Here’s a bunch of clips from the Rowan Tree CD launch event in Newport, edited together into one long video.
What a great night we all had, for some the first time out for ages. Many I hadn’t seen myself since the wassailing, or even longer ago. There were two short sets of music, with plenty of time for mingling and consumption of real cider and twiglets! Yes, you can still get twiglets sometimes. But not pretzels, as pretzels no longer exist, apparently.
The MusicCraftCIC Hub venue was perfect for this, and maybe we’ll do it again in due course. I had been reluctant to order a batch of CDs for the Rowan Tree album, uncertain of where I would be able to shift enough to justify the initial outlay. I’m glad I did, and also took the bold step of organising my own launch gig. That worked so nicely, it’s something of a lesson to me.
On this video, exclusive to my newsletter here, there are clips, some even full songs of tracks from the album in question “The Rowan Tree”, “Cajun Cooking”, “London Bridge”, “The Last Nail” and a cover of Mandolin Wind by Rod Stewart from “Every Picture Tells A Story” which I’ve recently added to the repertoire. Performed but not captured were the rest of the songs from the CD apart from Truro Agricultural Show, a spontaneous rendition of Urban Spaceman, Nobody knows you when you’re down and out, and possibly an instrumental version of “Something”, finishing with “2CV” from the other CD.
April Gigs
April is shaping up nicely with four Island gigs confirmed so far.
The Ship & Castle is a favourite venue, just a small pub with no pretensions right in the town of East Cowes, nearly opposite the Red Funnel Ferry terminal. They serve real ales, no meals and are committed to live music and old fashioned pub life. Great to be back on a Sunday afternoon.
Caffe Isola is a new venue for my music, but I’m no stranger to their Island Roasted coffee beans delivery service! It’s what I drink every morning at home. The cafe itself is in the old Chapel building which was a kind of department store called Beavis when I first moved here. There’s a gallery floor upstairs, and that’s where the music will be I believe, with coffees, sandwiches and snack meals served all day. There are also retail shelves with island craft produce for sale, as well as coffee making paraphernalia.
So come along on Sunday 10th, we’re really looking forward to this experience.
I played in Ventnor more than anywhere else last year I think, and this year I start off at the Putting Green in the Park which is one of the main venues for the Ventnor Fringe later in the season. They have a large cafe area, and sometimes the music is in the park bandstand, but on Easter Saturday 16th from 2pm I’ll be at the putting green cafe.
Towards the end of the month I return to the newly refurbished Star Coffee and Ale House in Ryde. That’s where I played for John Lennon Day last year, a memorable event, and now I shall be part of a series of Acoustic Wednesdays, April 27th 7-9pm
For those who can’t get to the Isle of Wight for any of these, the regular monthly First Tuesday Livestream will be on as usual, Tuesday April 5th, 6pm on Facebook via my Personal Profile, Page or Group.
Bandcamp Recordings
I think I fell a little behind with my recording and release schedule last year, as we shifted from lockdowns to opening up, to the threat of more lockdowns, gradual opening up, wondering if it’s the right thing to do and then just getting on with it. It has been disorientating and still is, but music seems to be very important to many people’s lives.
The Paris EP, based on the set I put together from the vintage Parisian bus at last year’s Ventor Fringe, is finished and will be released this Friday April 1st which is also Bandcamp Friday. It’s titled “Et Puis” and has the following tracklist:
Mazet 02:42
Wild World 05:10
I Only Came for my Suitcase 02:50
San Francisco 03:49
The Dream is Over 03:32
Ca Sert a Quoi? 02:27
That’s a subscriber only album, which means only a handful of people will get to hear it at first, and but you could either join them in supporting me with an annual subscription ….
…or wait impatiently for the next public release which I’m working on already. “Then What” also revisits original songs from the Paris years.
Technology wise, I’m sticking with the single condenser microphone for these, so it’s guitar and vocals recorded together in one take, but using a Vox amp for some of the guitar sounds.
The next project after “Then What?” will see a step up as I’ll be cracking open the little audio interface and isolating guitar and vocals tracks. I’ve done a bit of that before back in the old garageband days, but not for some time. It should encourage me to do some multi-tracking with overlaid guitar sounds and a spot of harmony singing. The material for that project is the rest of the batch of songs written on the Spanish trip in 2003 and once that is done, I shall have finished processing my back catalogue and will be writing new material again in the autumn! The first album of new originals since Philosophical.
It’s always great to have a plan, and then see what actually happens.
If you have been, thanks for reading, and see you soon I hope
Andy
