June 20, 2002

Ex-Verve members -- bassist Simon Jones and guitarist Simon Tong -- have formed a new band called the Shining. Their debut record, True Skies, will be available in the U.S. on Epic Records this fall. Prior to its release, the Shining will make their stateside debut performances on July 8 in New York at the Bowery Ballroom and July 11 in Los Angeles at the Troubadour.

Just over two years ago, Jones was not a hard man to find. Still reeling from the break up of the Verve, the successful but troubled band he dedicated over a decade of his life to, he hardly left his flat. It wasn't until he received a phone call from ex-Stone Roses guitarist John Squire that the urge to create new music resurfaced. Soon Jones was playing his bass alongside Squire, drummer Mark Heaney and vocalist Duncan Baxter.

Squire ultimately left the mix, but Jones brought in ex-Verve guitarist Simon Tong and fellow guitarist Dan MacBean. The quintet has been rehearsing in London's East End ever since.

Surprisingly, the Shining's sound owes more to the legacies of Led Zeppelin and the Stooges than the recent offerings of the Verve. The band named itself after the Stephen King novel and Kubrick film about a boy who can see into the future. Jones and Tong obviously hope for a promising post-Verve future.