Howard Eliott Payne

Howie Payne
Howie Payne (right) with Noel Gallagher
Background information
Birth name	Howard Elliot Payne
Born	(1970-11-05) 5 November 1970 (age 46) Liverpool, England
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, folk, acoustic
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, guitarist
Instruments	Guitar, harmonica
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Move City Records
Associated acts	The Stands, Blueseed, The Big Kids, The Magic Clock, The Windmills, Telefone

Howie Payne (born Howard Elliot Payne 5 November 1970) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, 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.

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 (with future Cast drummer Keith O'Neill), 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 (an extended version of the EP with the debut single material as bonus tracks was released in Europe as a mini album). 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.

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.

Following The Stands Payne teamed up with producer Ethan Johns to record his debut solo album Bright 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 (Payne's sister) 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.