New Year new genre
New format Andy Roberts January Newsletter with new Genre
Hello everybody,
Long time no see, so a Happy New Year to you!
Amongst other things I have decided on a way forward for me and my substack here. I’ll change the format from an episodic article/blog based publication into a modern newsletter, magazine style.
What does it mean? There will be a table of contents and introduction at the beginning, then a series of discrete sections, with separators. The TOC may have clickable links into each section. It should be more manageable for me to prepare one section at a time, as it comes, then do the final edit and publish roughly once a month. Sections may include local gigs of course, island news, updates on my permaculture projects, stories from my cheesy life, and anything else I feel like writing about. Maybe a roundup of interesting things I have been reading or viewing. Obituaries for all the dead people. Photography will be included sparingly, to try and keep within your email kilobyte limits. I may go live on video elsewhere, and include links to the replays. That’s the roadmap for 2025 then.
Last year I wrote stories from Paris which helped me compose the playscript for Boulevard Days. Once the writing and performances were over for the year, that kind of left me without a regular newsletter.
Here we go then with edition One, January 2025…..
New Year, New Genres
It’s a brave new year for many of us on the little planet, one full of new starts and changes. I do hope yours is going ok. Mine has been unpredictable as ever, with randomly uncooperative health and technology challenges. I still managed to get things going though.
Inspired by a week without facebook access, I started making contingency plans for life and business without it. Then when it was suddenly restored to me, I found I missed my new life! Part of the plan was a turn back towards my own mailing list. Here we go then with some exciting announcements for 2025 and beyond…
Contents. What’s in this newsletter:
This new format
New genre baby
Permaculture project
Local Availability
House Concerts
Kashmir Fringe Festival
New Format
Nothing complicated here, it’s just to be more like a newsletter and less like a blog, article or episode. So there will be an introduction and a table of contents a the beginning which may be clickable, followed by a series of unconnected sections, each with its own headline. A series of short articles in one newsletter, often monthly, with any local gigs listed at the end.
New Genre Baby
No I’m not going to stop playing what I have been doing forever, my unique blend of originals and covers, I’m just adding one new genre into my menu of options. For want of a better term, let’s call it ‘Ambient’.
If you’ve ever been to one of my concert style gigs or the play, you’ll know that I like to play gentle instrumental guitar music as the audience arrives and take their seats. I enjoy doing this, and most people seem to appreciate it, it just kind of works. It’s great around a camp fire too, as the embers glow and the night fades darkly into eventual silence.
I’d like to offer this kind of ambient music for people to relax and calm the mind to. Not sure how we’ll be able to organise it yet, but once I state my aims, something usually happens in the end. As the world becomes more chaotic, I think there will be a growing need for opportunities to switch off and rise above it all.
Permaculture project
Permaculture simply means working with nature instead of against it. I’ve been removing long dead Cupressus tree stumps from around one perimeter of the orchard garden. The wood is not suitable for a log burning stove, so rather than just burning them up on a big bonfire I would rather recycle the nutrients by burying them under a mounded bank and then growing food plants on top. This is called a hugelkultur1 bed.
The site has been designated and roughly cleared, and when the time comes soon I shall start digging the first trenches in the no-dig garden!. Just need to remember to take some photographs.
Local Availability for gigs
Booking are coming in for 2025 right now, thankyou!
Contact: aroberts@gmail.com
Call: 01983 752050
Message: 07598 812869
If you are looking for a reliable, experienced solo acoustic guitar and vocalist I have a range of offers for you:
* For Pubs, clubs, cafes and bars a 2 hour set of classic 70s covers and high quality self-composed songs. Each setlist is adapted to the changing conditions and typically include some Lennon and Harrison songs, Pink Floyd, Roy Harper, Faces, Led Zep, Doors, Al Stewart, Michael Chapman and for special requirements can be varied to feature mainly Bob Dylan, Beatles, Ambient or Blues songs.
* For Concert venues: 45-90 minutes of my best original songs from throughout a 50 year songwriting career with introductions and anecdotes.
* For Theatre stages: One Man Show: “Boulevard Days – a play with songs”.2 This is a piece of scriptwriting and performance art, honed over 5 dates in 2024 described as “Spellbinding” and “A triumph”.
2025
Availability is strictly limited this year.3
I don’t usually play multiple gigs in one weekend because I like to thoroughly prepare beforehand, give my all and then rest afterwards.
So currently, there are a few weekends available in March, April, May, September, October and December, plus some midweek availability throughout.
House Concerts
Let’s expand a little on these kind of events, private parties, lounge concerts, private hires etc that come under the heading of House Concerts.
Unless you’ve been to one, it may be hard to imagine. You don’t have to transform your house into a concert hall for example. Minimal movement of furniture is required. You don’t need a mansion either! A decent sized living room or through diner would be quite adequate for your modest home gathering. Treat a dozen or so of your friends, or ask them to chip in and book a fabulous intimate bespoke concert specially tailored to your own occasion. It’s entirely up to you how you organise, but I’ll be gathering a few suggestions and putting them up on the other blog as well.
Kashmir Fringe Festival
This event is the Kashmir Fringe Festival4 at Quay Arts in Newport, a fundraiser for the arts centre by the people who run the Kashmir Cafe at the Isle of Wight Festival.
At three O'clock on the Saturday in the Acoustic Stage arena Andy Roberts will be performing a 45 minute piece entitled 'Radio Tirana' 5. Audience are encouraged to enter a state of deep relaxation while focussing on the hypnotic ambient music provided by Andy's acoustic guitar and a special guest6 adding atmospheric gong, chimes and other effects.
Close your eyes relax and float downstream…
'Radio Tirana' is the starting point for my ambient piece for guitar and gong. 45mins
To be improvised on Feb 8th 2025
Kashmir Fringe Festival, Quay Arts at 3.15pm
Free entry,
You may wish to bring a cushion etc.
End of Newsletter
That’s all for January 2025, probably. A quiet month but setting it all up for a productive year, we hope.
I hope to see you soon if at all possible, and if not, thanks for reading!
Cheers
Andy
Footnotes! We all love footnotes.
Hugelkultur https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/the-many-benefits-of-hugelkultur/
Boulevard Days. https://onthewight.com/experience-1974-paris-through-music-and-drama-with-andy-roberts-at-this-years-ventnor-fringe/
Availability. https://andyroberts.blog/
Kashmir Fringe Festival https://www.quayarts.org/event/kashmir-fringe-festival/
Radio Tirana https://shortwavearchive.com/archive/tag/Radio+Tirana
Special Guest Katie from Yoursoundguide. https://www.yoursoundguide.com/