ABC/Randy Holmes
On Thursday, David Gilmour, his wife Polly Samson and some of their family members participated in the fifth in a series of streaming events promoting Samson’s new novel, A Theatre for Dreamers.
All five webcasts have featured the Pink Floyd guitarist and his family gathered at their U.K. home on a set staged to resemble an outdoor café on the Greek island of Hydra (pr: EE-drah), where Samson’s book takes place. During most of the events, including the latest one, Gilmour has played at least one song by late Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, who’s a character in A Theatre for Dreamers.
Today’s webcast featured David playing Cohen’s 1974 tune “Who by Fire,” accompanied by his daughter Romany on harp and backing vocals, with Polly and her son Charlie singing as well.
Meanwhile, Gilmour answered a number of fan-submitted questions, including whether he had any touring plans after the COVID-19 lockdown ends.
“I have got no plans at the moment,” he said. “Touring comes after writing and recording an album for me.”
Gilmour also revealed that he’s currently proofreading a book of lyrics by late Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett that will be released soon. Gilmour explained that in order to decipher some of the words to Barrett’s solo tunes, he’s been listening to Syd’s isolated vocal tracks from recordings that he’d played on.
Barrett was struggling with mental health and drug issues when he recorded his solo albums in 1970, and David shared, “It’s kind of sad and moving to kind of listen to old Sydney singing away on his own.”
He added, “I can remember being there in the room when he was doing these things. And it’s a source of constant sadness.”
You can watch the entire webcast now at Gilmour’s Facebook page.
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