The New Inn at Barwick-in-Elmet was my latest gig on Sunday night. I've played there on Sunday nights now for 3 years and it's been a very good, consistant venue. I get to play to a small but appreciative audience and can therefore escape the rigours of playing covers to order and can play a)more of my own songs and b)covers I want to play, some of them a little more obscure!

So Sunday was as good as normal and one of my quests in the near future is to find more venues of this kind. Small, intimate solo gigs where there is at least a modicum of interest in listening to singer-songwriters. I don't know if there are lots more or whether this is indeed a rare gem. If anyone can recommend more venues with appreciative audiences please do let me know!

I've spent most of this year and indeed 2008 pushing my band which has meant sometimes having to play venues not best suited to what I'm doing. We end up playing more covers, which is fine if they're appreciated, but when they're done just to stop the audience from switching off altogether, then it can become hard work.

The two recent Hebden Bridge gigs, plus Sunday, have inspired me to start look more closely at what other local singer-songwriters are doing. From their myspace sites, most seem to be doing some gigs, and I wonder how many of their gigs are where I need to be, rather than on the crusty old covers circuit I've done for the past 10 years. Either way, for my 'art' to grow and survive, I need to be playing at places where the public want to listen-it's a slow road to progress down but we shall see.

I think this will be the final blog of 09, so just let me say a big thank you to all who have continued to support what I'm doing. We've managed to keep the recession at bay and continue to progress. It's been a busy year but a fairly fruitful one.


*This week's Song Of The Week: 'Life'

Tales from Hebden Bridge (Part 2)!

On Sunday night (Dec 6th) I finished off my 2 week tour of Hebden Bridge, well- I've played there the last 2 Sundays anyway. This one was the Hole Note Acoustic Club upstairs in The Hole In T'Wall pub, and I was doing the main booked 'guest' slot.

I love the ambience of the room, complete with a range of comfy sofas and with the lights down low. People listen to the artists (most of them anyway!) and I felt I held people's attention during my set. This featured the debut of my Marc Cohn cover 'Dance Back From The Grave', complete with Hole Note host Craig on muted trumpet, it sounded superb! I played several of my own songs too including 'You Never Understood' off the new album. All in all another night I will go back to soon, the rest of the performers were all very interesting and the standard, for what is essentially an open mic night, was excedingly high.

There should be some photos to follow soon too!

Speaking of photos, check out the ones from last Sunday at B@R Place. I'm also using one of them as my default pic on myspace. BAR Place photos


HOW TO HEAR ALL MY SONGS PLUS MY 'SONG OF THE WEEK'

Introducing my new player which enables you to play any song from my back catalogue. That's 45 (!) songs, in full, to stream for free. Here it is!!

SONG OF THE WEEK

With such a big back catalogue, people often ask me which songs I would recommend they play. It's impossible for me to narrow it down to a favourite so what I've decided to do is focus on one song per week, and for the first week the song is:

COLD COLD DAY (CATT MIX)

Each week I'll do a bit of promo and blurb about one song. Starting with the above one. The first one I'm choosing is down near the bottom of the list: number 43. It was recorded in 2006 and is Ian Catt's remix of 'Cold Cold Day'. Ian Catt is a well-known producer, perhaps most noted for his work with St.Etienne, whom he also plays bass for. In addition to myself, Paul F and Sally Rivers, Ian plays bass and additional guitars on this version.




This Sunday (13th) I have another gig at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet, which is near Cross Gates, off the A64, heading out of Leeds. It's a beautiful village with a huge maypole! It is also of course one of my most regular solo venues and I'll be playing the full night, starting approx 9pm.

Tales from Hebden Bridge and How To Join My Mailing List

Sunday night at Hebden Bridge was an uplifitng experience for me, despite the lousy weather! As I mentioned last week, I was playing for LiveSpace's showcase at Bar Place. My 25 minute set was brought forward so I was all done by 9pm. I enjoyed playing particularly Broken Dreams for the first time, as well as other new album songs 'Nobody Said' and 'Free Freedom'.

It's amazing how, if the set is only short, the 'added value' of the gig goes up. I can safely say this was the first gig where I've ever been given a free lead, a mic cable! Ironic, as I'd only recently replaced a broken one...if only I'd known. Still, as any musician knows, these things always come in handy. Unless you're an acoustic act, or you mime.

I also secured another booking, plus there's some photographs on the way, which judging by the snapshots on the camera display, looked very good indeed.

So all in all a very useful night and I'm back in Hebden Bridge this Sunday at another acoustic night, at the Hole In The Wall. This time I'm the 'headliner' doing about 40 minutes. Needless to say I'm looking forward to it. Let's hope the River Calder holds up.

The night is called 'The Hole Note Acoustic Club', here is their myspace site.

There's two other gigs this week with the band doing the Malt Shovel, Drighlington on Friday and then another solo gig at Moorlands, Ogden on Saturday. The latter will be busy as there's a party and DJ booked also, I'll be playing more of a covers set for that one.


JOIN MY MAILING LIST!

If you would like to join my mailing list (which is by email of course) and receive news, links and free content all you have to do is click the link below!

JOIN THE MAILING LIST

Click the above link, and in the grey box enter your email address, then click subscribe.

You will then be sent a confirmation email from my provider, where you simply click another link to activate. This is just to ensure you are allowing me to send you emails.

*You will receive a free mp3 download when you join!! This song is not available for free on the internet.*

I look forward to talking to you and sending you many happy emails!

NEW ALBUM RELEASE: NOW ON SALE!

NEW ALBUM: DARE TO BE DIFFERENT





The album has actually been out a few weeks, but the first batch sold out faster than expected (no, honestly, it's true!). So I've delayed announcing on here until more CDs could be shipped.

So now without further delay, here is the link for the new album:

NEW ALBUM

A bit about the album:
It contains 12 songs, 10 are new ones of mine, plus 2 cover versions. The CD also has a colour booklet containing the song lyrics. On the above link you can preview a 30 second-ish sample of each song.

Please don't forget, as mentioned last week, you can also purchase the album in mp3 format from the same page. You can also simply tick the songs you want and just purchase a few selected songs from the album as mp3s. Just one song if you wish!

For a very recent review of the album: click here

The album is priced at $12.97, which is about £7.75 at the moment, plus postage & packing. If you live in a Euro country, the rate is very favourable for you! There is a special discount of 20% for purchasing more than one copy!
You will need a login and password for the site, which is free, just like you would for sites such as ebay.






This week:

I had a quiet time last week, more through necessity than choice. Around Tuesday afternoon I hit 'the wall' a bit and knew that I needed to stop. This led to a few days doing very little. People tend to laugh when I put it down to stress, but that's what it boils down to. Sometimes it can all get a bit too much. Not that I'm blaming anyone else for this, it's down to me over-committing, over-loading and then burning the candle at both ends.

Anyway, that's as it was last week. This week will be back to work, but hopefully not the over-committing, over-loading kind. It's funny how the fans and friends I have on myspace seem to understand how busy I am more than the people around me. I guess it's easier to see it from a distance.

The band was out in Snaith on Saturday night and this Sunday (29th) I've a solo gig with my friends at 'Live Space' who briefly went into hibernation earlier this year but are now back in full swing at Bar Place in Hebden Bridge. There are other acoustic acts booked so it should be a good night.

The Paul Jeffery Band was back on the road at the weekend, after a relatively quiet period of a few weeks. I expected to notice the gap over the past few weeks, leaving me more time to do other things, and more energy to do them. I can't say I really noticed the difference! So much rushed in to fill the extra space that as we approached Saturday night, I felt anything but refreshed.

But still, gigging has been the norm over the past 10 years, on most weekends. When I look back I'm constantly amazed by the workload of live shows I've done. I was recently reminiscing about a time when I did 3 or 4 gigs in a week, with various bands, all operating at the same time. I must be getting older.

Anyway I digress. Saturday (14th Nov) saw us back at Lockwood Conservative Club after a great night there in July. I'm pleased to report we had another excellent session this time, with a good response all the way through. The number of positive comments from folk was again inspiring and I'm looking forward to going back there in the new year.

The following afternoon we were back at another regular venue, The Bridge in Huddersfield. This was a bit busier than last time, and with darkness falling earlier now I felt it gave the gig a better atmosphere! Gigs in daylight just aren't quite the same somehow, in any venue, with the possible exception of opening Live Aid or something. That's on next year's 'to do' list.


The New Album Now Available As Digital Downloads (mp3s)

With more CDs currently being shipped (as we speak they are high above the atlantic-it's a big pidgeon), comes the news that my latest album 'Dare To Be Different' is now available to purchase in mp3 format, without the need for a CD!

There are several advantages to doing this:

1) It's cheaper for you! Obviously the most important thing....see number 5 for prices.

2) It removes the need for postage, packaging and courier pidgeons.

3) You can purchase individual tracks, maybe just one or two songs. No need to have all 12 songs, just get the ones you like best. Think of the album as being 12 singles!

4) You can easily put them on your iPOD, in any order you like. Listen to them on the train and annoy other passengers.

5) It's cheaper! Did I mention that? $9.99 for the full album, $0.99 for one song only.

