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It’s been a while – time has flown!  In June and July I did 3 house concerts – in Norwich, London and a beautiful farm in west Wales – which I really enjoyed.  I was supposed to play Twickfolk in London in June but got a virus so that gig has been postponed to 11th January next year.

I’ve been taking a break from gigs during August and working on a new album.  These are songs which were mostly recorded in Australia before I left in 2023 and I’ve just finished recording the vocals here in Bath with a very lovely and renowned producer called David Lord.  We are now in the process of mixing the album.

I am still writing a poem a day after my meditation practice – just sitting down with a coffee and writing down the first thing that comes into my head.  It’s become a habit and though it’s not always I write something I’m particularly pleased with (!), it’s a creative start to my day that I really enjoy.

I hope you’ve been enjoying the wonderful spring and summer – sometimes it’s felt like I’m back in south-east Queensland!  In the autumn I’ll be doing more private house concerts and some public gigs (please see my gigs page for ticket links and info) supported again by fantastic singer-songwriter Jody Prewett.  Please do get in touch if any of you would like to host a private house concert or a gig in your local village hall.

I hope all’s well in your world.

xx

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It was such a joy to find myself back at the wonderful Gaunts House near Wimborne at the weekend.  I’ve played there a couple of times before and every time wish I could stay longer.  The huge house and gardens are used for spiritual retreats and the peaceful atmosphere and lovely people who run it make it a very special place indeed.  Jody and I performed in their beautiful ballroom.  Thanks to everyone who came to hear us play.  I hope to come back there next year.  Thanks to Mike Watts you can now watch one of the songs I sang  (‘About Everything’ from my album ‘A Light To Follow’) on my YouTube channel.  Click here to see it.

I’m looking forward to another London gig next month (Sunday 22 June), this time returning to Twickfolk in Twickenham where I’ve played before.  Tickets are on sale now.  If you can make it, it would be great to see you there.

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Thanks to everyone who came to my gig in the basement bar of Green Note in Camden last week and to Folk & Roots for promoting my second sold-out London show.  I’m now going to be playing the main room at Green Note in November this year – tickets are on sale now.


Photo: Mike Watts

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Bath is starting to feel like south-east Queensland – the sun shining every day.  But here it’s spring not autumn, and I see the blossom on the trees and hear the wood pigeon outside my window every morning.  I am so glad to be here.  Considering the months in 2023 when that wasn’t the case, I’m feeling particularly blessed right now.

The avalanche of songs I was writing in January has stopped but I’ve been touring with my friend Jody, singing and playing and meeting such lovely people.  There are so many times when things have been hard and I’ve wondered why I do this work but then I get messages that mean the world to me, like the beautiful poem I received this morning from someone who saw me in Wiveliscombe at the weekend.  He made my day.

So slowly but surely I’m starting to rebuild my confidence and am really looking forward to the public gigs and private house concerts I’ll be doing in the next few months.  Thanks so much to Louise in Exeter and Ian in Wiveliscombe for hosting us last weekend.  If you would like me to come and perform in your living room or local village hall, please get in touch.

I’m doing public gigs in Birmingham then Bradford-on-Avon next week, followed by Camden in London the week after.  If you’re free and in the area, it would be great to meet you too.

I hope the sun is shining where you are and all’s well in your world.

xx

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I had such a great time singing my songs unplugged in the basement of a hairdressers in Soho last week with Jody doing a fantastic opening set.  Organised by Folk & Roots in the tradition of unplugged folk gigs, the room was packed.  I’m looking forward to my next London gig in Camden at Green Note (check my gigs page for the ticket link).

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Thanks to everyone who came to my gig at Sandy Hill Arts last night – I had such a great time and a huge relief as you can probably tell from this stream-of-consciousness poem I wrote the week before about my performance anxiety…

If I was a bit wiser
I would say hold onto
Yourself, there is
No need for the
Knife, the rope,
Such crisis, such
Catastrophising and
Yet on the night
I find I’m standing
Tall and when I
Open my mouth
A sweeter sound
Comes out and perhaps
None of those faces
Watching me are
Seeing the survivor
The angst, the anxiety
That leaves me
Crippled, strung up
Like a Christmas turkey
Unable to think
Clearly, see clearly
Understand that
In the grand scheme
Of things, singing
Songs is not life-
Threatening, it is
What it is
A moment of clarity
The chance to uplift
Comfort and inspire
A moment to realise
My own courage
No guns, no bombs
Just me and a guitar.

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Yesterday I went swimming for the first time since my kidney operation at the beginning of December.  I only managed 10 lengths but it was bliss.  I’ll have a scan in June to find out if the operation has been a success.

The rest and recovery time went okay and I had a lovely Christmas with a friend at home and then on New Year’s Eve I had no internet so I decided to try writing a song (I had only written one song since my arrival from Australia in April 2023).  I have now written 25 new songs in the 3 weeks since then.  It feels like the glacier inside has turned into a waterfall.

I’ve started doing my singing practice again and am getting ready for my gigs which are starting next month with a public concert at Sandy Hill Arts, Corfe Castle in Dorset (22 Feb).  I’ll be touring with my neighbour and friend, the fantastic singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist Jody Prewett.

I’m now booked up until July, mostly with private house concerts, but please check my website gigs page to see what public gigs I’m doing and please spread the word if you have friends locally.  And if you know a friend with a living room that can fit 10 people or more, or a retirement community who might enjoy my songs or even that you might be willing to help me host a gig at your local village hall, please do get in touch and we can make a date for later this year.

I hope all’s well in your world.

xx

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Feeling rather daunted by the prospect of 3 robots cutting up my left kidney in Southmead Hospital at 8.30 tomorrow morning, I am instead focusing on the absolute delight of rediscovering comic duo Flanders and Swann.

My grandparents had their seminal live recording ‘At The Drop Of A Hat’.  Donald Swann wrote the music and played the piano, while Michael Flanders (who was in a wheelchair due to polio) wrote the lyrics and was the compere.

I remembered them the other day while having Sunday lunch in Bath with the famous (and infamous) producer/composer/arranger/engineer David Lord who has been recording my vocals for my next album.

Of course I looked them up on Spotify and found them immediately (Spotify, all is forgiven :).  David then said he’d known Donald Swann back in the day which I have to say impressed me more than any of his other claims to fame.

Anyway if you need cheering up, check out ‘At The Drop Of A Hat’, particularly the first track ‘A Transport of Delight’, ‘The Gnu Song’, ‘Design For Living’, ‘The Reluctant Cannibal’, ‘Madeira, M’Dear’ and also ‘A Song of the Weather’ (appropriate this time of year).

Hope all’s well in your world.

xx