There's not been too much tangible to report on lately, which is curious seen as I'm actually very busy at the moment! The less time I spend on solo projects the busier everything else seems to be which is good but it can make balancing everything up a little tricky.

So I thought just for fun I'd list all the projects I'm currently involved in. They say blogs should always have a human interest angle after all! Let's call it 'a fascinating insight into the daily life of a (poor) working musician'!!

In no particular order:

1) Solo gigs:

These could be either original material or covers-orientated or a mixture of both. Either way I have to practice new and existing songs in order to do the gigs. Covers can also be sub-divided into well-known numbers (for the paying customer) and less well-known ones.

2) Paul Jeffery Trio gigs:

A similar scenario to the above, with it's own set of rehearsals, different songs, and the all-important vocal harmony rehearsals (not strictly necessary in the case of my solo gigs!).

3) The BitterSweetShop gigs:

This is my project with Katie Chadwick which involves yet more rehearsals, different songs and also an album project which is part finished.

4) Atlanta Soul Band gigs:

For which I am a member and we also rehearse for these.

5) Blueprint gigs:

Another covers band I play with and rehearse with.

6) Morris And The Minors gigs:

Yet another covers band I play with.

7) Songwriting and Recordings:

Yes, when I'm not gigging or rehearsing with 6 different live projects I'm writing, arranging and recording new original material! And just to sub-divide things further, these songs may be for me to sing or someone else to sing and could be for a variety of destinations. These include my own solo albums and also other possible future collaborations and side projects such as the Paradise Street one a few years back.

8) Throw in updating and networking via myspace, youtube and facebook, oh and typing this right now, that should give you some idea of why I've been busy lately! As I said that's just the music projects too!


I hope that was at least a bit interesting! I also think it helps explain why questions like 'what sort of music do you do' are not that straightforward to answer!

I was performing solo at Verve in Leeds on Thurs Oct 27th. I haven't done many solo gigs lately due to all the band commitments but I'm still as keen as ever to get back to doing more of that. I'm talking mainly about the 'originals' type of gig as opposed to the covers ones. I can't believe it's 5 years since I started making 2 or 3 trips on average per week into Leeds to play at open mics and songwriter/acoustic nights.

On the Saturday just gone it was back to the Rose & Crown at Greetland with the Trio where it was the busiest night I've seen so far in there. It took a while to warm up, but eventually the response we got was very enthusiastic, with a second set running to around an hour and a quarter!

This Week:
Coming up this Sunday (20th) is my final New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet gig of the year.

Music:
I've just started re-listening to Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds. A musician friend of mine said recently that a good arranger is more valuable than a good composer, and if there is some truth in that then it's certainly born out on this album. Everybody with an interest in how music is arranged should go and listen to it. The choice of sounds alone is amazing, and of course the songwriting isn't exactly mediocre either.

Web News:
It's taken me over a year to realise it (!) but garageband.com has shut down. This is the site I once used quite regularly to get my music reviewed by other musicians (very brave) and to see how the songs ranked alongside others as they moved up and down the charts. I had two songs ranked as 'track of the day' which were 'Young Lost & Hopeful' and 'Coming Up For Air', the latter being under the Paradise Street name.

The reason I found this out is that I was looking to revive my presence there and get some of my new material reviewed. So I'm now on the lookout for a similar site to join, so please let me know if you can recommend one.

The Paul Jeffery Trio was out again last Friday night (Oct 21st) playing for the Keighley/Worth Valley Beer Festival in the Oxenhope railway shed. As venues go this was fairly unique. I can honestly say I've never played in a room with so many huge steam trains before, nor have I played in such a nice smelling room either (I like the oil smell). I have however played in many rooms that smelt terrible.

The room was also enormous and contained hundreds of people and Lord knows how many beers. We played for an hour and I was really pleased with our set. Music at beer festivals is largely for background purposes but it was still more or less well received.

This Week:

I've a fairly hectic week playing solo at Verve in Leeds tomorrow night (Thurs 27th) at about 9pm. I haven't done many solo original sets lately so I'm really looking forward to that. Then on Friday and Saturday I'm playing keyboards for a new band, Blueprint, with both gigs over Bingley way.

