A raw, searching Americana confession from one of Liverpool’s most compelling voices
Liverpool-born singer-songwriter Simon Howard releases his powerful new single “Lost and Found” today —a sparse, deeply felt Americana track that marks one of the most honest and fully realised moments of his growing career. Produced by Robert Whiteley and recorded at Whitewood Studios in Liverpool, the song is built around Howard’s instinctive hammer-on chord progression, a restless double bass line that gives the track its quiet pulse, and the kind of plainspoken lyrical courage that has defined his songwriting from the very beginning.
At its core, “Lost and Found” is a song about being genuinely, thoroughly lost—and about the decision to find your way back.
Howard has spoken openly about the circumstances that gave birth to the track. He was living between London and Liverpool, unsettled and uncertain about nearly every dimension of his life, navigating personal difficulties and a music career that felt stuck. He asked himself simultaneously where to live, how to get back on track, and whether pursuing music was worth continuing at all. Rather than let those questions spiral, he sat down with a chord idea he had been carrying and simply put the feelings on paper.
The song that emerged moves through its verses with the unhurried honesty of a letter written to oneself:
“A mirror’s stare caught me by surprise / A worn-out look I barely recognise / Say people change, I must’ve gotten good / I’ve played it down for as long as I could.”
The chorus arrives not as a moment of tidy resolution, but as an act of will:
“I take myself to the lost and found / I won’t be back till I’ve turned it around / This ain’t my place and this ain’t my home, oh no / I need to find my soul.”
The production tells its own compelling story. Howard and Whiteley began, as they typically do, with acoustic guitar and guide vocals before laying down drums. After listening back, however, Howard felt the rhythm section was too busy—too cluttered for what the song needed. The decision to strip the drums back to something closer to pure percussion and introduce a double bass in their place transformed the track entirely. As Howard has described it, the song completely came to life for him in that moment. It has since become one of his favourite pieces to perform live, carrying with it the full weight of where it came from and the relief of what came out.
Howard’s journey to this point has been one of genuine and steadily building momentum. After spending a formative and secluded summer writing in Austin, Texas, he returned to the UK to record his debut EP Youths Ground (2021), establishing a foundation rooted in contemporary folk and pained Americana that drew immediate attention for his effortlessly heart-wrenching vocal and delicate storytelling. He followed it with his last EP, The CALL, which sharpened that foundation into something leaner and more direct—Americana storytelling delivered with even greater emotional clarity.
His 2022 single “Not Like Superman”, a song about the exhaustion of trying to please everyone and never being enough, arrived with body-hitting drums and a powerful eight-piece string section and earned airplay on BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, and Express FM. His follow-up single “Trojan Horse” built on that momentum further, with both tracks cementing his reputation as a songwriter with genuine emotional range and the craft to match.
In 2025, he placed in the top three out of 400 artists at the Homegrown Talent Contest at The Long Road Festival, a result that speaks directly to how his music lands in a room full of people who know the form. His work has been championed by Baylen Leonard on Absolute Radio Country and Dave Monks on BBC Introducing, two of the most respected tastemakers in the UK Americana and country space. In June, Howard was also named Horizon Artist of the Week on BBC Radio 2’s The Country Show with Bob Harris, earning a play for “Brand New Start” and further underlining his growing profile in the UK Americana space.
Hi, Simon! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers for those not familiar with your music?
Nice to meet you as well, absolutely! I’m an Americana/country/folk artist from Liverpool in the UK. I started writing and performing music in 2018 after spending a summer in Texas on my own. I played at open mics in and around Austin, making friends and getting feedback on what they thought of it, which was thankfully positive! After that, I came back to the UK to continue to write and record my music for releases. Since then I’ve done multiple single and EP releases, I’ve also played festivals and support slots all over the UK, had radio support from BBC Radio 2 and Absolute Radio Country – and recently played my first ever two shows in Toronto, Canada, part of the NXNE festival (one at the legendary ‘Horseshoe Tavern’ which was pretty exciting!)
You’ve said there was a point where you questioned not only where you should live, but whether you should even continue making music. What ultimately convinced you to keep going, and how close did you come to walking away?
Yes, early last year was definitely a testing time. I was living in London and I had a lot going on in my head – both in my personal life and in my music career. I felt like I’d tried a lot of different approaches to get my music off the ground; living locations, courses, gigs etc and I felt like it was still going nowhere. I just felt completely burnt out, and I didn’t know what to try next. Even though I had some low moments, and the thought crossed my mind to just walk away, I knew deep down I would never quit – because that’s not in my nature. Also, I thought if I just quit now, I’ll never know what the outcome could have been. Over the years I’ve had to find lots of different ways to stay positive, it could be a great gig, reminding myself of a positive reaction to song, or writing a song that I feel very passionate about. All of those things spur me on to keep me going and make it worth it.
You spent time writing in Austin before returning to Liverpool to record your first EP. What did that change of environment teach you about songwriting, and do you still hear echoes of Texas in the music you make today?
Yes, I definitely hear echoes of Texas in the music I make today. I think Liverpool’s music scene is predominantly more indie bands than Americana/roots, so I don’t think that particularly influences my songwriting very much. I’d say I’m more influenced by artists from North America such as; Caamp, Dylan Gossett, Charles Wesley Godwin and Zach Bryan. Even though my musical influences are not necessarily from Merseyside, the fact I’m in Liverpool means that I’ve been working with Liverpool based producers and session players – and they understand how to create the sound I’m looking for. I do think Liverpool is overall a very welcoming and diverse city with a love for music, so for that reason I feel like it’s a great place to be a musician. Any day of the week you can find live music in Liverpool and I do think that has probably influenced me to keep doing what I do!
You’ve earned support from BBC Introducing, Bob Harris, Baylen Leonard and now placed in the top three at The Long Road Festival’s Homegrown Talent Contest. Have those moments changed your confidence, or do you still feel like you’re proving something every time you step onstage?
I’m so grateful for the support from all those platforms and people, and it definitely does help with confidence and spurs you on to keep going, but I’ll always have the mentality that I have something to prove, and I don’t want that to ever change. I always want to give my absolute best in every performance, and I want to constantly improve my songwriting.
If someone hears “Lost and Found” while they’re going through the same kind of uncertainty you were experiencing, what do you hope they take away from it after the song ends?
I hope that after listening to the song they realise they are not alone in what they’re experiencing. Everyone has battles and challenges, but it can be turned around. The lyrics in the last verse of the song are quite hopeful, and I hope people will listen to those lyrics and realise there will be brighter times ahead, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.
Upcoming Shows:
July 4 – Open Air Anniversary Show, Rodeos – Birmingham, England
July 5 – Folk In A Field – Norfolk, England
August 29 – The Long Road Festival (Front Porch Stage) – Leicestershire, England
August 29 – The Long Road Festival (VIP Area) – Leicestershire, England
September 25-27 – Nashville Takeover – Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada