Rachel's Blog

Life is Fight : A Tribute To Jackie Leven

2011-11-16T14:05:00.001Z

The Spiral Earth website invited me to write a tribute to the great singer songwriter Jackie Leven
Jackie was a highly talented and respected singer songwriter, whose commercial success sadly did not reflect his widespread critical acclaim... he will be much missed! Below are the thoughts that I wrote.... www.spiralearth.co.uk

Yesterday(Tuesday 15^th Nov) at 2pm I was sitting by a wood-burning stove inthe open plan kitchen of Gill Stevens, a dear friend and current musicalcollaborator. We’d spent the morning working on pieces for our new project andhad just stopped for a well over-due lunch break. I was in the middle of adiscussion with Gill’s partner Dylan Fowler about rock n roll and the state ofpunk music and the parts it did and didn’t play in politics, when out ofnowhere there was an almighty crash from outside. We looked out to discoverthat a pigeon had fatally flown head-on into a window and broken its neck- nota pretty sight. Moments later (after a cowardly ‘bagsy not cleaning it up‘comment ) I stepped inside to check my phone messages and casually switched toscan the news feed of my face-book pages in typical voyeuristic- social mediaaddicted style. The words hit mewith a force somewhat similar to the crash sound the pigeon had just madeseconds before, high impact and head on. Jackie Leven was dead.

Ididn’t know Jackie Leven well. This morning as Spiral Earth editor Dave Kusharinvited me to write this piece my first instincts were to say ‘but how can I,who am I to comment on the life of this person who my path crossed with sofleetingly?’ But I find myself typing regardless.

Iwas first introduced to Jackie’s music from the cosy hospitality of Barton andHumber’s MTM music promoters Mark and Jan. Being good friends with Jackie andgenuine fans of his work they offered up many entertaining anecdotal stories oftheir recent encounters with him and urged me to check out his music. I did soand in doing so I was not disappointed. Personally I’ve been a long time fan ofthe music of Kevin Coyne, and found that Jackie’s songs filled with portraitsof struggling, eccentric under-dog type characters resonated with me in asimilar way to those of Kevin’s music. It came as no surprise when I finallymet Jackie to discover that he was also a Kevin Coyne fan.

Whenan opportunity arrived of sharing a gig with him on the stale beer scented stage ofwhat was then Barfly in Cardiff a few years back I seized it. Watching Jackieplay his barfly set, I remember looking around the room that was two thirdsfull and thinking it a crime that a performer of his calibre was not fillingmuch larger venues. At the same time however, the grotty, sweaty grime of thevenue didn’t detract but served, as a fitting backdrop to the gritty content ofhis songs and stories. Engagedfrom the word go, Jackie and his music took me on a journey and I left adifferent person to the one I’d arrived as. First things first, the obviousone, Jackie Leven was a big man, filling the stage with his larger than lifestories. But it seemed to me that he was also a man engaged with the tinydetails. He had the ability of inhabiting a moment completely, reinterpreting afull spectrum of emotion inside a sentence or two. He was authentic. Very muchaware of his own failings he didn’t pretend and had no time for anyone who did,taking the what you see is what you get approach. A skilled guitar player with his own trademark blues styleand a wordsmith who knew his craft. An engaging storyteller who could reel youin and hold you captivated with a self-deprecating humour and sharp, sometimessardonic tongue that could as likely rip you to shreds as build you up. Aperformer and artist engaged with the ongoing battle of ‘eeking out a living asa musician and keeping on keeping on regardless of the outcome. Stating theobvious again here I know, but I guess it comes down to the power and gift ofmusic and song, the transforming connection that it makes with an individual.Jackie and his music stirred me. Entertained me. Moved me. Amused me. Upliftedme. Challenged me. Stayed with me and travelled beyond the initial firstlistening and took root (as all good art does,) in some part of me.

Afterthe gig we chatted about our common love of Kevin Coyne, and Jackie recommendedthat I go check out the music of Judee Sill and Karen Dalton (I’m guessing hemay have suggested this to most female singer songwriters he met on the road!)Which I dutifully did and was rewarded by what I discovered in both of them!

Iwas recently involved in a songwriting project with Roma (gypsy) teenagers.

Andone of the phrases that we used was the Romany saying “Zivot Je Boj” meaning, ‘Life is fight.’ Thinking of Jackie Leven as an artistand a man, I find myself reminded of this phrase (not least of all as Jackie’sown mother was Romany.) And though there are countless stories that I’ve heardabout Jackie and his temper and his crazy punk rock ‘n’ ways, I mean this fightin the most positive way it can be interpreted. It seems to me with my verylimited knowledge of Jackie as a person, that whatever the circumstances hejust kept on fighting. From the outset, having to leave his Glasgow estate forfear of his life due to gang threats. Fighting literally for his own life afterbeing mugged and left for dead in London. Fighting to overcome the heroinaddiction that followed. Fighting on behalf of others to setting up the CORE TRUST a holistic treatment centre for alcoholics and drug addicts. Fighting onas a solo performer all these years.

Butthe impression that is foremost in the front of my mind as I type is that of a person engaged in the struggle, the fight that is this thing called life andfor myself as an artist I’m deeply grateful for the impact that both he and hismusic have made on me.

Folks You Meet Along The Way...

2011-10-29T15:23:00.002+01:00

So this October has been a month full of crazy and big times. The trip to Australia was everything I thought it would be: fun, inspiring, exhausting, emotional, and in the words of Tim Buckley- 'Happysad!' Meeting my niece and having quality time with my brother and his wife was just brilliant, revisiting spaces and places and reconnecting with dear friends, fantastic- saying good bye, horrible!!

The gig at The Wesley Anne was very fun. Not only did I get a chance to perform onstage with my extremely talented brother Kim (who is on tour in Asia with his own new album next month and with me in the photo here!) But I was also joined by two other great friends, Willow Kellock and Dave Toll. Willow was one of my first friends that I sang harmonies with way back when I was 19, and it was amazing how instant that reconnection was singing. We both just felt completely comfortable- as Willow said 'a bit like wearing a well loved pair of DR Martens' (you can tell we were teens in the 90's!)
Also rocking out with great friend and ace muso Dave Toll was great fun and I've put a youtube video up of Here We Go on my channel- and pasted below...

It was also an interesting experience to sing songs from my albums in Melbourne- so many of them hold references to my times in Australia both as a child and adult- so to be actually singing about Mt Macedon and Sorrento (which are both located in Melbourne) felt quite different, nice to know that they are equally well received even with the demystifying context of being less than an hours drive from the sites themselves!

Aside from the big stuff and the catching up etc... other highlights include visiting my friend Blythe's art exhibition and hanging out with her for the day at her workplace in the city, with an organisation that works among the homeless in Melbourne (but that all deserves its own blog sometime separately)

But I wanted to note some of the more random encounters that I had with folks just by travelling...

So first off James on the plane, my travelling companion for the first 13 hour stretch of the flight... an entrepreneur and business consultant who had just experienced two of life's more major events within the space of a week... He and his Australian fiancee had returned to the UK for their wedding only for his step mother to pass away 6 days later...

