I HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS

Summer is here and all of a sudden I’m about to release an album that I’ve been working at off and on for, well, it feels like forever.

I can’t even remember exactly when Matti Müller, Jonny Gee, Angi Stricker and I first found ourselves in a recording studio in Hildesheim, Germany. Matti had arranged it. He’d promised the help of a recording engineer whom I’m still yet to meet. Instead at the last minute a university student arrived at the studio only to inform us that he didn’t know how to run Cubase, the studio’s operating software. The next day we even managed to lock ourselves out of the studio. I had to jerry-rig a long branch with some kind of hook on it in order to fish the keys off the mixing console.

During the first winter of the pandemic I finally took a stab at mixing the tracks. This was after Matti’s engineer friend had once again disappeared. Despite my own impeccable Luddite credentials I now had to figure out how to transfer all the tracks into Logic, an entirely different recording software. Days of home-schooling my young daughter were followed by steep climbs up the icy and deserted London streets to West Hampstead for solitary late night mixing sessions. I’ve participated at plenty of final mix sessions but I’ve never before been the one at the controls.

To make the whole experience stranger, half the songs on the album are ones I’ve previously recorded, either with my Enemies or with Riley McMahon for our S&M record. Some of those S&M songs were in Riley’s laboratory for such a long time it felt particularly weird to be going back to them. Tunes like Cold Days Of December, Mummy’s Got Strange Friends, Laura Ingraham. Riley’s production was so gorgeous why even revisit the songs in the first place?

The only answer is that this is an unplugged album. Four musicians - four voices, two guitars, double bass, percussion. The song choices were based on the ones we found ourselves playing the most at our European gigs. That includes old Enemies standbys like In The Pouring Rain, Beautiful Monday and Building A Road. Happily, there are a few more recent tunes as well including the title track.

The full album of I Have So Many Friends will be released digitally on August 1st. You can read more about it HERE and pre-order it HERE. Watch the video of the title track HERE.

The summer release takes me to Newcastle for the first time in my life. We’ll play at The Bridge, the second oldest folk club in Britain. We’ll then be back in London for a release party at The Green Note before a journey to the Twinwood Festival in Bedfordshire for three separate sets including one on the main stage in front of thousands vintage music lovers. Check the Gigs page for other summer shows including another debut in Totnes, Devon.

Stay tuned for later dates in Europe and the States…

2022 IN THE REAR VIEW

The year has ended well thanks to some wonderful December shows and to the love and encouragement of friends, fans and Enemies on either side of the Atlantic.

I was particularly nervous before this most recent trip to the US. I had set myself a challenge: to perform the first act of Youngest Child, my new one-man-memoir-in-song, in New York City and also in Belmont MA at what turned out to be an unforgettable concert at Homer House. I had only performed the piece once before - in July at The Green Note Basement in London. It takes a lot of rehearsal and there’s a lot to memorise. And I am not Bruce Springsteen. It could all come across as so much self-indulgence. But, to my great relief, the audiences engaged and responded thanks in large part to the brilliant insights of friend and director Frank Wurzinger who had encouraged me to abandon my comfort zone during two hugely important summer rehearsals. I look forward to performing the full piece in the new year either as two separate acts or as an abridged one act show or both.

Already exhausted and very hoarse I returned to New York for four days of recording in DUMBO. The sessions were guided by Peter Fox, the producer of my very first solo album, Ugly Love. After seven epic albums with my Enemies I had decided it was time for a different sound for a collection of tunes about fatherhood, family and getting older. The basic tracks were cut with Brian Geltner on drums, Drew Hart on bass and my dear friend Kenny White on keyboards. I hope to finish the record some time next year. Still a ways to go.

I thought it might seem strange to go from the recording sessions straight to a couple of shows with the Enemies but the band immediately continued from where we had left off in the spring: two more fantastic gigs in New York and in DC. The audiences were in fine form too. All that was missing was Riley McMahon, our genius lead guitarist. Riley isn’t just a new dad, he’s also been fighting cancer. We hope and pray that he’s turned a corner with his recent treatments. Our love goes out to him and also to Natalie and young Annabel. By a strange coincidence I ran into Amy Rigby, Riley’s sister, as I came back home through Heath Row arrivals. She was waiting with her husband Wreckless Eric for her daughter to arrive from LA. Very small world.

