It's been quite a fortnight!

On Tuesday the 14th I received a phone call from Birmingham Repertory Theatre asking if I would like to be involved in a piece called "Billy" for their Home Theatre project which was happening on Saturday 18th. "Err, yeah sure!" and so I jumped into three days of rehearsal at the Rep with director Jen Davies.

Home Theatre is a project which brings theatre into the homes of people in Erdington. The Rep invited applications from members of the public to host a performance and then sent theatre makers and writers from The Rep Foundry to meet the hosts and ask them what they would like their piece to be. "Billy" was commissioned by four residents of a retirement home who asked to see a play about a young man leaving Erdington to try and make his way as a singer in London in 1963. They requested three particular songs, some drama, comedy and a love interest. Writer Farrah Chaudhry, taking time out from being a story editor on Coronation Street, went away and created the piece with these ingredients and then Jen and I set about bringing it to life. The process was a lot of fun and the performance felt like a combination of many of the things I've been doing for the past few years with comedy, music, improv, ad libs and a bit of pathos all rolled into one. The piece had five characters so I was using such diverse techniques as a sock puppet, silly voices, a hat and reacting to an off stage voice to try and get all this over. It was a great script and working with Jen was really comfortable and rewarding. Most importantly Phyllis, Iris, Jean and Yvonne, their friends, family and fellow residents enjoyed it. Afterwards we got to have a cup of tea and a chat with them and that was hysterical. All in all a really fun few days.

After finishing at the retirement home it was straight off to the beautiful Lynn Arms in Kings Lynn for a gig. Nice crowd (including some four legged furry punters) who did their best to stop me finishing ("one more song!") meaning I played about two hours altogether before escaping into the night to find food and the B and B. 

On Thursday it was time for a gig I'd been looking forward to playing for a couple of months. I posted recently about Paul Murphy's Songwriter's Cafe (read all about it here) and this week it was my turn to do a set. Also on the bill were English Jones and Vix and her MsChiefs.

One of the many lovely things about Songwriter's Cafe is that artists are invited to have dinner together with hosts and organisers Paul and Valeria before hand, a chance for everyone to catch up and talk about music, gigs and all that sort of thing. Also in attendance was Brum legend, rock DJ and local music and media blogger Robin Valk who had some very interesting observations about Birmingham media coverage. See his blog for more

Readers of this blog will know my affection for this gig and it's magical, romantic ambience. It's one of my favourite places to play and to watch and again Thursday was a really lovely night. English Jones and Vix and her MsChiefs both played very cool sets and Paul closed the night with a virtuosic showcase in improvising songs on the spot, singing about members of the audience and accepting the crowd's subject suggestions of a chocolate addicted caterpillar attempting a singing career. Coincidently Paul had also been involved in Home Theatre, and it was nice to share stories about that. 

The next day I was back at The Rep performing a rehearsed reading for Cucumber Writers. The theme of the night was an office retirement party. I got to share the scene I was involved in with my mate Nadi Kemp-Sayfi which was a lot of fun, and when we weren't talking we were required to remain on stage eating party food looking fed up, both of which I think we managed quite well! 

Saturday saw me return to Bracknell to perform at Artree Live. This is another brilliantly put together gig run by the wonderful Phil. It's takes place at The South Hill Park Arts Centre in the appropriately named but very pleasant Cellar Bar. Phil had faced a panicky afternoon as one of the acts had been forced to drop out but luckily Quiet Wish stepped in. Michael Tuffery opened the night with a charming set with some great songs, and Helghyer headlined with impressive loop pedal excursions and delicate songwriting. 

The audience were lovely and did some excellent singing along during my set. I'd like to thank Jess, Laura, Lizzie and Sian for coming along to the gig and then taking me on a cultural tour of Wokingham afterwards.

I'd heard the very sad news about the passing of Jack Bruce on the car radio during the trip down to the gig and dedicated Break My Heart Blues to him, doing an extended improv bit in his honour. If I'd have had a drummer there I would have had a violent argument with him as a further tribute. 

Cream are one of my favourite bands and were a huge influence on The Bleak, the band I was in during my late teens and early twenties. Jack was an awesome, powerful bass player as well as a great vocalist and unique songwriter. I'm spending today listening to his music.

Songwriter's Cafe 2012

It's a very exciting time of year when I hear that Songwriter's Cafe is on it's way back. The 2012 season kicks off on the 3rd May and runs every Thursday night until 26th July.

"Songwriter’s Café (SWC) runs its summer season from The Treehouse which is situated in the garden of a private house in suburban Birmingham. As such it is not a commercial or public event and audience members (limit 40 seated) come by invitation only."

I was luckily enough to perform during the 2011 season and can verify that it is one of the best places to enjoy fabulous music, whether in person or via the "narrow cast" that goes out live on the internet.

To find out more about Songwriter's Cafe head over to the website of it's wonderful host Paul Murphy where you will find plenty of information and a rather fine radio documentary by another legend, Robin Valk.

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!)

Songwriter's Cafe

I'm absolutely thrilled to have been asked to play Paul Murphy's Songwriter's Cafe this Thursday night.

Due to the intimate nature of the venue attendance is invite only, but everyone can listen in on Paul's website from 9pm

Here's how Songwriter's Cafe is described on Paul's website "A weekly live radio show from a microvenue under the treehouse...An invited audience for the live broadcast savour a rich serving of songwriters, poets, musicians and wordsmiths. Online friends eavesdrop, send greetings and wish they could be there"

Songwriter's Cafe, BCR FM

On Thursday night I was thrilled to hear my track Very Own Way on Big City Radio 89.1fm. They have an unsigned show every Thursday night from 7pm. Many thanks to presenter Phil Docker and the rest of the team.

I heard it having just got into the car on the way to play guitar for Louise Kilbride at Songwriter's Cafe hosted by the wonderful songwriter Paul Murphy. Described on Paul's website as a "weekly live radio show from a microvenue under the treehouse" this gig was brilliant and it's impossible to do it justice on here (especially as I'd stupidly left my camera at home.)

Basically Paul hosts the evening before an invited audience and at the same time the whole thing is broadcast on the Internet via Paul's website and Rhubarb Radio. From time to time the team manning the Internet side of things share what those listening on line are saying, and in return they get name checked and cheered for by everyone in the room.

The acts performing were all superb. It was very cool to see some familiar faces among the performers; David Timothy who runs the wonderful Free Love Club at The Yardbird (I'm there on July 3rd) performed a very touching set of honest and witty tracks in his trade mark finger picking style. Kevin Frankie Williams with Dave Smith who are both regulars at The Crossroads Blues Club (I'm there on June 16th) finished the evening with excellent original blues songs that went everywhere from emotional and tragic to joys and hysterical.

An act I hadn't come across before were Layla Tutt and The Good Lads, a three piece who made an incredible, inimitable sound featuring all kinds of unusual and very cool instruments.

Paul Murphy began the night with three beautiful, poetic tracks that illustrated how much he deserves the respect and affection this little community of music lovers showed him.

It was my first exposure to Songwriter's Cafe and apparently I've really been missing out on an important bit of local music history as it's be going through various guises and venues since 1996 (see the website for more info)

A great event, I hope to return.