Boxjam V

And so we returned to the scene of the band's very first gig (at the first BJ 4 years ago), and what will probably be my last festival-type gig of the year, Boxjam. All for charity of course, suburb acts including for the first time, the wonderful poet Paul Howard Ellson. We managed to stick around and between us (the whole band) caught Human Condition and Interception, both sounding as superb if not even better than ever, We Are Nomad and Then Alien. All fantastic by all accounts.

Hats off (Fez's off?) to Simon & Tina of Simon J. Newbury Photography fame for doing all the sterling work that must mean many sleepless nights before an event of this size. Another great success and most impotantly, lots of dosh raised for Oxfam and Chrisite's.


Thanks to Liz Wells for the video of a more mellow segment of our set :)

Alternatively, here's a video shot by The Late Selector team, thanks chaps;

Live Radio Session. Chat on The Cat!

No rest from one of those full day-job type of days, 15 mins with a coffee at home before setting off again. It all seemed like a huge chore but in the end our lovely hosts at The Cat Radio gave us a lovely time.

Here's at least some of what happened, cover versions have had to be removed in respect of copyright restrictions.



Corrections & Clarifications;

Band names; As well as "See Daylight" which nearly became our band name, Simon came up with the potential band name "Beachcombing" (as well as "The Four Cups") this, along with "The Dandylions" were rejected on the grounds that there are so many bands with these names. Emma came up with "The Ferns" which didn't get past the as it were, committee. "Road Kill Cafe" was another one which didn't make it for various reasons.

Everyone's a Blue Yellow! The Nag's Head, Crewe. October 26th.

Photo by Martin Rivers

The tiny confines of a great little music pub, The Nag's Head in Crewe mean you have to be careful how you move about on stage, but it was well worth it for a close-up and personal night where some in the audience became a Blue Yellow for several songs after we handed out a load of percussive shakers and the like. Great atmosphere, thanks to everyone who created that for us! 
Tim Lee did a superb job in support, you really should do yourself a favour and check this superb songsmith out.

Tim's set; 
Love is Cruel
Alisha
Diagram of a Heart
One Missed Call
Tracks of my Tears (Smokey Robinson cover)
Prettiest Green Eyes
Ride on the Breeze
This is a Lie (The Cure cover)
Whats in a Word?
I'm Just Gonna be me
She's a Drug
Sophie Draw.

BlueYellows set;
Cry Cry Kill
Love Limpet
The Owl & the Willow
Minute in the Sun
Beachcombing
Big Low Copper Moon
Jolene (Dolly Parton cover)
Where the Sky meets the Sea
Killing Me
Feels like Sunshine
Farmer John (Don Harris & Dewey Terry cover - inspired by Neil Young & Crazy Horse's version).
No Tobacco, No Jesus
These Boots are made for Walkin' (Lee Hazelwood cover).

Injury of the evening; A split lip when dancing in front of the stage resulted in my mic punching straight into my face.

Quote of the evening 1 (just for fun, I'm sure Russ Abbott is a lovely guy); Someone - "Oh what an atmosphere!", me - "perhaps we should cover that?" Simon - "Russ Abbott?!?!", me - "To be fair he's the only entertainer of his generation who hasn't turned out to be a paedo", Simon "yet".

Quote of the evening 2. Me (talking to girl wanted to know when we are playing in future) "Would you like to go on our email mailing-list?" - "I haven't got an email address" - "are you on facebook?" - "no" - "have you got access to the internet?" - "no" - "We'll send a pigeon".

Alexander's the Great!

A Tuesday night acoustic night. Anywhere else that would mean more musicians than members of the public, a few girl/boy friends they've managed to drag out on a school night, perhaps a gaggle of girls in the corner about to set off to the karaoke next door. But not here, not Alexander's Chester. The famous acoustic night featuring loads of great acts from near and far was packed to the rafters, standing room only with people standing around every available walkway and sitting on steps. Just great stuff.

The Audience starts to build ahead of the music.

Orchard Jam

An unusual one as gigs go; A guest-set along with Dayve Dean and a public jam night. Orchard studios is a busy professional studio and perhaps Oakhanger's, nee Alsager's,  nee Cheshire's best kept secret. They work with the great and the good but a lot of musicians local to the area have never heard of them. They're currently working on some event ideas that may well change that.
Just to help spread the word, here's a great little promo;