A philosopher speaks...

The band was back out this past week, on Friday night at The Hop in Wakefield. This was our third visit and it's a case of 3 out of 3 good gigs really. The main thing that helps is that the pub gets busy-this is not always the case these days!- also the positioning of the stage makes the band hard to ignore, and people do tend to get involved and enjoy themselves.

This then leads to the band enjoying themselves even more, and it makes the sometimes tough job of hitting the high notes and running about far easier. You may think that a rock band in a pub would be hard to ignore, but believe me some people try!

So all in all a very good night again in Wakefield. There's a few things changing on the gig front for me at the moment. The band has been my main thing certainly for the past 2 years, but I'm feeling that as a means of promoting what I'm doing it's definetly not the easiest! It's time consuming, energy sapping work, and the rewards are skant in comparison to the effort put in. If every gig was anything like as good as The Hop it would be no problem, but of course many aren't so good and that can get you down.

So the band will be being scaled back considerably this year, maybe to the point of going into hibernation, but that's not definiete yet. (it's been a long winter!). It could be that it carries on on a more casual 'fun' basis without the same emphasis placed on progress and world domination and such like. I have to admit I'm not sure yet.

This brings in the wider issue of how much gigs help to further what I'm doing in general. And that includes all gigs, not just the band. I recently read an article in which the results of a survey were very revealing. The survey was of people's musical habits and interests and it shows that all of us can largely be put in one of four categories:

Savants, Enthusiasts, Casuals and Indifferents. The four ranging from people for whom music is everything (also known as insiders and curators) to those for whom it means very little (to quote from the survey: 'Would not lose much sleep if music ceased to exist).

And here's the bad news (to quote a well-known music publicist): That bottom group of couldn't care less folk make up 40% of the population. The casuals make up 32%, meaning that only a quarter of us are in the music-lover division. So on a typical night, that's 3 out of 4 of you heading for the door!

But it gets worse. That's assuming there's a broad cross-section of society at the gig. Of course that's never normally the case. So there may well be an audience made up of 90% from the bottom two categories. That's daunting especially if the audience numbers less than 10 to start with!

Cover bands aim for the 'Casuals' as well. But for original music, those top two sectors are vital. So which category do you fit into?

It's comforting to know that there's some statistics to back up all these years I've been braying my head against a brick wall. It's also fascinating stuff. If I'm ever to get a following I'm going to need to bear some of this in mind. And where can I target and hone in on those categories best??

On the interweb, and not in the local free entry boozer.

It makes you think doesn't it.

No gigs last week, so it falls to me to open the blog out a bit and talk about something else. Not that I'm complaining about not having any gigs in a week, it's no longer quite such a priority to be out all the time. I've done enough of that lately!

It was my mum's birthday yesterday, it was one of those landmark ones, somewhere between 59 and 61. We had a party on Saturday night. In fact, I tell a lie about gigs, because I played one song at that! Everybody wanted me to do more, but I just did one. I wish every 'gig' was like that! I played Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn, as it's one of her favourite songs. We had a superb evening, with lots of family and friends present, some who we haven't seen in a long long time, in one case 20 years! It got me thinking more and more about how important it is to keep in touch with people. There are enough idiots in life to make it all the more important to keep aquainted with those who you get on with to start with!

I wish I saw more of these people, we're not a close family geographically but when we do get together we tend to pick up from where we left off last time.

So that was another Saturday night where I did as I pleased, instead of playing a paid gig that I probably wouldn't have enjoyed as much. I've spent years not having what you'd call normal weekends, and now I'm enjoying having them. For a long time, my weekend started on Monday and lasted til Friday, which was very nice, but a totally different routine. Then I've had busy weeks followed by very busy weekends. And that just makes you knackered. So it's nice to have a weekend I can call mine. In fact, this one coming up isn't much different. My band is playing at The Hop in Wakefield on Friday night but then the rest is clear.


GREATEST HITS MEDLEY ON MYSPACE

If you click onto my myspace page, you will find that the first song on my player is now a compilation of 5 songs, faded in and out in snippets of about 45 seconds each. This is available to download for free and includes excerpts from the songs 'Cold Cold Day', 'Young, Lost And Hopeful', 'Your Shadow', 'Money From The Satisfied Man' and 'It Will Pass'. The download is really aimed at newcomers to my music, so that you can have a broad overview of what I've done without having to trawl through full-length songs. But, seeing as all you blog readers are avid converts with full collections, you won't need to bother with this, will you? will you...

Another week, another couple of gigs. I haven't done quite as many lately (plus one or two were cancelled) but they seem to be going pretty well when they do happen. On Saturday night the band was out at the Royal Oak at Paddock and then it was onto Greetland on Sunday night for a solo set.

Greetland (not Greenland) is near Halifax and the Rose & Crown stands on the main road heading uphill to the moors. They're making a real go of live music there and that is always to be credited. This night was run by LiveSpace, of whom you will know about from Hebden Bridge if you've followed past blogs...they're now running singer-songwriter nights at 3 venues in Calderdale which is fantastic and long may it continue.

I played a 40 minute set of mainly originals and the response was pretty good, especially considering this was the first LiveSpace night there. An original material night is not always easy to pull off but a lot more rewarding when it does work! I urge everyone in the area to get behind these nights and give some support, there's so many talented musicians out there, and I sometimes play as well!

Check out the LiveSpace myspace site for more info!


SONG OF THE WEEK: Included in my set on Sunday night was 'I Can't Believe The News', one of my oldest and dearest songs, which was written in 1998 but then re-recorded for the Love Town album in 2006. Please take a listen if you get a moment!

One Step From The Lash...

