With the release of his second solo effort Golden D behind him, Blur guitarist Graham Coxon has assembled a band and is looking to tour the U.S. Although Coxon plays all the instruments and handles all the vocal duties on his record, he has enlisted Rod Jones (from Idlewild) to play guitar, Toby McFarland (from 13/13) to play bass and Blur mate David Rowntree to play drums.

"We did a tiny tour -- one [show] in Scotland and a few in England," Coxon says. "It was really good. I quite like doing [it]. In a way it's pretty scary, but I really enjoy singing."

Although they have not booked a tour, Coxon hopes dates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Atlanta and Boston can be scheduled early next year to coincide when the other members have time off from their other commitments.

As for Coxon's other commitment, Blur are back in the studio working on their next effort, but a timeline has not been set for the "handful of songs" the band have written.

"We're working this week on bits and bobs," Coxon says. "We're just getting together and doing some writing every so often -- taking it easy. It's always kind of happening. We're always thinking about things. It's kind of up in the air at the moment -- we might decide in two weeks to record an album or we might wait . . . There is creative tension in the air."

JOLIE LASH
(September 2, 2000)