The year also marked the completion of my new unplugged album I Have So Many Friends, a collection of fourteen songs I recorded in Germany with Matti Müller (guitar, vocals), Jonny Gee (double bass, vocals) and Angi Stricker (percussion, vocals). The tracks include old favourites (Building A Road, Beautiful Monday etc.) as well as previously unrecorded songs. I’ll release it somehow somewhere some time next year. Stay tuned.

The life of an artist, like everyone else’s, goes through a series of ebbs and flows. For some inexplicable reason I currently feel more connected to my music than ever, also more connected to the audiences who come to listen. Long may that continue.

Thanks to my Enemies for indulging me for all these years. Thanks to new friends and collaborators for sharing their own unique gifts. Thanks to some amazing hosts - Dan and Maria in Washington DC; Kaye and Lesley and Tricia in Massachusetts; Hans in Holland; Kim and Pilo and Jan in Denmark - for pulling out the stops to create some magical evenings. Thanks to two of my favourite clubs - The Green Note in London and Rockwood Music Hall in NYC - for their reliably excellent support. And thanks to all the audience members who came to listen but who ended up singing along and sharing their energy with the rest of us.

Happy 2023!

BACK TO NORMAL?

It’s over a year and a half since I’ve shared any news here. I wonder why. Ah yes, the pandemic.

I’ve been so much luckier than most. I’ve even been able to enjoy the lockdown at times. Lots of new songs and scripts, plenty of walks, and (mostly!) quality time with my five year old daughter. Enforced home schooling took some getting used to but, luckily for me, my daughter was a good teacher. I might have learned some patience.

Also, the film of my feature script - Either Side Of Midnight - was edited and entered into festivals. I’m still digesting the journey I’ve had with it. I’m simultaneously thrilled the film got made and disappointed with its progress. The producers haven’t yet found a proper distributor. The main reason is that there are no recognisable stars. Still , the director and producers knew that going in. Is the film quite good enough? If not, is that due to some unwanted changes and additions made to my script? Of course, I’m the writer so you already know what I think. Like the narrator of many of my songs I dwell in a limbo of ambivalence. I’m simultaneously frustrated and grateful. Who knows where the journey will lead?

Much as I love films and hope that more of my scripts get made, nothing compares to the catharsis of music. More than anything else I’ve missed the experience of playing my songs with other musicians. I’ve particularly missed rehearsals. Some of my favorite memories are of working on new material with my Enemies. My little ditties suddenly put on a whole new suit of clothes. I can’t believe I haven’t seen the band since late 2019. It’s been far too long.

Thanks to the coming London visit of my good friend, Matti Muller, I’ve booked my first gig since March 2020. I’ll be playing as part of a quintet at The Green Note on Tuesday, August 17th. That’s the largest combo I’ve played with in England: Matti on guitar, Jonny Gee on bass, Joe Bickerstaff on piano, Moonsauce on percussion, and myself on schizo-romantic vocals plus the occasional strum. Rehearsals have been unbelievably therapeutic. Still, I’m weirdly nervous about the show. It’s been so long. Please come and calm me down. It will be… amazing! There are still a small number of tickets left. They need to be purchased in advance for Covid compliance reasons.

Matti Muller, Spott, Jonny Gee
Photo by Clare Elliott

If you live north of London you may prefer to come to The Twinwood Festival near Bedford on Saturday, August 28th. I’ll be playing two very different sets on the Moonshine Glade stage: an acoustic quartet set at 2:15pm and an electric quintet set as The Deadly Lampshades at 4:50pm. For my own safety each set will have an Americana slant in keeping with the flavour of the festival. Otherwise I’ll be lynched by a posse of angry Brits in vintage derby hats.

On the road again. Hope to see y’all soon.