Words, Music, Emotions.

I'm delighted this year to have some serious involvement with The Words and Music Festival. The biggest small festival I know of & one which is held in my adopted homelands in the market town of Nantwich. A small festival by some some standards, but one which punches massively above it's weight. The hard work of the main organisers attracts some of the most iconic and interesting names from music, poetry and comedy in the country, nee the world, as well as giving an airing to a good array of under-the-radar talent. To give you an idea at just how heavily this small-town festival punches, this years line up included Ian McCulloch and Badly Drawn Boy, the latter of whom played a beautiful, intimate performance from which my heart and soul are still singing, from having experienced it, as I write, last night. Check out the full lowdown on this year HERE.

Photo; Chris Driver

I played a few tunes at The Vine's Acoustic Cabaret night following an astonishing set from the hilarious, cutting-edge performance-poet Luke Wright. Then the main gig of my own was at the lovely Enzo coffee shop, providers of officially (and actually) the best coffee in town (as well as pizzas, cakes, beer and pretty much anything else you might want). I hosted the event which also included very special guests & brilliant song-writers Chris Capel and Tiki Black who held the audience completely under their spell. A lovely event, a delight!

Please check out my brilliant special guests; CHRIS CAPEL & TIKI BLACK !

Thanks to all who came down, I saw many friendly & familar faces, to Tim and Dan for their help and to Chris Driver for the photos.

Nantich News also reported on the event HERE.

Galleries, filmed by sound-man on the night, & ace songsmith, Tim Lee and joined on percussion once again by Dan Logan.

Introducing Tiki, Photo; Chris Driver.

A special night at Enzo.

Pre-doors, Dan's desk.

Now Enzo has a special atmosphere going on all of it's own, they claim on their website not to be experts but that they are instead, enthusiasts striving to learn new things every day. I can't really think of a better philosophy than that in any field - music included of course. Some of the best musicians I know of, heroes of mine, often feel that they themselves are not experts, and always still learning. It's the way forward folks!

So with this philosophy I shouldn't have been surprised at how good my pre-gig espresso was ... anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of the espresso, preferably a double if I feel I deserve it, and this award-winning espresso was as tasty as the best I've ever had anywhere. Huge thanks to Enzo of course, Orchard and Warble Entertainment for organising the night and the sound, headliners The Rinky Dinks who made for lovely musical entertainment, and most of all to the friends who showed up and shared in a lovely night.

An official poster for the event.