Better late than never!

Just realised I hadn't mentioned on here that the Christmas Eve gig has been moved from Slanj to The George in Greenock. Kicks off around 8pm, and as far as I know there are only around 10 tickets remaining or so. I'm dead excited about it as it has all the ingredients of a good night (friends, music, Christmas, and drinks). Full details here.

Also, I mentioned on the Facebook page that the Christmas EP has been delayed. Lots of people are releasing EP's around this time (I'm particularly looking forward to #iamsantaclaus by Chris T-T, and currently enjoying Roscoe Vacant's effort). So, instead, I'll be releasing a wee Hogmanay Single on the 31st of December along with (hopefully) the full tour dates.

The tour is shaping up very nicely, more miles than I've ever done before and heading to a couple new towns and venues I've never been before.


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Slangevar

Not much to report at the moment. We started recording the new album last week, including a track for a secret compilation that ended up sounding great. Looking at the track-listing of which, I felt like an utter imposter being included on!

Some of the band and I will be spending Christmas Eve at Slanj in Greenock as part of a very special Reprobates Xmas Party Night. Due to the rail system shutting down early, it'll be a very cut down band consisting of only those with ties to Inverclyde, but we'll make sure it's a hell of a lot of fun. A few surprises planned already. Free entry, will kick off at 9pm.

Also, as you will know from reading previous updates, the band and I are heading to London in February to play Lexpalooza. On the run up to this, I'm going to be going out on tour with the new album. A rough itinery looks like this:

Fri 4th - Dundee
Sat 5th - Edinburgh
Sunday 6th - Glasgow
Mon 7th - Ireland
Tues 8th - Ireland
Wed 9th - Ireland
Thurs 10th - North West England (or Wales)
Fri 11th - SouthWest England (or Wales)
Sat 12th - Lexpalooza

Just cities at the moment as venues are still to be confirmed. If you want to help with organising a show, please get in touch. I'll be travelling with Adam Boucher and Adam Bennet, who are pretty good. I'll be pestering some people I know in the next few days, so go on, pre-empt me.


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Something Corporate

If it's ok with you, I'd rather think that my performance last night didn't happen. Good. Moving on. Did anyone catch Robert Blake, Jinx Lennon and newportSound last night? They were all very good and made for an entertaining evening.

A few bits of news to get through since I haven't updated in a while. The Indelicates gig went well, and I'm eagerly awaiting the Live album with all the comedic banter. After the night ended, I was chatting with the awesome Julia and Simon Indelicate about music and stuff, with the outcome of this being that the next DH&RFPB album is going to be released through their own Corporate Records label, I can't fucking wait!

I started recording the guitars today for it, and so far it's sounding pretty cool. More like my Connections album in the mix of material than stuff that's came afterwards. It's sitting at around 12 tracks, most of them never recorded before, some never even been played live (and a couple that have never been played to the band!). I won't jinx it with posting a track-listing, but I'm sure people will be happy with what's going to be on it.

I'm hoping for it all to be done and dusted for an end of January release, so keep a bit of your Christmas money ready for that!

In terms of gigs, I've got a couple things coming up. Look ahead to next year, on the 12th of February 2011, the band and I are heading to London to play Lexapalooza Lite. This is going to be off the scale with the currently announced acts (and the promise of Special Guests is always exciting with previous events history!). Aye, so 12th February, Renegade Folk Punk Band, Mark McCabe, Ciaren Lenehan, and many, many more at the Old Queen's Head in Islington, for Breast Cancer Charity. See www.lexapalooza.co.uk for full details of tickets going on sale 9am Monday.

Working backwards, I'm heading up to Aberdeen on the 11th of December to play at MUSA. The promise of some Brewdog Beer tempted me for this. And on the 5th of December I am playing at Thomsons in Dundee with the fantastic Don't Let Paris Fool You and Just Another Warning. it's free entry, and going to be dead good.

And finally, please take some time to have a read of this petition and add your name.


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Indelicate disposition

Monday nights gig was fun, all acts played great sets and I think everyone who showed up had a good time. Hopefully Evan and Al will be back here soon someday, so that the rest of people can see them play.

Next gig coming up is in Edinburgh on Tuesday at The Southern Bar. It's for Oxjam and is free entry, starting at 7.30pm. Should be good fun.

