One lifetime ambition done and dusted for everyone in the band, as we supported the Levellers at Brixton Jamm this weekend. Brixton Jamm is a very decent sized venue and it was totally packed out – one of the biggest shows we have played so far. Mark Chadwick was great and even talked to us before he went on stage (at 2am – rock n’ roll) – no signs of living legend status going to his head. Of course they played my favourite Levellers song ‘One Way’.
We played with some great bands too Guns of Pig Alley, Kenelis, The Tunics, Henry’s Children, Archie Wah Wah’s and Shakellers. It was a party atmosphere right from soundcheck at 4pm to climax at 4am.
OK back in London – yes I missed you. LA was lots of fun and I can’t wait to go back – London is home! And 2 days after I came back Carrie from New Cross Inn invited me to play at the Cariad. I did a solo acoustic show on my own acoustic guitar and it rocked! The New Cross army were out in force and Carrie was still speaking and not passed out on rum.
Other acts to mention were Damien Renouf, Adam Masterton and headliners Bogus Gasman all of whom got rid of any January blues, with hard rocking, both acoustic and electric.
Played an acoustic session with guest guitarist MaW and Djembe drummer Jeremy at Punk in Soho this week, first one since August, breaks up the electric gigs pretty well. I have also been songwriting this week and tried out new song ‘Hunger’ which had a great audience reaction. All the other bands played an electric set and were great – it’s a cosy venue again at the end of a bar and had a great little Orange amp (starting to get fond of these amps).
On the gig front went to see Arctic Monkeys at the O2, they were brilliant – full of energy and catchy tunes – great to see the boys take their songs to the next level with their arena show.
We went along to the heart of East London to take part in an acoustic session and interview with Propaganda Radio station, which broadcasts every Thursday between 7 and 8pm on the internet (Xstream East Radio). Again Matt, GreG and I armed with acoustic guitars and a cajon played three songs ‘Out of Control’, ‘Nobody’s Fool’ and new track ‘Undercover’.
Andy and Jamie were lots of fun and asked GreG all about his cajon and how we had all met. We also heard the sad news that The Rakes, a cool band who were also produced by Junk Scientist, had split up – but I’m sure the boys will move onto better things as individuals.
Back in London – it was our second outing on Balcony TV – we loved it so much first time round that we decided to do it again. This time we played ‘Dying Day’ a new acoustic track that we have been playing at our live gigs. Joined by Matt on guitar who did a nifty little solo and GreG on his cajon again it was lovely to be on Camden Lock Balcony in the midst of the summer sun.
Balcony TV is a really simple concept, musicians, acoustic instruments, a balcony, a small TV crew and a song or two which is broadcast on the internet for everyone to see – that’s why its so popular and from its humble start in Ireland has spread all over the world with Eastern Europe and Nashville being the most recent settings.
Said a final goodbye to Bradford this week as we sold our house and my family officially left Bradford after 37 years (and are now full-time Londoners). It was sad, I was born in Bradford and have many fond memories, awkward growing up episodes, it’s where I ignited my passion for music and had many first-times.
In fact the house we sold was our family home for 29 years! Mrs T had only been Prime Minister for a year when my family got the house. yes a lot has happened in that time. Emails, internet, downloading and blogging – unheard of.
I have my school friends and family friends up in Yorkshire/Lancashire still so I will go and visit them – but I will keep the Bradford of my youth in my memories.
Also saw Brandi Carlile perform her only date in the UK this year and she was simply amazing – she has an awesome voice and the songs are so beautiful. The concert had to be rescheduled due to power cuts in Kings Cross (!) but I was lucky enough to be able to make the new date. Below is a video of her singing ‘Turpentine” at La Scala pretty apt as this was the week we left Bradford for good.
Ok festival season is here again and on July 4th I did three gigs in one day! I started off at the Dolphin Stage at 1030am in the morning outside the Dolphin Pub in Sydenham as part of the Sydenham Festival, then I played the Post Office stage further up the street at 1230pm and finished off with an acoustic set with the band at The Albany as part of the Today Deptford Festival in Deptford at 4pm.
