Door One

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David was also a fiercely proud father to his two daughters, Amelia and Eloise. He loved watching them experience life and grow up into the wonderful young women they are today. He would always proclaim “I am a feminist! Of course I am! I am the father of two girls and I want them to have the best of everything life has to offer.”

At the time of his death, the album was 90% finished. However, David’s partner Sarah and all the key protagonists involved in its creation agreed that David would want the world to hear the album.

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The album closer, “Love Is All” feels like an emerging from the pain of Letting Go, and finding your place of calm. It’s a good thing to know that this album was 95% complete at the time of David’s passing and so what we are hearing is pretty much his complete vision for this set of songs. Given that we know that David found much happiness in his relationship in the later years of his life, I can think of no more fitting ending than: “Love is the only thing that matters – love is all” Following this album Mr. So & So disbanded and Dave subsequently formed Sleeping Giant in 2001 with Charlotte Evans (vocals), Leon Parr (drums), Simon Crumley (bass) and James Rimmer (keyboards). Sleeping Giant released two EPs (Primates and Embers) before disbanding in 2006. Making Dyble Longdon’s acclaimed 2020 record Between A Breath And A Breath had been a step away from Big Big Train, the band that made his name. Longdon had full control, and he liked it. He contended it was “the best thing I’ve done as a piece of music so far. I finally got to show what I’m capable of doing.” Rikard started playing accordion at the age of 6, and guitar at 10. When he was 17 he bought a Hammond organ and formed the duo Bootcut with Petter Diamant. Bootcut released two CDs on their own called Hammond vs Drums (2002) and De Fluff (2005). A digital only release called Suspended Animation saw the light of day almost ten years later and a fourth album has been recorded.

About romance, we often use the phrase “falling in love/to fall in love”. But as I always told him, I never fell in love with David. I rose up in love. Because he made me stand tall, feel confident, know that I was loved without condition or agenda – for just being me. He made me rise not fall – and I never hesitated for a moment to love him. David made everything better. David Longdon, Big Big Train’s lead vocalist since 2009, died on 20 th November 2021 in hospital in Nottingham in the UK following an accident at home. His funeral was held on 6th January 2022 in the Amber Valley in Derbyshire in the UK and was attended by David’s partner Sarah Ewing, very close friends and family. He started music college in 1997, initially in Liverpool for one year before moving onto the Leigh College of Music where he met the musicians who would then become Mr. So & So - Shaun McGowan (bass & vocals), Leon Parr (drums), Kieren Twist (keyboards) and Charlotte Evans (vocals).In 2019 Maria arranged several songs for an experimental trio line-up playing prog and jazz fusion across venues in Italy, as well as in a conservatory orchestra and big bands. In the same year Robert Fripp mentioned Maria during a press event marking the 50th anniversary of King Crimson and she has been mentioned in interviews by other major artists including Steven Wilson, which raised her profile further. And perhaps here it’s hardest to separate Door One– with all its heart, soul, love, vitriol, humour and wisdom – from its sad, posthumous circumstances. With that husky, timeless tone of his, David Longdon appeals to us to heed the words: ‘ Love is the only thing that matters, Love is all, love is all.’ This album is different because of his passing but it is still a good listen, even if it is painful, for what has gone and for what could have been in his future. Thankfully, Big Big Train have chosen to continue, albeit in a different configuration and one that pays tribute to their deeply missed colleague. Oskar has featured in a number of bands and productions during his relatively short career in music. His work has ranged from playing experimental prog in near empty clubs or traditional folk music to drowsy school children, to performing on prime time TV shows with some of Norway’s biggest pop artists.

Wild River’ represented a transitional period for David, both artistically and emotionally. His father, Eric, had passed away in 1994, he had been through a divorce, and he’d auditioned to be the lead singer of Genesis following the departure of Phil Collins. However, after a protracted audition-cum-rehearsal process, he was immensely disappointed to lose out on the role. Which, with hindsight, was a blessing in disguise. The album’s stunning artwork is by Sarah Louise Ewing with graphic design by Steve Vantsis. Sarah’s cover portrait of David is from a photograph by Sophocles Alexiou. After a year of considering leaving music altogether, Dave slowly began to fall in love with the guitar all over again and in 2008 was invited to join Steve Rothery in his live band for The Wishing Tree - Rothery’s project with Hannah Stobart. Shortly afterwards Dave started to write music again and in 2010 he released his debut album Gravity featuring Dutch vocalist Dinet Poortman.

The late Big Big Train singer and multi-instrumentalist David Longdon's posthumous solo album stands as a beautifully crafted, bittersweet reminder of one of modern prog’s great talents

a b c d e f g h i "Introducing David Longdon". Big Big Train. 19 February 2009 . Retrieved 20 November 2021. With his father, Per Øystein Sørensen of Fra Lippo Lippi, Oskar has performed a televised show and recorded a live album with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, as well as playing several arena gigs in the Philippines, the earliest of which at the age of 19. Oskar is also a voice actor and piano teacher. Aged 17, Alberto began studying opera singing at the Trieste Conservatory and after a couple of years he moved to London where he graduated in modern singing. Alongside his singing and piano playing, Alberto is also a self-taught guitarist, bassist and drummer. In 2013 after writing with Steve Rothery for a few months, the Steve Rothery Band was formed along with Leon Parr (drums), Yatim Halimi (bass) and Riccardo Romano (keyboards) with Martin Jakubski (vocals) added for the live shows. In 2014 Rothery released his first solo album The Ghosts Of Pripyat, which Dave co-wrote. Breaden, Craig (23 November 2012). "David Longdon's Wild River". Progarchy . Retrieved 21 November 2021.