Folks You Meet Along The Way...

So this October has been a month full of crazy and big times. The trip to Australia was everything I thought it would be: fun, inspiring, exhausting, emotional, and in the words of Tim Buckley- 'Happysad!' Meeting my niece and having quality time with my brother and his wife was just brilliant, revisiting spaces and places and reconnecting with dear friends, fantastic- saying good bye, horrible!!

The gig at The Wesley Anne was very fun. Not only did I get a chance to perform onstage with my extremely talented brother Kim (who is on tour in Asia with his own new album next month and with me in the photo here!) But I was also joined by two other great friends, Willow Kellock and Dave Toll. Willow was one of my first friends that I sang harmonies with way back when I was 19, and it was amazing how instant that reconnection was singing. We both just felt completely comfortable- as Willow said 'a bit like wearing a well loved pair of DR Martens' (you can tell we were teens in the 90's!)
Also rocking out with great friend and ace muso Dave Toll was great fun and I've put a youtube video up of Here We Go on my channel- and pasted below...

It was also an interesting experience to sing songs from my albums in Melbourne- so many of them hold references to my times in Australia both as a child and adult- so to be actually singing about Mt Macedon and Sorrento (which are both located in Melbourne) felt quite different, nice to know that they are equally well received even with the demystifying context of being less than an hours drive from the sites themselves!

Aside from the big stuff and the catching up etc...  other highlights include visiting my friend Blythe's art exhibition and hanging out with her for the day at her workplace in the city, with an organisation that works among the homeless in Melbourne (but that all deserves its own blog sometime separately)

But I wanted to note some of the more random encounters that I had with folks just by travelling...

So first off James on the plane, my travelling companion for the first 13 hour stretch of the flight... an entrepreneur and business consultant who had just experienced two of life's more major events within the space of a week... He and his Australian fiancee had returned to the UK for their wedding only for his step mother to pass away 6 days later...

Secondly Dennis Aubrey, Sydney based songwriter/ busker/ Ukulele player, who boarded the tram my brother and I were on asking if anyone knew of a particular music shop... he was just passing through Melbourne for a few days and my brother did know of said shop so we went along with him and I got a
quick lesson on the basics of Ukulele playing! Youtube Video of Dennis

Thirdly Ira, a bloke that was sat with my brother and I on our coach journey back from the city to Sunbury. Ira was a young man probably in is mid- late 20's who had been taking a trip into the city in memory of his friend. He told us that he'd had the best time out with this mate- got up to all sorts of antics on that day (including being arrested I think!) and a few weeks later is mate had passed away. Each year Ira makes a ritual trip back to the places he and his friend hung out on that day... And in doing that he's met other random folks who make a similar pilgrimage in memory of their friend who passed away on the same day...

Fourthly, a lady who I will call 'The Perfume Lady' She was in her 50's and had a european accent. I'm guessing she was slightly psychotic. She sat next to me on a tram journey and kept talking about what I thought at first was the 'door' but eventually I realised that she was saying 'Dior' and was asking me if I could smell her perfume (which I could indeed as she was very heavily scented though there were other smells the perfume was masking also) She then decided I was  a friend and proceeded to talk me through her catalogue that she was holding telling me who had too much make-up in the pictures and constantly showing me images of Christian Dior perfume. At one point she wanted to stroke my leg but  I told her simply and firmly no not to do that- she was apologetic and offered me the catalogue to keep as a peace offering! It was just such a sad and in someways almost ridiculously comical juxtaposition to think of this struggling, kooky lady and her love of perfume and all that a brand like Christian Dior stand for...  http://www.dior.com/couture/en_gb (I've just stuck the link there for juxtaposition purposes!)

Lastly, Phillip who I met on the return leg of a flight. An older gentleman, a lawyer whose main client is the Police Dept of Victoria... He had some quite interesting stories to tell when I asked about the state of corruption among the police...  He talked about the challenges of being older in the work place and trying to keep up to date with all the new technological systems and structures that were constantly coming into place... as well as the fact that though things have changed the nature of his cases have remained pretty constant over the years as human nature doesn't change...and it also just so happened that he lives a few streets away from where Bill and I had once lived over 12 years ago in Melbourne...

Anyway... all those random encounters with those folks left their mark in different ways and have me pondering the stories that we brush past every day... at the risk of sounding corny I find myself reminded of a saying by Bob Dylan's grandmother from his book Chronicles pg. 20....

" ... Happiness isn't on the road to anything. Happiness is the road.  
... also instructed, Be kind, because everyone you'll ever meet is fighting a hard battle."

and so... Here We Go...
(Live at The Wesley Anne- featuring Dave Toll)

Australia, Counting The Waves...