6) By following point 2 you are helping the environment by doing away with packaging and postage. That means less aeroplane pollution and pidgeon droppings.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE DOWNLOADS*

*Simply select the songs you wish by ticking the boxes in the far right hand column. Then click the orange bar bottom right that says 'download selected songs'. To get the whole album click the oragne bar beneath the album title. You will need to sign up to use the site, but this is FREE and QUICK. Very similar to using iTunes or ebay.

The New Album Reviewed + Interview

Well, I was right last week. The album became available from the distributor, was released online, and....has now sold out the first batch! Therefore I won't do a blurb about it's release this week, as it's currently out of stock and you won't be able to get it until the next batch is shipped. This won't take long, and we're shipping more this time!

This could be a cunning marketing ploy to get you thinking: 'Shit, it must be good if it's already sold out!', but it is actually true. But still think 'shit, it must be good if it's already sold out!' as that is the case.

So I will give you a couple more tasters this week. Firstly, the album's first review went online a few days ago.

Click here to read the album review.

The review also acts as a good way of telling people what the album is like. It's a lot better than my own descriptions anyway! I'll leave it to the professionals.

Also, as part of the promo, I was interviewed by the reviewer. The result is a great little Question & Answer session, where you can find out lots more about me.

Click here to read the Paul Jeffery interview.


That's about it for now. Just to say the Paul Jeffery Band is back in action this week, at Lockwood Con Club on Saturday, and The Bridge on Sunday Afternoon, the latter starting at 3:30pm.

The New Album Cometh

Thank you to everyone who took the time to have a listen to a few of the new songs, courtesy of last week's links (see Previous Posts for last week's blog).

The latest on the album is that it is with the distributor and will be available online within a matter of days. All being well, in next week's blog I will be able to give full details of it's release.

There were no gigs last weekend and it's the same this week. Then the following week there's 3 planned so it's not really a quiet period at all! It certainly hasn't felt that way with all the work being done to promote the album, as well as starting a new project. It's all go.

New Album Songs Now Online For Your Aural Pleasure!

HEAR MORE NEW ALBUM SONGS:

All 10 original songs from the new album are now online for you to have a listen. Just click any song-title below to play the songs in full.

1) Nobody Said (click here to download this track for free)

2) Dare

3) One Memory Too Many

4) Broken Dreams

5) I've Got To

6) Maybe

7) You Never Understood

8) Reminders

9) My Heart And My Soul

10)Free Freedom

FREE SONG DOWNLOAD!

Did you notice above there's also a link to download 'Nobody Said' for free? In case you missed it, here it is again.....

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD 'NOBODY SAID' FOR FREE

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

I'd love to know what you think of any of the songs. Perhaps there's one that moves you, or is a favourite for any reason, or perhaps there's one that you can relate to, or reminds you of something or someone. Anything really, but do please feel free to get in touch!

NEW ALBUM, WHERE IS IT??

This is the final stage before the new album is actually released. As we speak, boxes of CDs are making their way over to the distributor in Portland, Oregon. Fly safely please! As soon as things are set-up there, I will of course let you know how to purchase the full album. Over the next few months, the album will also appear on all the top download sites such as iTunes, Napster etc...

ZEPHYR BAR BAND GIG 22/10/09

Another great night for the band (3-piece version) at Zephyr in Huddersfield last Thursday. To me this is the spiritual home of the Paul Jeffery Band, as it's where we did our first gig. The first half was quiet, as was the whole town centre area, but by set 2 we had a great crowd who seemed to enjoy what we did. Given that the other larger town centre bars remained dead, I don't think we did too badly!

Our one gig last week was cancelled so it was a rare thing: a gigless week! The first, excluding holidays, since May. I expected to be overcome by a feeling of relaxation, and inspiration at all the other jobs I could get done, re-charge the batteries, and dare I say a little bit of relief. What I was actually overcome by was a cold and a feeling of being really tired all week! I think these gigless weeks are over-rated!

I've a confession to make. I went to see Cliff Richard and the Shadows on Wednesday at Sheffield Arena. To American readers that's probably no big deal, but I'm sure there are one or two over here who have just fallen off their seats. My mum is the Cliff fan, always has been, well that's my excuse anyway!! I think I'm getting to the age where it doesn't affect my credibility at all, not that I've ever had much. The show was great, my main pleasure being drawn from seeing Hank Marvin who to me is such a great musician. I could hear every note, and the whole thing was very professional. A little too professional at times, twice Sir Cliff had them re-starting songs due to a bit of feedback. I think perhaps they should have just played on, I know Status Quo would have done!

Other than that, it was another stock car weekend to Birmingham/Northampton, so now I need a rest after that!

The new album, with tracks already streaming on myspace, is just about to go to the distributors, so everything is now in place. I'll also be working on over-hauling this website, and that should make a big difference. But unfortunately, the blog will continue!!

NEW ALBUM SONGS NOW ONLINE

Come and have a listen!

New Songs From The New Album!


...whilst in the final stages of completing the album ready for release, I've finally been able to upload 4 of the songs for you to listen to. They're all in full and are on my myspace page, just click on the link above to have a listen.


...AND MORE OLD NEW SONGS!

As myspace now allows you to have 10 songs on a page, I've taken the opportunity of giving some other older songs an airing on the site. Songs such as 'There You Are', from my first album, and 'Gods & Angels'- a very popular song from my previous CD.


Please feel free to have a listen and let me know what you think! I've had some great feedback so far, from people all over the place, I always appreciate people having a listen. It's really exciting to unleash some new material onto the internet.

In a short while, all songs from the album will be streamable on the web. There will also be a song available for free download to members of the mailing list. If you would like to be on the list all you have to do is email me.


I did a couple of good gigs last week. On Thursday it was Verve in Leeds, which of all the times I've played there now (quite a few!), this was my favourite session. It was a full and very warm crowd, who listened to the songs too. There were even people sat cross-legged on the floor which reminded me of late 60s footage of Joni Mitchell and suchlike. Anyway, a thoroughly enjoyable gig, and the response was very positive.

On Saturday, the band was back out at The Old Pond Inn, in Hove Edge, Brighouse. This was just as good if not better than the New Years Day gig we did there last time. Again, a good response to the originals ('who did that originally?', someone shouted...'I did'), and the whole set was well received.

NEW ALBUM UPDATE

NEW ALBUM UPDATE

It's been a few weeks so thought I'd write a little more about the new album. As always, the period between finishing the recordings (excitement) and finishing the album covers, inlays etc... (relief) is a bit longer than anticipated.

However I'm glad to say that the first test prints of the album sleeve were succesful so now it really is almost ready.

In case you didn't see the earlier post from a couple of months ago, let me tell you the album contains 10 new songs of mine and 2 cover versions. The covers are of two of my favourite songs, 'The Musical Box' by Genesis and 'In The Lap Of The Gods (Revisited)' by Queen. I can only say I recorded these because I love the songs. I now also have clearance to release these, another reason things have been a bit slow.

The orignial songs are hopefully a bit more cheery than on Seven Shades (!) but there's a good mix of love songs and social comment songs, so it should appeal to a wide range of people.

I will bring more news as soon as the crunch moment arrives, and copies are available. It's likely that the first CDs will be out at upcoming gigs I'm playing. Again, more news to come.

The weekend just gone was busy as usual, with the band playing at Moorlands on Friday and then I did a solo set at the Barwick-in-Elmet beer festival. For the latter gig, my big thanks to Rich for the set, the beer and the programme notes!

Back to something like normal hectic level last week!

The band made it's first visit over to the Bakers Vaults in Stockport on Friday night. A venue where music is a big part of the nightlife, with several live acts a week. We had a good crowd which, as always, means that the gig is better, and all the songs designed for a big crowd come into their own. It was a good set and, with so many original songs played, very pleasing for me.

On Sunday afternoon we were back on familiar ground at the Bridge in Huddersfield. The pub had just celebrated its 3rd birthday under the current owners the night before-which is great news for a venue that is really supporting the bands. Needless to say there were a few sore heads from their party and the numbers were slightly down for us, but it was still a good run-through for the band which I enjoyed.

I'm still designing the cover for the new album but it's really not too far away now. And thank you also to everyone who has signed up for the new mailing list. Off the back of this, 'Your Shadow' has reached the Top Ten in it's genre on the soundclick site. I can't wait to revamp my page there when the new album is done. To join the mailing list simply click the link above and go to the very bottom of the page-there you can submit your email address!

Not much to report on this week, unless you want the lowdown on the BRISCA World Final. Ask me if you want, but I warn you you may get bored pretty quickly!

So no gigs last week, just one night out at a Conference in Leeds. This was a meeting regarding the South by South West music convention in Austin Texas. It was extremely well-attended and I always feel re-assured when there are other mad-keen musicians there, taking notes and so on. It reminds me that I'm not the only mad fool around.

I don't think SxSW is for me. Not just now anyway. It's very costly and there's VISAs to consider. Plus every other band, singer, etc.. is there. Is that really a good way to get noticed and stand out from the crowd? I'm not sure it's the best way these days. Plus there's a risk of ending up playing to 2 people, and I can do that pretty well here!

One other development last week, which some of you will know by now, is that I'm switching over to a proper 'management' system for sending out email newsletters. If you're not on the mailing list (shame on you!) then please feel free to email me. The old system involved be bcc-ing everyone from my own personal email address and then re-sending it 500+ times! I know, you're shocked that's how many people are on my mailing list...but it's not a very professional approach.

So now I'll be doing it through soundclick.com, where I already have a lot of my music uploaded.
This means I have to have your permission to send the emails, and thus a confirmation email will be sent to all existing subscribers over the next few weeks. Some have already been sent. It all means that in future the email newsletter will look better and, for once, give off the vibe that I know what I'm doing.

Next week there will be news on the 2 upcoming Paul Jeffery Band gigs. On Friday 25th we're over at the Bakers Vaults, Stockport. Then on Sunday 27th in the afternoon (3-5pm) we're at The Bridge in Huddersfield. If you can't wait until next week for the news, then come to the gigs themselves!

2 gigs in the past week. Fernandes Brewery Tap returned to the scene last Thursday for a solo gig, this time playing in the downstairs 'kellar'. It's a great facility, just not very busy I'm afraid, in keeping with the majority of Ossett Brewery gigs! In fact, I ended up playing to nobody which is never a good feeling. This coupled with the fact it was supposed to be a 'trad blues' night meant it was really one to forget. The one consolation being that there was no-one there to complain that I wasn't a Trad Blues artist!

Friday was one of our regular band venues, the Kings Arms at Heaton. Not a bad night, but the noise detector is a bit of a pain. These devices aren't representative of how loud a band actually is. They're more representative of peaking frequencies, particularly when the vocal is un-compressed and has such a vast dynamic range. Playing a gig with a noise meter is a bit like playing Call My Bluff connected to a polygraph. I must point out however that the venue aren't in any way to blame for the need to have a meter, so it's probably a pain in the arse for them too.

Therefore I'm glad to be enjoying a couple of weeks with no gigs! It goes that way sometimes. If only there were more web-based sales, things would be very different. Still, the work of promoting the music must go on and live promotion is still one of the best ways to do this.

I've been working on the cover design for the new album, which is musically now finished. There will soon be tracks to listen to and, in one case, download for free.

In the meantime I'm gearing up for a weekend away at the World Stock Car finals at King's Lynn. This will be spectacular and one I wouldn't miss for anything, even a gig!

Another heavy week of gigging, which has again delayed progress on the new album, now I know how Pink Floyd felt. (Their albums were always delayed and taking forever, although there the similarities with my career abruptly end).

We start off on Friday at Hoagys in Leeds, with my band playing there for the first time. We had a new drummer for the evening too. Not a bad night, it wasn't overly busy but those that were there had a good time.

On Saturday we had our second innings at the Cricketers Arms in Keighley. (don't worry, that's the end of the cricketing analogies). This is a venue that continues to amaze me. It has sort of crept up on us, a really good venue that until a few months ago I knew little about. Now we've had 2 really good gigs there, and we've only been twice!! Without meaning to offend anyone, and you know I'd never do that on here, Keighley isn't exactly known as a hotspot for a good night out, let alone with live music involved. This venue puts all that straight in one go-it was a superb crowd and it was so easy to feed off that energy. If, as seems likely, we lose one of my favourite venues in Leeds, this one goes a long way towards making up for that.

On Sunday afternoon we played at one of our longest standing venues in Berry Brow, the Railway. It's still a tight squeeze getting in but once in we make a good sound and the crowd are very supportive, including for the original material of which we did 7 of my songs. We generally get a good reception there, in one case a little too enthusiastic. The sight of male nipples is one I don't want to see at too many gigs!

Guy Babylon RIP

I was shocked to hear last week of the sudden death of Guy Babylon, who was Elton John's keyboard player for many years. He was at all the gigs I went to, including one just before Christmas. It's a big big shame, as it seems only too recently that Rick Wright and Billy Preston passed away.

Selling songs off the back of a lorry

Well, I'm back from my short sabatical on the Isle Of Wight. I'd like to show you some photos but as usual the long-awaited flickr account and photo management of this blog is somewhat behind schedule (by a few years, a bit like the Isle of Wight really). So I'll just tell you a little about where I've been:

Saturday 22nd: Went to Birmingham F1 Stock Car semi-final, the 2 major incidents happened right in front of me. Including the site of Steve Jacklin sliding along on his roof, gouging out the tarmac, a small piece of which hit me on the cheek. I felt like James Tague in Dealey Plaza, glad to be part of the action! (but no blood). Overnight in Bromsgrove, too late for the pub.

Sunday 23rd: Down the M5 to Taunton for Formula 2 stock car semi-finals, (the smaller versions). Great day, best commentator ever at a meeting, and witnessed the legend that is Rob Speak, can't wait for the World Final at Buxton in a couple of weeks. Overnight in Yeovil, beer not bad, no cider.

Monday 24th: Drove across to Portsmouth and got a ferry across. Started my island 'tour' (nothing to do with gigging) in the evening on the south coast, beautiful sunset, shame it had to end in Ventnor.

Tuesday 25th: Continued from Shanklin (very peaceful) to Sandown (very tacky), then virtually every place onto Ryde. Appropriately enough, saw Speedway meeting here that evening. Only 2 hospitalised, great smells!

Wednesday 26th: Started at East Cowes (not so great smells), got 'floating bridge' to Cowes, then onto Newtown-a more beautiful place I can't think of. Yarmouth next, also cracking place-such a contrast to Sandown, much more middle-class. Heard about the death of Ted Kennedy while in a second-hand bookshop. I stayed in Newport, hotel and local pub fine, blocked the toilet once and had to ask embarrasingly for help. Twas a brave person that rectified that situation!

Thursday 27th: Carisbrooke Castle to kill time, home.


There were also gigs just before and after all this fun. Thursday 20th saw the band return to the Fenton. Last time was definetly one of the best shows this year, this time was nearly as good. The crowd in there are superb. They were behind us all the way, and I had another great night. Please give me more gigs like this!

On the bank holiday weekend just gone, we played at The Wills O'Nats (Meltham) 'festival' with 3 bands playing on the back of a truck. It was a shame the weather didn't smile on us, though the sheer mention of the words 'outdoor gig' seem to cause this to happen! Not a great occasion mainly due to the rain. The following day I did a solo gig in Rodley at the Barge, again....on the back of a lorry! I was beginning to see a pattern emerging here. This one went better as the rain waited until I finished rather than during the set and I was proud of my 'thank you Wembley...sorry, Rodley' closer, though no-one else seemed too bothered. Glad to say the festival was well-attended, and that with me going on first when it's usually not too busy.

So we're now into September, and a mere 3 gigs to do this week. All my band, Leeds Friday, Keighley Saturday, Huddersfield Sunday afternoon.

Two gigs meant things were slightly less strenuous last week, but still as always plenty to do! We were back in my birthtown on Friday night at the Bridge Tavern in Bradford. This pub still has three bands on a week (and we're told live music is struggling!) and for me this was our best night so far here, even though we've played it a fair few times over the years.

Saturday was a change of scene with our first visit to Lindley Liberal Club, over-looked by the famous Clock Tower which has a bell louder than the band!! We got a nice response and it's always good to have a stage to work from, making it feel more like a proper performance.

On Sunday I was gig-free, so went down to the Galpharm to watch my beloved but struggling Bulls take on Wembley-bound Huddersfield (bastards). I'm talking about Rugby League if you're not following. How nice it was to take a rare win so Sunday was a rather pleasing day all round!

In and around all this excitement I've been doing a few other things. Top of the list of course is the new album, for which the penultimate track was completed last week, leaving the last one to mix. I have the artwork and then it's onto the final listen throughs. These will either be moments filled with pride or panic depending on what it all sounds like! There's usually a few things to adjust but nothing major, I hope.

I've also been continuing my promotion of the Paradise Street album, Catharsis. If you're not familiar with my female songs project you can find out all about it here. This has been the first album I've fully promoted online and I've learnt a lot. I've also made some great contacts particularly in the podcasting world where tracks have been featured several times. As usual with anything done for the first time, there is a lot of trial and error involved as I sift through my 'bible' of online contacts. When it comes to promoting my new album the groundwork will have been complete so I will know not to send it to, for example, a Live 365 station that specialises in Thrash Metal!

So there you have it, the new album will NOT be thrash metal. Other than that, all will be revealed pretty soon!

One last thing to mention is that the band will be back at The Fenton in Leeds this Thursday (20th) at 9pm. Last time we had a great night there so I'm looking forward to going back.

There'll be no blog next week as I'm taking a short break. You will find a way to cope.

If Carlsberg did music venues...

...then they'd probably be something like the Boot & Shoe in Ackworth!

Let's start positive this week. The Paul Jeffery Band made it's debut at the above venue on Friday and what a refreshing change it was in some respects. Sure, the crowd was pretty good and the gig went down well, but the facilities for bands....wow!!

In what is essentially a pub venue, the same as most others we do, we found that the venue had it's own PA (a proper full-range one), own lights, smoke and a stage. Then there was the icing on the cake in the form of the load-in: open a door and step straight onto the stage. I nearly forgot to mention the drum riser. No wonder so many bands want to play there, and they have a live band 3 nights a week!

I know these things may sound like fairly basic requirements for a gig but they are so rarely found all in order in most of the places we play. Virtually no venues have their own PA system for example. When we use our own, I have to take some responsibility for the sound. This is a thankless task as anyone who has done it will tell you! So having someone else to twiddle the nobs, plus the fact we don't have to carry the damn thing around, is a MAJOR plus point at a gig for me!

With all these things in place, it's easier to turn the gig into a 'show'. And our setlist is aimed at doing just that. So the whole thing is lifted several degrees before we've even played a note. OK, there were some calling out for Van Halen at the end of 'White Room', but even this turned into the champagne moment of the night as I was able to play the hackneyed synth intro of 'Jump' in the middle of 'Hell Freezes Over'! Listen to the song, when it gets to the end of the instrumental it just fits perfectly. Oh how we laughed.....if only said hecklers were still in the room when we did it!

So overall, a fanstastic night and a fanstastic venue. Take me back there please!!

The previous night of another busy week saw me back at The Hop doing a solo set this time. Whilst the audience weren't overly keen on clapping and listening, the night went pretty well and it's nice to see so many events happening at this place, long may it continue.

It was a shame Saturday night followed on from the Boot & Shoe, as the gig at the Bell & Crown in Snaith was rather disappointing. We didn't get much of a reception, just a couple of beer mats thrown, unlike the previous two visits where we had a very good crowd. Still, can't win them all!

I sent out a very short ezine last week to all the mailing list letting them know the album will be on it's way soon. I now have the artwork and all the parts are recorded. I'm still finalising the mixes (or tinkering as it's also known) so there should be more news on this soon.

Another very hectic week has concluded, with 3 more gigs to talk about. These started on Wednesday (29th) with the Paul Jeffery Band's third visit to Harrys Bar in Wakefield, this being the first time we'd done the more regular Wednesday night slot. This is just the sort of night I like as a musician. An 'unusual' night for a gig, with a good following for live music. We've been well-received here before and this time was, if anything, the best so far. The gig coincided with an art exhibition which drew in some more people. My throat was not at it's best all last week (recovering just after the conclusion of the week's gigs!), but this will be long forgotten after what was a very good night for the band.

Thursday saw me hopping over the Pennines (no passport required) to play at the Bakers Vaults in Stockport. This is a good music venue and the band will be playing there in September. The night was very quiet but I played a couple of sets to an appreciative crowd. There was then another solo gig on Sunday night at my regular New Inn at Barwick-in-Elmet. Where is Barwick-in-Elmet? It's just off the A64 out of Leeds heading for York, before the M1 link roundabout. It's a beautiful village and for once it wasn't raining so it was nice to drive over there, this not always the case with all gigs! I've got used to playing to the regular followers there, and I hope they've got used to me too. This time there were some 'newcomers' and this made for a great atmosphere in the small music room. I played a large number of originals, and also some requests (if I knew them). Well, all the people I didn't recognise stayed well into the night, so I think that must count as a success-I usually try and scare a few of them away!

In between all this excitement, on my night off on Friday....I went to a pub to watch a band. Just for a change! This was the Uplifters Ska band who are from Manchester, featuring my good friends John and Gaston. They were playing nearby in Wyke so I went along and found myself in a packed pub watching a band! There, it can still happen! I really enjoyed their set. On Saturday night it was strictly Stock Cars in Coventry where I drove down a flooded M1 but thankfully the night stayed dry. A great atmosphere for the first world semi-final, and 'm looking forward to the second one in Birmingham soon.

This week sees another 3 gigs with the first being solo on Thursday (6th) at The Hop in Wakefield. This being their acoustic night. Then it's back to the band for the 7th & 8th at Ackworth and Snaith respectively.

Until then, enjoy the British summer!

At the Hop, Hop, Hop-Hop-Hop

Yes, the Paul Jeffery Band was back at The Hop in Wakefield last Friday (the 24th) for our only show of the week. Last time we were there it was a very good night and, if anything, this time was even better!

The best thing about the Hop is that it gets rather busy, and an audience is a great help at a gig! Better still, the audience is very knowledgable and so songs such as 'Badge' went down very well. Also our interspertions of various other songs went down very well, none more so than my blast of Neil Young during 'So Lonely'! Even better than that, the beer is first class (I wasn't driving!) and so I would rate this gig very highly. It even felt like summer as well with the window folded back, so we were playing to the people out on the terrace (the outside bit) as well as those inside. That's like a semi-outdoor gig I suppose!

The following night I was working with Atlanta Soul in North Wales at what must surely have been one of the most picturesque venues I've ever done. It helped that it was a pleasant evening with the sun shining down the river Conwy valley. A most beautiful setting for a gig, or anything else for that matter.

Owing to my cold the preivous week, I was struggling to record the last vocals for the new album, so hopefully I can make some headway with that this week, in between the 3 gigs I'm doing!

Of course, as soon as the album is finished, there will be many blogs, bulletins, emails, courier pidgeons and smoke signals sent out.

With all this talk of Swine Flu (oink) I was a bit concerned to go feeling under the weather last week. It's just a cold, partly induced by a strained throat, if you really wanted to know! But I was a bit relieved when Thursday's gig at the Fenton was cancelled for reasons beyond our control. That show is now re-arranged for Thurs Aug 20th. As always see the myspace site for an upto date giglist.

That left us just one band gig last week on Friday up at the Moorlands in Ogden. It was a typical British summer's day. Yes, torrential rain all day with the wind whipping up over the moors. More like November I thought. I was quite surprised to see how many people had turned out to eat, drink and be entertained on such a filthy night. Things are going pretty well up there!

This was our second visit and followed on from the first with a good response, particularly towards the end of the night. Encours were taken, with more being asked for! I was then talked into doing just one more by a girl who was going to France the following day, and was yet to pack. Quite why this meant she wanted another song I'm not too sure, but it's always nice to be asked-for whatever reason!

With my throat well and truly knackered, it was a good job we weren't working the rest of the weekend. I was off to the Europeans at Northampton. It was another full action-packed weekend, with plenty of summer rain on Sunday. A tiring way to have fun, but you know I wouldn't let that stop me. Now for a bit of rest and hopefully some time to work on new songs (I couldn't obviously record any vocals last week). Then the band is out on Friday at The Hop in Wakefield, another venue becoming very popular for music.

See you next week, and don't let the swines get you down.

Another hectic week with just the 3 gigs this weekend! My voice is feeling it a bit today, so it's a good job I'm typing this rather than talking to you about it.

Friday saw our long-awaited (by us) return to the Puzzle Hall Inn, Sowerby Bridge. This is the cult music venue that was closed for a period of time last year. Now it's about to celebrate one year since it's re-opening and is fully up and running once more. We played a good set which towards the end of the night had people bouncing off the walls....literally, it's quite small inside! This was mainly thanks to a birthday party who got everybody up dancing about. They were up close and personal towards the end, but after all the gigs over the years where we've played to the proverbial one man and his dog, there seems little point in complaining about a more lively crowd! All said, a good night and we'll be back for more in October. Thanks to Martin for making my job easier by operating the PA system!

Saturday night was my turn on stage left with Atlanta Soul at the Last Drop in Bolton, most people think this is a home gig for me but I've actually never lived there...and I still had to drive home in torrential rain with the M62 about as bad as I can remember it.

Sunday afternoon, having dried out, brought us back to The Bridge in Huddersfield for the first time this year. Feeling like a real working musician, there's something about Sunday afternoon gigs that always makes me feel I've done a hard weekend's work.
Voted 'Music Pub Of The Year' by our local entertainments paper this was I think our best gig here so far. We had a good crowd throughout and didn't shy away from rocking it a bit more, this is a biker's pub after all. In the 2nd set we were joined by some genuine 1950s throwbacks Teddy Boys (and Girls), and while I couldn't quite fit any rock n roll into our set it made for a colourful afternoon. Is there anywhere else in the country where you can find authentic Teds in the town still enjoying good old rock n roll? Or is it something unique to Huddersfield?

The New Album cometh:

In the middle of all these gigs I'm still finding some spare moments to work on the record, with another song mixed last week. I sent out an email to everyone on the mailing list giving it a quick preview last week also, so I'm very excited about putting this one out, as I am with any new album.

Just a note to say the Fenton gig which would have been this Thursday has now been re-arranged for August 20th.

Bye for now.

Plenty to catch up on after a run of 4 gigs in the last 4 days. This started on Thursday (2nd) with the band at Zephyr Bar in Huddersfield, scene of the PJ Band's first ever gig!

Always a favourite venue, it was a pity the bar (and indeed the whole area in general) was quiet that night. Perhaps it's due to the exodus of students, or because it was a hot day(and a hot night). Perhaps everyone had heard we were playing and decided to stay out of the area!
All the bars on King Street were quiet, and you could tell this by the lesser than usual number of people wandering up and down the road. Whichever way, I thought the band played really well and were well-received. 15 minutes after we finished playing....the bar got quite busy, at just after midnight! Was this coincidence, or just bad luck-perhaps they were all waiting until we finished playing!

Next up was a new venue in Drighlington, the Malt Shovel. I think the band nights are a fairly recent thing there but it seems to be working for them as we had a good, enthusiastic crowd. As I've said before I'm always a bit nervous about a new venue, stepping into the unknown, but this one came up trumps and we're looking forward to returning in October.

