Biography
Samuel Smiles (frequently known as Tim Bowness/Samuel Smiles, the name to which all of their albums were attributed) were an intermittently active English ambient-folk band. Their best known line-up featured singer Tim Bowness (of the band No-Man).
Tim Bowness (born 29 November 1963, Stockton Heath, Cheshire, England) is a singer/songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.
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Named after the Scottish writer, social reformer and self-help advocate, the band was originally formed in Cambridge in 1990 by textural guitarist Michael Bearpark and acoustic guitarist (and future child psychologist) Charles Fernyhough, along with singer Grainne McAlonan and double-bass player Phil Unwin. They were later joined by pianist Peter Chilvers.
The band subsequently underwent a number of changes in direction (including folk and country) and parted company with McAlonan, Unwin and Fernyhough. Remaining band members Bearpark and Chilvers then joined up with Tim Bowness (initially under the new name of Strapless) in June 1991. The band rapport was so instant that they performed their first live date on the day of their first rehearsal, and went into Amazon Studios (now Parr Street Studios) in Liverpool to record a live album barely three weeks later. These early sessions were eventually released on the Burning Shed label as Live Archive One.
The band continued sporadically to record and perform over the next decade, playing a BBC radio session in 1992 and performing occasional support slots to musicians such as Holly Penfield in 1995. In 1997, Bearpark, Bowness and Chilvers teamed up with cello player Marianne De Chastelaine (cello, ex-Heather Nova/The Wise Wound) for several recordings and concerts.
A subsequent version of the band - with De Chastelaine replaced by Myke Clifford (saxophone, flute and percussion) - recorded the 1999 studio album World of Bright Futures. The album also featured guest appearances by Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson and Colin Edwin plus Warringtonian guitarist Tony Harn). A live album, The Way We Used To Live, followed the next year (and was later reissued in an expanded version on Burning Shed as Live Archive Two).
Prone to regular internal tensions, the band ground to a halt in the early 2000s, although all of the members retained their personal and professional friendships.
Some of Samuel Smiles' style and songs were carried on into the duo project Tim Bowness/Peter Chilvers. Both Bearpark and Chilvers continued to collaborate with Tim Bowness outside of Samuel Smiles, in projects such as Darkroom, Henry Fool and the Tim Bowness live band of the mid-2000s (as well as performing guest spots with No-Man).
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.