This week has been a busy week sorting out the artwork for my new Four Walls (live house show recordings) release but while I have been doing that I have also enjoyed some lovely things.
1. WARWICK CASTLE…
On Monday I went to Warwick Castle in Warwick (which is just outside Coventry) for a family day out. It was pretty cold all day but it was a brilliant. We saw real Knights and Princesses (Yes, really!), owls and eagles and managed to climb to the top of the big tower you can see in the photo. A great day!
2. THE STAVES…
On Tuesday it was Valentine’s day and so me and Stylusgirl went to the GLEE CLUB in Birmingham to see Michael Kiwanuka and The Staves who were both brilliant. The Staves were the support but I have been listening to them for a while now. They are three sisters from the south of England who play gorgeous, harmony rich, country folk music. The three sisters switch between lead vocal and the different harmony parts effortlessly to make a beautiful sound. You can download two FREE live tracks from their website www.thestaves.com. You could feel the excitement in the room when Michael Kiwanuka took to the stage. He has recently won the Radio 1 Sound of 2012 and his album release has been brought forward a week due to the excitement about it. Everyone sensed this would be the last time he will play anywhere this small. He was brilliant, simply brilliant.
£. A BACKWARDS VIDEO BY THE DAYDREAM CLUB…
My lovely friends THE DAYDREAM CLUB have made this very clever video for their song ‘On The Move’. It took them ages!
4. SNOWBOARDING IN THE DARK…
Through one of my friends on Facebook I found this brilliant snowboarding film…
This is the first in a new series of blog posts I am going to write every week about things I have liked (in a Facebook style!) over the past week. I have been inspired by Laura Kidd (www.shemakeswar.com) who writes a similar weekly blog. So here we go…
1. THE SNOW
Last weekend I really enjoyed the snow. After heading out in pretty heavy snow to my friend’s birthday drinks at my local pub it was great fun walking home in the fresh snow. It was so fresh and dry, just like snow should be. We even made a massive snowman. I also had one of my photos of the snow publish in the Coventry Telegraph!
2. SHE MAKES WAR VLOG
Laura Kidd is a wonderfully hardworking and talented musican. She creates a range of ace things (including her interesting music). She also makes regular vlog (a video blog). Here is her latest:
3. GREEN TEA…
I love green tea! I have been drinking alot of green tea and blueberry this week. It doesn’t really look like this but I like this picture:
4. NEW UNO MOLLER SINGLE…
Uno Moller is a label mate on Lazy Acre Records and this is his new single which is simply stunning. Have a listen and then head over to the LAZY ACRE RECORDS BLOG to find out more about it. Is it taken from his new album which is out very soon:
So there is the end of Four Things I Liked for this week… Feel free to link me into things you think I will like via Twitter (@stylusboy).
Yesterday I went out for the second filming session with Laura Meades for the Something Worth Keeping (remix) video that we are working on. It was very cold but the snow did look very arty!
We are planning another session next week to see if we can complete it. All the photos that people have sent in are featuring in the video. I am very excited about. Laura is a doing a wonderful job!
Recently ago a musician called Jon Gomm had one of his videos posted on Twitter by Stephen Fry with the simple word ‘WOW’ on the tweet and the YouTube link. Since then Jon, already a successful underground musician, has become an overnight story for the mainstream media. He has even been on BBC Breakfast news to talk about the song…
Jon Gomm is an independent artist (and a stunning guitarist) who has a very healthy following and plays music full time. I love how he talks about not wanting a record deal in this interview. The way Sian reacts, almost in shock, is a completely how the masses (and what I mean is many people in society) think music works; You work really hard to get that deal and once you sign you are home and dry and your career is made. What Jon is saying is so completely true. Many musicians that I know who have signed deals have come out with major debuts and some of whom don’t want to make any music any more. This is brilliant to be on the BBC. Power to Jon and power to all the amazing musicians who make music completely free of major labels…
Last week I returned to Taylor John’s House in Coventry to play at their Wednesday acoustic night. I was really looking forward to the gig at Chris Tye was also playing and I hadn’t seen Chris actually play before. In fact it had been ages since I had seen him in person even though we talk alot on the interweb. I arrived at Taylor John’s and met up with Rachel who was singing with me at the gig. As we walked into the venue we listened to Chris and his band soundchecking. It sounded brilliant. We grabbed a quick soundcheck, chatted to Drew who was looking after the sound and set up my digital recorder on the desk to record the gig.
