Gigs! Gigs! Get your gigs here!

A number of you have asked about what gigs we've got coming up (no really, literally more than one has asked!), so here's the current plan:

18 August - The Barbican, York. B-Fest, opening the afternoon session. Beer and music, what's not to like? http://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/b-fest-18/

8 September - Norton Indoor Bowling Club, Malton. Malton/Norton Charity Musicfest. Solo set from Drew. Bit of bass work supporting this charity event.

26 September - Can't tell you yet, it's a secret, Central York. Whole band set @6pm. Make it your business to be in town.

TBC - The Mended Drum, Huby. A full evening with The Southern Wild, who could say no? https://www.themendeddrum.com/

2 December - The Winning Post, York. Full band set with Dan Webster. More details nearer the time. http://winningpostyork.co.uk/

New Year, new plan, old songs!

Bloody hell it's 2014. Seriously how did that happen. 2001 was supposed to happen years ago, Judge Dredd should be getting ready to retire just before Marty McFly turns up from the past and we should all be using jet-packs.
I blame the state of our patent legislation. But that's probably a rant for YAMDAC instead.

So let's get back to the music, as I have been doing...
So the new plan is to re-invigorate my tunes, and the occasional cover, in the guise of a three piece. A bass-player has already been recruited and we hope to make a public debut in the donkey next week but we are still looking for a drummer / percussionist.
We're not going to be rocking out here (before anyone yells, "Judas!"), but it will be a little bit more rhythm-driven than previous incarnations recently. So, if anyone knows of, or is, a drummer who fancies slapping some skins with us, just let me know.

The other news is that I start a new job next week, sadly this means I'm no longer going to be co-hosting the open-mic night at the Wonky Donkey but Dan and Ali will keep that going and I'll still be popping down to play on a regular basis.
I will still be doing the monday nights at The Habit though.

So that's the plan for 2014:

• Play sets as duo
• Find drummer
• Rehearse
• Play gigs.

Sounds simple enough right?

All quiet on the eastern front

Regular viewers of this page (once a year is regular right?) might have noticed that not a lot has been going on recently here.
This is true but not reflective of stuff.
Whilst I have done didly squat in the way of organising any formal gigs I have been continuing to play tunes at both the Habit and Rook and Gaskill for the last few months.
But that is not all, recording is still happening. Things have slowed down a touch whilst I read and attempt to apply various things from Mike Senior's Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio, but they will sound better when they're done.
Also plans are afoot for some full-band shenanigans. It's embryonic at the moment but, ever the optimist*, I'm hopeful for what may come.
I'm also hoping to kick off some stuff** playing the beast for another singer/songwriter chap as well - I would make a joke about this being another string to my bow but that would be a bit cheap wouldn't it?

So things will probably remain a bit quiet on here for the time being, but behind this staid masquerade plans are being made and wheels set in motion.
In the meantime there's still the bandcamp, soundcloud and youtube stuff that I linked to in the previous post, listen, like and share as much as you like. Especially you, you can do anything you want with it, you're cool like that.

* I'm not actually an optimist.
** Good word "stuff", very good word.

A job offer

Now then, I'm assuming that if you're reading this blog then you're at least interested in, or even a fan of, our music. If so you might be wondering when we're next playing and / or why we play so rarely at the moment. You might even have thought about whether you could get involved in some capacity.


Well, maybe you can.


So what's this about a job offer then?

Those of you who've known me for a while will be well aware that I am possibly the world's worst self-publicist (just writing blogs like this causes me hours of angst - I kid you not) and this extends into my ability / willingness / fear of booking gigs and events as well. Combine this with my skills as one of the world's foremost prevaricators and you have a gig list as bare as Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard.

To cut to the chase, I'm looking for a manager / promoter. If you think this might be something you'd be interested in drop me a line on info@drewstephenson.com

There will be a financial reward, but this will be a percentage cut of our income it will be dependent on what you put in. The only real pre-requisite is an interest in our music and a willingness to give it a go.

Ok, the only two pre-requisites are an interest in our music and a willingness to give it a go and a fanatical dedication to the pope...

Late Notice Gig in York!

Tonight, that's sunday night 5th August, to celebrate the pub's 10th birthday, I will be playing at the Rook and Gaskill along with a whole host of other folks.
Free to enter, full line up below:
11ish Mr Pants and the Spectacles

10.00 David Ward Maclean

9.15 Aimie J Ryan

8.30 Lee Parry

7.45 Drew Stephenson

7.00 Chris Barnes

4.45 Rookoustic 120, two hours of the world's best open mic.

4.15 Zack Ford

3.30 Liberty Hutchinson

2.45 Amy Greene

2.00 Jane Stockdale

1.20 Adrian Spendlow

Furhter details for Facebookie types: https://www.facebook.com/events/387352334652242/393858404001635/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity

Sorry about the late notice, was expecting to be working this weekend but find myself unexpectedly free.

