Excellent 8 piece rock band Preacher are the latest along the Scottish production line, bringing their very own take on melodic progressive rock along for the ride. Influenced by the classic likes of Pink Floyd, Preacher are updating the psychedelic rock tropes in a modern day setting and turning heads along the way. Their album launch landed them the headline act at the ABC1 02 in Glasgow, Preacher being the first unsigned act to ever achieve that.

Fronted by Martin Murphy, the back-story of Preacher is almost as incredible as the music. The album concept started when Murphy suffered a severe stroke seven years ago, a near death experience which served as a reason to think about life’s priorities. It was this that inspired Martin, with melodies and lyrics which would eventually make it onto the ‘Signals’ album already written down by the time he left hospital.

It’s been a tumultuous ride since then, with a debut LP seven years in the making while the band worked on building their live reputation. They also had to replace a lead guitarist who had addiction issues – a position eventually filled by Martin’s son Greg Murphy, who impressively went from Guitar Hero novice to self-taught virtuoso in the space of 16 months.

Preacher has become something of a family affair, whether by blood or shared experience of getting this album ready for release. It all culminates in 2015, with the single and album out in April, followed by a summer festival which will see them share a stage with rock royalty in Status Quo.

As is often said – good things come to those who wait. You can listen to their lead track, ‘Jupiter to Mars’, here: