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March 12th 2010
You can download the KLFM interview I did with Bob Stewart using this link: http://www.zshare.net/audio/73495171f8f2d56d/ or you can just listen to it there too.
March 22nd 2010
I've been having a little think and I've decided to have a bit of a slow down over the summer this year. The whole of 2009 since the release of "Things We Should've Said" and the first part of 2010 have been manically crazy with the amount of constant gigs (over 130), album promotions, DVD promotions, radio shows, the hugely intense Caffe Nero tour and all the teaching I've been doing, that I've decided to spend this summer working on a new album. There really is only so much one person can do at once, and my body is constantly telling me to calm down before it decides to pack up and give me no other option. I refuse to let another three years pass before the next album comes out, and that means taking the time to do it properly.
That's not to say you won't be able to see me live at all, but just that the shows will be less concentrated, slightly closer to home and more infrequent than usual. I'll also be working on the regular videos I've been promising to put on my Youtube site, which have been put on the backburner due to the amount of other work I've been doing this year. And I'm also working more closely with the fantastic Choir Invisible (The Archbishop Desmond and Leah Tutu Peace Choir UK) and writing some gospel arrangements for them to sing, which I'm really enjoying.
I'll also be doing some travelling around Europe this year which always clears the head, opens the mind, broadens the horizons, puts things into perspective and gives me lots of creative inspiration, so I can't wait to do that. I'll be making time to see friends and family, going to see some live music (first on the list- Flight of the Conchords- yey!) and having some kind of normality for a while!
Anyway, until then, I look forward to playing at Caistor this weekend and hopping back over to Shropshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire in April! Feel free to write to me whenever you like, the Contact page is the best place to do that.
March 27th 2010
I'm compelled to write today to say a HUGE thank you to the fantastic crowd last night at Caistor. Ian and I both had a brilliant night and I can honestly say I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a gig so much. I felt like I was completely amongst friends and you were so receptive and involved. There were numerous memories I can take away with me to add to my mental scrapbook and I have honestly never laughed so much in the space of two hours whilst on stage! You were truly a joy to play for and I can't wait to come back again for more of the same. So to each and every one of you who made the effort to come and support live music, thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me the atmosphere to be completely myself and play to the best of my capabilities!
Apparently only 2% of the UK goes to watch live music regularly. So think of the fun that 98% of the population missed last night - the embarrassing chair, the elusive setlist, the compulsive joke-telling Bassist, the story of Annie from Boston...you people are quite literally one in a million (or maybe more- if my maths was better I'd work it out!)
-------------------------------Stockholm - My little travel journal that may bore you or inspire you!-------------------------------------
Friday 2nd April 2010
On arriving at Skavsta airport, Sweden looked very barren. First appearances led me to compare it to my trip to Alaska a couple of years previous to this- cold, snowy, fresh and with hundreds upon thousands of huge, statuesque trees with silver trunks and a dusting of greenery right at the top.
We drove for 80 minutes on the Flygbuss to Stockholm, and the view was much the same all the way. Thousands of trees married to rocky outcrops and vast pastures of green. To separate these, large expanses of completely frozen water; not just in streams and lakes, but even parts of the sea when we flew over it earlier was encrusted and solid. We had seen ships breaking the ice from the plane, creating a snail- trail of broken and free moving water behind them. Now, on the coach to Stockholm, we could see them at ground level, and it was no less amazing.
I hadn’t realised it was going to be so cold...
Vast acres of fields, rocks, hills and trees were sparsely decorated with fantastically quaint farm houses. These were red, mainly, with white fascias and doorways, pentagonally timbered and straight out of Little House on the Prairie.
Suddenly we were removed from images of Heidi milking her cows to a vast city of multi- national companies and supermarket names emblazoned onto walls and warehouses. There were some hilariously named shops to keep us entertained on the way - BallBreakers, Slagsta, Benders and Sick! Later I discovered Plopp chocolate bars, Pong restaurants and Skum fire extinguishers too...
Saturday 3rd April 2010
After a hearty breakfast, we headed for Gamla Stan, the heart and history of Stockholm. Exploring on foot, we crossed the Stromborn bridge and sat outside the Royal palace, marvelling at the huge slabs of ice breaking up in the morning sun. Stockholm, to me, was powdery and pastel, if that’s not too odd a description. The colours are lovely, but the whole atmosphere was somehow ‘powdery’! It almost doesn’t look real, as if you’re flicking through a dusty old picture book. At the time, I hadn't realised why, but later on I realised it was because they were digging up a lot of the city to put in a new tram system- so the "dust" I was noticing was actually dust! Anyway, the buildings and the architecture are fantastic and reminiscent of the dreamy castles in Disney's Cinderella, each one deserving a photo.