The first act on with Neil Ward who goes under the name Two Fathoms. He played a lovely set of heart felt songs which had a folk rock style to them. He reminded me and Rachel of Frank Turner, which can only be a good thing! Neil had some brilliant lyrics and one that has stuck in my head ever since the gig is “You make my rough edges smooth” or something like that. Lovely! Do check him out: www.twofathoms.co.uk
Chris Tye played next and was accompanied by drums, double bass and female harmonies. Chris has such as lovely sweet voice (not meaning to make him sound like a chior boy!) and songs that carry you away to a comforting place. He is a very talented songwriter and it was brilliant to finally see him live. New York City Rain was one the highlights of the site for me. Here is it as filmed by Paul from MICROSTU:
Do have a look at Chris’ FACEBOOK PAGE and head to his BANDCAMP site to buy his lovely 6 track EP.
After Chris it was our turn. We really enjoyed the set because it had been a while since the last time we sang a complete set like this. We included an older song Stopclock in the set which went down really well. I had a funny moment half way through when I completely lost my pick, thankfully I found it in the end (thank you to Neil who nearly saved me though!). Here is OPEN from our set which was recorded by Paul from MICROSTU:
It was a lovely evening and Taylor John’s House in quickly becoming one of my favourite places to play. A big thank you to everyone who came down and it was great to meet some lovely new people. Here are a couple of photos which were take by RUSSELL WHITEHEAD PHOTOGRAPHY:
Two of lovely musical friends are asking for support to make their albums a complete reality…
JESS MORGAN is a brilliant country folk singer songwriter from Norfolk. I have known Jess for a few years after I first discovered on Myspace and then we shared the bill on a gig. Here is a one of Jess’ songs:
Please head on over to her PLEDGE MUSIC page to give her your support.
You will know that my good friend WES FINCH is a singer songwriter from Coventry who plays country folk songs too. He is asking for your support to press and release his album. Here is Wes on the brilliant OPEN AIR SESSIONS:
Please head over Wes’ WEFUND PAGE and support him.
I have supported both these projects with my money so please do consider doing the same. x
I have been meaning to write this blog for a while but life is pretty hectic at the moment. Anyway a couple of week ago (January 15th to be exact) I went to see the first Under the Radar gig of the new year at Warwick Arts Centre, which is just down the road from where I live on the campus Warwick University. I wanted to check out the venue as I am playing their on February 25th and also to hand out flyers for my gig after the show.
Boat to Row
BOAT TO ROW were the first band of the night. These guys play delicious intricate folk music. A 5 piece band with the singer Michael being the centre of the band. I supported these guys a couple of years ago when I played with ATLUM SCHEMA on his last tour. I really enjoyed their set and the musicianship of the band is brilliant. At one point the drummer was playing three different beats, singing harmonies and playing the main melody of the song on a glockenspiel! Very, very impressive! Do check BOAT TO ROW out…
Goodnight Lenin
The second band (not really headline, as it is a co-headline show) were GOODNIGHT LENIN. I hadn’t really heard much about these guys before I purchased my ticket for this but I did check out their lovely website and listened to them on Spotify. I was really impressed. They are five piece folk band with lush three part harmonies like Fleet Foxes or Simon or Garfunkel (Yes I know there are only two people in Simon and Garfunkel but you get the idea!). The band looked cool, sounded cool and gave great banter! “We normally walk on to the Gladiator theme music but it didn’t happen this time, I am not sure why. Heads will roll!” was how they started and the audience weren’t quite sure it they were serious but it got everyone’s attention! I really did love these guys.