Saturday was another new one, the Lockwood&Salford Conservative Club. The last time I played in a conservative club was in 2005 and it very nearly put me off gigging for good! I'm tempted to wind up the people I know will be reading this and say it was rubbish, but that would be a lie: We had a very good night indeed!

Again, not quite knowing what to expect can lead to a more exciting gig. This one went down very well and it was great to see so many people into what we were doing, just dancing, clapping, it all makes such a difference. By the end of the night the place was really buzzing and I think this is currently tieing with the Fenton for the best gig of 2009 so far.

Sunday afternoon rounded things off with my solo slot at the Abbey Inn Festival. The most notable change this year was the addition of a fantastic tent to host the event, not only covering the acts but also the entire audience!

I was the opening act for the Sunday, and it was pretty hot come midday. The crowd was still beginning to arrive but I really enjoyed the set. I got to give 'Brian Wilson' another go, as well as 'Learning To Fly' and several of my own songs. It seems the Abbey festival gets better each year and it's great to see live music supported. I'm told there are many non-regulars who visit the event and this can only be a good thing. I hope some of them come back to support the regular music nights in the area.

This week we have just the 2 PJ Band gigs, with the Puzzle Hall: another cult classic in Sowerby Bridge, on Friday then The Bridge, Huddersfield, on Sunday afternoon.

NEW ALBUM

Now I know even more people are reading the blog, I thought I should mention again that my new album is coming soon! If you would like to receive further news, updates and ramblings, please drop me an email at paul@pauljeffery.com to be added to the mailing list.

The first week back after a holiday is always pretty hectic. Try as I might, I never seem to come back home completely relaxed and tend to stumble through the week in a state of confusion. I shouldn't complain that things are so busy really, I was just tired.

There was one PJ Band gig on Friday at a new-to-us venue the High Park in Bradley, Huddersfield. It's more known as an eating place and they just do a band once a month. Eateries never seem to make for very good gig venues so I was pleasantly surprised at how well this one went. We got a good reception and handed out a lot of cards! Even the call and response section in 'All Day & All Night' (which sometimes features a call with no response) went very well indeed!

On Saturday I had a nice local gig with Atlanta Soul in Luton! This gig will go down in history as (I think) the only gig I've ever missed the start of! I encountered two serious hold-ups on the M1, both cases of shutting the motorway and in one case- a complete standstill of over an hour and the surreal sight of everyone getting out of their cars and wandering about. I can now say I've eaten my sandwiches in the middle lane of the M1, on foot. Over 6 hours after setting off, I finally arrived in time to play the 2nd set. Then it was back up the M1, this time in the clear, reaching home at 5am with the sun rising in the sky. Just a typical Saturday when you play in a band.

NEW ALBUM ALERT

Yes, it's that time of the year again....I'm about to release details of my new album to the mailing list this week. In case you're not on the mailing list (shame on you) the album is going to be titled 'Dare To Be Different' and is now nearly finished, hopefully in time for release in the coming months. I say 'hopefully' as you never know what might crop up before then but needless to say I'm excited about it and can't wait to have another batch of songs finished for people to listen to.

This week is even busier than normal with 3 band gigs Thurs, Fri & Saturday followed by my regular solo set at the Abbey festival in Bramley on Sunday afternoon. Details of all that and more in next weeks' exciting edition!

The Bells Are Ringing Out

Avid reader(s) of the blog will have noticed the lack of said blog over the past 2 weeks. The reason, quite simply, was I was on holiday in Spain. I don't like to publicise these things in advance too much. Obviously, I don't want to be pestered by fans in my hotel room and spend the whole trip beseiged by autograph hunters, paparazzi and randy women. Well, I do actually but it's just as well I kept my trip a secret.

Returning to reality for a moment, I can say it was a wonderful break. Particularly Barcelona which I thought was a magnificent place. Madrid perhaps less so as it's not really geared for tourists, but I can now add these and other places such as Toledo, Salamanca and San Sebastian to my list of places visited. The highlight of the visit was definetly the fountain display set to music in Barcelona. The lasers off the top of the town hall putting me in mind of Jean-Michel again. What a superb setting! And just to cap it off, the last piece for the dancing fountains was Freddie and Montserrat's anthem-just perfect!

So, now it's back to work again so without further ado there's a few pre-Spain gigs to catch up on. These were on the first week of June starting with a solo slot at Verve Bar in Leeds on June 4th. This one coincided with the bar's 2nd anniversary celebrations and featured a movie theme, leading to the bizarre situation of being served a beer by superman. I'd have preferred Supergirl but Hayley wasn't having any of it. Anyway, the music suffered a bit from the celebrations as it wasn't very busy downstairs. But my set, including 'Brian Wilson', went ok. It was good to hear that they've now expanded to doing Sunday nights as well.

On Friday the band played at the Cricketers in Horbury. This was I think our best session there to date so I was really pleased with that. Then on Saturday we did the Bell&Crown at Snaith which always attracts a good crowd, partly due to it's central location in the village (is Snaith a village or a town?). Both went well so I made my way to Spain content but also in need of a rest...July is going to be a really busy month!

I think that is all, so I'll get on with catching up on the myspace page and everything else that needs catching up on. The 3rd solo album is making headway so I will bring you more news on that soon.

We finally hit the jackpot with the weather this week, it's been a pretty hot weekend. I've just completed three gigs in three days, so have retreated to my dayjob for a rest!

Friday was my band at The Plough in Warmfield. As I said last week, it's one of our favourites. This is largely because mine host (where does that expression come from?) Ali is so enthusiastic for what we do, and for live music in general. It was a very warm evening, and I think some people were away or having BBQs and things, but we played a good set to those that were there, and got an encouraging reception, including to some of the original tunes.

Some people have asked which originals we play. Unfortunately they are mainly American fans who can't get to see the shows! But anyway, we play a few off each of the solo albums plus 'Old Wishing Well' which was on an EP called 'Get The Drinks In'. At some gigs we can only really play a few of these, and some get rotated around the rest of the time. One that stands out is 'Hell Freezes Over' which is on 'Lost in Love Town'. You can still buy it.

The rest of the weekend was taken up with Atlanta Soul gigs as I took up my role as keyboard player. We played 2 weddings in amazing surroundings, helped a lot by the weather. I took some pictures of the hall and grounds on Saturday night which I intend to eventually show once I get my flickr account going. I've been saying this for some time I know.

Just a further update on the recording side of things. My third solo album is not too far away now. There's a few songs to finish and mix and then it will be unleashed on the general public. It's called 'Dare To Be Different' which is apt when you consider most of my life's path! Seriously, I'm always proud of the stuff I release and I'm looking forward to finishing this one.

Another busy week coming up with a solo set at Verve in Leeds on Thursday (4th) and then the band plays Friday and Saturday at Horbury and Snaith respectively.

A bit more to report on this week. 3 gigs, 2 of mine and 1 of somebody else's!

A GOOD INNINGS AT THE CRICKETERS....

Yes, OK, I'll never make a headline writer. This was my band's first visit to the Cricketers Arms in Keighley on Friday night (the 22nd). The venue had come highly recommended to me by several musicians as a good one to try, a musician's pub no less. There's always a bit of nervous anticipation playing somewhere for the first time, as is only natural there's a slight fear of the unknown. This often makes for a better gig (if it goes well of course!).

I needn't have worried about anything, it was a superb night and a real little gem of a venue. It's quite small but with a stage and as it's just one room it's easier to get people's attention. Apparently this was a quiet night by their standards (due to the bank holiday) but it was still rather full and generated some real chemistry between band and punter. So I can't wait to fix another date and go back there, I'd add this to the growing list of 'finds' we've made. The band always tends to go down better in this sort of pub, where there's a real effort made to get live music going. They run about 4 bands a week (!), including a popular blues night on Tuesdays. This one scores a 7.


JEAN-MICHEL JARRE

This is the one of somebody else's. I went to see the godfather of synthesised music at Manchester Arena on Saturday night. It may not be obvious these days, but I was and am a huge fan and his music has been a huge influence on me. It was quite an emotional night. I've seen him before, in 93&97. This was an indoor, more scaled-down production, with modest lighting and no fireworks! It let the music breathe better and it also sounded superb, definetly one of the best sounds I've ever heard in there.

In the days when I'm more likely to quote Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen as major influences, it's easy for me to forget what a childhood hero Jarre was to me. When I was about 11 all I wanted to do was compose and perform instrumental electronic music. It's a love I've often neglected but one I feel I might just re-kindle now. To that end I dusted off my Roland Keytar for Sunday's gig and warned the band to prepare for electronic drums, lazer harps and a big firework bill.


OUTDOORS AT THE GROVE

Yes, it finally happened yesterday (Sun 24th), the sun came out big time. As we arrived at the Grove it became clear that the best option would be for us to set up outside and play to the people enjoying some much-needed sun. After health&safety requirements were satisfied (ie, the pub found me a baseball cap to wear) we played an enjoyable outdoor set. The Grove is surrounded by huge modern buildings and this created a good atmosphere as the sound reverberated around. Playing my keytar, I couldn't help think of the possibility of screening giant projections off the buildings and letting fireworks off the roof....maybe next time we play there. Score this one 6.