The royal buildings and parliament houses sprawl across a large area, and we saw the guards with their muskets and dark blue uniforms in their positions. Less stand- offish than their British counterparts, they chatted with tourists and offered advice on places to go.
We stopped on another bridge to watch the ice sheaths breaking and huge slabs flowing downstream. Other people were similarly enthralled, taking photos and videos, as transfixed by this as by the inexorable pull of a lava lamp.
Exploring Gamla Stan is really rewarding. The little shops and cafes are reminiscent of York and its snickleways – we went into a seemingly normal clothes shop to discover an underground cavern, twisting, turning, rising and falling, giving way to other rooms and hideaways. Once used as a grain store in the 1400’s, it was in impeccable condition and I saw it as a perfect place for an acoustic show!
I thought this might be a one-off, but it seems nearly every shops or café has its own cellar and history.
Stopping at Kaffe Koppen in Stortorget square, we ordered a latte which came in a bowl (!) and absorbed the pastel coloured buildings; one of which has a cannonball lodged in its side from the Danish uprising. The very building we were sitting outside had 91 white bricks embedded into its red exterior; to commemorate the 91 soldiers executed in the square around the same time. I touched the fountain in the middle, which is the place that all distances in Sweden are measured from.
Heading back towards our hotel, in the newer shopping area, we were greeted with new Stockholm; a bit like Seattle, I thought, with its wide-open avenues and traffic driving past huge departments stores, and roads built in blocks heading upwards and downwards. This was money -central, with huge names and aspirational advertising.
People are smart here, even when they’re trying to look casual, and when we stopped for a coffee in Wayne’s, we noticed that the kids, despite being very cool, are also really respectful and polite. They sit having dinner together in groups of friends- chatting and laughing, but always respecting other people and not being a nuisance. Certainly not hanging outside doorways with their hoods up, playing rap as loud as they can on their iPhones and trying to intimidate people.
I wondered why the kids of Britain are so much more influenced by the US than by Europe. Especially since we're so physically close to Europe. Europe has its own rules, its own style and it's proud of that. I wonder why we always follow the US and doubt our own identity.
The language here, I’ve found, is a mix of Hungarian and German, with a hint of a throaty French “e” (ille) sound. I’ve mastered a few phrases, but having learned from a book, I fear my accent is not quite right yet! Watching Wallander on TV helps!
In the evening, we accidentally exhausted ourselves stumbling across Djursgatan and realising we were a long way from home. But we passed by the Vasamuseet, Nordiskamuseet and the outdoor Skansen museum, which we vowed to visit.
Sunday 4th April 2010 – Easter Sunday
There were very few people out today and many shops and attractions were shut, due to the bank holiday. We decided to try the Tunnelbahn (underground) and headed out to visit Sodermalm- the apparently cool and hip district of Stockholm. I'm ashamed to say it was a little disappointing. It could’ve been that we were in the right place at the wrong time, but Sodermalm didn’t live up to its hype. We just walked around, admired a church and graveyard as well as the views, and walked back to Gamla Stan.
We had the best goulash soup I’ve tasted since I was last in Hungary, at Grillska Husets Konditori, before stepping into the Nobel Museum. We were there far longer than expected as it's a fantastic museum- there were numerous films to watch in various theatres. Since we were in the area, we went for another latte and caramel pecan tart at Chocolad Koppen which is twinned with Kaffe Koppen and quite brilliantly, they provide blankets so you can sit outside and take in the views without freezing to death.
Monday 5th April
This morning we opened the curtains to find Stockholm covered in snow, which we weren’t expecting, since both previous days have been cloudless and sunny. The road to the Vasamuseet was long and slushy on foot- the tramline to Djursgatan is the one that's being replaced, so it’s a long walk.
The Vasa museum was fantastic- a real step back to Viking times with the actual Vasa warship on display in fantastic condition. It sank in 1628 and was pulled up from just outside Stockholm harbour in 1961, and the skeletal remains of its Viking crew add a humanistic appeal to the museum. I happen to be a fan of mummies/ forensics/ anthropology etc so I really enjoyed it.
After that, a trip to the Nordiskamuseet provided an insight into Nordic life through photos, costumes, crafts, and the Sami culture. The building is huge and absolutely beautiful- you do get tired trying to get around it though...
