Caroline Trettine's Album Launch 12th September

Stop press! I'm honoured to be part of a supporting cast for Caroline Trettine's album launch on the 12th of September. Terry Edwards will join me for a couple of songs.
Look at the line-up!
Further details here: www.carolinetrettine.com

The 'Song From The Kitchen' That Didn't Happen

I've recorded thirteen songs for my new album and as always, it is changing tack as it goes on. Originally I'd thought of a simple guitar and vocal recording but then it just grew. I am going to ask a couple of other guest musicians next week (they may say no, because they are both very busy), but as it is it is already surprising me with its sound.

I tried to record one of the songs this morning but I've got a gig tomorrow and a rehearsal this afternoon and I couldn't relax enough to do it. In a few day's time, maybe.

Also, I'm out of coffee!

The Morning After The Night Before, Newcastle

 

Seasonal Song

 

Drawing A Poster

 

Sheffield, Halifax and Home

I'm sitting like a zombie and thinking like a slug. Why? A weekend of gigs and a day of recording and rehearsal following on from that.

On Saturday, I was invited by Elodie Ginsbourg, the force of nature behind Da DA DA fanzine, to a really lovely birthday party. Despite transport problems, I didn't miss too much of it. When I got there,  the Middle Ones were just finishing their set, and Crumbs took to the stage to play a loud, punk-inspired and lively set that completely redefined the link between party dresses and music.

The venue for the party was upstairs at the immaculately Victorian Channing Hall in central Sheffield, whose large windows illuminated a spacious room filled with round tables hosting excited families. Elodie's many friends circled around helping: Pete Dale of Milky Wimpshake was on sound desk duties, and although I have known him as an academic colleague, I've never actually seen them play. They are a trio who play powerful guitar-based songs and I really enjoyed their set too. Before theirs, I'd been on to play and at Elodie's request, finished with a singalong of The Bathing Pond. It's been this summer's song of the set, which I never really expected.

I think one of my favourite parts of the party was the quiz. Jamie from Crumbs had written a special song to introduce the interlude, Is This The Quiz (I think). Every quiz should have this! It was exciting; I have always avoided them, but this felt like it would be fun. Joined by the two guys from Sassyhiya (our team name was HiyaSassy), we blundered happily through it all and scored eleven out of sixteen. Not all the mistakes were mine!

Finally, Sassyhiya played a set with seven new songs in it. They were very good, and rocked the evening. I particularly liked the lead guitar playing, which due to distortion effects sounded like a crazy string quartet snaking through the songs at times. I was sitting chatting to Duncan at the time (thanks for coming along) and he enjoyed that too. There was some great DJ-ing from Steve Dore and from Madeleine.

Later on, some of us ate pizza at those round tables. The spotty balloons were popped, everything was packed up and we headed back to Elodie's very stylish home. Next morning Elodie, her daughter Madeleine and me walked to the bakers to collect pastries. Outside there were benches, and on the benches were her friends from the party drinking coffee in the sunshine and chatting. What a friendly city it is! She told me about a garden taken over by badgers, sharing of frogspawn, all sorts of positive ways of making a community that are a thousand million miles away from Elon Musk's bleak techworld.

Sadly, I had to leave and train it over to Halifax, which was a thankfully much less eventful journey than the nightmare of Saturday's St Pancras St Panic. I got to the Grayston Unity a little early, which Thomas was delighted by, because the sound check time was a bit short. I had time for a wander after that before going back, and there was my friend Alison who loves music with a passion and goes to loads and loads of gigs. Phil Fowler was also there, and they had already met before in Todmorden market. I don't think Alison knew that Phil could saw people in half as part of his magic act- or at least he could long ago, when Lester Square and I organised rambling variety shows that we took to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Musically, this was an utterly different gig. Matthew (The Silver Reserve) plays quiet, intense songs that he mediates through a series of vocal mics, loop pedals and so on. He's been on tour with Gordon MacKinney, who hails form Oklahoma and who had a pic-up band of keyboards, cahon, fiddle and guitar alongside him. Both artists sang reflective, quite blue songs. I was sandwiched between and felt rather brash in comparison (but maybe I'd carried a bit of punk from the day before in my guitar case), but actually there was a very, very rousing rendition of... The Bathing Pond at the end of my set. I had to slip out before the end of Gordon's set which was a shame, but getting home on a Sunday on the train could have been a nightmare. Again though, I was struck by how people want to be a community. The Grayston Unity is a lovely venue, such a welcoming place to play, and the people who go to gigs there really treasure it.

Home not too late, and glad of it. The following day Clémentine March came to record guitar on one of my new songs. It didn't take her long to settle in to the track and play some really fabulous stuff. I was so delighted that she agreed to do this: I've got great limitations as a guitarist, and listening back to what she did later on, I could see how much difference it makes to include guest musicians on songs. And she has another song from the album which she will add something to and send over later today.

Just as Clémentine was leaving, Ruth was arriving. Yes, we were rehearsing for Sunday's festival gig! Karina couldn't come because her van played up on the way back from Hereford, but Lester Square could, and we had a concentrated rehearsal of the three songs he's going to play on. Boy, has he done his homework! He's made a very Cramps-ish riff to wriggle through Three Cheers for Toytown, and again I was blown away by what can be done by a complete craftsperson on a guitar. He upped the game for all three of us, because Ruth's bass playing took on a slinky feel. Home rehearsals have that same relaxed vibe as home recording sessions- there is time for chatting and eating and getting to know things about each other that you just wouldn't be able to do in a rehearsal studio. I am convinced that my kitchen has some sort of magic 'trust' bubble that makes people able to speak honestly and safely when they are together. Ruth had to tolerate Lester and me talking about our past exploits, unfortunately! I hope we aren't to boring and old-daysish. Sometimes you forget just how much creative time you spend with people, and in the case of Lester Square, we have done a lot- TV sound tracks, musicals, you name it.

Tuesday, yes Tuesday was zombie day. I actually did the ironing and even that felt exhausting. But I listened at last to the Radical Friendship Theory album that Robert Rotifer has created. It showcases Kenji's vocal contributions beautifully. There are not enough recordings of his gentle, silky voice and I deeply regret that the project I asked him to sing on was let down by literally everyone else (apart from Michel) being totally flaky. Everyone. Scroll up again, and you'll see how much energy Elodie put into her party: it was a fantastic thing to be part of. But all these things are balancing acts of goodwill ad faith in people's contributions. This is what Robert is celebrating with his album: he asks his friends, and we say 'yes'. Hats off to Robert for having the idea and bringing it to fruition! Gideon Coe has already played a track on his show, one with Kenji's singing. I hope he plays more.

I also listened to the latest album by Pete Bentham and the Dinner Ladies, Art, Religion and Chocolate Biscuits. I'll be interviewing Pete on the Literary Stage at the Rebellion punk festival, and he kindly sent me the album to listen to. They are from Liverpool, and their sound varies from complete punkiness to much more reflective tracks. So far, my favourite is the song about not jamming. This strikes a deep chord within me because I can't do it at all. I am going to play that track to death.

A million years in a few days! Real people, playing real music, talking, having ideas: making life and making culture despite the seemingly determined efforts of spoilsports and miserygutses to ruin everything. Thank you to Elodie for inviting me to play at her party and to all of the people who played so fabulously well on Saturday, to the people at the Graytson Unity, to people who go to gigs, to Clémentine, Ruth, Lester and Karina. This is the way we create hope. Toot toot!

Man Folds Shirt On Intercity Train

 

High Tide on Sunday

On Sunday, a HUGE free festival in Twickenham.

I'll be in the Eel Pie pub at 1 p.m. with an unusual band line-up that includes the fabulous, unique Lester Square on guitar, Ruth Tidmarsh on bass and vocals, and Karina Townsend (sax, melodica and vocals).

Please come!

We'd love you to hear us

Two Gigs This weekend: Sheffield and Halifax

Gig number one is the birthday party for Da Da Da zine, run by Elodie Ginsbourg. It's in Sheffield and starts at 3 p.m.

I'll be on at 5.30

Tickets here: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Sheffield/Channing-Hall/DA-DA-DA-party/42375316/

Tomorrow's gig is in Halifax at the wonderful Grayston Unity. Again, it's an afternoon gig (starting at 2 p.m.)

Tickets here and also available on the door: https://www.seetickets.com/event/afternoon-of-storytellers/the-grayston-unity-hx1-1pu/3631481

Time

I'm tired, mixing socialising with working on the music. Mixing music.

Still there is so much to learn; timbre is so absorbing. I've learned that the difference between playing a ukulele with a pick and with your thumb makes a massive impact on the sound- and also that uke chords sustain for much longer than I'd thought. I am going to have to divide my playing between tiny fingers (uke), medium fingers (banjo) intermediate fingers (guitar), and large fingers (bass). If there are any of these I can't manage I'll have to draft in the music troops.

I have a guest musician coming this afternoon, another on Monday, and another on Wednesday. This has involved Snacks Purchasing and House Cleaning and running the washing machine at unholy hours.

Yesterday I met Rowen, my friend from long ago. It was really nice to catch up with her and her positive news, and to take a holiday from recording, although at one point I inadvertently steered the conversation towards music technology!

Funicular Operator, Near Aviemore

 

Gull Pondering On Boat, Folkestone

 

Books and Bars

Last night we had a really great ladies rehearsal at my old workplace. I love rehearsing with Ruth and Karina, it's always surprising how well our voices go together (well, particularly theirs- I can't hear mine!). I bent down to pick up my guitar lead earlier in the afternoon before I left and thought 'I'll just do a little bit of editing before I go', and forgot the lead. Nobody in the electronics shops in Stratford knew what a guitar cable was. In one place they looked so disappointed not to be able to help that I had to explain 'It's a specialist cable'.

All that concentrating: it was tiring, but we sorted a lot out. It's a mini-band for the High Tide Festival on the 26th of July (The Eel Pie Pub in Twickenham, on at 1 p.m. and it's free!). Lester Square will be joining us too. And thanks to Karina, I know know what a Fluffy is!

I spent this morning re-doing a tricky guitar part, then these books showed up. I now have some to sell at gigs and so on. 

I've just done some backing vocals on the track that will be the last one on the album. Terribly self-indulgent, doncha know! The plan for finishing everything is crystallising out very slowly. It includes a lot of re-playing (grr), doing all the lead vocals as soon as the weather has cooled down, a guest guitarist coming on Thursday and another on Monday, a guest vocalist on Wednesday, and then picking up Gran's banjo from Maggie to try to pick a few bars on one of the songs. I feel like Gran should be there on the record, because her spirit (or her genes, Chris Packham) has been with me during my whole life like reinforced steel in my bones, and kindness encircling my mind whenever times have been tough. And times were very tough at the end of the 1970s.

Halifax Sunday

Live in or near Halifax? Join us next Sunday afternoon at this lovely venue, @graystonunity with @mckinneygordon and @thesilverreserve 

Tickets: https://www.seetickets.com/event/afternoon-of-storytellers/the-grayston-unity-hx1-1pu/3631481

DaDaDa in Sheffield, Saturday

Who's coming to the @dadada_fanzine party on Saturday in Sheffield? with @sassyhiya @milkywimpshake @crumbsband @steve_dore_ and The Middle Ones. 

And me! I'm on at 5.30

Tickets here: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Sheffield/Channing-Hall/DA-DA-DA-party/42375316/?