Secondly Dennis Aubrey, Sydney based songwriter/ busker/ Ukulele player, who boarded the tram my brother and I were on asking if anyone knew of a particular music shop... he was just passing through Melbourne for a few days and my brother did know of said shop so we went along with him and I got a
quick lesson on the basics of Ukulele playing! Youtube Video of Dennis

Thirdly Ira, a bloke that was sat with my brother and I on our coach journey back from the city to Sunbury. Ira was a young man probably in is mid- late 20's who had been taking a trip into the city in memory of his friend. He told us that he'd had the best time out with this mate- got up to all sorts of antics on that day (including being arrested I think!) and a few weeks later is mate had passed away. Each year Ira makes a ritual trip back to the places he and his friend hung out on that day... And in doing that he's met other random folks who make a similar pilgrimage in memory of their friend who passed away on the same day...

Fourthly, a lady who I will call 'The Perfume Lady' She was in her 50's and had a european accent. I'm guessing she was slightly psychotic. She sat next to me on a tram journey and kept talking about what I thought at first was the 'door' but eventually I realised that she was saying 'Dior' and was asking me if I could smell her perfume (which I could indeed as she was very heavily scented though there were other smells the perfume was masking also) She then decided I was a friend and proceeded to talk me through her catalogue that she was holding telling me who had too much make-up in the pictures and constantly showing me images of Christian Dior perfume. At one point she wanted to stroke my leg but I told her simply and firmly no not to do that- she was apologetic and offered me the catalogue to keep as a peace offering! It was just such a sad and in someways almost ridiculously comical juxtaposition to think of this struggling, kooky lady and her love of perfume and all that a brand like Christian Dior stand for... http://www.dior.com/couture/en_gb (I've just stuck the link there for juxtaposition purposes!)

Lastly, Phillip who I met on the return leg of a flight. An older gentleman, a lawyer whose main client is the Police Dept of Victoria... He had some quite interesting stories to tell when I asked about the state of corruption among the police... He talked about the challenges of being older in the work place and trying to keep up to date with all the new technological systems and structures that were constantly coming into place... as well as the fact that though things have changed the nature of his cases have remained pretty constant over the years as human nature doesn't change...and it also just so happened that he lives a few streets away from where Bill and I had once lived over 12 years ago in Melbourne...

Anyway... all those random encounters with those folks left their mark in different ways and have me pondering the stories that we brush past every day... at the risk of sounding corny I find myself reminded of a saying by Bob Dylan's grandmother from his book Chronicles pg. 20....

" ... Happiness isn't on the road to anything. Happiness is the road.
... also instructed, Be kind, because everyone you'll ever meet is fighting a hard battle."

and so... Here We Go...
(Live at The Wesley Anne- featuring Dave Toll)

Australia, Counting The Waves...

2011-09-16T18:17:00.001+01:00

I'm off to Australia on the 3rd of October! Very excited as will get to meet my new niece Amelie, who was born in May this year and spend time with my brother and sister in law... Also booked in a one off gig on the 12th October for any Melbournites who may be around and want to come along... Particularly looking forward to some special guests joining me on stage, first confirmed is old friend and wonderful singer Willow Kellock, who I used to sing a band with way back when I was 19!
I know as well as a brilliant time it's going to be heart wrenching to leave again...It's the age old problem of home having been in 2 countries so many miles apart... I remember a family friend once describing it as both a present privilege and a persistent problem to have experienced life on opposite sides of the globe and to miss the folks and the land that you have to leave... So much of my last album Dust and Gold has been shaped and informed by those Australian experiences- it will be interesting to see what it's like to actually sing the songs there in oz... however, mostly I'm just really looking forward to the trip!

I'm waiting to hear if I have the funding that I've applied for regarding the Counting The Waves collaborative project, I'll find out in October also so fingers are crossed for that...

News about up coming gigs is on my Hushland Label news blog http://hushlandnews.blogspot.com/

Creating...

2011-09-06T16:12:00.003+01:00

Its great to be creating again.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post so much of my time last year and early this year was caught up in health issues- so its good to be back on track and finding a muse again...
So currently dipping into more jazzy electric sounds and exploring my new loop and expression pedals. The looping is allowing me to pick up the soprano saxophone again after a very long time of not playing and realising that my muscles round my mouth just aren't up to speed at all at the moment... Hopefully within the next few weeks I'll find my tone there again...

I dive headlong into my "Counting The Waves" project with Gill Stevens, in November... so will write more about that soon...

Planning on debuting a track or two at the next gig at The Minstrel room... Really looking forward to having Dylan Fowler join us and the chance to take out lots of instruments again... It was great fun at St Donats Arts Centre to have my electric and the arch top plus the 2 acoustics, my banjo and sax- though it'll be keyboards this time rather than a real piano! Not sure as yet exactly what Dylan will be playing but I expect there will be additional guitars and percussion in the mix, with Rosy's cello and Angharad's vocals all woven in also...Here's flyer with info below....

It will be strange the next time I play solo again, I'm thoroughly enjoying the bigger sound...

Concert under the stars...

2011-08-28T09:59:00.001+01:00

Returned from brilliant few weeks away in France and Switzerland and now slowly getting back into the grind. There were many highlights to the trip...being surrounded by mountains... swimming in both lakes and the sea... food and wine... the sun... but wanted to write a quick note about a brilliant concert that we saw in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin while we were away....

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin is a small town in the South of France, in between Monaco and Menton, all the benefits of that beautiful stretch of coast without the resort element... and above it set into the cliffs stands the old medieval village (tiny winding cobbled streets and 407 steps up from the beach) The old Chateau looks out over the bay and it was here (after climbing the 407 steps) that we saw a breathtaking concert.
The stage was out doors with the back drop being the ocean by moonlight, we sat on amphitheatre style benches and listened to two Russian soloists David Galoustov on violin and Dimitri Maslennikov on cello... Honestly it doesn't get any better- to see such brilliant musicianship close up in that stunning location... inspirational...

David Galoustov youtube video... Violin Player
www.myspace.com/dimitrimaslennikov Cello Player

General news...new music projects...live video...

2011-08-02T13:00:00.000+01:00

Looking at the last post - nearly a year ago... much has happened and is happening- so trying to be brief with headline updates... ( my sister inlaw Katriona Beales whose article on creativity was the last post has just got a distinction for her art course at Chelsea!!)

Firstly-health: most folks will be unaware that last year I spent most of the year in very bad health going between MRI scans, various medications and to consultants for what is now diagnosed as nerve damage in my trigeminal (facial) nerve... This pretty much co-incided with the launch of Dust and Gold album and around that time there were fears that the condition may have been from a sinister cause (tumor or M.S.) so touring for the most part was postponed... it was a tricky time however I am pleased to say that there is nothing sinister lurking in the background and that although the condition is painful I am learning to manage it and am now in a place to be plotting and planning again in relation to all things musical...

So a number of projects in the pipeline...

Counting the Waves- is a somewhat off the wall collaborative project with composer and multi instrumentalist Gillian Stevens. We will be fusing Gill's ancient medieval instruments (crwyth, viol, viola da gamba and more) with my songwriting via a whole load of effects pedals and loop stations... The result is as yet unknown but we are both very excited about the prospect of what we will be creating. The premier of the work is booked in for Feb 18th 2012 at The Gate Arts Centre and Spiral Earth website have written an initial news feature about the project see link...
http://www.spiralearth.co.uk/news/story.asp?nid=5526

I am also working on a new recording project of several songs with a more jazz/electric type theme... some are songs that have been hanging around for a while and some are new, but they seem to work together as a collection... so I will be releasing these at some point in the not too distant future...