I purchased both bands EPs and would strongly recommend you have a listen to both bands: BOAT TO ROW website and GOODNIGHT LENIN website. I am now very excited about my gig on February 25th!
As it is now the start of 2012 I thought I would reflect a little on the wonderful year that was 2011. It was a pretty major year for me musically and I one that I really, really enjoyed. Here are just a few of my personal highlights…
Completing the recording of Whole Picture EP back
Making the video for Whole Picture with Andy Mort
Sorting out all the press and PR for the EP
Playing some amazing gigs in people’s houses, at weddings, on allotments, at festivals, bars and cafes
Playing ‘Screen Gigs’ on Ustream live from my kitchen to people all around the world
Meeting some brilliant people at gigs
Enjoying Twitter and making friends with loads of amazing people
Playing bass for Atlum Schema at Greenbelt Festival
Doing interviews with music blogs and website from all around the world
Getting some very kind reviews of ‘Whole Picture EP’
Discovering some amazing new music
Getting a number 1 song in Indonesia and then being at number 48 in the top 100 songs on 95.7 Play FM (above Snow Patrol!)
Playing the Godiva Festival
Being award EP of the year by This is a Popscene
They are just a few of the things that have happened over this year. Richard Harrison has taken many great photos of me this year and this is one that is particularly cool. Taken at the Godiva Festival back in July…
Last Thursday I played at Taylor John’s House in Coventry which is a great little venue under the arches right next to Coventry Canal. Via the wonderful world of Twitter Verity Pabla had asked me to play back in October. When I actually left my house to go to the venue I was running pretty late as I had come direct from my third Christmas dinner in three days! I sent Verity a quick text to apologise and headed over. When I arrived I found Verity and her band were still setting up and I was running perfectly on time. I spoke to Sarah (the lovely lady who helps run Taylor Johns) and Drew (the wonderful sound tech!). A few people started arriving while I was sound checking so I didn’t play any of my songs from the set I had sorted. I played some interesting little chords and started to form the ideas of a new song where I just sang some made up words! I will have to see if I can remember it. After I was happy with the sound I met up with Kate from Elegant Savage Magazine and various people from my mailing list and from Twitter. Richard Harrison had come along to take some photos which you can see below. Then I headed to the bar and got myself a camomile tea with fresh lime (as I have said before, I am so rock n roll! haha!)
By the time I stepped on to stage the room had filled up nicely and people were still coming in. I was really pleased with the way I played, in fact I feel it might have been one of my best performances for quite a while. I really enjoyed the vibe and how to songs just clicked. As I often do I ended with ‘A Song for Noah’ which people responded to very well. After I played I headed over to my little merch stall and spoke to people who came to buy the EP and join the mailing list. I always love meeting people and enjoying talking them, so thank you to everyone who came to speak to me.
After I played Verity took to the stage with her band and played a wonderful set of laid back jazzy pop music. Now she lives in New Zealand I can really hear the vibe of that country coming through in her songs. After Verity Si Hayden played some great little acoustic tunes and showed off his intricate playing style. Then it was the turn of Lyndi, one of Verity’s friends, who played some charming folk song including her own version of the Coventry Carol.
Finally Declan Bennett took to the stage. Again via Twitter Verity and Lyndi had been in touch with Declan, who is based in New York, although he is a Coventry chap. I have liked his music for quite a while and so it was a real treat to see him play some songs I had not heard before. Declan is an actor as well as a singer songwriter and he is a brilliant live performer. We spoke afterwards and talked about maybe doing some shows in the spring which would be exciting.
It was a really great night and I really appreciate everyone coming down. Taylor Johns is definitely becoming my favourite Coventry venue (even more so if they will always serve me camomile and lime tea!!). I am playing there again on January 18th, here is the FACEBOOK EVENT. So I said that Richard Harrison came down to take some photos, here is the slide show of his images. Brilliant photos again…
This morning I have been to BBC Coventry and Warwickshire to play live on the Annie Othen show. Her producer rang me yesterday and asked me to join the Christmas party which would feature cocktail tasting and some Christmas food. I was only too pleased to agree.
