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Glyn Bailey has had a varied career, erstwhile egg-delivery man, former MP's assistant, one-time soft-furnishings salesman, an unlikely civil servant...and songwriter. Raw material for the music is drawn from the eclectic soup of a varied life experience. His songs are peppered with all kinds of references... internet cannibalism, a communist feast, Laurel & Hardy in heaven, perverted clowns, disgraced footballers, deceased rock stars, and even the odd love song thrown in to the mix. Asked to name key influences, the answer is customarily a vague "Everything I hear". There undeniable musical elements of Beatles, Jacques Brel, Neil Hannon, Robyn Hitchcock and Nick Cave, with a vocal style most frequently drawing comparisons with David Bowie. This is a mix which places him squarely within the story-telling tradition of the musical mavericks. It was back in 2005, following years of playing various supporting roles in bands from his Lancashire base, that he finally moved centre stage with the launch of debut solo album Toys From Balsa. This generated encouraging interest, a notable success with The Plastic Bag Song featuring on a CBC documentary.  The 2007 follow up Songs From The Old Illawalla was described by one reviewer as "maybe one of Lancashire's weirdest concept albums yet". It featured diverse themes such as a spaghetti-western inspired swipe at big corporations, a school reunion, climate change, getting under the skin of a torturer, and "the best football song I've ever heard" according to former England star Andy Ritchie.
Moonwalkers, with its poignant homage to brave men who travelled to another world in a foil-covered tin-can, was released as a single in July 2009 to mark the fortieth anniversary of the very first moon landing and remains a live set favourite. The Illawalla album concluded with Deano, an 8 minute narrative based on the true story of American singer and cold-war defector Dean Reed, receiving the endorsement of being featured on the singer's official website www.deanreed.de. Whilst those two releases were mostly solo affairs, the years from 2008-9 were spent assembling and road testing a permanent band The Many Splendid Things, with Bailey providing material tailored accordingly. The resulting album THE DISTURBANCE (2010) is performed entirely by a lineup comprising of seasoned musicians, described as "flanking Bailey like a personal squad of nightclub bouncers".  The ten songs narrate one strange tale after another, varying the viewpoint between protagonist, victim or observer, prying into life's complexities and contradictions. The eastern flavoured rock beast Old Illawalla, the sweet idyll of Beautiful Corpse, the hazards of parental misguidance (Fuktup), the send-up of a TV chronicler (Louis), unsettling menace (Traffic Light Man/BBC Bunker), love, greed and betrayal (Cherry Tree), any remaining barrier between the writer's darkest emotions and the listener being stripped away at the climax (Waiting Game).
Some seek obscurity, others have it thrust upon them. Glyn Bailey accepts that he might never be a competitor in what remains of the music market of today, but then he stopped caring about that sort of thing years ago. He just does what he does, in his own little world, trying to make sense of the bigger one, convinced that there are independent artists doing some very interesting things, to great effect. 
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