Howie Payne is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, formerly of The Stands. Following The Stands' split, Payne embarked on a solo career under the name Howard Eliott Payne and released his debut album Bright Light Ballads in 2009.
Early career
Payne was born in Liverpool and spent some of his teenage years in New York City before returning home with his family and forming The Magic Clock in 1992 before fronting later bands The Windmills, Telefone and Blueseed. Blueseed released their debut single "The Only Ones" in 1997 and an EP Special Care and Spare Change in 1998 on Ultimate Records. In 1999 Payne then joined Edgar Jones's band The Big Kids on lead guitar with his brother Sean Payne on drums and Russell Pritchard on bass, who both went on to play in The Zutons.
The Stands
In 2002 Payne formed The Stands with various local musicians before settling on the lineup of Luke Thomson, Steve Pilgrim and Dean Ravera. The band signed to The Echo Label in 2003. The band released two albums, All Years Leaving in 2004 and Horse Fabulous in 2005 and had a succession of 5 top 40 UK singles. Following the recording of Horse Fabulous first Pilgrim and later Thomson were replaced by new members. Payne announced the end of The Stands in November 2005.
Solo career
Following The Stands Payne teamed up with producer Ethan Johns to record his debut solo albumBright Light Ballads under his full name Howard Eliott Payne. Bright Light Ballads was recorded and mixed in seven days using a vintage 8 track tape machine. Other musicians on the record included singer Candie Payne and former The Stands bassist Dean Ravera among others. The album was released digitally through Payne’s own label "Move City Records" on 14 April 2009, and entered the iTunes Singer Songwriter Album Charts at No. 1 and the iTunes Albums Chart at No. 13. The album was then given a physical CD release in the UK on 5 May 2009. On 21 September 2009 Move City Records released digital LP Live at the Luminaire a live album of Payne's sold-out solo performance at The Luminaire club, London, 28 May 2009. Live at the Luminaire featured material from Payne's debut solo album as well as songs from The Stands' album All Years Leaving. The album entered the iTunes UK Singer Songwriter Charts at No. 10. Five songs written by Payne were recorded by Ren Harvieu for her debut album Through the Night which was released and entered the UK album chart at number 5 in May 2012. Payne also co-wrote the single "In The Open" by Benjamin Francis Leftwich, released November 2012. In 2013, Payne played a handful of low key solo acoustic shows premiering new material. In 2014, Payne began co-managing Neon Waltz, a band from Caithness with former Oasis manager Marcus Russell. and produced several tracks on their debut album Strange Hymns. In September 2016 Payne toured the UK for the first time in several years before releasing a vinyl edition of his solo LP Bright Light Ballads via Pledge Music. In November 2016 Payne released a free digital download of new home recordings titled High Times, Home Recordings. In March 2017 Payne announced both the release of a 3 disc vinyl collection of recordings by The Stands to be titled The Stands Recordings 2003-2005, and a UK tour to take place in October. In October 2017, Payne released his second solo album, 'Mountain' with singles 'The Brightest Star' and 'Hold Steady The Wire'.
