April 2011

STOP PRESS! 2 GREAT NEW SHOWS HAVE COME IN AT SHORT NOTICE! - MARCH 27 IN CREWE AND APRIL 20 IN ASCOT - BOTH GREAT VENUES - SEE LIVE FOR DETAILS!

I'm feeling a bit less roughed up than previously about the death of my little brother Ed, and thanks for the kind words i've received at shows on the subject - should have a simple album out soon with some new songs, some of which are about him (not as depressing as that may sound actually). And the album should be called BEWARE SOUL BROTHER...

I'm glad for the change in the weather round here - mucking out horses in the morning means you no longer have to break a thin sheet of ice on the horse's water in order to change it - the horses can sense that the new spring grass is coming through and they are about two weeks away from being allowed out to eat it and get away from their winter hay. This means they get increasingly twitchy and more likely to accidentally stand on your foot as they dance around in their box.

A simple soul i am at the moment, but i can feel a wander coming on - perhaps the lanes and hedgerows of Dorset again, or maybe to my friend John Robert's place in the west of Ireland - but i think Dorset. Ed and me had some real good times there through one summer and winter - long walks to country cider pubs where Ed might notice someone eyeing us with understandable curiousity in a beer garden, and enliven the mood by snapping at such a poor bastard 'who you fukkin staring at?'

The good old days....

March 26, Greystones, nr Sheffield: i've just realised that i don't know much about this venue other than everybody i know says it's absolutley brilliant and i must play there - my hunch is that it's gonna turn into a favourite of mine - sometimes a place just has a distant allure that cannot be explained - i'll find out more and update you here...

March 27, The Square on Mill Street, Crewe: a show come in at short notice from my very good old pal Russell - the last show we did together was a cracker and Crewe is an hilariously eccentric place for which i have a soft place in me heart - with all these shows i will be airing new songs and new stories - of course!

April 6, Half Moon, Putney, London: It's a while now since i've played the Half Moon, so it's great to be going back. In the Seventies, this was a real Scots lads pub which i used to visit whenever i needed an injection of 'och aye, see you Jimmy' etc. It was threatened last year with being turned into a gastro pub - just what the world needs - more warm goat's cheese salad and viognier by the glass. Mericfully this didn't happen, so it will be great to be back with their, er - robust, sound system!

April 20, Jagz, Ascot - a lovely room, right next to the railway station - even i can get home from here after the show - and i live in Tripoli! Good food too...

June 5, The Musician, Leicester - a haunt of ancient peace for me - great venue, lovely crowd, good sound - oh, and just round the corner, the cultish Lahore Grill House, where you CAN, if you should so desire, get grilled whole quail for £2 each - all that life, love, beauty and knowledge, and you end up getting grilled and eaten for two quid in Leicester - don't get me started...

Festivals in Wickham, Devizes and Southsea in August - Norway too...

Much more coming up soon - festivals, touring in Germany, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, new album, new wreath, new town in Scotland, new is the new new, new kipper flavoured crisps - available only in Newcastle, new....etc