My next Glasgow gig is my support slot at The Indelicate's Super Special Acoustic Live Album Recording Party. It feels really ace to be asked to do this especially when it comes out of the blue.

It is all happening on Wednesday the 3rd of November at the 13th Note in Glasgow. There aren't tickets per say, but rather a paid guestlist which you can get on for £3 by emailing bitbloodyspecial@gmail.com

There are also full details of the gig at the customary facebook event page.

Another thing that makes this gig really fucking awesome is that Lou Hickey is also playing. I've listened to her music for a few years now, and to be honest, never thought I'd get a chance to play a show with her. People may know her better as the female vocalist in Codeine Velvet Club, but you should really check out her solo stuff.

And, finally, hypothetically, if there was to be a Renegade Folk Punk Christmas party to sign off the year, with cakes and prizes and stuff, who should we get as support acts? Leave a link in comments below.


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How to craft a life

I've just updated the gig calendar on here with three gigs that I'm excited to be playing. First up is the 18th of October in Glasgow at Gambetta with the legendary Evan Greer, the illustrious Roscoe Vacant and the heroic Al Baker. Kicks off at 8pm and is a fiver entry. Very small venue, so you are advised to get down very early and not bring much luggage.

Next up is in Dundee with Robert Sarazin Blake at Drouthy Neebors on Friday the 12th of November. I'm looking forward to seeing Robert again, it's been a good number of years since we last met. Also on this bill is Jinx Lennon (from Ireland) and newPortsound (from Newport). Robert is a fantastic performer with great songs sung with passion.

And then, I've been invited down to Cardiff to play an Oxjam all day festival on Sunday 14th of November at Koko Gorillaz This will be off the hook as the wonderful Ben Marwood (who some of you may have seen at 2000 Trees or supporting Frank Turner in Derby and Kendel) and Oxygen Thief (he who brought the rock via acoustic guitar at the Jim Lockey shows earlier in the year).

If I'm not playing near you (these gigs do span most of the country!), please email and we can sort something out.

In another note, I've had a couple people, and a fair number of Google searches reaching this site, asking about if the band and I are playing at the Glasgow Oxjam festival this year. Truth is, I don' t know yet. Since that busking thing at the Barras market, I've not heard anything either way but if I do, I'll let folk know.

Finally the new EP is still available for you to listen to over at bandcamp. I've also made it possible to buy a copy on CD from that site. It's a lovely package. In the last couple days I've finished a couple new songs that were in an embryonic phase when I recorded the EP, perhaps I'll put them out later on. Or hold them back for the band CD. Two of the songs, "How to craft a life" and "White elephant versus the dragon" are sounding pretty good at the moment.


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Do you hear the bells?

It's Monday 23rd of August, and that means that Seven Songs is out now for your listening enjoyment. When I listen to it, I realise that it isn't perfect (it was never recorded to be perfet), but as a set of songs, I think they are my strongest. Hell, when I play a gig these days, the setlist follows a similar sequence as the new CD, albeit with a couple older songs thrown in at the end.



It is for sale with a sliding scale of £2 upwards (CD will be a fiver), and for that you get the Seven Songs plus a ten page liner booklet (comes as a pdf in the download package). The liner book has full lyrics and notes about the songs and many, many photographs. I'd say it looks quite nice.

And of course, feel free to pass this around if you think your friends may like it.


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Start all over again

The gig in Tonic the other night was pretty good fun, a small audience was left by the time I got up to play. This was good because of the insanely loud backchatter in the pub during all the previous acts - normally I'd try and not play last at an acoustic night in a pub and just get it over with, but this time I reasoned that it would be a more direct audience by the end. This paid off I felt. I played most of the new EP and then a couple of older songs to finish the night, and generally had a good laugh.

The new EP is coming out on Monday through BandCamp, with a shifting price of £2 upwards. For your cash, you will get a digital copy of the EP and a 10 page liner notes and lyrics booklet. Not bad I think. Oh, and the front cover looks like this:

To further entice you in to getting a copy of this EP (some folk I really respect have said it's the best thing I've done, which is strange as I thought they prefered stuff with the band), I've put the track called "The Replacement" up for download. If you like the track, please can you send it around to people as well, or put a link to the download on twitter/facebook etc? I'd be forever grateful :D

And finally, I will be playing a solo gig in Glasgow on the 8th of September at MacSorelys, and using this as a kind of 'launch gig' for the EP. I'll have copies on CD for sale, more than likely for a fiver so I can pay for my bus down. I haven't done a truly solo gig in Glasgow for absolutely ages, so I've got a bit of fear about it. Hopefully some familiar faces come along and we can have a wee drink, some chat, and a good old time.