I picked up Rachel on the way and headed into town to find a parking space. We parked up and walked in the rain up to the BBC building. We met up with Amrit who was part of Annie’s team who welcomed us and made us a cup of tea which is always a good start! We went in to the studio and set up and met up with Annie. Rob who was a head chef and Robert who was a cocktail maker were also on the show. We got to sample a few sips of cocktails and some freshly made mince pie (well Rach did as they weren’t veggie!! boo!!!). We played Jingle bells, White Christmas and Joy to the World during the last hour of the show. It was great fun meeting the team and I now feel that Christmas has fully started! You can listen to the show for the next 7 days on IPlayer HERE. We start about 2 hours into the show! Hope you enjoy Christmas…. x
Yesterday I went back to Marion’s allotment to play a little Christmas gig. Back in the summer I played at her allotment and it was a lovely candle lit evening. You can read all about that gig on this BLOG POST. I picked up Laura who was coming to film the gig again and headed over to the allotment. While on the way I realised that I couldn’t completely remember where it was, thankfully I did remember and managed to find a little parking space pretty close by. After getting out the car and walking up with my guitar and Laura’s gear I realised actually how cold it was (3 degrees!). Marion has set up mulled wine, fresh soup and hot chocolate to keep everyone warm. It was lovely to see lots of familiar faces as well as some new ones. I played 5 of my songs and after which my fingers really were cold and I was struggling to actually feel them!
I had organised with Marion to play some carols for everyone to join in with. I love playing carols, even though they are really quite to work out on the guitar as they are meant to be played on the organ! Marion has printed out carol sheets and we all sang Silent Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Joy to the World and a few others. I finished with a fun version of Jingle Bells which everyone seemed to really enjoy! Yes it was very cold, in fact very, very cold but it was all worth it. I really appreciate Marion’s support with my music so it was great to play this gig for her. We even talked about doing it again when the weather was warm.
This is the film that Laura made for me. Please have a look at her other work HERE, she is very talented!
Richard Harrison who is a wonderful photographer and fan of my music was there and took these brilliant photos. Thank you Richard!
Have a look at Richard Harrison’s other photos his has taken of me on his FLICKR PAGE.
Last Sunday afternoon I went to play a special house show with WES FINCH to launch his new EP. Wes had kindly asked me a few weeks ago to come and play and I am very pleased I was able to as this was one of the most memorable gigs I have ever played. Wes had given me the house address but as usual I wasn’t quite sure what to expect because I hadn’t been to the house before. I parked up near by and found myself walking up the drive a very large and interesting looking house! I knocked on the door and Elaine, Wes’ good friend, opened the door. I entered the amazing home and was taken down to the room where we would be playing. It was a large room with a huge fire place that was all wooden. The room was was very grand. Wes and his band were busy sound checking and getting everything set up. I brought in the rest of my gear (narrowly missing slipping over on to my bum the third time in!) and waited for the band to complete what they needed to do. I met up with Adam from THE OUTDOOR SESSIONS who was filming the gig and organised how we would record the sound.
At around 2pm people starting arriving, including Rob from REDWOOD PHOTOGRAPHY who was coming to take photos. This was a specially invited audience of friends, family, press and admirers of Wes’ music. The room filled up very quickly. I opened my set with Whole Picture which went down really well. I was pleased with my set. I really enjoyed playing and it was lovely how the audience listened and responded so positively. I played my cover of Duke Special’s Slip of Girl and everyone kindly joined in at the end of the song, thanks everyone!
After my set Wes took to the stage along with a range of top quality musicians. At different points during the performance he had mandolin, banjo, violin, double bass, drums, two wonderful lady singers (Lucy and Liz) and himself playing acoustic guitar and singing. I have mentioned Wes many times and his songs really are brilliant. A great blend of folk, country, americana and blues which when accompanied by Wes soulful voice and interesting lyrics really create an interesting mix. In a live situation, like this one, it’s completely captivating. Wes and the band played two sets and after the darkness of the night closed in people said their goodbyes and thank yous and went home for their Sunday dinner.