Music:

I heard the new Evanescence album. No really, I did. You must play it loud. Over the years there have been 2 occasions when it's been suggested I produce a song in their style. Unfortunately both times this occured after I'd finished the song and produced it in a different style. Now I've finally heard them properly and it's really impressive. I'm not sure if I'll get asked to produce something like that again, but just in case maybe I should do a version of all my songs like that.

I must apologise for the lack of blog action lately. I'm well behind with news updates although I can't believe it's over a month since I got chance to get on here....so I'll do my best to rattle through some of the happenings since what looks like Sept 14th!!

The BitterSweetShop did a gig at the New Conservatory in Leeds on Thurs Oct 6th. We were the 'headline' slot on what is basically an open mic night. Main feature of the venue is the grand piano which is in fairly good condition and would be even better facing side on rather than backwards with the player facing the back wall and having his/her back to the audience! Needless to say I didn't offer to turn it round!

We played 6 songs which went well and despite not being able to see the audience Katie tells me they were listening and watching!

I must just quickly mention the Atlanta Soul gig at the Hilton on Sat 8th in Manchester. This was an amazing night with such diverse acts as Anthony Costa (from Blue) and Bruce Airhead sharing the bill (and dressing room) with us. Please google Bruce Airhead to find out what he does because if I try and describe it in words on here you'll think I've totally lost it this time.

I was away for a few days on the Isle Of Man last week before returning and playing with the trio last Saturday at the Abbey Inn. It was a fairly quiet night but good to play a longer set of acoustic stuff. Highlight of the night happened before we'd played a note when a punter asked who the singer on the piped music was that she liked, well it was one of my songs.....needless to say she'd gone home by the time we went on stage. That is the true story of being a musician!

Plenty more going on but that's the last 5 weeks or so in a nutshell, cheers.

Firstly some photos from the aforementioned biker do with Atlanta Soul in Stockport!





Last (2) Weeks:

2 weeks to catch up on here, starting with my solo gig at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet which was on Sunday 4th Sept. I always enjoy this gig as it's almost my 'local' gigwise. I've been playing there now for nearly 5 years, and I still haven't quite got it right...no, seriously, it's a great gig for me because I get to play a wide selection of originals and covers and I have a loyal following who listen to what I'm doing. As a gig that certainly would be classified as 'intimate' I also get to practice talking to an audience, which in the context of solo gigs is very important. I'm really keen to develop this side of my act, so that the stories and comments add to the songs I'm playing.

This particular gig also saw me attempting to develop another idea, which is that of doing happier songs! Anyone who knows my own material will know that it's not the most cheerful bunch of songs. Now there was a time when the more emotional, heart-ripping the song was the more I felt I could get behind it and perform it. Now I'm realising that it's wise not to always be like that and to develop my sunnier side as well! I'm in the process of addressing this regarding originals but more immediately I'm adding more happy covers, particularly for the full-length gigs like this.

I've noticed 2 things from playing gigs over the past couple of years: 1) Slow songs are often frowned upon and 2) Introspective ie 'depressing' songs are frowned on. Bugger. That's about 90% of my repertoire gone!! I have a theory both are connected to the recession we're in. Yes, you know the one the govt denies but the one we're actually in. People need cheering up and taking out of themselves at gigs, not taking into themselves and being made to think too much about the darker side of life.

So anyway, another enjoyable night at the New Inn, with some happier songs too! It's just a shame that there aren't more venues like that in the local area. I hope I'm wrong in saying that so if anyone knows of any intimate pubs within a fuel-affordable range of Brighouse that host solo/acoustic nights to an attentive audience, please let me know!

That pretty much takes us up to date for the time being, I'm more than freeman, thank you for listening*

*that last bit will mean nothing if you live outside the UK, and probably nothing if you do.

Last Week:

Last time I was about to go off and do the New Inn Music Festival on Saturday 20th August. It was very well-supported again and I enjoyed my all-originals set very much. It sounds like the day went very well indeed.