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Lo-fi tonic.

It's all very quiet here at the moment, waiting on a few confirmations of things coming through for the end of the year. The band and I were going to be going in to a studio in September to record a new CD, but due to work, I'll be spending most of that month in Germany. I'm not sure when we'll get the record out, perhaps February?

Until then, I'm putting together a wee EP of the lo-fi demo's I have done for the album. Again, I don't know when I'll be putting this out, but it'll be before the end of September I'm sure. I'll also try and do a solo launch gig for it in Glasgow around the time. It's sounding very nice, but not in a quality, pristine type way. I'll say more about it next time.

On the gig front, the only confirmed gig I have at the moment is Sunday 15th August at Tonic on the Perth Road in Dundee. It's a free entry gig that kicks off at 9pm. If you are in Dundee, please come along.


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Triumphant

Jesus christ i don't think Full Throttle could have gone better. Throughout what we saw on the Friday and Saturday before we played we were starting to get anxious as to how well it would go. In the hour before we got up to play, people started appearing and telling me they'd caught me last year on the acoustic stage, and were looking forward to it. During our quick line test before playing, a group formed in the tent to listen. We did a verse and chorus of The Replacement, and then retreated to wait for our set time to start. People didn't leave.

Finally we got up, played what might have been our best constructed set for a new audience. More people arrived during our opening sinners, and by the time we got to Daddy fought the law in 3rd place, we had smiles, sing a longs and some dancing. I think our audience peaked around 80 to 100 folk, which might not have been the highest of the weekend, but it was the best kind of audience. Attentive, appreciated and made us feel like a million pounds.

There are so many folk to thank for helping us get to Full Throttle, not least of all Glen from The Steady Boys for booking us (and being very patient with us). However, the biggest thanks from me goes to Tim who stepped up at the last minute to drive us down. Its a very special type of person who will chose to spend a weekend with a bunch of strangers when they are in need. Friends for life i'd say. Also, cheers to Roscoe Vacant who drove the other half of the band down and who did a jaw dropping set through the saturday, with Woody on drums. It was something special. And, of course, thanks to my band for coming along with me.

Indeed, memories are made of things like this.



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Cut up to ribbons and taught how to drive

I'm still trying to work out how it went yesterday. I'm pretty sure I had a bit of fun, and that I enjoyed chatting with friends who came along. And the bus ride was alright too. I just think that I'm not cut up to being a busker, and the Barras market is perhaps not the place to learn this. Ah well, Oxjam raised a bit of money which is what it was all about.

Trying to form some kind of action plan for the next few months. I've had a couple emails through from some fantastic acts who are coming to Scotland to tour. The only date I have confirmed at the moment is the 19th of October with Evan Greer. Yup, he who wrote I Want Something. This has been a hell of a long time coming, so if you do anything while reading this blog, please put it in your diary. I haven't got a venue booked just yet, but hopefully by the end of the week. I'm not sure what form the gig will take, but I do know that it will be utterly amazing even if only Evan Greer plays.

As for the present, the band and I are playing with Gecko on Wednesday at the 13th Note. I think this will be a vastly reduced renegade folk punk band show, and even be another one of the 'me-on-electric-guitar' themed ones.

From looking at the diary, it's the last Glasgow show till the Evan Greer one (if we even play that one), so if you want to hear our songs, come along and give it a good send-off. We'll be main support and on around 10pm and it's £4 on the door. Then it's Full Throttle Festival on Saturday, we're on the main stage at 5.30pm.


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Doon the Barras, for real!

I played last night at Tonic in Dundee, it was pretty good fun. Your typical pub-does-acoustic-night affair. Went on stage around 10pm after watching Spain with the world cup (which was good) and played a mix of songs. For the first time in ages I tried Midnight Walks, it felt good, so perhaps I'll start playing it more. I've also been booked to play at Tonic again on the 15th of August, I'll maybe speak with my band about perhaps bringing them along.