Tuesday 6th April
Today we headed to the open air museum and zoo, Skansen. If you go in by the Hazelius entrance, you get to act like a child and go up the hill on the funicular- it reminded me of Scarborough in the eighties! Apart from that, there is no resemblance to Scarborough at all- Skansen transports you back to the pre-industrialised era of Sweden, and you get a first hand look at old Nordic settlements, Sami houses and indigenous animals- bears, wolverines, reindeer, elk etc. Today was one of the highlights of the trip for me, and its hard to describe the brilliant views without photos. I'll put some up on my new website when the next album is ready. There are numerous stages for concerts here in Skansen- I always notice these things and store them in my head for future tours!
Wednesday 7th April
I was more than a little peeved today to find the waitress at our hotel letting in a businessman for breakfast at 10.15am. Yesterday I went for breakfast just after 10.00am and she’d turned me away. What a difference a suit makes. As a musician, I do all my foreign trips on a shoestring budget, I take a backpack with me and go. No suitcase, no extra frills- just a backpack and a guitar if I need it. It means I dress like a scruff in jeans, sweatshirts and hiking boots and you wouldn't believe the amount of things I'm not able to do because they've looked me up and down and decided I'm not the desired clientele. Sorry, that was not particularly relevant to a travel journal, but I just get infuriated by injustice. If I'd told her the things I'd done in my 27 years and all about my career, I'm sure she would've changed her mind- but that's not me. And that's not the point.
Despite my fury (and yes, these things do stay on my mind all day!), we headed out on the tube. Ostermalm- Slussen then Slussen- Globen to go up the Ericsson Globe. It's a huge national arena (another future gig hopefully!) with a little pod on the outside that takes you up and over the top. It wasn't as scary as I’d imagined it might be- it goes quite slowly and the great views take your mind off any vertigo you might expect. On the way back, we stopped at Slussen to give Sodermalm a second chance. It was like a different place- heaving with people, and we found a big open square in Sofo (the hippest part) we hadn’t seen before.
Food and drink in Stockholm is so ridiculously expensive that even if you buy stuff from the supermarket for a picnic you get no change back from a £20 note. The best food deal we found all week was at a trendy little bar in Sofo - steak and dauphinoise potatoes, salad, and a drink for 85 SEK each (about £9). You can't go to Sweden without trying their "koptbulle" though, their meatballs, which they even give you for breakfast in some places. They eat tons of fish- a lot of which I've never even heard of in English, and their cakes are great! They have "kannelbulle" which are cinammon buns, and I discovered their "biskvits" which are like an amaretti biscuit base filled with chocolate buttercream and covered with chocolate. SIGH "A moment on the lips..."
We found a cool retro music shop and the guy running it was interested to hear about my albums- and took some of my leaflets to put on display. Bonus! Then we took an age to find the way up to Erik’s Gondolen, a restaurant and bar that hangs quite scarily mid-air above the harbour. The Katarina Husset (the obvious lift to it) was shut so we took ages trying to use x-ray vision on the buildings around it to work out how we could get up. We did eventually, although it took a bit of understanding of Swedish to pull that off. Great view and drinks, although you might feel more comfortable if you were dressed for the occasion, unlike me! We took a last walk through Gamla Stan to say goodbye and discovered a whole host of Moomin souvenirs. Remember the Moomins? I used to like that on TV when I was a toddler. Didn't realise they were Swedish!
Thursday 8th April
On our last day, we went to find the Saluhall, which is a big indoor food market, and bought some great Swedish food for lunch- you can choose what you like and they heat it up for you, put it in a plastic container and off you go. After eating on a park bench, we went to the Musik Museet, which I thought would be a great big museum celebrating the history of Swedish music. Unfortunately it wasn't - it was full to the rafters of little Swedish children wrapped in colourful hats and scarves who bashed the hell out of the various drums, xylophones and guitars on display. There was no mention of the Swedish artists and bands I was expecting, no tributes to Abba, Roxette, The Cardigans, The Hives...a bit disappointing, but I did get to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a harp. A new love has blossomed, although I don't think it's very likely I can find a harp in the UK for less than a year's wages...
After that, we found a café with floor to ceiling windows by which we could sit for too long and stare at the world going by, depressed that it would all end soon. We found an Urban Outfitters shop that used to be a burlesque bar, and it was unbelievable. The floors and walls were entirely oak pannelled and the original stage was there, complete with red velvet curtains and huge chandeliers. Sweeping wooden staircases led to the terraced seats on the mezzanine floor. I couldn't believe it was all wasted on a clothes shop! It would be such a great music venue!...
