Hello!
So we have returned from Denmark, the land of green fields, bicycles with no locks, huge ice creams, beautifully spoken English, bridges that cross the sea (!), expensive beer, euro-jeans, and smiley happy Danes. And the bacon was good too. Had a great trip to beautiful town Svendborg for the International Songwriter's Festival. Not quite as many folks at the gigs as we had expected. Had a rousing reception of 6 at one, but a very attentive 6 they were, so we don't mind. Had a great gig in the town square on market day, and got to hear some local heroes doing some Danish folk rock and a group of nurses on strike singing a song too. All the while surrounded by locals enjoying beer and hot dogs at 10 am. Glorious.

Very embarrassed to realise that neither myself, Tim, nor Alun (Parry), spoke one word of Danish betwen us. Oh, apart from 'Hello' which, in Danish, is pronounced, 'Hello'. Had a few hilarious moments trying to work out what 'fart plan' could possibly mean. Timetable, we were told. Ho ho. Also very funny to notice that as the Danes don't pronounce the letter 'v', people were constantly referring to non-meat-eating Alun as a wegetarian. Stifled giggles...

Got to see two great acts from overseas, Disa from Iceland, and McKinley Black from the US. Well worth checking out!!! Oh and our lovely hostess for two nights Naja. Awesome voice. My highlight methinks. Hoping to return to the festival again, it's just in its second year so got lots of growing to do. Met lots of local musicians who were uber welcoming and appreciative and had some awesome venues to play their hearts out in. One venue was an amazing cooperative venture with rehearsal rooms, stages, fab facilities, openly available to support local musicians. Something I think we definately need in the Pool.

Lastly, realised that I don't like flying. Have flown a fair bit before but forgot how panicky I get when we take off. It's just not right being suspended 39,000 feet in the air in a metal tube. Found myself constantly monitoring the faces of the flight attendants for even the slightest flicker of concern, so I could start searching frantically for the parachutes. Bit foolish really...

Bye for now x

Hello!
Blog long overdue so thought I would let you know what I've been up to...
On major wind-down from uni with only one project to go. This is actually quite exciting as it's a gig for SOUND CITY festival in Liverpool. (Google it for kicks!) It's one of those industry showcase affairs where A&R guys with BMW's and wads of dosh might show up and decide that they want to pay me to make music. Who knows? That could be nice eh?? Anyway I'm just really looking forward to playing with a great bunch of boys who are really good musicians. New to the fold for this gig will be Greg Schofield, another frighteningly talented multi instrumentalist, who's going to play piano. Woo. Think I'm going to do a new song too, called Refuge. The gig is at 2:45pm, bit of a strange time but hey ho, if you are free please come on down. Show starts at 1pm with some other fab acts from LIPA.

Also been writing a bit of poetry. Had to for a uni class but as soon as I sat down and started, I remembered why I used to love it so much. Felt so much more free with words and ideas than when trying to fit them into a song straight away. I finished one poem (Dancing Green) and I'm looking at working it into song form. May become a new method of writing for me..

Denmark Trip only a week away!!
Found out last week that we are staying on a boat for one night (me hearties). Will give you a full resume when/if we return.
xx

Labels: greg schofield, LIPA, poetry, sound city

Hello there!
For any of you that have bought a copy of 'Just Like He Said', it may have become apparent that there are some verses missing from 'Balaam's Donkey' lyrics on the inlay. Poo! I read through that inlay meticulously, looking for spelling mistakes but forgot to check that there were any actual verses missing. Doh! I'm going to put them down here so they don't feel left out.

Balaam threw his hands up to the skies and stamped his feet upon that road to Moab.
As the dust fell still, the angel there he spied
And he fell down hard and he covered up his eyes

The angel gave his sword a little spin and spoke with the sound of waters falling
It's a reckless path that you're persisting in,
That beast has saved your life, you'd be dead if not for him.

Labels: Balaam's Donkey, lyrics

Woo! We did it! I didn't forget my words, or fall over my lead or even drop a plectrum. It was SOOOO much fun playing on that stage although I was quite glad it was so dark and we couldn't see all the people. Big thank you to anyone in that appreciative audience or who came up to chat afterwards or bought an album. The Blind Boys were fabulous- got everyone up and grooving after telling folk that they "do not appreciate a conservative audience". Bit gutted we didn't get to meet them but what a treat to see them perform. Saying that, we did chat to the pianist, Jason Crosby, who is undoubtedly the most cheerful person I have ever met. Other highlights include finding Kate Rusby's set list in our dressing room, (she had played the Phil the previous night) and finding out later on that my sister in law had gone into labour during the B Boy's set. Think baby Maggie must've been feeling those funky bass lines and she was born the next day. Might try and find her a baby sized, pinstripe blue suit... Should have a stack of photos for you soon courtesy of Chris Norman (thank you!!!)...look out for them...

Labels: Blind Boys of Alabama, Chris Norman, Kate Rusby, Maggie

Had a long overdue photo shoot last Saturday to get some new pics. Momentary panic as I realised my bro Rich was going to be in work and so couldn't fix my wig. He's a hair genius. I used to mystify my hairdresser by cutting bits off my fringe cause I though it looked cool. I looked unhinged. Managed to create something tidy but a bit stiff. This and the fact that it was a bit cold in town (I'm not happy when cold) made me appear a little 'Cruella de Ville'. (Tim does a really good impression). Not the floaty, folkie, natural look we were going for! Good job we had Chris Norman on hand to work some photographic magic. Chris had an idea about going to Moorfields station. We were very quickly informed on arrival that our activity would be a threat to health and safety so no, we could not take a few pics. BOOOO!

Manage to get some good'uns in Lime Street station, in a lovely pub called the Roscoe Head and in Subway! Check 'em out...

Labels: Cruella de Ville, Photoshoot

Well, hey ho, it's all been getting a bit busy! Exciting though.
I'm off from uni at the moment (Easter hols!) so we're taking the opportunity to gather momentum for the gig at the Phil supporting the Blind Boys of Alabama. It's all badges and T shirts and website stuff and posters and nervous excitement and praccy!! Planning a folding party tomorrow to get the inlay ready for the album. Think I'll make a vat of pumpkin risotto for stamina! Looking forward to the gig particularly now that we've had our first praccy. Bob brought cookies, which were lovely, but when combined with Sprite didn't help me to sing very well at first. I should know better!! But it was all good in the end. Steve amazed us all by singing supernaturally high harmonies whilst Chris got to grip with some bizarre chords I never knew I'd written.

Labels: Blind Boys of Alabama, Gig, Praccy