Hackett hails wife Jo's writing skills

Steve Hackett credits his wife Jo with being his musical sounding board.

The former Genesis man – who released his new album Wolflight last month – says he runs new ideas past Jo, who he married in 2011. The author often helps form the raw ideas into the final product.

Hackett tells Ultimate Classic Rock: “At a very early point of any song idea, I run it by her — even a musical doodle. Like tonight, I said, ‘Oh, I’ve just dreamt up a phrase and I hear it as orchestral,’ and I’ll share it with her.

“She seems to get it straight away, so we bandy about lyrical ideas back and forth. We kick the football back and forth across the pitch, and then it settles as a song starts to form.

“I’m often aware of my own limitations when I’m writing a melody. Like one recently that went unreleased, I said, ‘I’ve got a bluesy melody for the verse here. I suspect you could come up with something better.’ Straight away, she came up with something very melodic, and it’s actually a thrill to see it work.”

He also insists he’s still friends with all the other members of Genesis despite his recent disappointment over the BBC documentary on the group, Together And Apart.

He adds: “Let’s put it this way – I was disappointed with it, and I think that probably says it all. It could have been definitive. But it’s certainly not that, so hey, c’est la vie.

“The main thing is that the Genesis guys are all still pals — that’s the important thing. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression. We’re all pals, and I think we’re all hugely responsible for each others’ performances, in terms of what we did then and now and in the future.”

Hackett has a UK tour lined up for later in the year:

Oct 06: Guildford GLive

Oct 07: London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Oct 09: Northampton Derngate

Oct 10: Cardiff St David’s Hall

Oct 11: Southampton O2 Guildhall

Oct 13: Basingstoke Anvil

Oct 14: York Barbican

Oct 16: Aberdeen Music Hall

Oct 17: Gateshead Sage

Oct 18: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Oct 20: Leeds Town Hall

Oct 21: Llandudno Venue Cymru

Oct 23: Liverpool Philharmonic

Oct 24: Leicester De Montford Hall

Oct 25: Salford Lowry

Oct 27: Ipswich Regent Theatre

Oct 28: Bristol Colston Hall

Oct 30: Birmingham Symphony Hall

Oct 31: Southend Cliffs Pavilion

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.