We've begun a Hushland Studio Sessions video project also... these are live videos that can be fund on my youtube channel which I will be adding to over the months to come http://www.youtube.com/user/mrhushland

In non music news- I'm very excited to heading off for a long holiday with Bill to the South of France and Switzerland for the next few weeks ( the Hushland office and shop will be closed!) Haven't had a real extended holiday for years- and after the rubbish health and stresses of last year this is a very welcome break!

Lastly I'll leave you with a video from the concert at St Donats Arts Centre on the 24th July... an extended version of my song Brilliant Blue featuring Rosy Robinson on cello and Angharad Evans singing backing vocals and playing guest glockenspiel- the disappearing act towards the end of the video is when I decided to take my soprano sax for a wander through the audience...

Artists and Apis Mellifera (otherwise known as the Honey Bee)

2010-10-15T18:11:00.000+01:00

My sister inlaw Katriona Beales has just written this article in her latest blog- it was part of a talk about Arts in the light of the funding cuts and I really like the point she's making - comparing artists to the Honey bee...
here's an extract from the blog and her own website link also...

Artists and Apis Mellifera

Text from a brief talk I did last night [7th Oct 2010] at the AIR Activist launch.

"I have only 2 words I really want to say tonight, neither are English - Apis Mellifera...

I have heard much talk about a cultural ecology – conjuring up nice images of inter-dependent organic systems where each part, whether large or small, is recognised as important to the whole. I'm not sure the phrase 'cultural ecology' really reflects the true dynamics of the cultural landscape around us - but let's work with it.

The pertinent question from me, is what is the role of the artist within the cultural ecology?

I believe it is much like the role of Apis Mellifera, better known as the Common Honey bee. As artists move across and in-between cultures, socio-political topographies, and virtual and real environments – much cross-pollination happens. New ideas are born, and society benefits from the fruit of those.

Of course – Apis Mellifera also benefits from the process, and in it generates it's own sustenance.

However, the honey produced has also been enjoyed by the human race for thousands of years, forming a staple part of the human diet since at least the Egyptian times. In cross-pollination not only are ideas generated, but also art work.

Honey sweetens our lives, just as art adds richness.

But who is this work for, is it honey solely produced just for the bee or the bee-keeper?

Are artists just producers of a cultural commodity – with little say in it’s dissemination or in it’s consumption?

Since 2006 there has been a drastic rise in the number of total disappearances of common honey bee colonies. This has been termed colony collapse disorder, and has been met with near panic from the agricultural sector who rely on bees to pollinate the majority of the worlds agricultural crops.

Without stretching the analogy too far – on the brink of 25% or possibly 40% cuts to the arts – there are strong challenges to say the least, to making a living as a practising artist. And while I have dipped a toe in some of the arts funding debate, I have found the majority of the perspectives shared to be about protecting arts and cultural institutions, without much discussion about the impact cuts on artists living and working in the UK today.

AIR Activists is about providing a platform for artist voices. This is timely and necessary. Artists need to not only shape the flavour of the work they are creating, but also influence the various bee keepers. At the end of the day, the bee keepers are actually reliant on the bee for their livelihood.

AIR Activists are about reminding the bee keepers of that fact.

Apis Mellifera."

Katriona Beales www.katrionabeales.com

Just some thoughts really, Frank Turner, Love Ire and Song...

2010-08-10T10:52:00.005+01:00

My friend Paul (see link at the bottom of this blog) recommended a singer songwriter to Bill and myself a few months ago, called Frank Turner- http://frank-turner.com/blog/ and recently one afternoon having done the myspace, youtube searches etc, both being suitably impressed we purchased some of his albums... One of them Love Ire and Song, has several songs that have got stuck in my head, not just for the catchy musical hooks but more for the sentiment and ideas sung out through them... here's the lyrics and video of a song from that album called... Photosynthesis...

Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old. All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold. All the kids are talking slang I won’t pretend to understand, all my friends are getting married, mortgages and pension plans. And it’s obvious my angry adolescent days are done, and I’m happy and I’m settled in the person I’ve become, but that doesn’t mean I’m settled up and sitting out the game – time may change a lot, but some things they stay the same.

Maturity’s a wrapped-up package deal or so it seems, ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams. All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will have to grow up, be an adult, be bored and unfulfilled. But no one’s yet explained to me exactly what’s so great about slaving 50 years away on something that you hate, about meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity. Well if that’s your road then take it but it’s not the road for me.

And if all you ever do with your life is photosynthesize, then you’ll deserve every hour of your sleepless nights that you waste wondering when you’re going to die.

Now I’ll play, and you sing – the perfect way for the evening to begin. I won’t sit down, and I won’t shut up, and most of all I won’t “grow up”. FRANK TURNER

So anyway, he says it kinda like I think it at the moment... and so does Howard Thurman... "Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" Dr Howard Thurman, Philosopher...

And Paul (our friend who recommended Frank Turner) has recently made a very good feature film Big Font Large Spacing- well worth checking out http://www.bigfontlargespacing.com/

Dust and Gold

2010-03-12T14:52:00.001Z

Just thought I'd write a few lines about new Dust and Gold album...
Really pleased and excited about the new product...

Tracks:
Child in the Sun
Turnaround Town
Feathers and Flowers
She's OK
Digging Song
Here We Go
Leaning On Nothing
Somewhere In Copenhagen
Sing It Out
Come On In
Dust And Gold
Waiting For You

As an album Dust and Gold is stand alone but also makes up part 3 of a colour themed trilogy of work, (previous releases being my debut, Brilliant Blue and the follow up Red Tree.)....
The Title Dust and Gold is taken from track 11, but in my mind the rootsy overtones of banjo scattered through some of the songs makes for the dusty image while the jazzier sounds of the soprano sax and piano create the shiny gold texture- and this comes together for the very last song with banjo, sax and piano in ‘Waiting for You.

The album has been recorded, mixed and mastered by Dylan Fowler at his studio Felin Fach in Abergavenny here in Wales- it's a beautiful place, an old converted Mill surrounded by trees and a river running alongside. The studio itself was rustic with sloping ceilings (as Bill saw straight away- no straight lines!) Dylan and his wife Gill were exceptionally hospitable and made the whole experience feel more like some creative retreat rather than the time limited pressure of recording that could have been the case! Dylan also took on the role as producer working closely in collaboration with me on arrangements of the songs. We recorded all of my lead vocal with either guitar, banjo or piano parts as ‘live takes' and a number of tracks were jammed and improvised live with percussion/ accordion/ piano adding on additional overdubs later.....

