Richard Hawley, (born Sheffield, England) is a critically acclaimed guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. Hawley initially found success as a member of Britpop band The Longpigs in the 1990s. When a drug-filled torpor after an extensive tour of America brought the band to the brink of extinction in 1997, Hawley was asked to play with Pulp by his close friend and Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker. "They saved my life," Hawley would later recall, "I was going mental with drink and drugs." The subsequent world tour in support of Pulp's album This Is Hardcore left Hawley emotionally and physically drained on his return to his home city. During this time, he would even consider leaving the music industry altogether.It was an encounter at Hawley's Sheffield home that would lead the longtime collaborator out of the shadows. Impressed by a home demo of his songs, both Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey urged Hawley to head into the studio and begin work on his first solo release. 2000s eponymous mini album would encourage Hawley to return to the studio oncemore. In 2001 Late Night Final, named after the cry of vendors selling the Sheffield Star evening newspaper on the streets of the city, would be released to positive reviews from the press, if unspectacular sales. Two years later Hawley would release Lowedges, another Sheffield reference, this time to the curiously named suburb of the city that had so entranced the young Hawley when he had seen it on the destination board of a bus. NME called Lowedges the "first great album of 2003" and it would top an end of year poll held by Virgin Radio. Critical praise was widespread, leading many big names such as Coldplay, Radiohead and R.E.M. to enthuse about Hawley's work.After the demise of Setanta Records in 2004 Hawley would eventually sign to Mute Records, a division of the giant EMI. Legal wrangling would delay Coles Corner, Hawley's fourth release, until September 2005. Again Hawley mines the theme of his beloved home city, this time referencing the location where courting lovers would meet. Coles Corner would eventually gain a nomination for the acclaimed Mercury Prize in 2006Hawley's work as a session musician and producer remains in high demand. After contributing towards her eponymous 2004 release, Hawley would also support Nancy Sinatra on her European tour in 2005. Praise from R.E.M.'s Mike Mills would lead to him being approached to support the Georgia group on several concert dates that year. In the past, Hawley has also worked with artists as diverse as New York's A Girl Called Eddy, All Saints, for Nellee Hooper's soundtrack for Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet and with Jarvis Cocker's Relaxed Muscle project. He played the guitar solo on the cover of "Under the Bridge" by pop group All Saints.Aside from his solo and session work, Hawley occasionally tours with The Feral Cats, a side project that enables him to explore his interest in rockabilly music.Fiercely proud of his working class upbringing, Hawley recently described himself as "jurassic labour" in response to a question about the New Labour project. He lives in Sheffield, with his wife and children.