On the Flygbuss back to Skavsta airport, I came up with a song. This, to most people, is a good thing, but I was wedged into a tiny seat for 80 minutes with no access to a pen, paper or my mobile (which I use to record ideas on). It was really frustrating because I had a whole three verses, choruses and all the instrumentation- including introduction, solos.. the whole works. This frustration increased at the airport, and even more so on the plane when I really had access to nothing. I couldn't sit still, tapping the drum part with my feet and hands, trying to hum the backing vocal harmonies without the guy sitting next to me hearing. In the end, I was fidgeting around so much I had to ask the air hostess for a pen and paper, and got down most of it in writing, which is still not much cop for me as I do everything by ear. I needed to record it really. Anyway, that'll be a project when I get home.
Hej doa, Sverige.
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May 3rd 2010
Was lovely to be back in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk last weekend and to be received so nicely by the regular (and new) listeners there. The Riverside Restaurant was a particular highlight- beautiful venue- I almost felt sea-sick looking out of the stage windows at the water rushing by. Thanks to the fabulous audience and organisers, who I hope enjoyed the show as much as I did. It was particularly memorable because I nearly didn't get there due to a tyre blow-out on the A47 at 1am the previous morning, on the way back from St Ives! Nearly resigned myself to sleeping in my car in the rain overnight as I couldn't find my breakdown details, until the most helpful policemen I've ever met stopped by to help. I think they wished they hadn't when I asked them to help me get my entire PA system out of the boot to get to my spare tyre! So, an hour and two soaking wet speakers later, I was back on my way. God bless the police!
May 11th 2010
As part of my "slowing-down-from-gigging" regime, I went to watch some live music last night in Birmingham for the first time in over two years. If you're not aware of Flight of the Conchords, they're a comedy folk/rap duo from New Zealand, whose great musicianship is often overlooked just because they're so funny. Two hours of continuous laughter later, I feel renewed. Must get that song I wrote in Sweden recorded ASAP.
June 5th 2010
I had a great time in Derbyshire this weekend and last weekend. I feel I've made up for my lack of exercise too. Last weekend I went hiking in Cheedale and this weekend, through Tansley and Ashover. Surely Derbyshire has to be one of England's most beautiful counties?
Thanks to everyone who came to the Darley Dale show last night- it was nice to see you there, and hopefully I'll be back again in 2011 when I start up on my touring in earnest with the new album. I had fun feeding alpacas in Tansley this morning- cute little things- I haven't been that close to them since I went to Peru in 2004. I stood feeding them this morning with an awesome view of the Dales in the background and then did some hiking. All very good for the soul!
July 3rd 2010
I'm now four songs into the new album and pleased with the progress. I've been getting some lovely emails from everyone asking how it's going and what direction it's taking. In fact, I've had so many great questions asked by you all and have spent hours replying to them in great detail, that at some point I think I'm going to post my answers to your questions up here on this page. I wish interviewers and album reviewers would be as in detail as my listeners! I'd have some awesome interviews then! I'm really honoured that people care as much about the songs and the artistic direction as I do- it gives me the motivation to keep going in this very difficult world of original music.
I'll keep it short for now and will post up more details in time. At the moment, I'm working on some new styles of guitar playing, with new chords I've never used before. I've also started writing on my beautiful Peruvian mandolina and am very excited about the particular song I've written on that. I'm making sure not to repeat myself, but also to stay true to my sound and what I stand for, lyrically and musically. The song I wrote in Sweden is completed and ready for instrumental arrangement, which is always the next step after writing it. And then I have a Spanish- influenced song I'm working on right now. As yet, all these are on guitar but might not stay that way, and I have a few ideas based on piano that I have yet to do.
In other big news, aside from all the creativity, I'm having to learn how to be a business woman at the moment as I'm going to set up my own independent record label this year! It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, and now I'm having the summer off my usual gigging and workshop routine, I've had a bit more time to sort it out. So I'm working really hard with ideas on that now too and planning for the future.
If anyone has questions about the new album, keep them coming!
July 10th 2010
Thanks to everyone who came to The Gregory last night for making it such a brilliant show! It was a testament to what happens when you put on great live music in a great venue - not enough people are doing it! When it works, everyone has a great time- the venue, the artist- and most importantly, the audience. So thanks for coming to support and for getting so involved, and hopefully I'll be back again soon.
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