A gig, a beast and some progress

Long time no write. Hope everyone's well and the year is treating you well.
Here at Morbid Towers we've had a slow start to the year but things are chugging along now and I have a couple of updates to share with you.
Firstly I have excellent gig news. A couple of years ago the good Doctor and I opened the Limetree Festival and, amongst the various ska and reggae acts, the band of the weekend was a group from London called A.h.a.b. I'm very happy to report that I was asked to open for them at Stereo on May 10th. Sadly Hils can't make it for this one so if anyone has any requests for any of my older or solo stuff, stick it in the comments and I'll add it to the set list. Logistical details in the gigs link to the right.
Secondly (and sequeing (is that even a word) neatly on) the chap who got me this gig is a very talented singer / multi-instrumentalist named Phil Simpson. He runs the really fun jam session at The Habit on monday night where I have been lugging my beast of a double bass for the last few weeks. So if you fancy a sing-along and you're at a loose end on a monday night come down and laugh as I try to wrestle with four strings instead of six.
Finally, for the moment, having finally got all the boxes unpacked after the house move I've got all the gubbins set up for recording and have started putting some tracks down. You can hear a couple of the first drafts on my bandcamp site but the next step is to get Hils over and apply her genius and then I'll have to work out how to do some pseudo-mastering-type-stuff.
It's going to take a while...

So that's been the year for me so far, well, the interesting bit at any rate. Sadly the bit between 9-5 on a weekday has been extending its reach a bit too much, but, meh, these things happen.

2011, an interupted year

Well, here we are at the end of 2011, and firstly I'm going to look back at my predictions from January and point out that I got 3 out of 4 right (shame Northampton couldn't do the business or I'd have had a full set).
Having had this kind of success rate I'm not going to make any predictions again and refer to my previous good results forever more. Forevermore? For evermore? fuck it, you know what I mean.
It's been an up and down year, starting on a low with the closure of the record label which, in retrospect, definitely had a bit of a downer on the music side of things. This wasn't helped by the decision to move house and the effect of a falling market dragging this out for three months. Still, we've been moved in for 3 months now and things are going swimmingly so, work aside, things have picked up at the end of year.
Having had a bit of a haitus on the creativity side I'm hoping to start writing and recording again in the new year, so keep an eye on the site for updates and occasional splodges of music. Hopefully we can get back into some regular gigging too.
2012 is going to be an interesting year away from the music as well. In the UK we have a barrel of financial regulation coming that's going to have quite an impact at work (with a potential knock-on impact on my free-time). In Europe we have a bunch of bureaucrats driving an agenda that's sole purpose is to prolong their pet project rather than benefit the citizens they're supposed to be serving (how long will people put up with that?). In the states we have an election year and, as soon as the holidays are over, we're going to have SOPA and PIPA to deal with (if these bills get passed the internet could look very different by the end of the year).
So I've come up with a cunning plan to deal with it all. I'm going to hide in my house, rugby club and local pubs with a selection of instruments, booze and friends and ignore the whole bloody lot.
Beer, music, sport. Repeat.
Happy new year!

More gigs

Just a quick note to say that Hils and I have a couple more gigs lined up, Waggon and Horses in York on Nov 12th then Verve in Leeds on Dec 4th.
More details in the gigs bit on the right.
Also things are beginning to come together a bit having moved house and I hope to have my computer and recording stuff properly set up soon, at which point I will start getting some of the new material recorded. Hopefully before I forget it.

'nother gig

Just a quick note to say that I'll be playing The Stone Trough at Kirkham Abbey on Sunday. Should be very nice indeed, come down if you're in the area.

What's this? A gig you say?

Yep, just a quick update to say that I'll be supporting the awesome Bosscaine and Johanna at the Fulford Arms on saturday 24th september. Music from 8ish and it's free to get in. Job is very much a good 'un.

Flyer for MWK gig and other stuff

Once again we're following the Ronseal approach...

Above is the flyer for the Michael Weston King gig at the basement next friday, hopefully the subject line gave that away.

You might also be pleased to know that the album is now officially complete, I'm still working on the artwork (and having occasional issues transferring software between computers) but it should be done soon. Launch gig still to sort out though.

Finally, next gig after MWK is back at Verve bar in Leeds on Oct 24th. Usual mix of decent acoustic acts expected, please come down in you're in the area.

Two steps forward...

Well, as of thursday, the album will be complete. Just over two years and lord alone knows how many hours, but on thursday evening i shall be walking out of the studio with the master CD. A few days after that we will have some decent samples (and probably a couple of full length tracks) on Myspace and the website (i'll come back to this in a moment) and the downloads will be available to buy from bandcamp, thesixtyone and itunes (shortly afterwards).
In addition to the downloads, I will be making 100 cds, these will be rather nifty and come with the a full inlay, nice metal case and all the lyrics and the like. They will be £10 each and I am taking pre-orders.
After that we'll be back to download only I'm afraid. Though if there is significant demand we might do another, simpler, run (standard jewel case stuff).
Basically not enough people are buying cds for us to justify making any larger runs. You don't want to see the boxes of unopened EPs we have in storage...
I'm sorry if that means that someone misses out one. I'm investigating a potential solution via cdbaby that might allow us to do basic cds mailed all over the world without needing to take the massive up front hit. I'll let you know how that works out.