The style and content of the material draws upon folk, roots, blues, americana, jazz, gospel and singer songwriter genres, and is very much a crossover integration of all the above.
Instrumentation includes, acoustic guitars, mandocello, banjo, soprano sax, piano, percussion, cello, accordion, electric guitar, bass, layered vocal harmony, harmonica and more…

visit the Hushland Label Shop to pre- order CD's (pre- orders include limited edition bonus EP) and take a listen- to some of the tracks in the Hushland Listening Lounge www.hushland.com

Sometimes she feels lonely... so she sings

2010-01-28T11:06:00.001Z

My next door neighbour is a fascinating character, at 82, she's still savvy and switched on, but very frail these days. She was born in Italy and married a Glaswegian (who was stationed in her small town in Bolognia) and so her English is an unusual blended accent of Scottish and Italian. She told me once that she would have liked to have been Opera singer but got married instead! Her kitchen is adjacent to my dining room and often I hear her singing as she makes her meals. I told her the other day how much I enjoyed hearing her tunes, and she replied that 'sometimes living on your own gets you down and lonely- so I sing, I sing so I can hear the sound of a voice out loud'
This morning as I ate my breakfast, she was singing loud and true- it was 'Moon River' and it was one of the saddest and most beautiful renditions of that song that I have ever heard... Later I will tell her again how good it is to hear her singing, but I felt that I didn't want to let that moment pass by with out marking it in some way... I'm always in search of authentic art, art which moves and touches you and leaves you somehow different as a result- and that is exactly what my neighbour has given me this morning...

you tube songs

2010-01-18T16:06:00.004Z

Bill has just posted the video he made to Please Don't Pass Me By on You Tube- here's a link...

Cunning Plans!

2010-01-14T17:59:00.000Z

Hey Folks, here’s a belated Happy New Year greeting to one and all- though after the devastating news in the last 24 hours of the Haiti earth quake- all previous thoughts of festivities pale into insignificance…

Anyway these last weeks Bill and I at Hushland Central have been plotting and planning our next bold moves for 2010 and the release of my new CD number final instalment of the colour trilogy- Dust and Gold. (Kudos to anyone who gets the Ani Difranco song reference in that sentence there!)

So here’s a bit of what you can expect to be hitting your inboxes in over the next weeks and months….

New Dust and Gold CD Special Offer Pre Order Packages!
We will be opening up the shop for a limited time period to take pre orders of the new album at the beginning of Feb-
And there will be 2 special offer deals you can buy into both will include a limited edition bonus 4track EP available only with the pre- order deals
We will tell you more very soon!

Brand New Website
Bill is working hard on creating a snazzy new Rachel Taylor-Beales.com website that we plan to go live with in March- and to celebrate this we’ve been busy mixing tracks from 2008’s wonderful gig at The Point- that will become available as free downloads from the new site…

Hushland at Home
After the great success and adventure of invading living rooms across the UK last year, we’ve decided to do it all again and this time put out a general invitation to anyone of you who might like to play host to a Rachel Taylor-beales concert in your home- there will be a page specifically dedicated to the logistics of this on the new website but do drop us a line at anytime if this sounds like something you might be interested in pursuing…

CD Launch Gig
We are planning a big old gig with a host of guest-ing super talented musicians to join with Rachel and form a unique big old band to coincide with the launch of Dust and Gold in May… with a whole load of new visuals to project behind it all…

and there will be more info on all of this to follow soon…

just a few thoughts

2009-11-28T11:57:00.005Z

So just thought I'd post a few things that I've found interesting lately-
a couple of blog sites... I don't always agree with what's there but like that there is often an idea that will spark my imagination- strike a chord or help me shape my own opinions...

www.sethgodin.typepad.com
Quote that I liked there today-
'The reason they want you to fit in...
Is that once you do, then they can ignore you.'

www.sivers.org.blog
Derek Sivers entrepreneur and creator of CD Baby

and I revisited Leonard Cohen's Lyrics for his song Anthem- from the Future album,
think it sums up a lot of my thoughts really!

The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
of every government --
signs for all to see.

I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
a thundercloud
and they're going to hear from me.

Ring the bells that still can ring ...

You can add up the parts
but you won't have the sum
You can strike up the march,
there is no drum
Every heart, every heart
to love will come
but like a refugee.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.

recent gigs, hushland house tour and ramblings...

2009-05-28T11:49:00.004+01:00

I should never say that I'll keep anything up to date- it's instantly cursed to be the opposite... honestly part of the problem is having too many sites to keep up to date these days... but anyway...
it's been a good few months since I last wrote here- May has been a particularly fun month- starting with Bob Dylan concert, (Bill and I were not expecting much from him- but were happily surprised and pleased as thought he performed a great set. ) Also enjoying his new album... My birthday celebrations seemed to last the whole if the bank holiday weekend, much merriment, music making, whiskey drinking and chocolate cake consuming were part of it all... Bill and I also caught a Devon Sproule gig which was great- she's a really engaging performer ...

This last weekend, I went and performed at The Sound City, industry festival in Liverpool- and ironically met a great band from Cardiff there called Toy Horses, who had a very cool electric Ukulele, and played fun quirky acoustic, pop numbers, kind of sounding like Madness meets the Fin Brothers, with a touch of Elvis Costello, and a dash of You Am I- there now I've said all those artists- I guess they just sound like themselves... anyway that was pretty fun, it's crazy that you can be from the same city and it's not till you are else where that your paths actually cross...
Then a lovely little festival here in Cardiff, we had a beautifully sunny day, and it was great to have Stacey Blythe join us on accordion for the set... I'll post a photo, taken by my friend Matt Carr.

HUSHLAND @ HOME
Bill and I have decided to team up (with the ever faithful musical backing and acompaniment of Karen Chalk) for a series of House Concerts, in living rooms, gardens and other similar intimate venues across the UK over the summer months. These will be an evenings double bill of Rachel Taylor-Beales and Sir Silence and The Hush, with our visuals projected behind us. Due to the nature of the venues being homebased we will release address of location via personal email when purchasing tickets, so do get in touch if you want to come along to any of the dates (see my website gig dates) and email info@racheltaylor-beales.com for more info. Visit www.hushland.com to hear some tracks by Sir Silence And The Hush and view some visuals also.

I am planning a similar House Concert solo tour later in the autumn so do drop me a line also if you think you would be interested in hosting one in the future.

RECORDING NEWS
I've now booked into the studio in September to record the next album- part three in the colour trillogy!
I am both delighted and excited to be working with the very talented Welsh musician and composer Dylan Fowler on this next project... so will keep you updated on the progress there... we are thinking that it will be released sometime in the New Year...

Tattoo... Jamming...Fleet Foxes and Tom Waits... demos

2009-02-24T11:35:00.009Z

Have decided to keep this blog a bit more up to date- well- we'll see how long that lasts....

I've really enjoyed the last few weeks since road tripping with Karen...
Had my first tattoo this weekend- The out line of a humming bird in flight among some cherry blossom- its very simple (bill designed it with me) and I'm very pleased with it! Its still covered in cream so will put photos up when its settled in a little more! Can't believe its taken me this long to get one done- I'm sure it won't be the last! It was interesting hanging out in the tattoo shop- we were there off and on for most of the day as Bill, and my sister and brother in law also had tats done (partly why the day was so fun) we took shifts at hanging out with my nieces to save them from boredom- Justin who tattooed us has a very charismatic personality and it seems that people just like hanging out in his shop- all sorts of folk were just popping in to see him and have a chat and sit on the sofas in reception area- if there was a cafe attached to the shop then I reckon a few of them would probably move in a be there all day- also interesting to catch a glimpse of a much more hardcore element to the whole to the whole tattoo world...