There's always a new experience to be had when playing gigs. Sometimes it's a new town or venue, then sometimes it's an event you never foresaw. On Friday night, just after coming off stage, I was confronted with the bizarre sight of our drummer being whipped by a lady with said implement, in the vain hope we'd play another song. Audiences are getting more violent these days...



This was at the brilliant Cricketers Arms in Keighley, definetly one of our best venues. We'd played a good set to an enthusiastic crowd, then came the drummer lashing. OK, don't get too carried away, it was only a light tickling but the question still remains: what was this lady doing carrying a 4 foot whip around Keighley in the first place ?! I think it's better we don't know.



The following night I had another new experience, my first ever gig in Todmorden. This one was a solo set which came about via the Hole Note/Hole In The Wall people in nearby Hebden Bridge. The venue was the 3 Wise Monkeys on Water Street, and it was a really enjoyable night. As with the Cricketers, they have a PA system: other venues PLEASE take note!! I played two sets of mainly covers, to a good crowd. It was rather like the Zephyr Bar crowd, a good mix of ages, no idiots, and an encouraging response. So I'm really happy with how the weekend's gigs went. There's been some fairly lacklustre ones lately, so it was something of a relief. And for the record, not a whip in sight in Todmorden!


SONG OF THE WEEK:

The new Song Of The Week is Lost In Love Town, the title track from worldwide-selling* first album, which was also called Lost In Love Town.

So far, each week I've featured a song from my back catalogue, the track in question has reached a new high on the soundclick charts, which is based on song plays (streams). So please do have a play of the song by clicking the link on the title above. It's another of my favourite songs.

*= I make no mention of the quantity :)


Gigs this week......

Band at The Royal Oak in Paddock, Huddersfield (6th)
Solo at The Rose & Crown, Greetland, Halifax (7th) - this one being with LiveSpace featuring other acts.

The rugby season starts on Friday...only a month to the start of the stock car season, is winter finally loosening it's grip?!

Friday night was my first full solo gig of the year, at The Plough near Normanton. It's long been a favourite venue of mine, and the band has also done about 4 gigs there over the past couple of years.

There was supposed to be another act performing but on the night I did the full show, playing a handful of originals and the usual mixed selection of covers.

It was a fine night, and I got quite a good reception, even playing on for a few extra songs at the end of the night. This week the band is back in action at another very good venue, The Cricketers Arms at Keighley, so we shall see how that one goes!


SONG OF THE WEEK

The latest Song Of The Week has just gone online on myspace (as of Tuesday 26th), which is Whiskey Coloured World. The track may well be familiar to some of you, but if not please have a listen, and if yes-please play it anyway!

Whiskey Coloured World

I finally managed to get out on the road on Thursday to play at the beautiful Verve Bar in Leeds. By this stage, Friday night at Hoagys with the band had already fallen by the wayside so this was my only gig of the week.

I always enjoy Verve. It has a good PA, and a good following, set in a small, intimate room. I was on first, and played 6 songs. I felt I could have got more out of the audience, but it's always hit and miss. I was fairly pleased with the set, and as this is more the kind of gig I'll be doing this year, it was a good marker for the road ahead.

Just to keep you informed, this week's Song Of The Week is now featured: 'Hell Freezes Over' is one of my most popular live tracks as performed with The Paul Jeffery Band. You can also view a youtube video of the song (with the band) here.

The snow curtailed much of last week's activity. It's amazing how much a change in weather can affect your routine. Coming so soon after Christmas, it's meant that things haven't really returned to normal yet. We had to cancel my band's gig at the Duck and Drake in Leeds due to snow, and then the following night (Friday) I was meant to see Paul Carrack at the Brighouse Ritz, but this too was frozen out.

On Saturday night I opted for the safer option of staying indoors playing Wi sports with some friends. I don't personally own one of these things but it's great fun, I'm still aching a bit, it shows how little exercise I get. Who knows, it could be 'Guitar Hero' next. Then again, Hell may freeze over...

The great thaw has now begun, so there's a chance of completing some gigs this week: Thursday solo at Verve and Friday (band) at Hoagys's. Both in Leeds.


YOU TUBE VIDEOS!

I've recently launched my own youtube channel, which features all the videos involving my music that I've been able to pool together so far. There's several of my band performing at Wills O'Nats last August, plus previously blogged films of 'I Don't Need' and 'Money From The Satisfied Man'.

So, if you've never seen my band, and are of a strong constitution, please have a look at the link below. Please also feel free to leave a comment or two.

Paul Jeffery YouTube Page

Highlights include:
* My Band performing original songs live, including 'Even', 'Hell Freezes Over' and 'Old Wishing Well'.

* My solo performance of 'Money From The Satisfied Man'

* The Final Fantasy X fan video of 'I Don't Need'

* My Band performing covers of songs such as 'White Room' by Cream and 'Lola' by The Kinks

Cold Cold Day...

No sooner have we surpassed New Years Day and it's snowing heavily again and everything has ground to a halt!

The snow arrived just after the last blog, and this heralded the cancellation of my band's gig at The Bridge in Huddersfield. This would have been the last of 09. The first of 2010 has already taken place with our gig at The Kings Arms on January 1st.

I must just mention the fantastic experience of playing at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool just before Christmas. This was with Atlanta Soul and at last means I can brag about playing a venue people have heard of! It was a bit surreal, loading in through a back door and up in a service lift. But once inside I realised what a superb venue it is and I thoroughly enjoyed playing on a big stage through a big sound system!

As I mentioned, it's snowing again and so it will remain to be seen how the next few gigs go, if they go ahead at all.

Speaking of the snow, what better song to be the first Song Of The Week this year than 'Cold Cold Day'?! This is the original version that I produced and is the opening track on my first solo album 'Lost In Love Town'. This is the same song, but a different arrangment, to the recently featured Cold Day (Catt Mix).

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!