| 11/03/04-Been home recording some of Grace's songs and busking a fair bit. I've been learning the lyrics to a bunch of covers that I've wanted to get down properly for a while like Sunny Afternoon, Man Who Sold the World and even a Sade song, No Ordinary Love. We're playing this Camden festival in a couple weeks which should be a lot of fun. Music and poetry for a good 8 hours or so. It's a great big venue that I've been wanting to play since I first went there back in '99. I'm getting my new cd, Western Arms, mastered next week and then will get a bunch made up. Talk to you all soon. 23/01/04-Happy new year everyone. I'm back in London ready to play a gig tomorrow night in Seven Sisters. I had a great month back in California. We shot a music video for "Howdy Hank" at the Little Creek Ranch down south of Half Moon Bay. It's a beautiful place, nearly identical to my dream home. Tom and Rich were in the video too, Tom on both banjo and bass duties. I can't wait to see the edited version. After the shoot, we saw Tracy Chapman at Three Amigos in Half Moon Bay. My sister said it was a good omen. Sometime in the spring, we're gonna go down to Joseph City, AZ, to re-paint Howdy Hank on the same building that he used to be on. Well, we'll probably all just watch as my brother-in-law Joe does all the work. He's a fine muralist, that Joe. Then we'll shoot some more footage for the "Howdy Hank" video. Grace and I saw Jeremy Mendonca play an acoustic set at Borders in Islington last night. He plays some fine finger-picking guitar and has a great voice. He has cool songs mostly inspired by his kids and ex-girlfriends. Hopefully we'll have a jam soon. I finished mixing Western Arms on Christmas Eve so the goal was met: it was ready for Christmas. I think I'll record my sad but passionate London album next. We have been working on a home recording of the song "Troops" that should be done soon. 11/12/03-We played Hope & Anchor on Tuesday in our first electric set there. It was sort of strange playing there acoustically back in February on the same stage that the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Police all played back in the day. We're playing an acoustic gig tonight at the old Mean Fiddler club. It's our first time playing with the new bassist, Yotam. Then tomorrow, I'm heading home for the holidays. Come January, I'll reach my 200th gig since moving to London. Happy holidays to everyone. Hope to see you down at the taquerias. 24/11/03-I've just about finished recording Western Arms. Now I have to mix it all. I might have to spend a couple days locked in the cellar to make it happen. We had a really good gig last week at the Dublin Castle. Been jamming with some bassists and hopefully we'll have our guy soon. It's cool meeting and jamming with people from all over the world (Israel, Portugal, South Africa, Italy, etc.) but can't wait to have the right one. The location scouting for the Howdy Hank video seems to be going well. Our scouts made it to Joseph City, AZ, and we might end up shooting it there. Can't wait to hear the full report. 08/11/03-I got a new amp. It's a big Marshall sucker with built-in effects and 4 separate channels. I need to buy a cheap skateboard to wheel it around town. Now I'll finish some more guitar parts for Western Arms. I recorded all the drum bits last week so it's coming along. We play Dublin Castle a week from Monday with Andy filling in on bass. Still looking for the elusive jobless, talented, available and wealthy bassist with a car. In unrelated news, we tried in vain to see Merce Cunningham perform last night at the Tate Modern. Who knew he was so popular? About 40 people waiting for returned tickets went away disappointed. My sister said he's much more famous in Europe than America. Anyway, at least we got to hear some of the John Cage-y music coming through the door. archived news |