26/01/2020

Parklife, Definitely Maybe and His ‘n’ Hers played from 25th anniversary vinyl on a top-flight hi-fi in the Courtyard Café, Papworth Everard.

Home-roasted coffee, loose-leaf tea, locally-sourced cakes, full bar including microbrewery ales.

3-5pm, free entry. Well-behaved kids and dogs welcome.

29/12/2019

Who’s Afraid of the Art of Noise?, A Secret Wish, Slave to the Rhythm and Welcome to the Pleasuredome played from first pressing vinyl on a top-flight hi-fi in the Courtyard Café, Papworth Everard.

Home-roasted coffee, loose-leaf tea, locally-sourced cakes, full bar including microbrewery ales.

3-5pm, free entry. Well-behaved kids and dogs welcome.

27/12/2019

The Primevals are playing in Glasgow at SG3 – 5 bands on the bill, £5 on the door, raising money for the Beatson

20/12/2019

Solo set from from the excellent Paul Goodwin. Hammered-dulcimer driven dream pop from Tape Runs Out. Prog-folk from Ember Rev. Me on sound. Free entry. Man in the Moon, Norfolk Street, Cambridge

Rejoice , the many fans of Frazey that hang around here, she’s coming to the UK in 2020.

First there is a date in January, appearing in Glasgow at Celtic Connections (the 23rd) then more dates later on in June.

She’s at the following venues:

Monday 1st, London Union Chapel Thursday 4th Nottingham, Glee Club Friday 5th, Newcastle, Gosforth Civic Sunday 7th, Leeds Brudenell Club Wednesday 10th, Bristol, Hen & Chicken

I guess there could be more as there are gaps in the schedule. London tickets are already on sale. I can’t wait.

A kind person on Twitter @HollieAnneB is arranging gifts for those attending a Chrustmas lunch for those in need st her l8cal food bank

So if you want to make someone Christmas a little brighter rather than buying Auntie Jean some soaps in the hope she’ll take the bloody hint and use them for once -then there is an Azn wishlist

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1TZUEHUS28LHL?ref_=wl_share

So forget smelly Auntie Jean – most items are no more than a fiver and you’ll feel better about yourself, ya filthy animals.

Oh and read about Hollies experiences with rail companies as a wheelchair user and make your piss boil. You’ll be hoping they get nothing but lumps of coal this year

Delayed, because I didn’t see episodes 11 and 12 until Tuesday, here’s the bumper four episode edition. It’s quite long, so settle down with a decent glass of red and read on

15/11/2019

Since I recorded prog-folk seven-piece Tape Runs Out at the Mill over the Easter holidays they have signed to a local label (Kuang Grade Recordings) and recorded three EPs in the Anglia Ruskin University music department studio.

The first of these EPs has been mastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road studios and came out (streaming services and pay-what-you-like on BandCamp) on Friday. CDs to follow shortly.

09/12/2019

“The one-man venn diagram intersection of maths, pop and comedy returns. In the follow-up to his award-winning debut BORN TO SUM (Best Stand-up, Swindon Fringe 2018) he once again casts a mathematical eye across popular culture and wonders whether there is a place for all this pedantry in a world seemingly going to hell in a handcart. Expect songs, mathematics, fiendish wordplay and weapons-grade pedantry. If the devil is in the detail, he is Lucifer.

Kyle is an award-winning musical comedian and science communicator (winner, Famelab UK 2016) who takes a borderline perverse enjoyment in using any platform possible to preach the good word of mathematics. He has performed musical/comedy maths shows at various events, such as Cheltenham & Manchester Science festivals, Blue Dot, Green Man, Camp Bestival, London Science Museum, Edinburgh Fringe & various other festivals. He is a regular contributor to Radio 4’s flagship numbers show ‘More or Less’ and the Today programme’s puzzle of the day.”

I have been a fan of Kyle D Evans for over 12 years, since his days in the bands The Dawn Chorus and The Retrospective Soundtrack Players. He’s worked with Frank Turner, Chris T-T and Ben Marwood. Kyle has recorded » Continue Reading.

24/11/2019

Purple Rain, Parade and Sign o’ the Times played from first pressing vinyl on a top-flight hi-fi in the Courtyard Café, Papworth Everard.

Home-roasted coffee, loose-leaf tea, locally-sourced cakes, full bar including microbrewery ales.

3-5pm, free entry. Well-behaved kids and dogs welcome.

My periodic ‘band’ the Legends of Tomorrow (rising from obscurity and releasing something every so often since 1995) has a download EP out on 11 November. Four originals, a Pentangle cover and a montage video encouraging people with artistic aspirations not to go to Nashville.

Here’s some of the PR blurb. The montage video is in the comments.

Don’t Go to Nashville EP The Legends of Tomorrow Digital release: 11 November 2019 on iTunes, Amazon, etc.