I posted on twitter and Facebook last night that I am playing The Barras on Saturday. Well, I am not lying. As part of Oxjam's fundraising activities for the Takeover in October (as yet, I don't know if I'm playing as part of this) I'll be spending some time playing some songs at The Barras market. The historic, and number one of my goals before I die to play, gig venue is The Barrowland Ballroom. 

Pedantics aside, if you want to come along and make this more of a gig, please feel free. I'll keep people up to date through twitter and facebook as to where and when my spot will be, in my head I'd love it if it was a wee group of us all having fun in between bemused bargain hunters buying sports socks (two for a pound). Would make a good video.Does anyone have a camcorder?

Other than that, the next gig that I will be playing with the band is Wednesday 21st of July at 13th Note supporting the sublime Gecko from Bristol. Then we're off to Full Throttle Festival in Durham where we'll be on the main stage on Saturday 25th July at 5.30pm, I've heard this is almost sold out, so check the website if you are still wanting tickets.

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Maggies Music Festival!

We're playing a special show tomorrow (Friday 2nd July) in Dundee! It's at Deacon Brodies and part of the Maggie's Fest fundraiser for the Maggie Centre at Ninewells Hospital. The line-up for the band is slightly reduced since Kenny is unable to attend due to prior commitments laying down some noise on tape for his band Carnivores. So, I'll be ditching the acoustic guitar in favour of my old blue electric and we will be on stage at 9pm. It's also free entry (buckets to collect your spare change for charity).

In other news, I've came up with a wee mobile version of this site for people who attend gigs. You can access it by going to m.davehughesmusic.co.uk, or, and this is cool in my eyes, by scanning the 2D barcode next to this blog post with your phone's barcode scanning app. I also plan on getting wee stickers made up with just the barcode on it in order to see how many folk end up at the site through curiosity. Let me know what you think of it.

Awesome, I'm in a good mood. It's quite nice.


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Dedicated follower of fashion

I'm having a really relaxing weekend after quite a fun and eventful week. I've been hard rehearsing for the upcoming gigs, all are going to be different due to their different setups. The next one is 26th June at Manna Cafe in Newport, and this is going to be completely unplugged. I'll only be playing a couple of songs as is the form of the night. The next day (Sunday 27th June) I'm at the Failford Inn in Mauchline, which is a wee town outside Kilmarnock. I'll have Rachael with me to provide extra vocals, and we've got a very special cover lined up for it, can't wait.

I've also been looking at merchandise ideas, and thanks to Gill from Yer Maw, I came across MySoti. I don't know if anyone would actually buy this T-Shirt, but I thought it would be nice to give folk the option if they felt so inclined.

I think it looks pretty nice and at somepoint in the future I'll get a batch made up for selling at gigs. If you can't wait till that happens, or live miles and miles away from anywhere I'm playing, feel free to get it from here. I guarantee that you'll be the first in your circle of friends!

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Ammendments

I received an email yesterday to say that the Kilmarnock Council has decided to scrap the music portion of the Cultural Diversity ralley. No real explanation was given so we're not entirely sure what happened.

This means my next gig is 26th of June at the Manna Cafe in Newport, just across the Tay from Dundee. It's an all acoustic affair, and sounds like it will be like the old TransEurope Cafe shows I used to do. If you are free, come along!

I can also announce that the band and I have been booked to support Gecko at the 13th Note on the 21st of July. This is going to be a hell of a lot of fun, and also our only Glasgow show for a good wee while. Four quid entry, which you can't complain about.

Not a bad start to my life as Dr. Dave :)



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Sneaking up

I'm currently taking a wee break from revision for my Phd examination on Tuesday. To try and take my mind off the impending doom, stress and commiseration, I've picked up the guitar a wee bit, answered some emails and received one phone call. All in all, this means that June and July have suddenly gotten quite a bit busier.

I moved to Dundee from Glasgow in September of last year, and since then I haven't played in Dundee. The band and I were supposed to have a gig up there back in March, but for a few reasons it fell apart at the very last minute. Hopefully these dates below will make up for this.