Since then there's been just one other gig which was last Sunday with Atlanta Soul in Stockport for the bikers' festival in the market square, right in front of the Bakers Vaults pub where we play. This has to go down as being one of my favourite events of this type with a really busy crowd that got right behind what we were playing. Even outbreaks of rain and lightening (!) didn't send the crowd away.

This Week:

That just about concludes the 'summer festivals' season for me (debateable on both counts, as we've hardly had a summer) and so it's back to my regular New Inn solo slot this Sunday (4th Sept) at Barwick-in-Elmet again.

Music:

I've been listening to Seasick Steve's latest release, which is called 'You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks' and features Paul Jones from Led Zep on bass. It's got some great dirty bluesy riffs on it and even a 10 minute monologue at the end!

Immediately following on from this album I listened to a bit of Chris Rea's incredibly prolific 'Blues Guitars' CD collection. Again, lots of dirty bluesy slide riffs. Having listened to both I just can't help feeling one of these gents is more authentic than the other....Chris Rea of course.

OK, last blog was August 2nd so there's a bit to catch up on. You'll like it, not a lot.

Todstock 2011 was on Sunday August 7th. There was a lot of rain about that weekend so the field we played in (undercover thankfully) was pretty much waterlogged. The makeshift 'stage' of wooden pallets did it's job very well! There's some photos taken by Mike Green if you click here and go to page 5.

On Friday the 12th I had an altogether drier gig at Leeds Town Hall. This was as part of an exhibition about the history of popular music in Leeds. It was a lunchtime set, superbly organised and I played 2 20 minute sets, solo this time. OK, it was in the basement room and not the main hall but I can now say I've played (sort of) a venue Queen performed at on their first national tour supporting Mott The Hoople, so there.

On Thursday 18th the Paul Jeffery Trio was out again at the Chemic Tavern in Leeds. What a great night. Rarely have I enjoyed playing a 3 song set so much! It sounded spot on from where I was standing, and this of course makes for a much better performance. Absolutely loved it!

Today (Sat 20th) I'm gearing up for the 2nd Barwick-in-Elmet festival at the New Inn. I'm on at 5pm doing about 45 minutes. Last year you may remember I had to break off part way through the set to move my car so the combine harvester could get through! This year I plan to park further away if possible.

I listened to Paul Simon's recent album 'So Beautiful Or So What' this week. I'm not sure where he fits in these days. The album didn't feel relevant and it didn't really move me in anyway. Oh well, who am I to blow against the wind?

Last Week:

I finally got a night free to play a solo open mic at The Hop in Leeds last week. I don't do much negative stuff on here now but to be blunt one staff member did two things wrong and I won't be going again with any of my line-ups. It's a pity because, as a recent blog will show, I was enjoying going there and it had probably pushed itself up to being my second favourite Leeds open mic night. However, as I'm only there for my own benefit giving my time and efforts for free, it's an easy decision to make to not bother with the place.

To put into some context, think how many open mic nights I've done since 2007 (if you're not familiar with it I must have done hundreds). And I can literally count less than 5 that have in any way pissed me off. That's 5 gigs not 5 venues!

Enough of that. On Friday night I was out with Atlanta Soul playing a wedding in a Cheshire hall, complete with gardens and estate. The problem these days is some of these venues are just not up to standard!

Stock cars in Skegness Saturday night, lunch in Port Sunlight on Sunday followed by watching the Bulls arsed by Warrington (I remember when we used to do that to them). I used to say to my friend about the annual arsing of Warrington, now it's very much by instead of 'of'.

This week:

Saturday with Atlanta Soul again (another wedding, will these people ever learn!). Then on Sunday afternoon it's the Trio back at Todstock. Our set is at 4:00pm so if you're near Todmorden come along to Centre Vale park and buy a CD, sorry, I mean watch us play.

Music:

Joss Stone's new album, imaginatively called 'LP1' is a stunner. It's all real instruments, classic rhythm and blues, hammond organ, crunchy guitars etc....and that voice, it's electric, I love the passion in her voice. To me she's a modern day Tina Turner, and I mean that in the best possible way, awesome record. Only 10 songs, short and simple, it's superb.