A wonderful gig and I am looking forward to seeing the video which Adam is going to produce. Here are some of Rob’s photos…
Have a look at Rob Redwood’s blog for more photos HERE.
I have not posted a blog for a little while, sorry about that. Things have been very busy so I thought I would write a general round up about what I have been up to. This probably won’t be in chronological order!
So last weekend I played in Lichfield at Ego which I haven’t been to for a while. It was lovely gig and I played all my new songs which went down really well. It was great to try them out in the live environment. I have also been playing a little cover of Madness’ ‘It must be love’ which was well received. I shall record a video for YouTube soon!
Last week I recorded and mixed my three Christmas songs for this year. It was the first time that I had used some of my new equipment and I am really pleased with how they turned out. I had been having lots of trouble with my microphone but when it came to the recording session with Rach it worked again perfectly. Have a listen below and download them for FREE.
On Monday this week I played a last minute gig at the Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry for a Turner Prize party. George Shaw a painter who grew up in Coventry had been nominated and was the favourite to win. Sadly he didn’t win. It was still a great night to have loads of different creative people from Coventry all together. Thank you to everyone who came and spoke to me during the night. I met up with my friend Laura after the gig to start planning the ‘Something Worth Keeping (remix)’ video which is going to include all those photo you have been sending me. We are beginning filming in the new year which is very exciting!
I have also confirmed a lovely set of gigs for next year including one at the Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry which is a brilliant venue. You can buy tickets HERE
This is FICTION FIGHT. They make really lovely music and their album is a ‘pay what you want release’. Chris from the band is one of the people who has remixed my music and he has done a wonderful job. Fiction Fight make a really interesting noise and I love male and female vocal mix. Chris’ production is a just lovely too, really edgy but at the same time well rounded. Please check them out and buy their record:
Last Tuesday I went to Coventry University to record a session with Studio 113. The guys got in touch with me a few months ago and we finally managed to pin down a date we could both do. I parked my car up and walked up to the studio. Stan met me at the door and took me down to the studio. They guys spent a while getting everything sorted and set up which was a good thing as my voice was feeling pretty tired. I warmed it up gently and also practised the four songs I was going to record (Whole Picture, Beyond the Flags, Left to Hide and A Song for Noah). The lights were so bright that I couldnt’t actually see the three people filming me which was funny! Each song worked well and I pretty much nailed them in one take. I did a little bit of talking about myself at recording the four songs which was cool. The results will be edited up and online soon. I can’t wait to share it with you. Thanks again to the lovely guys at Studio 113.
My friend Laura Meades has used ‘Whole Picture’ on an advert project she has just completed. It is a great little video and it is great hearing my music on it!
Recently a few people have been asking me about how to play a couple of my songs which is really lovely. So I have made a couple of short video blogs to show how play ‘Whole Picture’ and ‘Jigsaw’. I have also uploaded a PDF of the lyrics. I would love to hear your versions of these songs so have a go and upload and share them!
Last week I went down to Newquay in Cornwall and enjoyed some excellent waves as well as some very mixed weather! Here are some of the photos I took during my week…
This is the second guest blog post and it is written by a wonderful singer songwriter from Birmingham called Dan Whitehouse. His debut album is out now and it is brilliant. Please have a look at his website (http://www.dan-whitehouse.com/) and buy his album from the link at the bottom of this post. A big thank you to Dan for writing this very, very interesting blog post…
This is a diary entry I wrote in 2004. I’d recently been dumped (by a musician partner, not a lover) and perhaps I was looking for an explanation, didn’t see it that way at the time though! It was a Sunday afternoon in November, sat on a bench in covent garden. I was really hungover but it was one of those good ones, where in addition to the sandpaper tongue / piercing headache / intermittent retching you actually feel enlightened, a good blow out. I was feeling quite tender (emotionally and physically!) and wanted to make sense of the stuff spinning round my head, to find a reason why someone I had trusted and expected so much from had up and left, without warning. Having a good writing session really cleared my mind, and I felt so happy and excited I even began to find answers for other questions hanging around my neck, like why do I feel compelled to sing & write songs?
