Liam James Preece is an English musician, singer, songwriter and lyricist, best known as the founder and frontman of Manchester-based indie rock band the Courteeners, which was formed in 2006. Fray hails from Middleton, Greater Manchester and he references his hometown in multiple songs.
Background
Liam James Preece was born on 15 May 1985 in Middleton, Greater Manchester into a family of teachers, Fray went to school with the three other members of the Courteeners whom he has known since he was 10. He has an older sister, Laura. Other Manchester bands such as the Smiths and Oasis inspired Fray to write and form the band. "Noel's the reason why I picked up the guitar when I was 11-years-old – trying to learn 'Wonderwall'," admitted Fray. First he studied economics, then creative writing at the University of Salford. He ended up leaving in his second year, when the band started to take off. In 2015, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts at a graduation ceremony for the University.
Career
Fray wrote future Courteeners' songs "Not Nineteen Forever" and "Cavorting" during his time at university while working in Manchester's Fred Perry clothes shop and frequently performed at open mic nights as an acoustic singer-songwriter. "I've been gigging since 2005 – I did a year on my own – and in the summer of '06 we got together and started gigging properly around Christmas." All the music and lyrics for the Courteeners' songs are written by Fray; he claims they are wholly autobiographical. Ex-the Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr once called Fray "an underrated lyricist". With the Courteeners, he has released six studio albums. All of them went Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart; St. Jude and Falcon achieved Gold status. The band have achieved their highest chart position so far with their sixth album More. Again. Forever. peaking at No. 2. On 27 May 2017, the band played their biggest headline gig to 50,000 people at Manchester's Emirates Old Trafford. Aside from the band, Fray also performs acoustic solo shows, playing band's songs. Alone in 2013 he completed two sold-out UK tours. He performed a special solo set at Neighbourhood Festival, the Albert Hall, Manchester on 8 October 2016. Fray then went on to complete a sold out acoustic tour in November/December 2017 alongside Adam Payne, including three sets at the Manchester Albert Hall in the space of 2 days. Fray also painted the cover artwork for the Courteeners' debut album St. Jude, which features Audrey Hepburn. He has appeared twice on the cover of NME magazine, one as an individual and the other with The Courteeners. His favourite artists are the Beatles, the Smiths, Oasis, Stephen Fretwell, Elbow, the National, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Fray uses a cherry Epiphone Riviera electric guitar with a frequensator tailpiece, G6136DC Gretsch White FalconDouble Cutaway electric guitar, and Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar, amongst others.
