Solo Show (support: Jamie Wilson)

Fri 25th May 2012
Venue: Gorebridge Parish Church
Address: 96 Hunterfield Road, Gorebridge, EH23 4TT
Doors: 7.00pm (Gig starts 7.30pm)
Bookings & Info: Tickets £6.00 from Colin on 07835064304
Email: info@leecrescent.co.uk

Looking forward to playing at Gorebridge once again. I’m also looking forward to support from a class act and good friend Jamie Wilson. Check out Jamie’s music at www.jamiewilsonmusic.com

Thurs 24th May 2012
Venue: St Philip’s Church, Joppa
Address: Brunstane Road North, Edinburgh, EH15 2DL
Doors: 7.00pm (Gig starts 7.30pm)
Bookings & Info: Tickets £6.00 from Chris on 07731383317
Email: stphilipsjoppa@btinternet.com

Super to be back in Edinburgh. This is a new venue for me and I’m looking forward to support from a class act and good friend Jamie Wilson. Check out Jamie’s music at www.jamiewilsonmusic.com

My first reaction was an inward tirade of angry expletives, with many images of me doing unspeakable acts of violence to the perpetrators flashing across my mind. They forced off a panel, broke the lock, took my treasured wind-up radio, my chair, a small silver coloured watering can (?????!!), and bent a couple of poles. Not exactly a huge haul – they left most things and were probably just curious as to what I had in the shed. Tools, seeds, oil and netting – just in case you’re interested. Oh and a random implement that I bought because it looked manly and allotment-ish…..but I’ve never used it. They would’ve been welcome to that. Of course I calmed down and realised that on the calamity scale this didn’t even register a flicker on the indicator. And….I thought of a song I wrote a few years back proffering the line – “To the man who steals from you, give something better that belongs to you”. They may have broken in to shelter from the rain, they may have been in desperate need and were looking for something, anything that could help them, they may have been a bunch of hoodlums intent on destruction and my shed was in the way. Perhaps they’d heard some of my albums and thought a shed break in on my allotment was suitable retribution for audio-torture.

Who knows. Whatever their motives, whatever their circumstances – the words from that song, inspired by the man who uttered them cut across my initial fury and clamour for retribution. After that I wanted to meet them. To talk to them and perhaps offer them some broccoli, some spinach, give them a chair – a better one, tell them to come for a cup of tea and make themselves comfortable til the rain eased. The veg may have turned their stomach, but you never know….we have some Geobars from Traidcraft that could work as an alternative. And so dear reader I vow to try and meet anger with peace, theft with generosity, aggression with humility, and shed break-ins with a little less angst. Turned upside down is how the world would be if my actions were different and counter to my instinct toward destruction and control. I’ve bought a new lock but who knows if I’ll use it. “Love your enemies” he said. Perhaps it seems rather trite to draw the mystical depth and radical nature of that advice out of a simple allotment break in – but hey, it’s a start…a ’seed’ if you like. I want, with help, to nurture it.

North By East Show: with Calum Stewart

Weds 28th March @ 7.30pm
Venue: The Parlour, Wheelbirks Farm
Address: Wheelbirks Farm, Stocksfield, Northumberland, NE43 7HY
Tickets: £10/£5
Bookings: 01661842613 or theparlour@wheelbirks.co.uk

It will be a real treat to take the North By East show back on the road for a short Spring Tour. Myself and Calum will be adventuring through songs, tunes and the stories behind them from the North East regions of the British Isles. With an album not long completed and due for release at the start of April the tour will be an opportunity to hear some new material and sign up for advance copies.

Fri 23rd March @ 7.30pm
Venue: Ingleby Greenhow Village Hall
Address: Ingleby Greenhow, North Yorkshire, TS9 6LX
Tickets: £8/£4 (Includes light supper)
Bookings: 01642723492

It will be a real treat to take the North By East show back on the road for a short Spring Tour. Myself and Calum will be adventuring through songs, tunes and the stories behind them from the North East regions of the British Isles. With an album not long completed and due for release at the start of April the tour will be an opportunity to hear some new material and sign up for advance copies. For this gig we’re delighted to be working with Rural Arts – a super organisation that promotes the arts into rural areas of North Yorkshire.

As part of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight I’ll be touring around the UK to entertain but also to raise awareness of the great work that organisations like Traidcraft are doing for some of the world’s poorest producers. I’ll be playing some new material and older songs, mixed with footage from my trip to Kenya in 2010 and some key messages from Traidcraft and the Fairtrade Foundation. If you’re not already involved in Fairtrade Fortnight – then visit www.fairtrade.org.uk for more information and ideas. A list of tour dates is below – please click on the date to go to the relevant page for full gig details.

Fri 24th Feb – Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Hexham
Mon 27th Feb – St Mary’s Village Hall, Donehead, Dorset
Tues 28th Feb – Guildford (Private Gig)
Weds 29th Feb – Bromley Baptist, South London
Thurs 1st March – Thornhill Baptist, Southampton
Fri 2nd March – Harlow Baptist, Old Harlow
Fri 9th March – Great Lumley Methodist, Chester-Le-Street
Sat 10th March – Alnwick Baptist, Alnwick