I'm not doing a full days' work today (if I ever have done one) as I'm off to the stock cars at Belle Vue, it's sunny at the moment so hope it holds out, otherwise it could become a mudbath like last time!

The band is doing a show this Friday (29th) at the Plough in Warmfield near Wakefield. This is another of our favourite venues so we shall be looking forward to that one.

Music Thoughts

I found a brilliant website last week.

http://musicthoughts.com

It's a collection of quotes on all aspects of music, from all kinds of people. I particularly enjoyed the 'music business' section. If you ever wonder what us musicians think about what we're doing, this section may help! There's some great quotes from people like Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan and even Oscar Wilde.

It certainly made my day on Friday.

The band will be back out this week twice. On Friday 22nd it's The Cricketers in Keighley followed by the Grove on the 24th starting at 2pm.

Don't know what to write about...

Our gig on Friday was cancelled (don't worry, they hadn't heard us in advance) so I'm struggling a bit for news this week. I was going to mention UIC Radio but I notice I did that last week. John has now played 2 of my songs ('Money From The Satisfied' and 'Laura Jones'), so that's really good news.

And I've no gigs this week at all, which is extremely unusual for me. Not that I'm upset about that, it's been so busy that it's very much welcomed. And it should give me time to catch up in the studio and on some other jobs. I try and do at least a short session in the studio every day (except on gig days). This sometimes means a quick half-hour blast when I feel about as creative as a major label A&R man. But it's good discipline to work on, because I can still see that mountain of songs on my piano waiting to be recorded.

If you add in the daily myspace updates (my own and the Paradise Street page), gig bookings, band admin, accounts, web promotion for both projects.....then it soon mounts up. So a free weekend is something to really look forward to. I enjoy gigs, but it is still classed as work.

It can be confusing at times. Last week I saw that I was receiving more 'hits' on my first album page than on any other, and it's the only one I'm not currently promoting! And there's been a recent increase. Maybe I should just do less and see if more happens.

With no gigs this week it will be interesting to see next week's blog topics, any ideas let me know.

You'll be glad to know, if you read the previous post, that I managed to get my bags of change gig fee exchanged for pound notes.

This leads us onto Friday, the 1st of May no less. We were back on form here with a gig at the Kings Arms, Heaton. This continues to be one of my favourite venues, and this despite the presence of a noise meter! I thought we played very well and at least had a crowd to feed off. It's another score of 7 from me.

On Sunday night I played solo at the Barge& Barrel beer fest in Elland. I've worked quite hard on making the solo set a)more interesting to play and b)hopefully more interesting to watch! I was pleased to be able to combine playing some that interest me and some well-known stuff at the same time. As with many gigs where people have another purpose for being there (the beer!), some were a bit unsure about who this scrote with the keyboard was...but most were receptive enough and some even quite enjoyed it! I'll score it a 5.

I spent my bank holiday chasing round the North of England watching stock cars. This started at Sheffield in the dry at 12noon and ended soaked to the skin at Manchester at 9:00pm. Having dried myself out by using an autovac at a carwash (standing in front of a jet engine had already failed) I made it to the pub. Here I got carried away taking the micky out of people who go to B&Q or SofaWorld for their bank holiday fun. Then I looked down at the inches of mud on my shoes and wondered who had the last laugh! It won't stop me though :)

My blog was also mentioned in my latest e-zine (that's a newsletter in the real world I think). So hopefully one or two more readers can be added to the list. If you saw something you found amusing please let me know!

UIC RADIO

I'd also like to give a quick mention to John at UIC Radio who has been playing some of my songs on his Monday show. There's no podcast archive at the moment but I wanted to thank him just the same, it's really appreciated.

All the best til next time.

It's a couple of days late this week...it's been too busy the past few days. I'm happy to say my mad week of gigging is over, at least until Friday, oh and then Sunday too.

It started at The Primrose last Thursday the 23rd playing the regular solo opening slot. Not too bad this one, maybe not quite as good as some of the previous ones but it was ok. I was tired out before I'd even started doing this week's gigs so the set here was a bit 'forced', a case of trying too hard. I felt some of the tunes were a bit frantic. I'd give it a 6 though, and I thought Sam and Anna sounded really good from where I was listening in the other bar room.

Onto Friday and the band was out at The Travellers Rest in Meltham. The area looks great when you turn up in daylight. The night was pretty good too. It's a hard room to work as the band is placed at one day down some steps. Nobody sits down there as they're very close to the band, they all tend to hide further up the room. Thus we spent a lot of the gig playing as if from a castle over a moat to where the audience were! The first set left me feeling we weren't making the right impression. This changed in 'White Room' which was so fierce it made everyone pay attention. From then on things improved culminating in several people coming down for a dance in the moat. I'd taken to wandering out into the moat to sing infront of the speakers, and then had to retreat as I was nearly trampled underfoot by the dancers! They all appeared at once as if from nowhere, as if it was stage-managed. "....and when the clock strikes 11pm Couples A,B,C &D please take to the floor..." For the ending alone, it's a 7 out of 10.

I was working with Atlanta Soul on Saturday night in beautiful Lincolnshire, and then it was onto my hotel room for a bath, some tea and some snooker (it's a sport similar to pool Kelley!). This makes it sound very rock n roll (apart from the snooker) but in actual fact I paid for the room myself in order to move onto Kings Lynn for the all-important Stock Cars on Sunday!

With hardly time to eject the Kings Lynn shale from my hair, nose and ears it was onto more band gigs. Monday was a return to Harrys Bar, as a 3-piece this time (which meant we almost had enough room!). It was a fair night, hard work in places for me, but we got a reasonable response. I'd say this was a 5. Last night we did the Junction at Queensbury where a new low ebb was reached as the band was paid in bags of coins due to not enough cash being taken on the night! Whose fault is this you may wonder. It's always been quiet when we play there, and this time it was actually busier than some previous times. I don't think we were very popular with the management after this one but we had brought nearly half the crowd. When something goes wrong like this the band is made to feel accountable, as if we've forced ourselves upon the venue and demanded we get paid to play. I'm sure some customers think this is the case! Of course, we were asked to play-not the other way round, so really responsibility should be shared at least. I'm just glad we got paid in full. One to forget, scores 3.

The band is out again this Friday at the Kings Arms in Heaton Bradford and then I'm doing solo for the Barge&Barrel beer festival in Elland on Sunday evening. Come down if you can, I may buy you a beer, I've got plenty of change....

Welcome back to my blog......I'm sure you are by now suffering from serious withdrawl symptoms due to the lack of a blog last week....and also am sure you are literally cross-legged with curiosity to know what I've been up to in the past 2 weeks. I also dream of winning the lottery and marrying Christine Bleakley.

So where to begin, so much to tell. I think we're back into the week leading up to Easter. I just did one gig that week at the Bay Horse in Lindley, Huddersfield. This was solo and, in common with the band gigs in the past there, was absolutely no different to the previous occasions! By which I mean it was deadly quiet with no real interest in what was going on. I played a fairly satisfactory set but one has to wonder how the pub has managed to run live music nights for so long. I guess it's not my call to reason why as long as they continue to book me. To be fair, the owners are lovely and they at least thought I was good :) So it can have a 5 out of 10.

That was Easter Saturday. The previous night I celebrated that well-known miracle. Yes, a Bradford Bulls victory over Leeds. The team is still rubbish but at least I can paritally avoid the total ridicule of losing to our dear neighbours (bastards). The rest of the weekend was motorsport orientated and then it was off to the East coast for a couple of days' break. Ah yes, Whitby looks beautiful so I'm told. A pity as the whole coastline was covered in mist for 3 days and I couldn't see a thing....the sea sounded pretty good though.

Refreshed from 3 days of poor air quality we returned to work on Friday night (the 17th) with the band playing at the Bridge Tavern in Bradford. This was poor quality of a different kind. Yes, another dead night playing to a handful of souls, some very nice, some not so. Each song greeted by a spontaneous round of indifference. In the second set, which is usually the worst on these sort of nights, I found the band actually sounded marvellous and I closed my eyes and dreamt of that far-away day when we get to play to a packed crowd. We sounded fucking amazing and with nothing to lose it at least salvaged something from the night. I'd give it 6 from 10, normally it would have been a 4.

I often read marketing tips for musicians. They all tend to mention stuff in the context of a certain type of gig. Things like 'your merchandise stall' and 'your fans' and 'fans' email addresses'. I wonder how to work this into some of the shows I do!! The scenario is very different. Perhaps there's a lesson to be learnt about what type of gigs we play, but then given the state of things at the moment, it's not that easy to alter.

Anyway, at least the weather has been nice today! It makes a difference. This week gets quite busy later on with a solo gig at The Primrose in Leeds and the band are out in Meltham on Friday.

A much-need quieter week last week, I think it was a blessing really, even though there's the need to keep working. So, just one gig to report on since last we spoke, that of the Abbey Inn at Bramley on Saturday (the 4th). Not a bad night, a bit quiet on the audience front but another opportunity to play more original material. There's been a few of these lately. Given that is the aim of the band I think that's a vague sign of progress! I'll score it a 5.

This did leave more time for recording of course. The work on that never stops. I could write a huge book on all the songs I've written and/or recorded, there's still a huge backlogue of songs from yester year. I'm slowly working on them, trying to do them all the best possible justice (otherwise there's no point writing them), song by song, album by album!! The next installment of this madness should be with us in a few months' time: it will be my 3rd solo album.

