V8 (UK band)

In late 2010, English singer Baz Francis and his band Magic Eight Ball were selected as opening acts for The Donnie Vie Band's inaugural UK Tour (Magic Eight Ball performing the first four shows, and Francis performing the final three solo). During the second half of this run, Francis was invited onstage twice to sing with The Donnie Vie Band on "Time To Let You Go", the second time of which on 11 November 2011 at The Patriot Inn in Crumlin, Wales, also saw Lewis John accompany the band on a rendition of "The Beast". Two years later, Francis then opens for Donnie Vie solo and acoustic at The Barley Mow, Leicester on 9 May 2013, followed by Magic Eight Ball supporting Enuff Z’Nuff on 10 and 11 May (at Queens Hall, Nuneaton and The Railway, Ipswich respectively). As well as this, Francis is also invited onstage to sing with Vie on all three nights. During the summer of 2013, Francis then went on to perform on the 10-show European ‘Magical History Tour’ with Donnie Vie, playing acoustic shows in England, Scotland, Wales, Italy and Northern Ireland. As well as being the headline support act each night, Francis was also a guest performer during six of Vie's sets on the tour.

On 8 November 2013, Magic Eight Ball's album, Sorry We're Late But We're Worth The Wait was released on Magic Cat Records, the record also featuring Donnie Vie on the song "Before It Was Murder (You Got Me Talking)". On 24 February 2014, Cargo Records UK released the Donnie Vie live CD/DVD set Goodbye : Enough Z'nuff that was recorded the previous summer across Europe. As well as overseeing the compilation of the project, Francis also provides backing vocals to four of the 14 songs on the CD as well as featuring on a number of the tracks on the DVD too. Lewis John engineered most of the CD and mixed the entire album. On 10 July, Magic Eight Ball's digital single "Monkey Bars" was released, accompanied by an exclusive b-side "Rose-Tinted Eyes" (as begun at the start of the year and later completed with Lewis John mixing). On 1 December 2014, Cargo Records then released Vie's double-record, The White Album, featuring vocals from Francis on the tracks "For Your Pleasure" and "Unforsaken" and almost entirely mixed (except for "Better Love Next Time") by Lewis John, with additional guitar work from him. On 27 January 2015, Magic Eight Ball digitally released their stand-alone single track, "Better Off Asleep", that was engineered, mixed and mastered by Lewis John. That summer, starting on 19 August in Edinburgh, Francis once again toured Europe with Vie, performing 10 shows with him across Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales, Italy, Spain and France as both the special supporting guest, and accompanying player to Vie himself at every show on The White Album Tour. Just prior to this tour, Vie had the idea to combine his name and the name of Francis's band Magic Eight Ball for merchandise to be sold at the shows, which is how the 'V8' moniker came into existence for the pair.

Whilst in Wales on the tour, the duo took the opportunity to record with Lewis John again at M.A.D Studios in Swansea for their new single, which is when the trio's now established partnership saw V8 officially become Vie, Francis and John. This tour was almost immediately followed by Vie's so-far digital-only, The Best of Donnie Vie release on 22 September 2015, consisting of five tracks featuring Francis (three of which were exclusive to this release, plus mixed and mastered by John). Taken from recordings off The White Album Tour tour and mixed by John, Magic Cat Records then released Donnie Vie & Baz Francis's new joint live EP V8 Live In Europe 2015,[1] on 30 November 2015. This CD and download featured two Vie and two Francis originals, respectively. It was also the first time a release had officially come out from the trio bearing the name 'V8' in any form. On 19 January 2016, a compilation of Donnie Vie rarities overseen by Baz Francis called ! was released digitally, having been mostly mixed and mastered by John. V8's début single, "Mrs Vandevelde",[2] was then released to download on 22 February 2016, and on Limited Edition cream 7" vinyl through Dharma Bucks Records on 7 March 2016. Both versions feature "You're My Favourite Thing To Do" (from the V8 Live In Europe 2015 EP) as the B-side. On 14 March 2016, Italian band Candybag's EP Ending, that featured both Vie and Francis on the song "Nun S' Po Fa Sta Vita" (and also narration from Vie on the song "Piccolo Ingombrante") was released by Radio Entropia Factory.