I'm off to Australia on the 3rd of October! Very excited as will get to meet my new niece Amelie, who was born in May this year and spend time with my brother and sister in law... Also booked in a one off gig on the 12th October for any Melbournites who may be around and want to come along... Particularly looking forward to some special guests joining me on stage, first confirmed is old friend and wonderful singer Willow Kellock, who I used to sing a band with way back when I was 19!
I know as well as a brilliant time it's going to be heart wrenching to leave again...It's the age old problem of home having been in 2 countries so many miles apart... I remember a family friend once describing it as both a present privilege and a persistent problem to have experienced life on opposite sides of the globe and to miss the folks and the land that you have to leave... So much of my last album Dust and Gold has been shaped and informed by those Australian experiences- it will be interesting to see what it's like to actually sing the songs there in oz... however, mostly I'm just really looking forward to the trip!

I'm waiting to hear if I have the funding that I've applied for regarding the Counting The Waves collaborative project, I'll find out in October also so fingers are crossed for that...

News about up coming gigs is on my Hushland Label news blog http://hushlandnews.blogspot.com/

Creating...

Its great to be creating again.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post so much of my time last year and early this year was caught up in health issues- so its good to be back on track and finding a muse again...
So currently dipping into more jazzy electric sounds and exploring my new loop and expression pedals. The looping is allowing me to pick up the soprano saxophone again after a very long time of not playing and realising that my muscles round my mouth just aren't up to speed at all at the moment... Hopefully within the next few weeks I'll find my tone there again...

I dive headlong into my "Counting The Waves" project with Gill Stevens, in November... so will write more about that soon...

Planning on debuting a track or two at the next gig at The Minstrel room... Really looking forward to having Dylan Fowler join us and the chance to take out lots of instruments again... It was great fun at St Donats Arts Centre to have my electric and the arch top plus the 2 acoustics, my banjo and sax- though it'll be keyboards this time rather than a real piano! Not sure as yet exactly what Dylan will be playing but I expect there will be additional guitars and percussion in the mix, with Rosy's cello and Angharad's vocals all woven in also...Here's flyer with info below....

It will be strange the next time I play solo again, I'm thoroughly enjoying the bigger sound...

Concert under the stars...

Returned from brilliant few weeks away in France and Switzerland and now slowly getting back into the grind. There were many highlights to the trip...being surrounded by mountains... swimming in both lakes and the sea... food and wine... the sun... but wanted to write a quick note about a brilliant concert that we saw in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin while we were away....

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin is a small town in the South of France, in between Monaco and Menton, all the benefits of that beautiful stretch of coast without the resort element... and above it set into the cliffs stands the old medieval village (tiny winding cobbled streets and 407 steps up from the beach) The old Chateau looks out over the bay and it was here (after climbing the 407 steps) that we saw a breathtaking concert.
The stage was out doors with the back drop being the ocean by moonlight, we sat on amphitheatre style benches and listened to two Russian soloists David Galoustov on violin and Dimitri Maslennikov on cello...  Honestly it doesn't get any better- to see such brilliant musicianship close up in that stunning location... inspirational...

David Galoustov youtube video... Violin Player
www.myspace.com/dimitrimaslennikov  Cello Player

General news...new music projects...live video...

Looking at the last post - nearly a year ago... much has happened and is happening- so trying to be brief with headline updates... ( my sister inlaw Katriona Beales whose article on creativity was the last post has just got a distinction for her art course at Chelsea!!)

Firstly-health: most folks will be unaware that last year I spent most of the year in very bad health going between MRI scans, various medications and to consultants for what is now diagnosed as nerve damage in my trigeminal (facial) nerve...  This pretty much co-incided with the launch of Dust and Gold album and around that time there were fears that the condition may have been from a sinister cause (tumor or M.S.) so touring for the most part was postponed... it was a tricky time however I am pleased to say that there is nothing sinister lurking in the background and that although the condition is painful I am learning to manage it and am now in a place to be plotting and planning again in relation to all things musical...

So a number of projects in the pipeline...

Counting the Waves- is a somewhat off the wall collaborative project with composer and multi instrumentalist Gillian Stevens. We will be fusing Gill's ancient medieval instruments (crwyth, viol, viola da gamba and more)  with my songwriting via a whole load of effects pedals and loop stations... The result is as yet unknown but we are both very excited about the prospect of what we will be creating. The premier of the work is booked in for Feb 18th 2012 at The Gate Arts Centre and Spiral Earth website have written an initial news feature about the project see link...
http://www.spiralearth.co.uk/news/story.asp?nid=5526

I am also working on a new recording project of several songs with a more jazz/electric type theme... some are songs that have been hanging around for a while and some are new, but they seem to work together as a collection... so I will be releasing these at some point in the not too distant future...