Also had great fun jamming with some musos I met recently- who came over to play me some of their tunes on Sunday - I haven't had a good old jam for ages- so was able to get out my soprano sax and my violin among other things and play along (not sure that play along is actually the right word for some of the noise I was making though!) I have decided that the sax needs to be played more- it used to be one of my strongest voices and so I've realized how much I miss it being in the mix...
We'll do more I'm sure- and I have a jazz drummer coming over on wednesday also to see if there's any mileage in working together...

The other reason that the last few weeks have been fun is that I've been painting... Bill asked me to help him work on a mural and it has been a real joy to spend proper time painting again... Fleet Foxes brilliant album and Tom Waits have been my top choice of music to paint to so far..

And finally demos... I have a bunch of new songs and am in the process of recording demos of them- having now booked myself into the studio again for September.... This is the stage I really love- the creating stage- if it were possible I'd lock myself away and lose myself in the creating process entirely!

Liberty Track on Fatea Showcase Session

2009-02-04T15:21:00.003Z

My Song Liberty is featured in this great Download CD along with many other very talented artists

Fatea Showcase Session:One
The new Fatea Showcase Session:One is available for free download at:

Featuring 17 great solo artists across a range of acoustic based
genres, "One" is the forth of the Fatea Showcase Sessions, Spring 09.
The download is exclusively available for three months after which it
will never be available again.

'One' is the first 2009 session and all the sleeves this year have
been designed by David Owen and will build into one large image.

To ensure you the listener gets to hear the band at their best, the
downloads are 256kbs drm free. The zip file also contains a sleeve
pack. Links to the band are on the session page as well as on the
sleeve. We hope you enjoy what you hear and then choose to buy releases
from the artists or go to their gigs when you can.

01. Jackie Oates - Wishfulness Waltz

02. James Ragbone - The Parade

03. Maggie Council - Nebraska Avenue

04. Bob Burke - Siren

05. Rachel Taylor-Beales - Liberty

06. Jinski - Hand Of God

07. Aimee Newsome-Stone - Drive Me Down

08. Ivor Game - I Like Being At Home

09. Becky Syson - Before Now

10. John Fairhurst - Obnox Stomp Remix*

11. Tina Taylor - Someday

12. Simon Jackson - Stainless & Cold Pressed
Steel

13. Patsy Matheson - Precious Little Soldier

14. Tessa Bickers - This Song’s For You*

15. Diana Johnstone - The Troubled Heart

16. Henry Clements - Needle And Thread

17. Lizzie Nunnery - Hungry

*=Session Exclusive

New Feathers and Flowers song live on You Tube

2009-02-04T13:22:00.009Z

Filmed by Live Music Showcase at Bournemouth Folk Club Jan 09:the song is inspired by Alan Garners novel The Owl Service- drawing reference from the legend of Blodeuwedd, whose story is told in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi- a woman created out of flowers for her husband and then turned into an owl as punishment for having an affair.

Other news- had a great time in Glasgow for the Celtic Connections Festival. Road tripping with Karen Chalk- drinking whiskey till the early hours and catching up with a long lost school friend was fantastic!

Christmas Blog

2008-12-23T14:46:00.004Z

The end of the year is nigh- The Sufjan Stevens Christmas box set is out and playing a soundtrack of merry melancholy and mellifluous mayhem (that man is so good damn him) and I always find myself thinking about highs and lows both personally and in the wider world- kind of summing up the year in my head. Though my summing up is a poor reflection of reality I’m sure!

It’s been a rollercoaster of a year really- Finally launching the Red Tree album back in May was a brilliant time. A great launch party night, some fantastic reviews, and the opportunity to work and perform with some very talented musicians in the gigs that followed- that really is the fun side of the job!! And more recently BBC Radio Two playing of Red Tree on Whispering Bob’s (he probably hates that name) Saturday program is definitely a high! The downside has been trying to keep the momentum rolling as it has been a little more stop-start than was planned with more gigs being cancelled by promoters than I’ve ever experienced before as well as two of the festivals that I was booked to play over the summer also cancelled. It seems that a lot of it has been a direct effect of the credit crunch- I have had many of conversations with others about this. Some are telling me its all in the mind and nothing is changing but it does seem to me (at least from my struggling in the garret to make art type level) to have had quite an impact. That said I want to take my hat off to all of you and those promoters who have carried on regardless and continue to support live music!

I personally have been to some fantastic gigs over the year. Leonard Cohen at the Manchester Opera House comes out at the top- but also up in the highs were- Sigur Ros’s beautiful soundscapes and mindblowingly stunning display of visuals, Ani Difranco and her performance full of passion and energy, Jose Gonzales intense intricate and unique guitar style songs and Cerys Matthews who’s powerful set was full of diversity, self deprecating humour and soulful delivery. All very inspiring and energising!
I’ve opened for some great acts also this year- Jackie Leven being one of them- his storytelling was very engaging.

Obama was elected! I almost hadn’t dared to hope after the disappointments of the last elections. The great Odetta passed away. Somehow Hallelujah was performed on The X factor- ok so its not the Cohen, Cale, Buckley or KD Lang version all of which wax and wane between mystical and earthy content of the lyrics- but hey its still a surprisingly astute choice for X factor!

And finally to wrap these rather randomly assorted thoughts- I want to say something about the current situation in Palestine this Christmas. I guess having worked out there and experienced a little of what life under occupation is like- I can’t think of Bethlehem at this time of year (all the carol and Christmas cards etc) without talking about what the situation as it is. I was involved last week in an ‘Alternative Carol’ event called Carols by Check Point that included traditional carols, alongside re-written versions telling the story of Palestine today under occupation. I’ve included a bit of blurb about Bethlehem that was in the program, below and also would like to draw attention to an inspiring and courageous campaign headed by young Israeli teens known as ‘THE SHMINISTIM’ who are refusing to do their compulsory military service as they cannot morally partake the inhumane practises of the occupation. This means that they are in and out of prison continually for the 3- 4 years that they do not do their military service and will of course have repercussions on employment opportunities etc… http://december18th.org
Follow the link here to the website and find out more and sign their petition letter ….

So all that remains is to wish you a Merry Christmas- look forward to seeing you all on the road some place soon in 2009.

(oh yes and the live album- well it will happen sometime in 09 so watch this space… as always everything takes 100 times longer than my optimistic forecasting!!)

Bethlehem Blurb

Bethlehem Today
The 'little town' is smaller than once it was. A 9-metre high snaking concrete wall splits it, dividing people from their land; residents are prevented from moving around the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, not to mention the application process for permits to get to Jerusalem (some of which is also Palestinian) - these are only given to those in employment, only last 3 months and there is no guarantee of renewal or that the checkpoint allowing access will be open at any given time. Jerusalem is six miles from Bethlehem, so this effectively cuts off secure employment opportunities for thousands and thousands of people. Checkpoints do not only exist between Palestinian and Jewish Israeli areas but also within Palestinian territory; simply to get to the neighbouring Palestinian town or village (without going anywhere near Jewish Israeli dwellings), Palestinians frequently experience military checkpoints which can cause disruption, delay, humiliation or simple prevention from passing through. Access to work, emergency medicine, routine healthcare, family and land is routinely made difficult, slow or impossible.

