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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