Have a good Easter week-next week (and don't be too upset) there'll be no blog but I'll be back with plenty to catch up on soon enough, oh yes.

The goose that laid the golden egg

Another extremely busy week, but at least the blog is on time this Monday! There's been 2 more Paul Jeffery Band gigs since last time. On Thursday we completed a run of 3 new venues in 6 days at The Fenton in Leeds. This is a proper old-fashioned Leeds boozer, a former Tetley house, and long-running music venue. It has an upstairs room where bands play but we were downstairs in the bar, playing to a cross-section of students and older folk. It was pretty busy all the way through.

There's something about playing a pub for the first time. There's always a bit of nervous anticipation about what it will be like. With me the novelty of a new venue wears off quickly, especially now the band has found it's feet. This was one such night when the adrenalin of a new venue, combined with a lively crowd, and the knowlegde that we were playing where we were wanted, all contrived to make this a great gig. It scores an 8, which as you know is quite rare for me to do.

I thought it had all the elements in place, from early sing-alongs to 'Lola', to later rocking to 'Can't Stand Losing You' and 'Gimme Some Lovin'. The originals went down pretty well too. I'd be more than happy to go back here. It's the sort of pub I used to hear about bands playing without ever getting the chance to do them. Now I feel we're doing these places, and that they still exist in 2009. Although very tired at times, I felt last week we were a proper working band, doing Friday, Monday and Thursday. It was fun!

That still leaves The Railway at Berry Brow yesterday (the 29th) which was, as usual, pretty good. We always get a good sound in there, and a good reception. For the first time, all 8 originals were played, and they actually seemed to go down better than the covers. This is the main reason for building on these venues. I'd score it a 6, as I was struggling a bit towards the end. But at least we went down well. We were even offered one of our first gifts from the audience, a goose egg, freshly laid! Some bands get ladies underwear, we get goose eggs.

In between this hectic rock n roll lifestyle of seedy Leeds pubs and goose eggs, I managed to fit in going to see a concert myself. Yes, Jackson Browne was in town (Sheffield City Hall) on Friday night and was well worth seeing. He's one of these singer-songwriters I always knew I'd like even before I'd heard any songs. There's a quality and consistancy to him and his band and whilst it's never overly spectacular, it's always listenable. That's another seminal artist to chalk off the list, Bob Dylan's touring soon.....

MAILING LIST:

Don't forget you can enjoy more pearls of wisdom with my monthly e-zine (I think that's the correct jargon for 'newsletter in email form'). Just send me an email to be added to the list. paul@pauljeffery.com

I'm a day behind this week, some would say more, mainly due to the hectic schedule lately. Last week was fairly peaceful until Thursday when I did the Bar Place Open Mic night in Hebden Bridge, followed by the band at the Moorlands, Ogden on Friday, then solo on Sunday night and the band back out again last night (Mon 23rd March).

For Open Mics these days I try and play something new, something I've learnt specially. They're the best place to test new material. So for this I decided to undertake learning 'Brian Wilson' by the Barenaked Ladies. I've been a fan of this song for a long time, I love the hook: 'Lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did'. As with most of their stuff, it's not a 2-minute job to learn the lyrics, they're quite wordy, so I was reciting it for a couple of days before.

The venue itself is tasteful if a little plastic and the open mic itself was a quiet affair. I still enjoyed it though, playing to a handful of people all listening. I played 'Your Shadow', 'Money From The Satisfied Man', 'Cold Cold Day' and the aforementioned BNLs cover. (that's what you can call the band if you're a true fan- a bit like ELP for Emerson, Lake & Palmer). 'Money From The Satisfied' has personally never satisfied me live until this night. I think this was the turning point where I finally did it justice. The youtube version isn't too bad, but on other occasions I've played it it doesn't seem to have gone down too well. I think now I've got a grip on it. It's amazing how songs go on these journeys.....again, all part of the process of playing open mics.

The band at the Moorlands on Friday was very good. It's a busy pub (yes, there is still such a thing, contrary to popular wisdom) and we got an enthusiastic reception. I was a bit daunted when I found out a couple had come to watch us for whom we're playing their wedding soon! I had to assure them we didn't do 'The Bitch Is Back' at weddings!! It was a very good night all ends up, so this can score 7.

Sunday night was my regular solo slot at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet. I can normally name most of the crowd there but this time there were some new faces too which helped. A solid night, again playing a lot of new stuff as I force my solo set to move on from the old favourites, this gets a 6.

Last night (Monday) the band was at Harrys Bar in Wakefield, again for the first time. This place is on the small side for bands and I was worried we would be too 'in yer face', considering not only the size but also that the venue hosts quite a lot of acoustic duos. I needn't have worried....even though it was never really packed, we went down well. After a shaky start I felt we were really together in the second set.

Again, new songs abound with recent arrivals being 'The Prisoner' and covers such as 'Badge', 'Teenage Kicks' and 'Can't Stand Losing You'. The latter in particular sounding very neet. I love putting in new songs, constantly shaking things up and keeping it interesting for myself and challening for the band! In past bands, I've felt we were restricted to playing the same songs, or had a limited repertoire for one reason or another. Now I'm finally realising some of my 'troubador' dreams of playing a wide variety of my favourite songs. Only another 3000 to go!

The night was fun and I'd score it a 6.

A couple of other things to mention: Don't forget you can chat with me if you have yahoo or hotmail emails accounts. It's an instant chat and doesn't require the installation of a programme, it just loads up automatically when you check your mail. Add my Email to talk about stuff!

Also....'Your Shadow' was recently included in another podcast, a very well-run one called Indie Music Sampler. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST



There hasn't been much time for anything else and this week the band is out twice again. I'm still recording the 3rd album and promoting on the web both my older albums and the Paradise Street one. Things are currently busier than ever so I guess I should round this blog off for now and get some more work done, thank you for reading!

A fairly quiet week for gigs has just passed. For the second time in succession The Primrose in Leeds was cancelled due to other bands pulling out. Instead I went to The Chemic Open Mic, which is nearby in Woodside. The Chemic is a haven of respectability in a fairly dicey area, made better by the fact students reside there. They get a bad press but it could be worse trust me. I lived in Salford as a student for 3 years.
This time the Open Mic was busy and I was dissappointed to only get 2 songs. I did 'Words' and 'The Battle Of Who Could Care Less', the latter is a Ben Folds Five cover I learnt and play occasionally. There's a story behind the song in that I used to get Ben Folds requests so I learnt this song, and since then everybody gives it blank looks! So I insist now that everyone cheers like mad during the intro to make learning the damn thing more worthwhile. As usual, I'm about 10 years too late for Ben Folds, but I have to say I really like his music-just I'm not sure Yorkshire is ready for it just yet.

On Sunday I went over to the Strange Reality Acoustic night at the Bell&Crown, Snaith. This was my 2nd visit and it's also become a good venue for the band. The night is well-run and my set was well-received by a smallish crowd (it's normally busier). I have to thank Chris for his brilliant Bob Geldorf-style 'plea' for CD sales at the end of my set! It worked a treat so I really should thank all the people that made a purchase, it's very much appreciated, particularly at the moment.

The Paul Jeffery Band will be busy over the next 2 weeks with 4 shows, starting Friday (20th) at the Moorlands at Ogden, which is a biggish venue by our standards. I'm also at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet, playing solo on Sunday 22nd.

YAHOOOOOOOO
If anyone reading this happens to have a yahoo email account, you may have noticed they've recently started a chat/Instant Messenger which works straight from your web-email account. ie there's no need to install a seperate programme. If so, why not add me as a contact at pauljeffey212@yahoo.co.uk and come and have a chat!

Three gigs last week, and it was a case of two up one down really. The bad one came first on Wednesday but I'll start with the good ones.

Both were with the band, 3-piece version this week, starting on Thursday at Zephyr Bar in Huddersfield. This was the scene of the band's debut gig and has always been a special place to play, indeed at times it's been the only circuit venue that's been any good. Basically it's a younger crowd who come for a good time. And even the older end aren't predjudiced by what the band does, and we get to play more original material. We had a bit of a falling out over terms last year, but this was definetly a return to form. And whilst there may have been a downturn in trade for them lately it was still a good deal busier than some of our venues!! We had a great night, really rocking out towards the end. Audience-dependent songs like 'Lola' went down a storm and I would say this was clearly an '8'. And there ain't too many of those.

On Saturday we were at The Royal Oak at Paddock which seems to have picked up from a few years ago when I last played there. It was pretty busy and overall we had another good night with plenty of interest and they seemed to like our songs. This one gets a 7.

The bad one was, you guessed it, an Ossett Brewery solo gig. Previous blogs will bare out the details on this-I think I've done over 10 gigs in their pubs and they all have one thing in common. They're shit.

Another bottom of the pile gig this time at the Silver King in Ossett itself. Can I plead with Ossett Brewery to re-think their entertainment policy. Take it from me, no-one wants a music night, no-one. And that's not just sour grapes, they're saying this before I've played a note.