Last week:

The BitterSweetShop was at the Hop in Leeds last Wednesday, I think it's a very under-rated open mic night that deserves a little more support. I've always enjoyed playing there!

Following on from this a fairly 'quiet' weekend with a trip to York Races on Friday night. Had a couple of winners so came out with more or less the same money I went in with. Blondie were on afterwards, as part of the music festival. I'm partly wishing I'd stayed for longer but after a few songs we decided it was time to get something to eat.

This week:

Atlanta Soul for me this Friday. A little lighter on the gig front meaning I should get more time to work in the studio as new releases creep ever nearer, plus a bit of practice time. I've also recently set up a page on Reverbnation so I'm attempting to get that working properly too.

Music:

I've done more listening in recent weeks than I have done for a long time. I listened to the new Feeling album and am currently on with Rumer. The Feeling are much maligned for being 'pop', a bit like the Michael MacIntyre of music....but they are good pop songs and I quite enjoyed it. Rumer is very very good, and very relaxing too. There is a big Carpenters influence, but it's got a lot of class, definetly one to listen to after a hard day.

Last Week:

The Paul Jeffery Trio were at the Chemic in Leeds again last Thursday (14th). It's not quite as busy there in summertime after the students have left. But it was still a very well received set at a venue I enjoy very much.

This Week:

Tonight (20th) it's back to the Hop in Leeds with BitterSweetShop this time. It's been a while since our last one so I'm really looking forward to that.

I've been listening to quite a bit of music this past week. The new Yes album 'Fly From Here' produced by Trevor Horn is great. I'm not a big Yes efficianado but to me it sounded like their classic sound, at least compared to what I've heard before. No Jon Anderson but that is easily solved by hiring a singer from a Yes tribute band who sounds very similar!! And here's me thinking his voice is totally unique.

Last Week:
Back from Switzerland after a short holiday. It's a beautiful place. I was by the shores of Lake Geneva which included Montreux. I got to see Freddie's statue there which was a poignant moment for me, especially when the cafe across the road had 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives' playing! It's also of course home of the Jazz Festival which started while I was there. I wish I'd realised sooner as tickets for Santana and BB King were sold out, so I was unable to see these legends.

This Week:
The Paul Jeffery Trio is playing again at the Chemic Tavern in Leeds this Thursday (the 14th). More videos are being added regularly from our recent filming session and you can view all these and more at my youtube channel.

I've been listening to the two Adele albums lately, which I'm very impressed with. I always find it hard to take in current music and musicians but I'm learning on that one. The music is very good quality in my opinion. That takes me onto a new release by an old band, Yes. Their new release 'Fly From Here' is my next on the list.

The past couple of weeks have been quite busy with gigs. Following on from the last blog I was out at The Hop in Leeds on Wed 8th June. This was their weekly open mic night and Katie and I did a really good set in a venue that has loads of character....including the rumbling sound of trains passing overhead!

On Sunday the 12th I braved the torrential rain to play at The Rose & Crown in Greetland. Yes it was an indoor gig but just the load-in was tricky as it was raining so hard! It was as always refreshing to play my solo set and I only wish there was time to fit a few more of those type of gigs in.

Last Thursday the Paul Jeffery Trio was playing at the Chemic in Leeds. It got very busy in there which can only be a good thing. Of course, if you want to know what the Trio sounds like we have some fresh new videos...such as this one of 'Even' as mentioned last time!!

Listening has taken me from Prince to Adele via Robbie Robertson in the past couple of weeks. That's some variety....and that's just Prince!! I'm enjoying trying my best to keep a little more up to date (that means anything from the last 20 years) and must say the Robbie album was great...very consistant just like the other US singer-songwriters I admire, such as Jackson Browne.

This week I'm busy with a couple of Atlanta Soul gigs, so will bring you more news soon!

New Video!!

Around a week ago myself, Dan and Ol got together to record and film a few songs. We ran them through live, no overdubs and the first film is now available to view online! It's come out really well and with more to come I'm really looking forward to seeing/hearing the results and reading people's reactions.