International law states that an occupying force is not allowed to settle its citizens in the territory which it occupies. Israel has been illegally settling Israeli Jews in the West Bank consistently over the years and continues to do so, as other nations tacitly support this with their silence. These settlements generally take the form of towns on the top of formerly green hills, often clearly visible from the Palestinian towns and villages from whom the land has been 'confiscated'.
The settlements are connected by roads accessible only to the Jewish Israeli residents. Local Palestinians cannot use them or cross them. The joint effect of the road, the settlements, the checkpoints, the roads reserved for one people group, and the Wall, is what Jeff Halper (a Jewish Israeli) describes as the 'Matrix of Control'. He says "The Matrix of Control, then, conceals behind a facade of seemingly innocuous administrative devices and ostensibly justified military and physical constraints a repressive regime intended to permanently deny the Palestinians self-determination, citizenship, and basic human and civil rights." (from 'Obstacles to Peace', p.23).

The local population call for us to hear the stories of the present as well as the stories of the past, and to consider the reality of the place when we sing of Bethlehem in our Christmas celebrations. They ask us to learn, to go, to remember, to tell their stories and to act on what we know.

THE SMALL PRINT I: International Law. The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that the “construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, are contrary to international law”, that “Israel is under an obligation to terminate its breaches of international law; it is under an obligation to cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall being built in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, to dismantle forthwith the structure therein situated”, and that “Israel is under an obligation to make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem”.
THE SMALL PRINT II: Britain’s Approach. The UK Government response to the ‘barrier’, as described on the FCO website, is exactly as follows: “We fully recognise Israel's right to self-defence and agree that a barrier is a reasonable way to achieve this. However, we call for the barrier to be built either on or behind the Green Line.
The route, which the Israeli Cabinet approved on 20 February 2005, takes in a number of Israeli settlements, whose presence is illegal under international law. It also threatens to split the West Bank in two, which in turn undermines the prospects for a two-state solution.
We are profoundly concerned at the impact the barrier has on the lives of Palestinians, and deplore the destruction of Palestinian homes and the confiscation of land associated with its construction.
We have made our concerns extremely clear to the Israeli government and will continue to do so.”
Settlement and wall building continues apace. The raising of concerns does not appear to be a particularly strong deterrent.

Summer and beyond...

2008-09-11T14:47:00.005+01:00

Can't believe it's September already- (I always start a blog like that it seems!) Totally depressed by the lack of sun here in the UK these last months, very British of me I know to talk about the weather but it has been bloody awful!- There was one day back in May when it was hot and Bill and I stopped by Wilcos and picked up a £5, paddling pool, anticipation those long summer nights in the garden etc... not once- but anyway moan over- off for a 10 day break in Tenby at the end of this week and can't wait...
So the highs of the last few months-some fun gigs- the stand out ones were-
Opening for the very lovely Rachael Sage at the Green Note- always enjoy that venue- the food the atmosphere and was good to hang out with the other musicians...
Zac's Place in Swansea with Karen and Rosy- we managed to record some footage of that evening which I've posted on the myspace and will post a you tube link below here in a moment...
In recent weeks- opening for Jackie Leven at Barfly (a special mention to the Llanelli and Port Talbot groupies who were so encouraging!)I'd never heard Jackie perfom before and was very impressed with his songs and story telling...
The M.A.D.A (music against domestic abuse) Charity event in Exeter last week was great fun to be a part of.

Really enjoyed seeing Jose Gonzales and Cerys Matthews performing at The Tenby Folk Festival...

I am beginning to work at mixing the live recording that I made at The Point earlier this year- the theory is to have a product ready for Christmas- so fingers crossed that all will go according to plan!

So here's the you tube link to various videos from Hushland http://www.youtube.com/mrhushland -

Leonard Cohen

2008-06-20T18:13:00.002+01:00

Bill and I saw the great Leonard Cohen at Manchester Opera House on Wednesday.
It was absolutely brilliant- every song a masterpiece and such an energetic, soulful and humerous performance from the man himself now in his 70s...
'There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in'

Live at The Point

2008-06-01T17:31:00.003+01:00

Just a quick blog to say that I've loaded some photos now of the gig at The Point onto the Pic's section of my website and also the slideshow of the myspace page (see links at the side of the blog there) The recording that we made on the night is great and so there will be a live album coming some time (probably December or in the New Year)There are also more tracks from the album on myspace, with videos to follow...

Red Tree Officially Released

2008-05-21T10:19:00.003+01:00

Well it's all official now- the new album is released as of today!
To order your copies online please visit the websites below,
All the best
Rachel
www.racheltaylor-beales.com
www.hushland.com
www.piperecords.co.uk

Reviews-
Postitive feedback and reviews have been coming in for the album over these last weeks and we've included a couple of quotes below...

'Individual and compelling songwriting talent, with a striking singing voice to match'
David Kidman Folk in The Round Magazine

'Wonderful overall feel and incredible range of emotion. The musicianship is amazing!'
David Kushar- www.spiralearth.co.uk

Rachel Taylor-Beales has a talent for story telling, with an eye and ear for the ‘real’ world around her. The mix of Folk, Jazz, Country and Americana blends to create a sublime sound that stops you in your tracks. With a New album and a tour on the horizon it’s about time you got on the band wagon.starting here! www.slow2fade.co.uk

We really liked Brilliant Blue, but Red Tree seems a huge step forward, we are seriously impressed !! www.fourdogsmusic.co.uk

No "difficult second album" worries for Rachel Taylor-Beales. 'Brilliant Blue', the Cardiff-based singer/songwriter's 2007 debut, was a lovely piece of work, but 'Red Tree' -- the second in a planned colour trilogy -- is a more than worthy successor.
Sarah Mcquaid- Irish Evening Herald

The launch gig at The Point was sooooo much fun. I was thrilled at the turnout and vibe. Huge thanks to all who came along to be part of the night. We managed to record the evening so there will be a 'Live Album' in the not too distant future!
I will be posting up photos soon and loading some video footage of the event onto the various websites soon, so watch this space...

All About Red Tree, The New Album

2008-03-18T13:41:00.008Z

RED TREE
Release Date 21/05/08 on Hushland
CD Launch gig at THE POINT, Cardiff Bay on the 14th May

About the album
Red Tree is the second of a colour themed trilogy of albums.
The title track was in part inspired by ‘The Red Tree,’ story book written and illustrated the Australian author Shaun Tan. I had been on holiday in the beautiful countryside of West Wales, and remember photographing a whole series of brightly coloured red trees that were planted outside my window. I knew that the colour inspiration for the next album would be red- and so was on the look out for anything that would spark my imagination. Just after this time I came across Shaun’s book and was totally struck by the depth and imaginative illustrations that followed a young girl’s journey of hope through depression and confusion waiting for her dream of ‘The Red Tree’ to become a reality. This in turn became the starting point for my Red Tree song and from that the album.

This CD also includes 2 tracks, ‘What if I Said’ and ‘Kindly Leave’ that were composed in collaboration with poet and BBC radio 4’s Broadcaster, Stewart Henderson as well as one track ‘ Find Me’ written by Bill Taylor-Beales. As a singer I enjoy interpreting the words of others and felt that as my previous album Brilliant Blue was entirely written by me, there was definitely room to explore other voices alongside my own on this album.

