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/ 

Dust and Gold

Just thought I'd write a few lines about new Dust and Gold album...
Really pleased and excited about the new product...

Tracks:
Child in the Sun
Turnaround Town
Feathers and Flowers
She's OK
Digging Song
Here We Go
Leaning On Nothing
Somewhere In Copenhagen
Sing It Out
Come On In
Dust And Gold
Waiting For You

As an album Dust and Gold is stand alone but also makes up part 3 of a colour themed trilogy of work, (previous releases being my debut, Brilliant Blue and the follow up Red Tree.)....
The Title Dust and Gold is taken from track 11, but in my mind the rootsy overtones of banjo scattered through some of the songs makes for the dusty image while the jazzier sounds of the soprano sax and piano create the shiny gold texture- and this comes together for the very last song with banjo, sax and piano in ‘Waiting for You.

The album has been recorded, mixed and mastered by Dylan Fowler at his studio Felin Fach in Abergavenny here in Wales- it's a beautiful place, an old converted Mill surrounded by trees and a river running alongside. The studio itself was rustic with sloping ceilings (as Bill saw straight away- no straight lines!) Dylan and his wife Gill were exceptionally hospitable and made the whole experience feel more like some creative retreat rather than the time limited pressure of recording that could have been the case! Dylan also took on the role as producer working closely in collaboration with me on arrangements of the songs. We recorded all of my lead vocal with either guitar, banjo or piano parts as ‘live takes' and a number of tracks were jammed and improvised live with percussion/ accordion/ piano adding on additional overdubs later.....

The style and content of the material draws upon folk, roots, blues, americana, jazz, gospel and singer songwriter genres, and is very much a crossover integration of all the above.
Instrumentation includes, acoustic guitars, mandocello, banjo, soprano sax, piano, percussion, cello, accordion, electric guitar, bass, layered vocal harmony, harmonica and more…

visit the Hushland Label Shop to pre- order CD's (pre- orders include limited edition bonus EP) and take a listen- to some of the tracks in the Hushland Listening Lounge www.hushland.com