The first song uploaded is 'Even' and you can view it here.


This week:

I'm doing the Hop in Leeds tonight with Katie (BitterSweetShop), and then on Sunday it's a solo gig at the Rose & Crown in Greetland which is near Halifax. It's a regular venue for me and one I very much enjoy. So for an intimate gig please come along for 8pm. It wraps up around 10 so it's not a very late finish.


I've been listening to the rest of Kate Bush 'Directors Cut' which covers a real diversity of sounds, including some quite erotic moments I'll need to listen to again :) I've also started on a 'Best Of' Prince CD, as I thought it was about time I educated myself in that direction. Again it's a tremendous range of influences and styles.

Apologies it's taken so long to update the blog. I'd no idea it had stretched to a month, time really does fly when you're having so much fun.

It seems, looking at my diary, that I've done seven gigs since the last one so it's been a pretty busy period. The thing that amuses me slightly is it's been 7 gigs with 6 different bands!

OK, one of those 'bands' is my solo show which was last seen at the New Inn in Barwick-in-Elmet on the 8th of May. This is a set I wish I was playing more regularly as it's damn good fun being able to play songs I'd otherwise get little chance to do.

The PJ Trio was at the Chemic on May 12th and either side of this the BitterSweetShop did 2 sets, one at the Ship on the 10th and then the Hop in Leeds on the 18th.

Atlanta Soul was in Blackpool on May 21st playing for a Scooter rally. I can only say I'm glad I wasn't one of those camping as it was raining horizontally for a long while!

I've since done 2 depping jobs with bands, these being over the bank holiday weekend just gone. For this I've probably done more practice learning songs than I have in the past decade. It's easy for me to forget sometimes that I'm a musician.

This week it will be quieter with just a couple of rehearsals planned. I'm also shoulder-deep in recording projects which, as time progresses, should see a whole miriad of songs come to light. It's just finding the time...

I've been listening to some interesting stuff lately. Learning all these songs for the various bands has made me realise I need to be listening to some more up to date music. As you probably can gather I mainly listen to music from the dark ages when things were done properly etc... but it's made me feel even more out of touch than I'm usually comfortable with. I've now decided to pour over the current new releases and delve into them a bit, whilst retaining an interest in back catalogue stuff as well. So be prepared for a few (by my standards) shock choices of listening!

I managed to combine the 2 (old and new) last week by listening to the new Kate Bush release the 'Directors Cut'. I'm still part way through but enjoying learning all the time. Cheers for now.

I could get done by Trade Descriptions because it says 'updated weekly' at the top of this...but ah well it's been Easter and what with all those extra days off it pains me to take, it's now 2 weeks since the last blog, so here goes:

Last (2) Weeks:

The Paul Jeffery Trio did, as planned, play at the Chemic on April 14th. I'm going to stick my neck out now and say the Chemic is currently my favourite open mic night. It is well run and has a good PA system and perhaps more importantly an audience that fills a room with lots of character. This is not to say that there aren't other really good open mic/acoustic nights too (and you'd never catch me insulting people on here) but for me the Chemic on a Thursday night is a winner.

I spent the weekend in Canterbury for the JFK seminar. Explaining all this mystique would require starting another blog, which I haven't time for at the moment, so that's all I'll say for now.

The BitterSweetShop was back in action on Tuesday 19th after a fairly lengthy break from gigging. We did the Ship in Leeds which is another decent night. From there we're into Easter which was blessed by some amazing weather for a change. Maybe they should have it this late every year.


Next Week:

Having a BBQ tomorrow (Friday), it's got something to do with a wedding I think, then onto another bank holiday weekend in this tough schedule. Speaking of which, I have re-organised one or two things so I should now get to spend more time writing and recording. I'm really looking forward to finishing some more songs off.

Viagra anyone?

That made you stand to attention didn't it?! My email account was recently hacked and a rogue email for the above was sent out to my address book. I'm really sorry about this, hopefully it won't happen again now. Remember it's never too late to join my mailing list, for which you get a free download (but no viagra).