We've begun a Hushland Studio Sessions video project also... these are live videos that can be fund on my youtube channel which I will be adding to over the months to come http://www.youtube.com/user/mrhushland

In non music news- I'm very excited to heading off for a long holiday with Bill to the South of France and Switzerland for the next few weeks ( the Hushland office and shop will be closed!) Haven't had a real extended holiday for years- and after the rubbish health and stresses of last year this is a very welcome break!

Lastly I'll leave you with a video from the concert at St Donats Arts Centre on the 24th July... an extended version of my song Brilliant Blue featuring Rosy Robinson on cello and Angharad Evans singing backing vocals and playing guest glockenspiel- the disappearing act towards the end of the video is when I decided to take my soprano sax for a wander through the audience...

Artists and Apis Mellifera (otherwise known as the Honey Bee)

My sister inlaw Katriona Beales has just written this article in her latest blog- it was part of a talk about Arts in the light of the funding cuts and I really like the point she's making - comparing artists to the Honey bee...
here's an extract from the blog and her own website link also...

Artists and Apis Mellifera

Text from a brief talk I did last night [7th Oct 2010] at the AIR Activist launch.

"I have only 2 words I really want to say tonight, neither are English - Apis Mellifera...

I have heard much talk about a cultural ecology – conjuring up nice images of inter-dependent organic systems where each part, whether large or small, is recognised as important to the whole. I'm not sure the phrase 'cultural ecology' really reflects the true dynamics of the cultural landscape around us - but let's work with it.

The pertinent question from me, is what is the role of the artist within the cultural ecology?

I believe it is much like the role of Apis Mellifera, better known as the Common Honey bee. As artists move across and in-between cultures, socio-political topographies, and virtual and real environments – much cross-pollination happens. New ideas are born, and society benefits from the fruit of those.

Of course – Apis Mellifera also benefits from the process, and in it generates it's own sustenance.

However, the honey produced has also been enjoyed by the human race for thousands of years, forming a staple part of the human diet since at least the Egyptian times. In cross-pollination not only are ideas generated, but also art work.

Honey sweetens our lives, just as art adds richness.

But who is this work for, is it honey solely produced just for the bee or the bee-keeper?

Are artists just producers of a cultural commodity – with little say in it’s dissemination or in it’s consumption?

Since 2006 there has been a drastic rise in the number of total disappearances of common honey bee colonies. This has been termed colony collapse disorder, and has been met with near panic from the agricultural sector who rely on bees to pollinate the majority of the worlds agricultural crops.

Without stretching the analogy too far – on the brink of 25% or possibly 40% cuts to the arts – there are strong challenges to say the least, to making a living as a practising artist. And while I have dipped a toe in some of the arts funding debate, I have found the majority of the perspectives shared to be about protecting arts and cultural institutions, without much discussion about the impact cuts on artists living and working in the UK today.

AIR Activists is about providing a platform for artist voices. This is timely and necessary. Artists need to not only shape the flavour of the work they are creating, but also influence the various bee keepers. At the end of the day, the bee keepers are actually reliant on the bee for their livelihood.

AIR Activists are about reminding the bee keepers of that fact.

Apis Mellifera."

 Katriona Beales  www.katrionabeales.com

Just some thoughts really, Frank Turner, Love Ire and Song...

My friend Paul (see link at the bottom of this blog) recommended a singer songwriter to Bill and myself a few months ago, called Frank Turner- http://frank-turner.com/blog/  and recently one afternoon having done the myspace, youtube searches etc, both being suitably impressed we purchased some of his albums... One of them Love Ire and Song, has several songs that have got stuck in my head, not just for the catchy musical hooks but more for the sentiment and ideas sung out through them... here's the lyrics and video of a song from that album called... Photosynthesis...

Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old. All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold. All the kids are talking slang I won’t pretend to understand, all my friends are getting married, mortgages and pension plans. And it’s obvious my angry adolescent days are done, and I’m happy and I’m settled in the person I’ve become, but that doesn’t mean I’m settled up and sitting out the game – time may change a lot, but some things they stay the same.

Maturity’s a wrapped-up package deal or so it seems, ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams. All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will have to grow up, be an adult, be bored and unfulfilled. But no one’s yet explained to me exactly what’s so great about slaving 50 years away on something that you hate, about meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity. Well if that’s your road then take it but it’s not the road for me.

And if all you ever do with your life is photosynthesize, then you’ll deserve every hour of your sleepless nights that you waste wondering when you’re going to die.

Now I’ll play, and you sing – the perfect way for the evening to begin. I won’t sit down, and I won’t shut up, and most of all I won’t “grow up”. FRANK TURNER

So anyway, he says it kinda like I think it at the moment... and so does Howard Thurman... "Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" Dr Howard Thurman, Philosopher...

And Paul (our friend who recommended Frank Turner) has recently made a very good feature film Big Font Large Spacing- well worth checking out http://www.bigfontlargespacing.com/