Steve Flashman – Lighting the Beacons

Description

Lighting the Beacons is the tenth studio album by the British singer and songwriter Steve Flashman, independently released in October 2025. The album was recorded by Steve Flashman at his home studio, playing all the instruments himself.

PROMO

In my travelling days I was releasing a new album every two years and recording in studios including Chapel Lane in Hereford, Quantise and the Dog House in Guildford, Cloud 9 (Rick Parfitt of Status Quo’s studios) and ICC in Eastbourne. This time I’ve taken everything in house – literally! Recording at the Rectory in Quainton. When I first started recording in studios, we’d be using 2 inch tape and engineers would edit with a razor blade!

But for this album I used the Garageband Digital Recording Studio on my iMac computer. It has everything I need for recording – multiple tracks, sound loops, “live” drummers and loads of scope. A lot of session musicians have featured on my albums including Larry Norman, Mark Williamson, Paul Field, Norman Barratt, Chris Eaton and John Russell of After The Fire fame. But this time it’s all me! I have created everything you hear on the album using the following instruments:

Ovation Balladeer, my favourite guitar designed and made in the USA, Fender Strat – I’ve had this guitar for decades and I’ve been relearning my

Pentatonic Scales – haven’t used them for so long! Yamaha SG1000S, gifted to me many years ago by my good friend Bernie Armstrong who used to tour with Cliff Richard in a band called CHO. It’s rumoured that Cliff may even have played this guitar! I use a Midi Keyboard, a Keystation 49 MK3 to play sounds onto the tracks and dabble with bass guitar, a Hohner Rockwood LX90B.

My favourite vocal mic is the Shure SM58 which I use for lead and backing vocals, plus various vocal sound effects. I also play my trusted keyboard, the Korg O1W which I have had for 40 years! Still a great sound with weighted keys – I used to play this keyboard on stage at many of my gigs, alongside guitar and electronic drum pads. Last but not least, my beautiful bouzouki, an Irish mandoline with such a distinctive sound.

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/lighting-the-beacons/1846537329)

CD tracklist:

01. Shofar – 0:16
02. Lighting The Beacons – 5:50
03. Healing The Wounded Child – 4:12
04. Sing Over Me – 4:30
05. Beauty Of The Broken – 4:33
06. Let The Fire Fall – 3:35
07. Don’t Do That – 3:41
08. Step Into These Shoes – 3:16
09. How Faint The Whisper – 4:55
10. Arrival – 5:55
11. God’s Paparrazi – 3:31
12. Sunrise – 2:25
13. Whatever Floats Your Boat – 4:21
14. Walking Off The Page – 4:03
15. Go Down Fighting Rise Up – 4:00
16. Everything – 5:07
17. Dancing In The Dark – 2:53
18. Closer – 1:36

Note: Available at Steve Flashman’s homepage: https://steveflashman.com/merchandiseshop/product/lighting-the-beacons/

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The Story Behind “Lighting The Beacons”:
How Steve was inspired to write and record his tenth studio album including song lyrics and the stories behind the songs.
by Steve Flashman, Paperback / Kindle, 2025

“Lighting The Beacons” tells the story of how Steve Flashman, rock singer, songwriter, author, broadcaster and vicar, now 76 years old and still working, started to write rock songs again and produce his tenth studio album after a twenty year break! The inspirational story has many twists and turns, but at the heart of it was a transformational few days in May 2025, when he went on a four day retreat and heard “the faint whisper” of God. Steve says: “I never kept a diary. But as I look back over the years, my songs have revealed the story of my life in ways I never realised at the time of writing. It started with my brother, Colin, giving me a beaten up old guitar when I was a kid. At the age of 16 I was on fire for God and was determined to change the world with music as a vehicle to communicate my faith. In the early days I hit the headlines of a local newspaper: “Beating The Hell Out Of Sheerness!” and quickly discovered that rock music didn’t go down well in certain church circles. Undaunted, “The Victory Side” and later “Manna” toured regularly. My first album, “Freefall” was released on the Kingsway Music label in 1979 and I went “on the road” for God, touring worldwide in pubs, clubs, theatres, schools, prisons and festivals. I played Wembley Arena, the Royal Albert Hall and the Marquee Club in Soho and then TV and Radio appearances with my own show on LBC Radio London and as part of the presenting team of the ITV programme “Company.” I had opportunities to appear on the BBC’s “Rock Gospel Show” hosted by Sheila Walsh and Alvin Stardust. My motivation? To connect with people where they are with the dynamic, life changing message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My four day retreat kick started a musical renaissance of creativity. And I found, that as I was writing, I was remembering, processing, and expressing more snapshots of my life in musical form. Songs including, «Healing The Wounded Child», «Beauty of the Broken», «Step Into These Shoes», «God’s Paparazzi», «Go Down Fighting, Rise Up Free!», «Sing Over Me», «Sunrise», «Everything» and «Closer» formed a transcript of my life to set alongside many other songs I had written years ago. It’s been a liberating experience to say the least!”

“The Story Behind Lighting The Beacons” is a stand alone book on the remarkable journey into a musical renaissance and includes the story behind each of the seventeen songs and include song lyrics and background information. The album, released in October 2025, is available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Soundcloud and many other streaming services and on CD and digital download.

This story is inspirational and demonstrates how we can all find new forms of creativity, however old we are, if we take the time to explore the world in which we live and unpack the extraordinary adventures of faith open to us all.