Last Week:

A bit more to report on this time. I moan a lot about the weather in this country, and in particular this area so I'm really happy to say we had some belting weather over the weekend and the back of last week. It really helps. I enjoyed wandering round Yorkshire Sculpture Park in perfect conditions, watching the Bulls in Hull (even though we lost) and then 2 days of stock cars in the midlands.

I also did a gig at Bar Place in Hebden Bridge last Thursday. I was just solo and opened the evening. The night has a good following and a good PA set up. It was fun to get back out and play mainly my own songs, something I haven't done for a while on my own. I felt a bit rusty playing half an hour but it was good to feel productive on the live front.


This Week:

Tonight (Thurs 14th) the Trio will be playing at the Chemic in Leeds and provisionally The BitterSweetShop will be doing a set at The Ship (also Leeds) on Tuesday the 19th.

A-Z of music:

I've been listening to more Tom Petty, this time 'Echo' in it's entirety for the first time. It's perhaps not his strongest album but still 'Room At The Top Of The World' is a gem, and is making a hasty addition to my list of covers to play.

OK, it's been a while since the last blog. I've just had a week off in Jersey. A very nice island although the best weather occurred on the day I arrived and the day I left. In between was not quite so good, but there you go.

I'm finally going to be back out doing a gig tomorrow night (Thursday 7th). I'm doing a slot at Bar Place in Hebden Bridge. In fact I can tell you it'll be the opening slot at about 9pm! The night, by all accounts, is thriving so I'm looking forward to returning to this venue.

There's now 2 tracks uploaded onto the BitterSweetShop page, the latest being 'Mirror'. Please feel free to have a listen!

Bye for now,
Paul

Last Week:

Whilst still in a spell of relative in-activity on the gig front (voluntarily and not permanently!), I did a show with Atlanta Soul last Saturday at Cafe Artisan in Rawtenstall. It went very well again and reinforced my view that it's a great live music venue. I do remember raving about it in a previous blog after last time we were there, so it's enough said that it was equally as enjoyable this time around.

And there's even a video clip this time...click here


Speaking of videos, a whole host of Paul Jeffery Band videos have been uploaded onto youtube from a gig we played in November 09. I haven't had chance to organise them on my own channel yet, but there's about 15(!) songs on there. Mainly covers but a fascinating insight into how the band was on stage.

To view one of the songs (and find your way to the other 14 or so!) please click here.


Hope you enjoy them and I'll be in touch soon!

There's been a bit of a lull in the number of gigs lately, not for any particular reason. I haven't been blacklisted by anyone (for a while) and it's not due to a loss of heart in playing live.

I used to try and cram in as many gigs as possible, 2007 being the best example of this. Now I operate a 'quota' system where I try and limit the number to a sensible and manageable amount. Over Christmas and, for some reason, January I've 'over-quotaed' a bit so I'm just letting things settle down before getting back at it on the road.

Of course if you throw in recording sessions (BitterSweetShop in particular), rehearsals with the 3-piece and a couple of quizzes it doesn't exactly leave much time for a mid-week tour. I'm 'in the studio' as bands often put it.

I will, however, be out playing with Atlanta Soul on Saturday at Cafe Artisan in Rawtenstall. Last time out, as mentioned on here, it was a great gig so I'm very much looking forward to going back there. I will let you know how it goes...

Restless...

No, not me...but please take a listen to the song by my new project The BitterSweetShop.

www.myspace.com/bittersweetshop

Last Week:

3 days last week (Friday to Sunday) were given over for the love of 'The Greatest Game' in Cardiff. That of course being Rugby League, which was venturing into Rugby Union territory which of course is not the greatest game. In all I watched 7 matches over the 2 day-event, covering about 600 miles getting there and back. Of course the Bulls were the victim of yet another dubious set of decisions en route to squandering an 18 point lead in the last 20 minutes. To make matters worse, Huddersfield won their game. But things are looking up and should be a big improvement on last season.

Needless to say there weren't any gigs this past few days. I'm still working on the next track for the BitterSweetShop, which I'm mixing at the moment. Not as we speak obviously.