So, after another night of no applause, no audience, nothingness, I did the unthinkable and asked to be paid off. After a bit of 'negotiation' I was paid full money for one set and managed to squeeze into my local pub for last orders. I hated doing this but I'm sick and tired of playing somewhere I'm not wanted. I doubt I'll be doing any more there, thank God. Scores 2.

It's not all doom and gloom on the solo front, I'm doing the Primrose this Thursday and the Bell&Crown 'Strange Reality' night at Snaith on Sunday-both will be original material gigs so that should be fun.

This week the band was out twice and I also squeezed in a solo open mic too.

The Paul Jeffery Band did two regular venues: The Cricketers at Horbury on Friday and the Peacock in Huddersfield on Saturday.

My favourite of the two was The Peacock, we always get a warm reception down there. There's a section of the crowd, the older end mainly, who seem to make the effort to dress up, come out and enjoy themselves. It's something lacking in certain venues! This makes it far easier for us to have a good time too. So I'm happy to give this one 7 out of 10.

The night before was a more difficult night. This is largely because the audience is very transient, in and out, moving around the village. It's like playing each song to a different set of people! Only when the night levelled off and the crowd settled down did we get any attention, and this wasn't until fairly late on. Scores 5.

On the Thursday (the 26th, I'm working backwards here!), I played at the Puzzle Hall at Sowerby Bridge for the first time since it re-opened last summer. I'm happy to say the pub is still OK and the open mic and music scene is still strong. I only got to play 2 songs (These Eyes and I Don't Need) but it was still good to call in for a while. Smile please!! The audience poses for the camera at the Puzzle!!








Nothing much else to report for now, except to say I'm busy building a mailing list (email of course). It's great getting to interract with fans, friends, anyone who shows an interest in the songs really. Have to say my overseas 'following' is leading the way in that respect at the moment, so don't forget it's easy to join the mailing list. Just send an email (blank if necessary) to: paul@pauljeffery.com

The Paul Jeffery Band had a well-earned week off last week, whilst I did just the one solo open mic on Tuesday at the Priestley, sorry, Bradford Playhouse (as it's now called). A welcome return for a great venue, which is still unfortunately in administration. The night was too quiet to make a fair judgement on to be honest. I played just 2 songs (Shadow and 7 Shades). The night badly needs more support to be any good.

This coming week there's 2 gigs with the band on Friday and Saturday, at the Cricketers (Horbury) and The Peacock (Hudds) respectively.

I had a lovely day out on Saturday, as there was no gig. And I'm so glad I didn't waste the day as we were hit with something approaching decent warmer sunny weather! I was in North Yorkshire, eventually making it out to the coast to a beautiful little cove village called Staithes. I'm more and more enamoured with quiet, out-of-the-way places like this. Wouldn't it be a great place to write and record in? Perhaps....

I'm in the process of setting up a flickr account to share photos (as if I needed another job!!), but for now I'll just share a couple of photos. Have fun til next week, when it will indeed be March!

At The Hop

Most of the snow has shifted now, it took a while, but it didn't affect the weeks' activities thankfully, so there's now just a handful of piles of dirty ice to go at.

My band was back in business with 2 gigs. We finally found a venue with an audience, a full pub (can you remember those?) on Saturday night in the shape of The Hop in Wakefield. This is a fairly new pub in the Westgate area and I was very impressed by it. It was nice to have an audience to bounce off for a change. We had a very good night and it just goes to show that no matter how you play, the crowd makes all the difference. Nice to see a pub that isn't struggling at the moment too. Definetly a 7.

The following day we were back at Berry Brow Lib club for another passable gig. We've done this one a few times now and it's remained pretty consistent. I'll say 6 for that one.

We now have a week off but I will keeping my end up (matron) on the open mic circuit this week.

Other than that, I've been working on tracks for what will be solo album #3, I do hope you're keeping track of my discography...at this rate it shouldn't be too far from finishing. The Paradise Street album is now into the 'promotion' stage, which I must say I'm really enjoying. Web Promotion and album promotion was to start with my least favourite area but now I find myself looking forward each week to doing a bit of marketing. It's a steep learning curve but that's part of the fun. It's just nice to have songs released and then have them some exposure and hopefully keep finding new fans.

See you next week!

The London Trip

Snow is over-rated. Sure it looks pretty on a postcard or when you look out of the window, or when you see a Polar Bear sliding about on it, but when you actually have to contend with it and buggers up your plans, I think we could have waited another 18 years for some to fall.

Yes, the worse snowfalls for 18 years in Britain, sounds bad doesn't it. Until you consider how crap we are at dealing with it, myself included I'm afraid. On a practical level, it meant our Tuesday night gig at the Junction, Queensbury was cancelled. This was a blessing really, as Queensbury is climatically linked with the arctic circle and I'm sure it would have been a Captain Scott-esque adventure getting the vans up there. 'I'm going to push a Mercedes Sprinter, I may be some time...'

With my impeccable timing, it was also the week of my visit to London. This was planned well in advance and to be fair part of it went to plan. I had 3 gigs booked, plus a visit to watch Bradford's opening match of the season at Harlequins. That's Rugby League for the un-initiated, a summer sport, confusing isn't it. The rugby was cancelled so I had no choice but to cancel my Sunday night gig in Hitchin. The previous 2 did go ahead though and ran pretty much to plan.

I played at Club Acoustica at The Crown, Twickenham having driven down through the sleet in the afternoon. Thankfully it was a good night. I got a good reception throughout and managed to sell a few CDs. I played 'Shadow', 'Cold Day', 'Whiskey', 'Gods&Angels', 'Coming Out' and 'Freefallin'. During the last song, I was joined by the house band 'The Deputees', whom I have since found out are a very experienced bunch of great musicians, one of which has co-written with Status Quo. I think this was a definite 7 out of 10.

Saturday was at the White Bear at Rickmansworth. This one was more along the open mic format but had a sizeable crowd and most people listened to my set. I did 'Shadow', 'Cold Day', 'Whiskey' and 'These Eyes'. It wasn't quite as magical as the previous night but still solid. 6 out of 10.

Following on from here, I decided to pay a little homage to one of my musical gods. Around 10 minutes' drive from Rickmansworth is the Northwood Hills Hotel where one Elton John, then Reg Dwight, performed his first ever gig. I hoped for nothing more than a swift drink and that there may be some recognition of their place in our musical heritage.

Wrong. The place is basically now an Indian Restaurant with a public bar. It is very bright, shiney and noisy, with a DJ and big screens. It was heaving, but I didn't fit in, so feeling a bit intimidated I had a quick drink and left. I doubt if anyone present, staff or customer, even knew who Elton John was. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Indian restuarants, or that in it's pub days it was any good, but I did feel like there should at least have been some kind of momento-instead any soul and heritage seemed to have been ripped from the place- a feeling I get in Greater London about a lot of things.

That just about covers the latest adventures. With a bit of luck the band should be playing this coming Saturday in Wakefield, then Sunday afternoon in Berry Brow. As long as it doesn't keep on snowing or whatever else is thrown at us next.

Paradise Street album is here!

Yes, after months of eager anticipation the new Paradise Street album is now released and online. Titled 'Catharsis' the album is a collection of songs I've co-written, sung by female singers.

Think of it as a side-project to my solo work. I've written far too many songs than I can record, mix and release over the years, and many are in different genres. People are sometimes shocked when I tell them that I've written dance, pop, country and even r&b songs as well as my own stuff.

This album is somewhere along the lines of artists such as Dido, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Alison Moyet. So if you like that sort of music, you should like the new CD. Speaking of Cds, the album is currently available online in both mail order and mp3 download format. Just click here to go straight to the album page!

There's 13 new songs on there, and you can hear 4 of them at the Paradise Street myspace page.

I'm very proud of this album, which is self-produced too. I hope people latch onto the fact that I like doing different projects across genres, so hopefully it will appeal to both existing fans (both of you) and new people too.

If you would like a free download and news on the new project, you can email me here and request to be put on the mailing list.

I think that just about covers everything Paradise Street-wise. I just did the one open mic last week which was at the Chemic Tavern on Thursday. I played 'Prisoner', 'Gods' and 'Can't Stand Losing You' and whilst I don't give open mics a mark out of ten this one is surely one of the best going at the moment. I opened the night and got a good response with a listening audience too. It was a very good sound too which always helps.

I had a quieter weekend for once, with The Primrose gig being cancelled on Sunday. The snow had started by then so I wasn't too bothered about missing out. It's come on harder today so we'll have to see how things go regarding the band playing in Queensbury tomorrow night. Although it never really snows in Queensbury does it?
More importantly there's my trip to London this weekend where I'm going to be playing a couple of short solo sets Friday and Saturday night. You can check my giglist for more details. We'll just have to see if London has thawed out by then.

I'm sure you're both wondering what I did this weekend if there were no gigs. Well, I went to see 'Frost-Nixon' at the cinema on Saturday. It's hardly an action movie but if you've an interest in these characters (as I have) then it should strike a chord. I really enjoyed one of my very rare trips to the cinema. Yesterday (Sunday) I stayed up to watch a very exciting first half of the Superbowl before the highlight of the show:Bruce Springsteen's set! These short sets in front of billions always inspire me, just as it did with Tom Petty last year. They are 2 of my biggest influences so at least it shows they're still popular, very popular.