Working with Martyn Joseph as a producer was a great experience. He was very keen that the recordings be ‘live takes’ so that we could capture as much intimacy of interpretation as we could in the performance of them. So we began a process of singing through the tracks as a whole and recording each take until we felt we had ‘the one’ This was a very different experience of recording for me as I’ve always worked layer by layer in the studio adding the vocals at the end. The result though is I feel a very authentic and personal sound, and the process has certainly helped me to really inhabit the songs as a performer.

Martyn also lent his excellent musicianship to the project. He would often start a session by saying that he’d been experimenting with different sounds and ideas on the tracks- and pretty much each time I’d end up saying- ‘Yes that has to stay on it!’
There are also appearances from the wonderful Karen Chalk who has sung and performed with me since 2004, as well as Bill Taylor-Beales, guesting on his own track- Find Me. Charlotte Eksteen’s cello parts were the last to be recorded and in my opinion her contributions have taken the album to another level. Her playing and interpretation of the tracks was stunning, and I remember at one point in the studio Martyn Joseph and myself both simultaneously saying Wow- after her moving rendition on the Moses Basket track.

CD Launch Gig 14th May

2008-02-08T15:42:00.000Z

Have just had to re-schedule the Red Tree CD Launch gig date to May 14th at 'The Point' Cardiff Bay (the venue double booked) But it is set to stay!!

New CD coming soon...

2008-02-04T14:43:00.000Z

The new CD Red Tree is now set for release on May 1st and a Launch Gig will be held on Wednesday May the 7th at The Point here in Cardiff, with more dates to follow. I'm planning lots of live art to accompany the gig and will post more info as and when...

In the mean time I am very excited about this new product and will be posting some taster samples on my website and Myspace pages in the weeks running up to the release.

The album has been produced by Martyn Joseph and also features him as a multi- instrumentalist along with the beautiful haunting sounds of Charlotte Eksteen's cello, some fine backing from the ever faithful Karen Chalk and Bill Taylor-Beales also makes a special appearance on one of the tracks... Watch this space...

Recording...

2007-11-22T17:11:00.000Z

I have nearly finished recording tracks for the new album- Next Tuesday will be the last session and the very talented Charlotte Eksteen will be traveling down from London to add her cello parts to the mix. It's both exciting and daunting to be at this stage- Martyn has done a fine job as producer and has also added various instrumental offerings... So on to the mixing job over December and hopefully a shiny new album will be ready for release early next year!

I really enjoyed the various gigs and folk that I met last month- Particularly the Bournemouth crowd, and also the Chattery in Swansea- opening for the fabulous Kirsty Mcgee and Matt Martin- do check them out if you get a chance they're great! I Haven't booked any more gigs this year- as I'll be joining Bill for a Primary schools tour- with art and music workshops over December... But am planning lots more shows with the launch of the album next year... watch this space I guess...

And Finally-
My song Super Glue, is being released on a compilation album made by Dave and Debbie Bainbridge called Songs For Luka 2 to raise funds to enable their son to continue with the Sonrise- programme centre for autism.
here's the blub below-
At 2hrs 20mins long and containing 25 exclusive tracks (out of 30 in total) it has definitely been worth the wait and is tremendous value for money!

You will find contributions from a myriad of talented artists including: Moya Brennan, Joanne Hogg, IONA, Phil Keaggy, Troy Donockley,
Mostly Autumn, Martyn Joseph and many many more, along with some intriguing collaborations. Where else will you hear Heather Findlay from Mostly Autumn, Roine Stolt from the Flower Kings and Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo all guesting on a newly recorded version of Iona's song 'Journey into the Morn', or Dave Bainbridge and Phil Keaggy playing together?
All proceeds go towards helping Dave & Debbie's autistic son, Luca continue on his Son-Rise Programme (Autism Center of America). Luca has been doing his Son-Rise programme at home for 5 years now and has made amazing progress; the proceeds of this album will enable Dave & Debbie to continue working with Luca in this way and pay for the essential support services that Son-Rise offer.

CD's will be available to order from the Iona Website http://www.iona.uk.com/

Greenbelt Festival 07

2007-09-14T13:52:00.000+01:00

We had a great time at this years festival- though I personally didn’t get to see much apart from Billy Bragg (after my performance café gig) and Duke Special at the end of the festival Monday night (and of course some obligatory trips to the organic beer tent!) We were just really busy! As well as my gig (which was a very fun set to a packed out audience- thanks to all those who came along!) Bill and I were involved at the festival with the Scratch The Sky Project. This included a performance as Sir Silence and the Hush, several kite making workshops over the weekend(a dance workshop done by the 2 dancers from the show), a big kite installation art piece and a mass kite fly on the Monday afternoon. We had a fantastic team helping throughout the weekend and the beautiful weather all made for an exhausting but fun weekend… here are some pictures of the team and kite workshops, see my website for gig pictures…

Scratch the Sky CD Launch

2007-09-14T13:22:00.000+01:00

28th July at The Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff

We were really pleased with this event, which was part 2 of Bill’s multi tiered Scratch the Sky art project. Alongside the CD launch Bill ran a 6 week exhibition of the different Scratch the Sky Art work he’s generated over the last year. This included a community exhibition created by local shopkeepers here in Cardiff where they illustrated their hopes and dreams and personal stories on kites, as well as the Palestine Kites and photographs we’d brought back with us (again illustrated with the stories of the young people we worked with out there) and also his own paintings and photography inspired by the theme.

For the CD launch performance, we turned the theatre space into a beach (by the use of 32 bags of sand!) and projected visuals onto a big screen made of kites. Karen Chalk (my ever faithful backing singer!) and I became ‘The Hush’ accompanying Bill as Sir Silence and our two dancers moved through the beach installation, interpreting the themes from the songs. All of this was set to a droned soundtrack of the sea playing as people entered the theatre space and throughout the show. Personally it was really fun to be part of the band and get to play banjo and sax again- as well as performing with our feet in the sand!

Palestine Trip

2007-07-19T10:29:00.000+01:00

The Palestine trip was great, one of those life changing experiences that will stay...- we met lots of lovely people (who bent over backwards to feed us and fill us with coffee,)- good connections were made for future projects and we were thrilled at the participation in the Scratch the Sky project by the young people we met.
The intention behind the 'Scratch the Sky' Palestinian trip in June was to gather stories that we could bring back with us in order to express something of life for the people in the of the West Bank. We worked with 40 young people aged 7- 17 exploring their hopes and dreams, their likes and dislikes, and the things that were stepping stones or obstacles to allowing their dreams to fly. The outcome for us was a very moving body of work as the participants expressed themselves via images, and writing on the symbolic kites that they created. The complexities and restrictions of life under occupation alongside the ordinary joys of eating ice-cream or playing football become all the more poignant when depicted through a child's eyes.
The week culminated in an exhibition of the kites in the Town Hall of Biet Sahour, (a small town outside Bethlehem) where we were able to perform some of the songs from the Scratch the Sky album.The kites made by the Palestinian young people are currently on display at the Gate Arts Centre, alongside kites made by members of the local community surrounding the centre in Roath, Cardiff. All feature as part of the Exhibition surrounding the Official Launch of Sir Silence and the Hush
Scratch The Sky CD on the 28th of July.