This week:

Again, no gigs whilst I'm so busy with recording and a heap of new songs to work on too! I've also been finding some time to practice (yes, strange I know!) so hopefully I'll soon get chance to go out and play some solo gigs and play what I've been working on. I'd also soon like to do some more videos along the lines of the last batch: singing and playing the songs at home. If you didn't see the last videos here are the links to them:

Your Shadow

Cold Cold Day

Whiskey Coloured World (which is also the video on my myspace page)

Young Lost And Hopeful

Nobody Said


A-Z of Music:

Still near the end of the alphabet at the moment with Yello. Again, one of my early musical loves, I've been enjoying delving into albums such as 'Stella' from 1985, which I feel is one of their best.

Last Week:

The gig with Atlanta Soul at Manchester University last Friday is likely to live on in memory for a long time to come. It was what can only be described as a proper gig! The Martin Harris Centre is a purpose built music theatre with the sort of sound that doesn't need eq-ing on the desk. A proper theatre venue, with an easy load-in (walk through the door and you're there!), fully seated, soundman, crew, gear in place, dressing room, steward to give you the 5 minute call....I felt like a real musician...

All we needed then was an audience to match. At first things didn't look too good, with talk of low ticket sales which thankfully turned out not to be true. OK it wasn't full but there were more than enough people to make a go of it with. Then there remained the question of what the audience response would be. Even at the best of gigs a crowd can take a bit of working and warming up. There's very few where they're onto you straight away. The latter have usually been venues with a bar and a standing crowd...this was a theatre with bar outside. I feared they'd take some warming up.

Not true. Even from Song 1 there were some out of their seats dancing. This continued and by the middle of the first set I think just about everyone was on their feet. By the second set many had come down to the front to dance. This was a world away from what I'd expected and thus was a very pleasant surprise indeed!

With a 10:30 finish, and not much gear to load out, I was away and home before midnight. Now I could get used to that!!

The weekend was fairly quiet after this. We went to look at a nuclear bunker in Cheshire on Sunday. I guess we needed cheering up! It's a museum now, but still contains all the earie atmosphere you'd expect from something like that. Full of Cold War memorabilia and a fascinating insight into the era and it's potential deadly outcome. Amongst a handful of government posts who had a desk there was the Inland Revenue. You may survive the Bomb but the taxman will still get you in the end.

This Week:

A slightly quieter week for gigs with this weekend being given over to the Cardiff trip. The opening weekend of the Super League season which can't come soon enough. It has been and still is a long winter.

The BitterSweetShop has finally got a song online from the new album. You can click here to visit our myspace site (still very new) and take a listen to the song.


A-Z of Music:

I've gravitated from Jean-Michel to Yello now. Another of my favourite European Electronic groups, I'm going to have lots more fun getting even more nostalgic. I've also been listening to Billy Joel's 1989 album 'Storm Front', largely because of hearing one of it's tracks on the radio recently. It's a great album from an era I admire a great deal.

Last week:

I'm so glad January has finished. I know it's still winter and there's the ever-present threat of more snow (depending on who you talk to) but I always find it a long, cold, dark and generally crap month. I'm sure it's no coincidence that it's a lot brighter today and even a little bit warmer. I don't really take much notice of the weather forecast, just in case it's bad news...after all you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows.

I know a couple of people who revel in telling everyone it's going to snow 'later in the week', even if it's already Friday. They place great faith in the Country File Five Day Farmers' Forecast, told by a suitably youthful forecaster of course. Why I don't know, as it's all from the BBC Met Office, the same people who do the forecasts day in day out. But somehow because it's for farmers it's taken more seriously as if they're the only ones who have the right to know the real weather.

But the real point to me relating this is that they always seem to want it to snow. I'm sure it's so they can then crow about their vehicles' snow-driving capabilities while the likes of me are planning any possible excuse not to get out of bed that day.

Oh, last week, I was supposed to be talking about. Well the Paul Jeffery Trio played it's first full gig as planned at the Rose & Crown, Greetland on Saturday night. It went really well, the first full band gig of this sort I've done since about last March. It was good to do a gig at a venue that has the right attitude to putting on live music, and I'll be happy to play there again soon.

