative endeavor.
Take, for example, the group’s decision to tour with an orchestra. That’s no easy feat.
“So when we decided to work with an orchestra again, which was two years ago, [it] happened to be the 40th anniversary of when we last played at the Royal Albert Hall with the New York Philharmonic,” Haslam said. “It was quite a task to get it together, but we did. We made our own orchestra up of all the really great musicians in the New York and New Jersey area. They all work in big orchestras as well.”
That first concert with the orchestra took place in Ridgefield in 2017, and Haslam, ever the professional, was actually quite nervous. She could feel the excitement coming from the crowd — this was something new, something old, something big.
Upping the ante, now Haslam and company are flying in McCarty for the special night in Glenside at the Keswick Theatre.
“We’re recording that for a Blu-ray/DVD, [and] he’s playing guitar on ‘Island’ and ‘Ashes Are Burning,'” she said. “So that’s going to be quite exciting to see him be part of it. It’s like coming full circle, right from the very core of Renaissance, the beginning, the catalyst, which was the Yardbirds originally.”
Other songs on this October tour will include “Ocean Gypsy,” “Midas Man,” “Mother Russia,” “Symphony of Light” and “Running Hard.”
“So we’re really excited about the songs that we’re doing,” Haslam said. “I think the set is going to please a lot of people. I wish we could do more.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Renaissance will tour in the month of October throughout the Northeast. Click here for more information and tickets.
FYI, the correct song title is “Midas Man,” not “Midas Men.”