Songwriters and Bohemians

As expected it was a joy to be invited along to Songwriter's Cafe on Thursday. It's a thrill to be there just soaking up the atmosphere let alone getting to perform.

Our host Paul Murphy started the evening off with two of his beautifully evocative songs then I performed a twenty minute set made up of songs from Twenty Two plus three as yet unreleased tracks. Here's some clips of my set




Next up was The Celturian an "Acoustic warrior with fretting behaviour" who for my money is one of the best acoustic guitar players around Birmingham, or anywhere. He was joined on vocals by Fay Goodman and together they delivered a moving and tender performance.

Things took an international turn when Brazilian Luiz Gabriel Lopez performed, joined for much of his set by the fabulous Tabla player Mendi Singh. This was one of those occasions when a performance just grabbed the energy of the room and went...somewhere. Hard to describe. Seek Luiz out if you can, I believe he's only in the UK for a short time.

It was great to chat to Luiz after the show, in his excellent English he was very encouraging and seems to be something of a kindred spirit.



The final act was Andy Wickett who is a Birmingham legend due to his musical history and associations. Andy's set was a great end to the evenings music. His heartfelt singing and guitar style were complemented by his easy and humours stage presence.

Paul Murphy finished the night with two excellent stories and then it was time for everyone to wend their ways.

Songwriter's Cafe happens every Thursday evening before an invited audience whilst people from around the world listen in on line from Paul's website. Definitely one of the best gigs around, both to perform at and watch/listen.

Saturday found me teaching guitar in the morning, briefly playing guitar for Louise Kilbride at Simmerdown Festival in Handsworth Park and then performing at Bohemia Restaurant in Selly Oak. Bohemia is a lovely small restaurant run by dedicated and friendly staff who are hugely supportive of local acoustic and jazz musicians. It's a great place to play and feels like two gigs in one. First off you're basically background music while everyone orders and enjoys their meals, then once the desert and drink flows it gets a bit more like a "normal" gig with singing along etc. It was very cool to chat to people afterwards about music (and their food!)