Esoteric Records (a label of the Cherry Red Records Group) have today announced that they have signed Ant to the label and have also announced the first planned releases from his back catalogue.

The first release will be 5 CD deluxe boxed set in October 2014 entitled Harvest of the Heart, which celebrates Ant's rich musical heritage and extensive back catalogue by featuring recordings made between 1969 and the present day, drawn from his many albums. In addition the set will include ten previously unreleased tracks and the rare track Compression by Mike Rutherford (previously unreleased on CD) which features Ant on keyboards and was the B-side to Mike's 1980 single Working in Line.

Ant says: ''I'm delighted to be working with Mark Powell at Esoteric Recordings and being reunited with the esteemed Cherry Red Records after my one-off compilation with them in the mid 80s.  Their enthusiasm has been both warm and infectious, encouraging me to take the plunge with a new song-based album soon, and I consider myself fortunate to have found such a happy home for my sizeable catalogue!''

Ant's catalogue releases will continue in January 2015 with the release of a deluxe edition of his legendary debut album The Geese and the Ghost (featuring Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins and John Hackett) and which will include a new 5.1 Surround Sound mix of the album by Simon Heyworth. Further announcements on this will be made closer to release.

Original Genesis drummer, sheep farmer and best-selling author Chris Stewart has his new book Last Days of the Bus Club published on 4th June.  

Billed as 'Part Four of the million-selling Driving Over Lemons Trilogy', this latest instalment chronicles Chris's further adventures including cooking a TV lunch for visiting British chef Rick Stein, discovering the pitfalls of Spanish public speaking and visiting famine-stricken Niger for Oxfam. 

The previous titles in the 'Lemons' Trilogy - Driving Over Lemons, A Parrot in the Pepper Tree and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society - have all become best-sellers.

To promote the release of the book, Chris recently appeared at the Hay Festival on 31st May.

Ant's retrospective release Archive Collection Volume One has been out of print for some time but we are pleased to announce that a new pressing of the album is being made available.  

First released in March 1998, the CD features previously unreleased recordings including demos that Ant recorded with Mike Rutherford in September 1969, just prior to Genesis playing their first live shows. 

A limited number of the original release of the album included a bonus CD featuring five further archival tracks but we understand that this new pressing will consist of just the one main CD.  

This is a new pressing of the album to be make it available again - it is not a re-mastered re-issue and no extra tracks have been added to the running order.

The new pressing of Archive Collection Volume One is available to order now from Amazon.

Published on January 23rd 2014, 'The Living Years' are Mike's long-awaited memoirs which span the entire history of Genesis. They paint a vivid, candid and often amusing picture of the formation of the group at Charterhouse School through to the band's rise to international success and stardom as well as the founding of the Mechanics.  

All is told through the prism of Mike's relationship with his father, former naval officer Captain Rutherford, whose support for Mike's career changed the course of rock history; and whose influence on Mike's life gave us The Living Years, Mike & The Mechanics biggest hit.

Ant has helped Mike during the writing of the book by sharing some memories from the formative period at Charterhouse and the band's early years.

The Living Years is available to order now from Amazon as a hardback and as a Kindle Edition.