Author/music creator Colin Harper has wheeled out the ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ as a periodic moniker for recordings gathering many musical friends together since 1995. This EP comprises two new songs, two from 2007/08 and one from 2000 – the oldies hitherto digitally unreleased. All are newly mastered by occasional ‘Legends’ member Cormac O’Kane at RedBox Recordings Belfast and showcase five of Northern Ireland’s finest pop, rock, Celtic soul and bluegrass vocalists: Mickey Rafferty (The Minnows), Ciaran Gribbin (Leya/INXS/solo artist), Paul Casey (solo artist), Janet Henry (solo artist) and Lyndsay Crothers (Wookalily).

The title track was inspired by the current obsession among songwriters, particularly in Belfast, with the idea of ‘Nashville’ and particularly with the scourge of ‘co-writing’ – a Nashville practice » Continue Reading.

Tthe great Ian A. Anderson – erstwhile country-bluesman, cottage industry record label mogul, events organiser, broadcaster, folk music magazine editor (for 40+ years), the man who invented world music (or something like that), all round good bloke and/or cantankerous agitator for the betterment of the world and the fun we can have in it – is in financial trouble.

The banks are after Ian, personally, for £90,000 following the collapse of his magazine ‘fRoots’ (formerly ‘Folk Roots’) after an amazing 40-year run. Ian had propped it up with personal funds for more than a couple of years and despite a carefully planned and executed restructuring of the business, with the aid of a popular Kickstarter campaign a year ago, the contracting of the print publication world / change in the market was too great. Ian himself will admit that maybe he should have rolled the dice differently after the first £40,000 or so of debt, but he did his best to fight on and try to pull it back and we are where we are…

Back in the 90s, when I more or less made my living as a full-time newspaper/magazine writer, I always enjoyed contributing to ‘Folk Roots’ » Continue Reading.

So Roban is exposed as Grand Lizard of the Bavarian Illuminati, being a direct descendant of sect founder Adam Weishaupt and thus the man who has pulled the political and legal strings since the beginning of all things Spiral. I was shocked.

Zut Alors, mes amis – quelle revelation! Laure and Josephine are (non-identical, obviously) twin sisters, the result of a secret tryst between former French President Giscard d’Estaing and Brigitte Bardot. Mon Dieu, c’est incroyable! Where does the story go from here?

27/10/2019

Risqué, We Are Family and Diana (the Chic mix) played from half-speed mastered vinyl on a top-flight hi-fi in the Courtyard Café, Papworth Everard.

Home-roasted coffee, loose-leaf tea, locally-sourced cakes, full bar including microbrewery ales.

3-5pm, free entry. Well-behaved kids and dogs welcome.

You can view the whole of Steve Earle’s recent appearance on Austin City Limits via the link. He’s playing his recent tribute to Guy Clark, which he titled, very appropriately, Guy. It’s time limited and only available until November 17th.

This Friday on BBC TV – an hour of weasels, stoats and their relatives. Great news for mustelid enthusiasts!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009mvb?fbclid=IwAR2-PmL1duNu4weMgFvL9YplBp0Uvnnu9MnlxpYE5_buM5u5wIgQjorSXnA

Just a heads-up but I’ve a new batch of my Bowie pods all set to go and today I uploaded my encounter with former The Area guitarist, Mod memoirist (and one time Home Secretary) Alan Johnson, in which he reminisces about the old days and Hunky Dory. As well as hearing about why Hunky Dory is his go-to Bowie album, we repeatedly revisit his love of the HJH (and his rather original assumption that DB didn’t much care for the Fabs), as well finding out what his all time favourite LP is (not Bowie or The Beatles) and there’s an acappella rendition of the song he wrote when his first son was born.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/2-alan-johnson-on-hunky-dory/id1355073030?i=1000453490316

11/10/2019

Club Wino returns to one of its favourite London venues, the Underbelly in Hoxton. The line up includes No Coward Soul with some fabulous Americana and the hosts, Neil Gowans & The Winos (featuring lurker and occasional Afterword poster, Turtleface) with their trademark power pop and roll . We will also be joined by Garden Room who are a bit like Teenage Fanclub moving in downstairs, finding Billy Bragg is your neighbour and Joe Strummer has been crowned King. Groovy huh? Rumour has it that Jon Heal (or TrypF round these parts) is no longer doing the bass for The Winos. Instead he’ll be making a solo appearance as an insensitive singer songwriter. So all in all, a marvellous evening. Here’s a clip of No Coward Soul NG&TW

12/10/2019

The Kinks are The Village Green Preservation Society played at 3:33pm “in glorious mono” from 180g vinyl on a top-flight hi-fi in the Courtyard Café, Papworth Everard. ‘Support’ from various LPs randomly-selected from a box of LPs.

Home-roasted coffee, loose-leaf tea, locally-sourced cakes, full bar including microbrewery ales.

2-5pm, free entry. Well-behaved kids and dogs welcome.

14/11/2019

Spare ticket for Steve Hillage / Gong on 14th November in Southampton

Engine Rooms. Starts 7:30

Cost me £30. I’ll take £15