• Saturday 19th June - Cultural Diversity Rally against the Racist SDL, Kilmarnock Howard Park, on stage 1.15pm.
• Saturday 26th June - New Portsound, Manna Cafe, Newport (Dundee, not Wales), very limited tickets, leave a comment to get some.
• Sunday 27th June - Failside Inn, Mauchline, with Junkmans Choir for Scottish Cancer Support
• Friday 2nd July - Maggies Cancer Charity festival, full band slot, venue TBC, Dundee
• Saturday 3rd July - Maggies Cancer Charity, solo slot venue TBC, Dundee
• Sunday 4th July - Maggies Cancer Charity, solo slot venue TBC, Dundee
• Sunday 11th July - Tonic Cafe, Dundee (free entry)
• Saturday 24th July - Full THrottle Festival (Full band main stage), County Durham

The gig I'm playing on the 19th of June is also my first appearance at a rally as a musical act. I'm equally excited and terrified at the prospect, I'm usually the first to agree that my music isn't really for a general audience. If the weathers nice, then I could possibly be playing to a huge number of new ears, which makes me very nervous. What songs to play? original stuff?, covers?, a raucous set?, a quiet set? So many questions.

It's a very important event in order to show a united front against the racist SDL who are planning a demo in Kilmarnock on the same day. If you can get down to Kilmarnock on the 19th, please do, and come along to the march and rally. It kicks off at 11am, and I'll be onstage at 1.15pm.

And of course, if you want to add to my gig calendar, feel free to drop me an email and we can work something out. I'm really interested in playing in different towns and villages that I haven't been to before.

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A choir of Junkmen

The gigs with Jim Lockey were a lot of fun; although apologies to Ayr based folk as that gig had to be cancelled. Really hope that Jim Lockey and his band, and Barry Oxygen Thief get back up this way again soon.

The main reason for this post though is to announce a couple of great shows I've got coming up. The closest one is Sunday 27th of June for Scottish Cancer Support. On the bill are the wonderful Junkmans Choir (featuring ex members of Ayrshire legends Nyah Fearties), Jamie Wilson and the superb Shambles Miller. There is a facebook event that has all the details. I'll be playing this gig more or less solo.

The second gig to announce, although, I may have mentioned it before, is the fucking awesome Full Throttle Festival. This is a weekend festival of independent bands that takes place every year in County Durham. Last year, Roscoe Vacant and I travelled down to play at the acoustic stage. It was a hell of a lot of fun, camping, drinking, dancing, hanging out, everything that the cool kids do.

This year I shall be playing with the band on the main stage, on the Saturday (24th July) evening. Roscoe is also playing the festival, but I'm not sure yet which day he is playing. The band and I have tickets to sell, so if you would like a weekend to remember, we're got them! They are £25 for the full weekend, including camping, or £20 for the Saturday only. Please email me if you want to be a part of this. My wife will also be running a craft stall!

There's a full line-up at www.fullthrottlefestival.co.uk


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Get In The Peugeot 207 (van surely - ed)

I'm dead excited about May. Why you may ask? Well, I'm spending three nights in the company of Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun, Oxygen Thief and Judith Harron. That's why.
The dates (and links to buy tickets) are:

• 12th May - The Blue Lamp Aberdeen (with Davey Shanks), tickets
• 13th May - The 13th Note, Glasgow, Tickets
• 14th May - Bar Libertine, Ayr

We all look forward to seeing some new faces at the gigs, and in a wee plea from me to those who have came to any of my recent shows and had a good time (or, you know, didn't hate it). If you could please consider coming out to the closest gig to you and perhaps bring a friend who you think would enjoy it? That would really help alot, and we'd all very much appreciate it. 

This is all the more crucial because we're playing in towns that are still uncharted territories for us and with the distance that Jim Lockey and Oxygen Thief are travelling, it would be nice to make it worthwhile. If you could even just help out by passing a link to this blog around your friends, twitters, facebooks etc, that would also be a massive help.

In other, less desperate sounding news, Jud and I played a fun gig on Saturday night at Bar Libertine in Ayr, I'd perhaps put it down as one of my top 10 gigs of all time. However, that list of ten gigs is changing all the time at the moment, so it's a bit useless to say that.

Also head over to Peenko's blog for a wee interview that I did a few weeks ago, and check out the old, old photo that was chosen. If anyone can tell me what make of guitar I'm using, that would be ace.