Last night (Monday) I also played a solo gig at Milo in Leeds. I arrived just in time to be greeted by about 50 people decending from a meeting upstairs. 50 people is a lot in there, and then I found out they were all musicians in bands or producers. I played the last set (headlining we call it if we're wanting to show off) so most had gone by then, but it was still a good night and a really good sound too for my set.


This week:

It's a bit quieter with now just the big Atlanta Soul gig at Manchester Uni this Friday. I'm doing some more writing of late so there's all that to fit in, plus the recording of the demos.

A-Z of Music:

What a great treat on Sunday night on BBC 4. I'd just walked in from the pub when an hour-long programme about Mark Knopfler started. It kind of restored my faith in him to be honest. I don't know if I mentioned it here but I saw him at the M.E.N last year and was a little disappointed, mainly because he just isn't an arena performer. Some great interview segments, and of course some great playing though, and I always like to listen to what seasoned musicians and songwriters have to say. Especially one as intelligent and articulate as he.

Last week:

One gig last week, which was again as The BitterSweetShop in Leeds, this time headlining the Chemic's open mic night. Each week one act does a 'booked' slot in between the open mic artists (of which we have been one in the past!). I'm really happy with the way these recent Leeds gigs have gone, and there's a recording making progress too...it's still a way from completion but it's getting there.

This week:

The acoustic 3-piece will be doing it's first ever full gig this Saturday night at the Rose & Crown, Greetland. We're playing as 'The Paul Jeffery Trio' so why not come along to see a bit of history made...or at least what should be a really good gig in a nice venue!

By the time the next blog comes out, there will also have been yet another BitterSweetShop gig at Milo in Leeds. This one is on Monday 31st January and starts at around 8pm.

Last Week:

Another couple of gigs with The BitterSweetShop on Thursday at Verve in Leeds and then solo at the New Inn at Barwick on Sunday.

Verve is a superb acoustic venue, with a PA that is super-clear, highlighting every note (including the bum ones!). It was a little quieter than normal in Leeds which at least made parking easier. I really enjoyed the gig though, and the CD we're making is going to be wonderful, it just needs finishing now.

Sunday's set also went well with even a bit of dancing near the end!

Earlier that day I'd been to Morecambe and Glasson for a little while, so I've put a few pics on facebook here.


This week:

Katie and I are doing the Chemic Tavern this Thursday. It's the headline slot which will be at about 10pm.

Happy New Year

Welcome back to the first blog of 2011. Hope everyone had a good break over Christmas etc... and I'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year, let's hope it's a good one without any fear.

Last Week

I was gigging with Katie/The BitterSweetShop on Thursday at the George in Leeds. They're running a new weekly night there which is a mix of open mic and full band stuff. We did a 40 minute set which went very well, including guest trumpet on a couple of songs! Got quite a bit on with this line-up, see below!

On the weekend I made my annual visit to see Paul Carrack at the Ritz in Brighouse, yes Brighouse. It was up to the usual standard so that was great. On Sunday it was the first Bulls match of the year, only a friendly, but I'd been quite desperate to see a match for some time. Something to do with the slightly longer off-season the team had by not qualifying for the play-offs!

A couple of other recent developments:

**Another Fan-video created by Vsevolod is now up on my youtube channel. This time it's 'These Eyes Of Mine' which gets the treatment.

**On Monday night, another track 'Through Heartache And Back' was aired on DJ Serious-Music's 'Independents Only' Show. This monthly radio show is based mainly around the music featured on www.indiemusicworks.com/ The link to the show is http://indiemusicworks.com/webradio/imw1.html


This week:

2 gigs this week, starting with The BitterSweetShop again this time at Verve in Leeds on Thursday night (13th, 9pm). Then on Sunday it's solo at the New Inn, Barwick-in-Elmet (16th, 9pm).

A-Z of music:
Still listening to the J-M Jarre back catalogue...now up to the Rendezvous Houston concert which even on mere audio alone conjures up fantastic images of what the famous 1986 concert must have been like to witness.