Monday, July 03, 2006



Well Hello once again, it’s been a while, well 6 months pretty much to the day since I put fingers to plastic… that’s ok - a blog half-sabbatical…..

I have no excuses to proffer, perhaps the cold, cold winter and the fact my computer resided in a cold, cold cellar masquerading as a kitchen, living room and music studio, which then drove me outside at any hint of warmth and sunlight, and led me to spend as little time as humanely possibly by the screen….

But now things are different, it’s so hot eggs cook on my windowsill and the chugging internet machine is upstairs, with skylights open, natural light illuminates the world and a gulf breeze floats warmly by….


So what happened in the last six months? That’s a great ‘what’, as my memory is of questionable use at the best of times……



Well of course the album got finished – we went back in the studio after listening to the first draft of the whole thing……… re-recorded ‘let me be’ as the first version was a damp squib, had another ‘wrap party’ and ended up at Simon Heyworth’s on snowy Dartmoor mastering it…….An amazing experience - mysterious boxes lying around with ‘Nick Drake’ written on the side, the whole studio in an old stone roundhouse, Mr Heyworth recounting tales of recording Gong albums…..was a privilege to be there, many thanks again…… Thanks also to Jon Hopkins and Mike Studio for giving up almost everything make folky music…

The art got done, eventually, after a few false starts……Outdoor shoots with myself and myself only, setting up a tripod and then sprinting up a muddy slope to ‘pose cool’ before the shutter snapped, amazing wintry light filtering through the trees, and the fresh cold air…..then endless hours at the screen in the cellar, feet going mouldy and fingers freezing…. But we got there in the end, and produced something visually which I think matches the music…. Many thanks to Mr Tim Lattimore for sorting the thing out at the end and of course doing to typography……
There’s been some gigs, of course big love to all who came and enjoyed/left…..more strange adventures round the nooks and crannies of the country, meeting the people of the land and all that….thanks for all who put me on and looked after me…All the way up to Kirkcaldy and back again like a yoyo….good to be back in Scotland for a few days……..Really looking forward to the summer dates and doing it all again, the weird nomadic rocknroll thang….any offers for free chauffeur service will be entertained…..

Friday nights at the Ship Aground have been a treat, ale and music staving the dark eves….the moon helped too….walking the cliff path in the silvery light after the Ilfracombe gig…….
I think I emerged from the cold coma in May somehow, we had a week of sun, two weeks of damp drizzle and torrential, and since then its been positively tropical innit….First swim was palpitating, sea is warm enough now to stay in, and strangely the East Lyn River was warmer before…... Llama festival was great fun, busking ‘to the sea’ through a little amp by the sea wall, then Bert Jansch turning up to judge! Didn’t win though, must have forgotten his spectacles…

Everything has bloomed in top quick time after cold May, and now we are are blanketed in the greenest leaves and the headiest pollen….

Hooe’s and Exit Kernow festivals, wicked weather and top folk…..did a little duet with Jon Hopkins at Kernow, and promptly hit the Skinner’s and 7.5% cider……

We disappeared to the West Penwith Peninsula for solstice time, place of magick…..9 basking sharks in Porthcurno bay……wow…. Trurorian Wooden Hand beer…..
So what looms? Well August 7th is the date for the album…..I think a digital ep is out the week before…..Looking forward to the festivals for music in the countryside under the heavenly roof….meeting the loons up and down the country… going to Scotland for September and October….going for a swim here in North Devon and then a Tribute after….

So it’s all gogogo, see you out on the road or lurking the lunary shadows….i may add more if I remember…do remind me of anything I may have……

For now and till then, enjoy the sun….

Dan x





1 Comments:

At 1:37 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

……..Really looking forward to the summer dates and doing it all again, the weird nomadic rocknroll thang….any offers for free chauffeur service will be entertained…..

----------------------------------
Hi Dan, we at Mars would like to offer you free transportation for your upcoming tour.
For further info contact us.
good luck.

 

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