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Storm the Charts

I posted a wee link a few days ago through facebook and twitter to the Storm The Chart's voting pages. Basically, the idea of this campaign is to follow on the footsteps of getting Rage Against The Machine to number one, by trying to fill the Top 40 with as many unsigned and independently released music as possible. The actual goal is to get 40 in to the top 40.

I found out about this idea when I received a random message on twitter from an Irish stranger saying I should submit. So, I thought nothing ventured nothing gained and decided to add the full band version of The Sinner and The Saints to the campaign. I'll record a couple B-sides this weekend for the actual single release to make it worth your while as well.

However, in order to get the chance of the single release being part of the campaign (it will get released regardless) and thus have maximum publicity, the song needs to be voted for. There are currently around 500 bands in the campaign, which need to be whittled down to the 40 that are to be backed.

I would love you to bits (and I'm sure my band would dish out favours) if you were to go to the voting page and give us a wee vote. Also, any 'viral' help you can give us (pre-favours) would be excellent, such as reposting this blog on your blog, posting a link to it through twitter/facebook/myspace/bebo/friendsreunited/friendster/livewhatsitsname etc.

Voting for this round closes at midnight tonight: Go vote here!


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Full throttle ahead

Thanks to everyone who came along to the gig last night, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Ricky Warwick was fantastic, and he played a Springsteen cover! It was quite a different gig than to what I am used to. There was an extra layer of bureaucracy in the form of filling out PRS forms, a nice backstage area with a fridge of beer and a shower! It was a nice sort of different, and I really hope to experience it again.

In other news, I can announce that myself and the band (the full 7 piece machine) are booked to play Full Throttle Festival in July. We'll be playing the main stage on Saturday 24th of July. We will have some tickets to sell for the weekend, and I heartily recommend it! I played it last year on the acoustic stage and it was a hell of a lot of fun!

The next gig I'm playing is the 24th of April, with a return to Bar Libertine in Ayr. It's another Scottish Cancer Support gig, and I'll be playing it solo with Jud. Jud is also finally doing another set of her own music too. The Hostiles and Marshal Chipped (Dave, mandolin player of the RFPB's other band) are also playing. It's going to be a great night.


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So it's Fairwell, FAIRWELL!

I think I've finally managed to get over my post-tour hangover. Took it's bloody time to get going, settle and leave! Apparently there's quite a longish tour diary video thing coming soon, Adam is currently editing down the many hours of footage he recorded. I don't envy him at all.

I've not really got much booked for the moment, which feels a bit strange, but also quite nice.We've started talking about the new album that we hope to get recorded by the end of July, with a whole bunch of new material. It'll be a much more folky affair than previously, but hopefully you'll still like it.

The only live dates that I've got booked at the moment is Friday 9th of April at The Classic Grand, supporting the wonderful Ricky Warwick, and then July 15th at St Andrews in The Square. This is a fundraiser for the Britannia Panopticon on Argylle Street, and also the first time I've been booked to play a set for the world famous Star Folk Club.

As there seems to be a big absence in live shows between April and July (a short tour is planned in May), I'm thinking of having a big blow out after the Classic Grand. They do drinks for a pound at the Club night. If you fancy coming along, I've got cheap tickets (face value is a tenner, so it's cheaper than that!) that I can sell you. Just email me, and we'll work it out. It's going to be my biggest Glasgow show up until this point! Jud and I have a killer setlist planned for this, so it won't be one to be missed!

Fairwell, FAIRWELL!

Edit: My old drummer Puggs sent me an email on Sunday night asking if I was still supporting The Lawrence Arms. I had no idea what he was on about until he produced a photo of a flyer for their Cathouse date with me listed as support. Suffice to say, I am not on the bill. As far as I know it is Taking Chase who are providing local support. 
The only dealings I've had with TripleG, who are putting on the show, was when we were booked to open for Fake Problems, so I'm thinking that this is a glitch left over from then. I've had no email contact with them to get the full story though. Had I been booked for that gig you would have heard about it a hell of a lot!


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Post Tour Blues

I'm currently about to leave my flat to go to work after a week off. In this week I had the most amazing time on the road with Adam Boucher and the Dead Set (with the wonderful Jud Harron along to help me out!). We played some truly brilliant gigs, got fucked over in Hereford, became strong friends, and spotted a dubious car number plate.
I'll write up a fuller account of what happened soon, I should have really been taking notes as I'm sure I will have forgotten stuff. Also, I expect there to be a lot of videos to come out of it courtesy of Mr. Boucher. We watched the Newcastle show video in the van, and I'm thinking it could be a new bit of merch at future shows.
The next gigs we're doing are:

• 19th March - Club Kage, Dundee (NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE)
• 21st March - 13th Note, Glasgow, with Chris T-T and Le Reno Amps

On fire at the moment, so best go.


