High praise from Highwire Daze

It's AMAZING that 'Stories We Tell' is still getting such rave reviews 6 months after release! HUGE thanks to High Wire Daze!

"Stories We Tell by Seven Hard Years is filled to brim with dazzling songs that will remain embedded in your head (as well as your CD player) for the timeless rock and roll ages ahead!"

Read more HERE

#7hy #storieswetell #highwiredaze

7HY @ Bandcamp

We've updated our Bandcamp page to include both albums...Digital downloads are available. Also, links to CD and t-shirt purchases.

GET 7HY MUSIC HERE: 7hysevenhardyears.bandcamp.com or

Signed Seven Hard Years / 7HY CD's can be purchased direct from the band http://bit.ly/2aOtxtx 

#7hy #bandcamp #melodicrock

5 Questions w/ Alan Kelly

Here is a short little Q&A with our founding father, Mr. Alan Kelly.

1. What put you on the road that led to what became Seven Hard Years?

Alan - After Shy had run its course I moved to Cornwall, England in 2000. I continued to write a lot of my own material and after a while I decided that I should do something with it. So I set out to try and get a record deal to release my own CD. Enter Roy Davis (ex-Shy, himself) and Lynchburg Music.

2. Prior to Seven Hard Years, you gained notoriety as a drummer. When did you start playing keyboards and guitar?

Alan - Even while I was in Shy I dabbled on keyboards and guitar and had my own recording set up at home. Although I didn’t really know what I was doing with the musical instruments, I knew what I wanted and just messed around until it sounded right. It wasn’t until I moved to Cornwall and I took up guitar that my writing really began to improve. I got to the stage where I could write, play and record all my own instruments without having to rely on anyone else’s help or influence.

3. How did you meet Shawn Pelata (vocalist)?

Alan - We got in contact via Myspace if I recall. I listened to some of the songs he was doing with Line Of Fire and really liked the sound of his voice and I thought this is the voice I would like to have as lead vocals on my own material. I realized that even though I could do passable lead vocals and passable lead guitar if I seriously wanted to compete with other rock albums that were being released I needed to up my game and enlist the help of some genuine talent so I tapped up Shawn for some vocals.

4. When you write songs, do you get lyrics or music first?

Alan - Mostly I get the music first. Messing around on the guitar I will come up with a riff or two, record it and then put some rough lyric / melody idea over it and see how it works. I will usually mess around back and forward like that until I have a complete song. On the odd occasion lyric / melody  ideas just come to me in the middle of the night and I have get up and write them down so I don’t forget.  Sometimes I’ll get a musical idea when I’m out somewhere and I have to hum it into my phone recorder until I can get the chance to record it properly.

5. What are your three favorite bands?

Alan – It’s a weird thing that I really don’t listen to that much music these days as I’m nearly always recording some project or other and I tend to listen to that. In my youth I used to listen to whatever was the latest thing to come out and I was heavy influenced by bands like UFO, MSG, Journey, Bryan Adams etc. My tastes have changed a little over the years and now I like bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Alter Bridge and even The Used. I love their approach to song writing and the fantastic production. If it’s powerful has a decent melody and production then I’m pretty much going to like it. 

OR you can read it on FACEBOOK if you like.

Welcome!

A transatlantic partnership: UK-based multi- instrumentalist Alan Kelly (ex-Shy) and American vocalist Shawn Pelata (ex-Line Of Fire) have come to release three albums under the name Seven Hard Years (7HY, if you like) 'No Place In Heaven' in 2014 (Lynchburg Music Group) 'Stories We Tell' in 2016 (Lion's Pride Music), and finally, after the addition of fellow multi-instrumentalist and producer Andrew Chick, ‘For The Record' in 2017. All three albums were very well-received among rock fans and critics worldwide. The trio of Kelly, Pelata and Chick, teamed once again with Lion's Pride Music, are back with the fourth Seven Hard Years album in March of 2019 entitled 'No Going Back'.

Musically, 'No Going Back' shows a significant growth in collaboration among the three members, with Chick contributing music and arrangement ideas and Pelata, for the first time within the Seven Hard Years mainframe, adding his own lyrical slant. The result is a melodic record with strong choruses, big guitars, and a furthering of what is becoming the classic Seven Hard Years sound. 

More details to follow...