Happy weather

Ah, has been lovely sunny weather the last few days. Cheering, warming, even the cat looks pleased. I had a good time at the Southside Festival on the weekend, though its a shame the Council seem to think a family-type festival will be consumed in hellfire and mass murder should they relax their anti-booze bylaw in the park for a solitary day. Would-be merry cider-drinkers were coralled in a tiny holding pen, and en-grumpened and slighty de-merrified as a result. Still, tis a little churlish to complain. It was dead sunny.

Gig - Fri 24 June @ 13th Note

with Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra
…an avant-garde musical troupe from north of England.

13th Note Cafe, King St, Glasgow

time and pounds tbc

Folkering

I’m back after several months of focusing on green activism. I’m on the hunt for gigs.

New recordings!

Imperfect home recordings, but recordings none the less of traditional songs “The Trees They Do Grow High” and “The Deserter”.

7th March 2010.

the-trees-they-do-grow-high-march-2010

The Deserter - March 2010

Dearie me

Need to make more time to blog!  It’s definitely a habit thing. I’ve got lots of thoughts and mostly they just take their leave of me  in verbal form.  But it would be fine to put some more down on paper. Or screen.

Here’s a wee poem in the meantime.  I’m a singer and an organiser and a person who thinks, more than a poem-writing person.  But I scribbled the following on the bus today and here it is.

Is it?

Is it a long, wide road to Avalon?
And what will we do when we’re there?

Take the bus this morning.
The air in the flat is cold,
but not as cold as it could be.

There is food in my kitchen, extra.
In my kitchen, there are oats and bread.

To the garden – I have a garden.
Small but living.

A mouse in the wood bin.
A high cry. Evolved maybe,
for the need near of danger.

But there is no danger, here.

A walk to the bus,
the kicking of slush.

The brings and rings and mutterings
of fifty winter coats.
Tinny non-sound, me-sound, I-am sound.

The twitching of thumbs.
The turning of pages.

And on the display, the date, the time
Then all unknowingly,
“No RB”.

Back in blog

Well, I shall be back blogging.  And at the moment I’m less of a folk singer and more of an activist.  Specifically, I’ve been selected as a candidate for Glasgow South at the upcoming Westminster election for the Scottish Greens!

Music and people and organising are all rather closely connected for me.

More on this soon….

Happy New Year!

Right then, I’m back, following technical problems, holidays, decorating and re-organising.  To celebrate, here’s a picture of my cat - because if the internet isn’t for posting up pictures of your cat, just what the hell is it for?

I have exploded…

….and the pieces are scattered all over the world of internet networking:

My musician site on Facebook

Me on the Twitter

If you want to, you could “follow me” or “become my fan”.

I will fully understand if you’d prefer to wait until I’m actually playing some shows and have some proper recordings.

Wigging Out #2

Here tis!  The video for Camera Obscura’s splendid new single “The Sweetest Thing”.   Highly recommend you get their new album “My Maudlin Career”.  As previously I written, I’m in this video a wee bit…the Stevie Nicks at the party.  Check that out that Lionheart though!  She’s presently in the other room, painting beautiful paintings.

Folk musical update

Well, I’m still beavering away on new trad interpretations.  Presently I’m working hard on “Matty Groves” (a ballad in which an aristocratic adulterous fling goes horribly wrong, Child Ballad 81, from early 17th C at latest) and “The Dark-Eyed Sailor” (Irish,  18th C,  I think,I need to do some more research).

“The Dark-Eyed Sailor” has a happy ending!  Should possibly have given a spoiler warning there, but never mind.

They both need more work but in the meantime I’m looking for opportunities to get out singing the numbers I believe I have thus far nailed.

I’ve been out at “Friday Folk Night with Fozzie” at Queens Park Cafe in Glasgow, which was dead good.  I knew some folk there from the Bladnoch Festival so it was good to catch up.  Fozzie himself  is a brilliant guitar player and knows a lot of songs.  I will definitely be going back…I think I could learn much.  I got the chance to do a few numbers which went down well.  I had to crank the volume up a lot though cause there was a lot of really drunk noisy dudes there - not the usual crowd apparently.  They were pretty riotous but not at all threatening.   There was little room for subtlety and I made a number of mistakes but pretended not to.

I’ve also been to check out the trad folk session at the Ivory Hotel, also on the South Side of Glasgow.  Lots of very talented musicians but it seemed to be entirely instrumental, jigs and so on, no singers.  I’d go again just to listen, although I am slightly put off by the Ivory itself, which is rather soulless and Sky Sports, and somehow both over and under lit.

Next up: I’m going to get myself along to the Scotia on Stockwell Street.  Folk nights on Weds.  I think I’ll go purely as a punter first to see what kind of a night it is.  I shall keep you posted.

I really need to do some more recording as well.  I’d really like some good recordings.  I’ll need to have a think about it.