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Tour dates!

Listed below are the tour dates we've booked for March. I'll be playing these with accompaniment from Judith Harron, and Adam Boucher will be playing wiht his new band The Dead Set. If you are in the area, please come out and say hi!

• 9th March - The Library Bar, Islington, London
• 10th March - The Mothers Ruin, Bristol
• 11th March - The Blue Rooms, Hereford!
• 12th March - House Show, Newcastle, benefit for Radical Bookshop.
• 13th March - All Day Addistock, Wednesbury, Birmingham

Fuck yeah!


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You never write, you never call

Realised it had been ages since I have updated here, so here goes. I've had a relaxing January with not much on at all, which should all hopefully change with February. The following gigs are lined up:

• 30th January - Fanny By Gaslight, Kilmarnock, 4pm acoustic solo show
• 19th February - Nice'n'Sleazys, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £4, with Renegade Folk Punk Band
• 27th February - Libertines, Ayr, £3, cut down folk band show
• 19th March - Balcony Bar, Dundee, £3, with Renegade Folk Punk band 
• 21st March - 13th Note with Chris T-T, £6, solo show

Not to mention a UK tour with Adam Boucher in early March, a new split release with Don't Let Paris Fool You, and perhaps even more shows!

On that note, I am looking to do quite a number of solo acoustic shows, so if you want to put one on (perhaps a house gig), please get in touch. I live in Dundee now, so travelling to anywhere in Scotland is absolutely fine, at any point through the week!

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The decade in review

When I was 16 I picked up a guitar for the first time, as we move in to the early days of 2010, I'm now 26. That means ten years of pretending to play guitar, and bending the notion of what qualifies as a 'vocalist'. All that said, it has been a pretty fun ride.

It would be hard to pick the best gigs I've played over this time, although I'm sure Northwich and Barrow-in-Furness with DNR in 2002, Trans-Europe Cafe in 2008 with Robert Blake and 13th Note in 2009 with Mischief Brew would all feature. As would numerous times at Hornby, and both Lexapaloozas of course! Even harder would be to pick the worst gigs as up until around the time of the aforementioned Trans-Europe, they outnumbered the better ones! However, Fury Murries in early 2007 for a Greyhound Charity sticks out in my head!

Anyways, the final year of the decade was pretty good too. Perhaps a bit more muted than 2008, but still fun. I had a great wee tour with Roscoe Vacant in March, played a fun Oxjam Music Festival and also managed to play at Blackpool's Rebellion Festival. In fact, this year had a good number of fun festivals to play, including Full Throttle in Durham, and No Sweat in London.

My favourite thing to happen this year was definitely the formation of the Renegade Folk Punk band. Originally this was supposed to be a one off thing for the Mischief Brew show in June, but folk seemed to enjoy it and we stuck it out. Had a few line-up changes where we ballooned up to a total of 8 members before settling on the 7 member juggernaught. We recorded a wee CD and played some great shows, including perhaps the weirdest show I've ever done at Cafe Gandolfi's 30th Birthday celebrations. No footage has yet emerged of that!

So yeah, big thanks to Puggs, Sye, and my brother Dan for being part of the formation of the band, and to Jud Harron, Dan Irving, Dave Burns, Kenny Leckie, Rachael Leitch, and Woody for sticking with me! Hopefully in 2010 we'll record a new CD and play some gigs together.

I'm not entirely sure what the new year will hold though. On Saturday night I played a gig at The Captains Rest in Glasgow, supporting the Tragic City Theives. Originally booked as a DH&RFPB slot, some members couldn't make it so we played it in a cut-down line-up. As Kenny couldn't make it, I switched to electric guitar (for the first time since 2003) and it felt good. I think that there will be a few more shows like that very soon, perhaps even a CD. The other thing on the horizon is a busy March with a tour with Adam Boucher.

Hope you all had a great Hogmanay and all the best for the coming days, months, years, etc.


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