Then the answer came. Hurrah. So chuffed. Some weeks later I bought an A1 size piece of yellow card and copied this paragraph out in HUGE letters and stuck it to my wall, I remember being so pleased with myself, convinced I’d worked out my own little meaning of life. In the years that have passed it’s remained relevant to me, so I stuck a bit of it inside my album sleeve. Been a little worried folks won’t understand the fragment I stuck in the album, so here it is in full:
Sometimes, I understand you.
We don’t know each other. We think we do, but how can we when the information inside our heads is hidden, by a lot of flesh, bone and expression. There are some holes in the face of course and these reveal a little. When Tim Booth sings “sometimes when I look deep into your eyes I swear I can see your soul” the key word for me is ‘sometimes’. Sometimes thoughts get mixed up, or misunderstood. You may have communicated with someone and just them mouthing words, making sounds – this act alone has made you really upset or angry or whatever…we are all compassionate. We hold each other in the communal cradle of our actions, of our words too, and of course (the fun bit in my opinion) our expression.
Last Saturday I played a lovely house show in Coventry for Rich and Shiv. I have been in touch with both of them via Twitter for quite a while and they have both been big supporters of my music. Rich had asked me about playing a house show a few months ago and I was very excited to finally be playing for them. A couple of weeks before the show Rich had asked me about covering a song that was really dear to both his and Shiv’s hearts. ‘Slip of a Girl’ by Duke Special (www.dukespecial.com) was the song they used to sing to their daughter when she woke up crying in the night. Duke had actually played at their house a couple of years previously and dedicated the song to their little girl. So I had learnt the song and changed it a little, ready for the gig.
I arrived at the house and brought various gear in, as Rich had told me lots of people would be coming and I might need to bring a speaker to make sure I was heard! A crazy house show! As I was carefully setting up in the corner of the living room Andy (www.atlumschema.com) arrived, as he was going to be playing too. After a drink and a quick chat, about how the night would run, Andy started his set of cool acoustic songs. People loved all the looping he used and really responded well to him. It was nice to see Andy again as the last time I had seen him was at Greenbelt Festival. I also enjoyed hearing the songs I’d learnt on the bass and even found myself singing along with the harmonies!
After Andy’s lovely set I grabbed a couple of spicy onion bhajis and got ready to play. This was a quite different to some of the house shows I had played before as there were a lot more people and a lot more children. This made for a unique and special atmosphere. I really enjoyed playing my set which included a Love’s Tale (the song from my sister’s wedding) and a brand new unnamed song which people really liked, which was lovely. I played Gunfight, which is my cover of Andy’s song and he joined me on guitar. Funnily I managed to completely mix up the words singing the verses in the wrong order! As my penultimate song I played the Duke Special cover that Rich and Shiv had requested. Here is the video that Chris (one of Rich’s mates) shot on his iPhone.
After I finished playing, Dom, another of Rich and Shiv’s friends played a few songs on the piano. Dom hadn’t played in front of people for quite a while but it didn’t show at all. He was brilliant.
I love playing house shows. I love talking to and getting to know people. It is a very humbling experience playing my songs to people in their houses. I write songs in my house about all sorts of things and then record them. For me this is often enough but when people enjoy listening to them and then tell me it really meant something to them, I feel very humbled. So thank you to Rich and Shiv for asking me to play and to everyone who listened and talked to me. It means a lot to me.
Thanks a lot to Rich for the photos. Have a look at more of his photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthfromtheground/sets/72157627909174952/
Marc also took some great photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tvermar/sets/72157627906704318/
This morning I have been to BBC Coventry and Warwickshire to play live on the Annie Othen show. Her producer rang me yesterday and asked me to join the Christmas party which would feature cocktail tasting and some Christmas food. I was only too pleased to agree.
