I HAVE BEEN driven inside by the sweltering Brighouse heat (no, really). It's the hottest day of the year so far here and I'm not complaining, the last couple of months have been very wet and cold.  It remains to be seen if we'll finally get a 'summer' or whether it will just be another 'British summer' consisting of 2 hot days and a thunderstorm.

I hope it stays this way for when I go to France soon.  I've been trying to learn French which is proving difficult.  I've got one of those CDs for the car which is teaching me lots of things: mainly that I shouldn't be learning while driving and also that I should have done this years ago.  Being a northerner doesn't help either.  The pronunciations are so alien when you're used to talking like what I do...German was much easier, especially if you like shouting a lot.


GIGS
Latest gig was at the esteemed Chemic Tavern last Thursday (17th May).  This was with my duo The BitterSweetShop.  Katie and I are getting things really moving with this project now and I could feel a fresh vitality to the performance.  It helped that the sound was excellent, as was the audience.  It's a great place to showcase your material in front of a friendly crowd.

We're playing another set at The Hop in Leeds tonight (Wed 23rd) so all is well on that front.


STUDIO
As well as gigging, the duo is also making a CD at the moment.  We've decided to alter the original plan a little and record a series of 'stripped back' songs, basically as you hear them live-just keyboards and vocals, but perhaps without the mistakes!  The original plan to do elabortate overdub recordings has taken a long time to complete but this way we will quickly have a batch of recordings to showcase which capture what we're really all about at the moment...I hope people agree it's more representative.  I will keep you posted as it nears completion, and it won't be too long away.

WEB
I am currently conducting a 'root and branch' review of how my music (and indeed music in general) is promoted on the web.  You'll find I'm using that expression a lot at the moment...and probably annoying people as I go along! 
I admit I'd become a bit dis-enchanted with the internet for music.  You will know this from previous blogs as I bemoan constantly the fading of Myspace (which gave me so much exposure in it's heyday), the changes made at Youtube and the elephant in the room that is Facebook.

The main thing I found so far surprised me a little, and very pleasantly too.  If you type the words 'PIANO SINGER SONGWRITER MALE' into google...look what happens.  Look who comes out number 3!  Maybe all those days in front of the computer weren't wasted after all.   I'm actually amazed by this result...which means I come out on top of Elton John, so to speak.

I still hold a candle for Myspace though, because it still generates me more 'hits' than any other site.  This is perculiar because no one on Planet Earth seems to use it anymore!  However, even though you the reader probably aren't a member on there anymore you can still view my page easily enough.  Here you will find cool things like the 'Paul Jeffery Radio' link right at the top.  Here you can listen to lots of my songs, basically any that are currently on iTunes....there's even an easy to use 'Buy' button as the song plays.  (That's my only commercial plug this time!).


LISTENING TO MUSIC
As I tweeted yesterday, I've been enjoying listening to Tracy Chapman's self-titled album recently.  I think as a piece of pure singer-songwriting it's superb, so concise.  Short songs from the days when singles were a bit longer on average, and the production is spot-on too.  Returning to the 21st century I'm also listening to Gotye at the moment....after hearing their song on the Radio 2 TV ads.  Another very pleasurable experience. 

Until next week,
Bye.