It was hectic but fun and I saw Randolph Matthews at the Sydenham Festival who has a great voice. At the Albany I heard the dulcit tones and story-telling form Damien Renouf a popular local troubadour, Paintings of Ships and the Poetic Wizadry of Kate Tempest – that girl can slam.
The following Saturday it was our big festival slot at Lewisham People’s Day (25th anniversary) – it poured buckets – but we met some lovely people and we rocked out – We shared the bill on the Rocklands Stage headlined by the awesome Officer Kicks – another local band making big waves in the industry. Other bands we loved were Short Skirtz, Edit/Select, Jimmy and the Banned, Rawfox, End of Spectrum, The Kut and Sixty Second Silence. I have played with Short Skirtz before – they were finallists in the Surface Unsigned competition.
The local talent in the South East of London is amazing – so many talented and friendly bands and we are running into them at more and more gigs. Venues in the SouthEast include, The Albany, Bird’s Nest, Deptford Arms, Fox and Firkin, The Marlborough, The New Cross Inn. In fact the Music Tourist Board is a big collective of assorted music types based in the South East and the more I get to know them the more I love it. Propoganda Radio the local South East London radio station also featured Nobody’s Fool on their weekly Thursday night show.
Sydenham Festival called me back to end the festival in Mayow Park on Sunday and that was lovely – again met some lovely people there include festival organiser Juliette.
Maybe it’s because I’m a South Londoner – that I love London town doo do do do.
Just went to another Open Mic. They are fun and I sometimes go when I’m not recording or gigging just to play and try out new songs. Yes you can get all kinds of acts, from the inexperienced, the seasoned open mic pro, right down to the downright baffling. That is the beauty of Open Mics, of course you can use them to get bigger gigs at the same venue, but what I love about it is the unpredictability and free for all that you are part of. That’s when you can see real creativity shining through – where musicians and performers are unafraid to be judged and everyone and anyone can just get up there and do their thing.
Self-expression is such a basic human thing, if we weren’t allowed to self-express I’m pretty sure we’d go crazy! In fact that’s what they did in stone age times – they booted people out of the community as punishment and then they died from a lack of human contact.
If I find myself nodding off at an Open Mic, I remind myself – how lucky we are to have a place where we can self-express and to be in a place where self-expression is a right that is protected. Enough of that – now everyone go out today and just express yourself!
Here is a video of me expressing myself at my recent birthday gig at The Cobden Club, supported by Jeremy Hopkin on the Djembe and Simon Alderwick on the guitar. The song is a new song called Notches on the Bedpost
My summer of playing gigs in and out of doors, has had to be cut short. The sun started to shine and my lungs decided to rebel. I too have been going to see the docs (just like Amy – but unlike Amy no calls from Nelson Mandela (yet)).
I have been told to rest and get back to singing bit by bit and now I realise how important it is for me to be able to sing. Suddenly it feels like the shutters have come down and way of communicating has been shut off. Lots of honey, lemon and rest besides, I will be playing a couple of shows this month and I am looking forward to it – there will be a lot of singing-along!
On a darker note I got home late last night and someone had been stabbed at the back of my street. There is a lot of press about knife crime at the moment, in the last 3 weeks alone there have 4 stabbings within 10 minutes walk of me, the closest being last night. It’s shocking that the only way to end arguments seems to be to end someone’s life with a blade.
On a lighter note here is a video of me singing ‘Woman’ at Fiddler’s Elbow last month.
Went to see some local gigs in London this week and I have to say the live music scene here is just great. They were very different kinds of gig, Friday night I went to see some new bands at a night run by Club Fandango. There was a varied bill with poppy with a very cool stage show The Rrrs, 80s indie for the noughties Dega Breaks and rocky pop of Canadian band Land of Talk. All three very different, but made you want to jump up and down and put your hands in the air and salute the greateness of rock and pop.
The night before that I went to see an acoustic covers duo in a wine bar and they too were great, playing everything from the Beatles to Metallica and bringing the true soul out of these songs that simple acoustic guitars and voices do so well, – in a wine bar at that! Though I maybe echoing the London Mayoral candidates (oh my God Boris won!) when I say this, London is one of the greatest cities in the world and the live music scene only reflects this.
