Tattoo... Jamming...Fleet Foxes and Tom Waits... demos

Have decided to keep this blog a bit more up to date- well- we'll see how long that lasts....

I've really enjoyed the last few weeks since road tripping with Karen...
Had my first tattoo this weekend- The out line of a humming bird in flight among some cherry blossom- its very simple (bill designed it with me) and I'm very pleased with it! Its still covered in cream so will put photos up when its settled in a little more! Can't believe its taken me this long to get one done- I'm sure it won't be the last! It was interesting hanging out in the tattoo shop- we were there off and on for most of the day as Bill, and my sister and brother in law also had tats done (partly why the day was so fun) we took shifts at hanging out with my nieces to save them from boredom- Justin who tattooed us has a very charismatic personality and it seems that people just like hanging out in his shop- all sorts of folk were just popping in to see him and have a chat and sit on the sofas in reception area- if there was a cafe attached to the shop then I reckon a few of them would probably move in a be there all day- also interesting to catch a glimpse of a much more hardcore element to the whole to the whole tattoo world...

Also had great fun jamming with some musos I met recently- who came over to play me some of their tunes on Sunday - I haven't had a good old jam for ages- so was able to get out my soprano sax and my violin among other things and play along (not sure that play along is actually the right word for some of the noise I was making though!) I have decided that the sax needs to be played more- it used to be one of my strongest voices and so I've realized how much I miss it being in the mix...
We'll do more I'm sure- and I have a jazz drummer coming over on wednesday also to see if there's any mileage in working together...

The other reason that the last few weeks have been fun is that I've been painting... Bill asked me to help him work on a mural and it has been a real joy to spend proper time painting again... Fleet Foxes brilliant album and Tom Waits have been my top choice of music to paint to so far..

And finally demos... I have a bunch of new songs and am in the process of recording demos of them- having now booked myself into the studio again for September.... This is the stage I really love- the creating stage- if it were possible I'd lock myself away and lose myself in the creating process entirely!

Liberty Track on Fatea Showcase Session

My Song Liberty is featured in this great Download CD along with many other very talented artists

Fatea Showcase Session:One
The new Fatea Showcase Session:One is available for free download at:

Featuring 17 great solo artists across a range of acoustic based
genres, "One" is the forth of the Fatea Showcase Sessions, Spring 09.
The download is exclusively available for three months after which it
will never be available again.

'One' is the first 2009 session and all the sleeves this year have
been designed by David Owen and will build into one large image.

To ensure you the listener gets to hear the band at their best, the
downloads are 256kbs drm free. The zip file also contains a sleeve
pack. Links to the band are on the session page as well as on the
sleeve. We hope you enjoy what you hear and then choose to buy releases
from the artists or go to their gigs when you can.


01. Jackie Oates - Wishfulness Waltz

02. James Ragbone - The Parade

03. Maggie Council - Nebraska Avenue

04. Bob Burke - Siren

05. Rachel Taylor-Beales - Liberty

06. Jinski - Hand Of God

07. Aimee Newsome-Stone - Drive Me Down

08. Ivor Game - I Like Being At Home

09. Becky Syson - Before Now

10. John Fairhurst - Obnox Stomp Remix*

11. Tina Taylor - Someday

12. Simon Jackson - Stainless & Cold Pressed
Steel

13. Patsy Matheson - Precious Little Soldier

14. Tessa Bickers - This Song’s For You*

15. Diana Johnstone - The Troubled Heart

16. Henry Clements - Needle And Thread

17. Lizzie Nunnery - Hungry

*=Session Exclusive

New Feathers and Flowers song live on You Tube

Filmed by Live Music Showcase at Bournemouth Folk Club Jan 09:the song is inspired by Alan Garners novel The Owl Service- drawing reference from the legend of Blodeuwedd, whose story is told in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi- a woman created out of flowers for her husband and then turned into an owl as punishment for having an affair.



Other news- had a great time in Glasgow for the Celtic Connections Festival. Road tripping with Karen Chalk- drinking whiskey till the early hours and catching up with a long lost school friend was fantastic!