1st of May - remembering Rob... and the Release of Scratch The Sky Album

2007-05-01T09:03:00.001+01:00

It is one year today since my friend Rob died. Can't quite believe that a year has passed already. Yesterday my friend Sandra(Rob's widow) found out that her father is suffering from Leukemia, and that his prognosis is not long. Life is so complex, confusing and unfair sometimes- the timing is awful...This time last year, we drove home from the hospice with the awful task of needing to let people know about Robs death. To be honest most of the last year for me has been trying to get over all of that. Having shared so much of my life with Rob and Sandra and Lukas since 99- having lived with them, worked with them, traveled across the world with them- I guess it has felt more like losing family than just a friend. I am very grateful to have known Rob and to have experienced the highs and lows of life on and off the road with him. Much of my life has been informed by the experiences we have had in that time together... Today my heart goes out to Sandra, Lukas and baby Magdalene who just turned 1,- 3 weeks ago and I hope that one day soon life will begin to become easier and lighter for them all...

Today is also the day that we are releasing Bill's aka- Sir Silence and the Hush CD, Scratch the Sky...It has been an absolute pleasure being involved in this project and personally I am thrilled with it as a product...we will be doing a special offer on my website to buy Brilliant Blue and Scratch the Sky together for a discounted price of only £18.00...see web link below to buy and listen to the CD plus press release.

I'll be in Coventry at the Golden Cross for a gig tomorrow and then on Friday- it's my 30th birthday!

www.hushland.com

2007-04-22T11:11:00.000+01:00

March has been and gone-
I had a great few days on the road with Karen Chalk- gigging in Brighton and Bournemouth. We drove through brilliant sunshine, rain, hail and snow all in the space of a few hours, managed to hook up with some other excellent artists and interesting folk on the way and indulged ourselves in cream teas in the oh so fine town of Chichester (not very rock n roll I know but very delicious!) Bournemouth was a particularly fun evening dedicated to female singer songwriters run by the Solid Air promoters- There was real variety in the line up including a snazzy harmonica player called Si who I got up to jam with us in our final song Find Me- he was excellent and I must admit to feeling a little disappointed when I had to return to my own harmonica playing for that song in my next gig!- The Green Note in London was packed- great venue and a great atmosphere that night- I was particularly impressed with the guitar skills of Canadian born Damien Etherington who was on after me that night...

April-
Radio sessions on BBC Wales where I managed not to say anything too ridiculous live on air and got to play 4 songs... Easter was very relaxing and then I spent the following weeks helping Bill paint a 160foot Mural in a primary school- arms and back have been aching ever since as we were painting from 8-5 each day- it's looking good though...
The Zac's Place benefit gig this Friday went well- It was really nice to have Bill back on stage with me and we also got to play some songs from his new album Scratch The Sky... Speaking of which we are expecting that to be with us as of tomorrow- very exciting... Bill's website is still under construction but in the meantime you can check out his myspace- www.myspace.com/sirsilenceandthehush

Off to London to play at the Perseverance on the 24th and Birmingham to play the Sunday Sessions this week... and then will be in the Studio over May- at present I am wrestling over which songs to work on as I have a big back catalogue as well as some new material and of course I just want to work on them all!

Gigs and reviews

2007-03-05T14:18:00.001Z

Some interesting gigs lately... The Go Club in Birmingham definitely deserves a mention for being one of the most bizarre nights I've had in a long time! No promoter and no sound technician so I ended up doing sound for the other band- Small Existence (an acoustic indie/ rock trio) and they for me. there was also a confusion in who was supporting who- I thought I was meant to be on before them but they thought the opposite- I discovered this when I thought I was sound checking them and they had suddenly started their set! All of this to a friendly but minuscule audience- one member who drunkenly shouted his appreciations all though both sets- It was one of those nights where you just have to enjoy yourself regardless- and hey I got to play a nice long set too! Small existence were a good and solid band with some interesting arrangements and loads of energy- nice lads too-

Completely different sort of gig last week on St Davids Day as I was able to accompany Bill into a local primary school to do workshops and sessions- Very Fun! We created a 12 bar blues jam on a song bill had written about St David and recorded all the kids performing it. Sometimes it is just so nice to not focus on me and my music and remember what a gift the whole process of creativity is and should be...

Fantastic review came in today from Spiral Earth- also a great website- check it out
www.spiralearth.co.uk

And finally... This week looking forward to opening for The Queensbury Rules in Pontardawe, and off to see the iconic Joan Baez with Bill on Thursday!

Feb- gigs next week- and Megan

2007-02-08T16:10:00.000Z

So it's February already - A couple of gigs next week- one in London Feb 13th at The Twist and one in Birmingham at the Go Club Feb 16th (see my gig page on my website or myspace for more info) I just found out that i'm sharing the bill in london with an old friend of mine from years ago when we were both based in Watford for a season- her name is Sarah Hamlin and she has a stunning voice and writes beautiful songs- so I'm particularly looking forward to that one...

January gigs were great fun- all really different venues but I'm hoping to get back to all of them sometime in the not too distant future- especial thanks to all who came out for them and particularly braving those storms on the 18th- That was a nightmare journey getting into London from Colchester- roads were closed, lorries over turned and what should have taken an hour and a half took 4 and a half hours!

But the real highlight of the last few weeks has of course been Megan the puppy- who has turned our lives upside down- sleepless nights- cleaning up poo and watching puppy training videos! (I take my hat off to all of you out there who have kids- how do you cope with the sleep deprivation-) but she's so damn cute and look I'm so damn sappy writing about her here... see pic...

I also saw a fantastic film the other night- Little Miss Sunshine- one of the best movies i've caught in a long time...

Listening to a lot of Bonnie Prince Billy- was sorry to have missed his recent tour dates...

And Bill's Scratch the Sky album has been mixed by Mr Martyn Joseph- who has done a great job with it- so watch this space and we'll let you know when that's all official...

October/November

2006-12-17T16:32:00.000Z

October has been a busy month- Really enjoyed the trip to Belgium with Martyn Joseph. Met lots of lovely folk, ate and drank very well, (the first night I was there a lady named Rosemarie gave me a bottle of champagne- and that was before I’d even sung anything!- I could definitely get used to that!!) We were looked after by some fantastic hosts and the gigs were in such great little clubs- oozing with character… but I left the tour early to be at my other brothers wedding (as a bridesmaid) this time in Liverpool. A really beautiful day and good also to hang out with my Aussie brother Kim and his new wife Kate- (they did the same as me in August and just came over for a week- and spent most of the time empathizing with the jet lag situation- oz is just so damn far away!) After that was a brief excursion to Loughborough and Barton on Humber for some gigs, unfortunately by that time I’d managed to come down with a flu type virus and had to croak my way through the sets sipping hot honey and lemon on stage just to cap my already un-rock'n' roll persona off!

So now heading into November and the main project is getting demos and recording underway for a new album- at last!! I’ve spent a lot of time doing first sketches on our home studio the last few days- and hope to put some demos on line in the next weeks and months. We have also finished recording Bill’s album and are now into mixing it- I think it’s great and am very excited about its release next year.
Listening to the new Ani Difranco CD Reprive, and The Be Good Tanyas, Hello Love and Lou Rhodes Beloved One. Finished Haruki Murikami’s Wind up Bird Chronicle and Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir –And looking forward to seeing my friend Mr Duke Special on Jools Holland on the 3rd of Nov! (now a few days post that event and he was great!)- Oh yeah and any time this week the new puppy that we are about to own is being born! A chocolate Labrador- how fun!