We're also working on some t-shirt designs, again, this means heavy upfront investment so let me know if it's something you'd be interested in.

As soon as my replacement graphics card turns up on monday i will be working like the clappers to finish the artwork but i'm thinking about 1 month until i have the cds.

Apologies for any confusion on gigs, bit of mix-up between me and the promoter. I am no longer supporting Andy Write on Nov 2nd. The good news is that you don't have to wait that long...
Next gig is on the 1st October, supporting Michael Weston King, at the City Screen basement. £12 on the door, but just £6 with a flyer (which i haven't produced yet but will follow shortly. See graphics card issue above...)
Should be a good night, here's what the venue says about him:
When Laurel Canyon legend, ex-Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers country rock pioneer Chris Hillman says you’re “as fine a singer-songwriter as Gram Parsons” you know you’re good. In fact, it’s difficult to know where to start with the quality plaudits, “ … an exceptional songwriter” (Word); “ … elegant, subtle performances … wonderful in a way that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up” (Maverick) and so the praise heaps up. Part Nashville balladeer, part alt country hero, Nick Cave meets Rodney Crowell, the ex-Good Sons is mentioned in the same breath as Phil Ochs, Townes Van Zandt and Tim Hardin. High praise indeed, and well deserved. This is a MUST-SEE show, and early ticket purchase is strongly advised!!

The other thing i'm trying to sort out at the moment is a proper launch night for the album, it's balancing the choice of nice, friendly, intimate venue where we like playing vs. trying to get somewhere at a weekend.
Not easy, but in progress.

If you thought all that sounds like things are going fairly nicely then you'd be right. So just to balance things out, here's the hitch:
My website is down. Well, that is, www.drewstephenson.com is down, as is my e-mail address of info@drewstephenson.com. You may think that that's what you're looking at, but if you check the url at the top you'll note some forwarding has happened.
Obviously i'm trying to get these reinstated as soon as possible, but in the meantime, you can get me on blinddrewsmusic@googlemail.com and you can get to the website on http://blinddrewsmusic.blogspot.com/

So there we are, two steps forward and just the one step back. That's progress right?

Gig Update! Supporting LAU on the 7th

Yep, just when i was despairing of being able to a gig that didn't involve doing my cover of Pokerface those good people at CRS have got me a little stormer. Sunday the 7th Dr Jones and I will be supporting LAU. 2 time Radio 2 Folk Awards winners, 3 dazzling musicians and all round good blokes to boot. If you've not heard them, get them listened to here. But that doesn't do them justice so print off a copy of the flyer (cheap entry!) and get yourselves down to fibbers to hear them in the flesh. Oh yes, and make sure you're there for 8 so you can hear us too!

Stay well

A brief note on classifications.

It works like this: a category 1 error is a musical error that i make on stage but no-one else (not even Dr Jones) notices; i make a lot of these. A category 2 error is a mistake i make but only Dr Jones notices (I make a few of these - i tend to get away with them because we have so few recorded tracks that people don't know the songs). A category 3 error is one that the audience notice; sadly i make a few of these as well.
Some people hardly seem to make errors at all. I've seen Boo Hewerdine play a few times and been struck by how incredibly precise he is. At one gig he played for an hour and twenty minutes and there was just one brief moment of fret-buzz in the whole set. Most people wouldn't have noticed but i was kind of fixated.
But that whole paragraph above is just filler whilst i nervously broach the idea of a fourth category of error. I propose a category 4 error should exist for the those times when it's such a collosal fuck-up that you have to re-start the song.
The reason that i find myself suggesting this new category is because a meer category 3 doesn't seem nearly enough to describe my screw up on monday. We'd got a last minute support with Eileen Rose and the Holy Wreck and i managed to open up the gig with the wrong chord and an absolute unholy balls-up of our opening song. I swore, Dr Jones laughed, we started again.
Every one else was very good though!
Enjoy the odd photo to take your mind off it...

Late notice! Gig with Eileen Rose @ Fibbers on Monday 9th

Um, the problem with writing a good subject line is that it doesn't leave you a great deal to put in the rest of the blog!
So, Dr Jones and I will be playing a support slot on monday, the headline is Eileen Rose and the Holy Wreck all the way from Nashville (is it or me or does every musician in the states seem to be from Nashville?) with additional support from Dream of Apollo.
Haven't had time to make up a flyer for this one so fire back an e-mail if you're coming and i'll get you on a £5 entry list (£10 on the door)
We'll be on at 8 so don't be late.
Stay well
Drew

Gigs and buses

Just like buses, you wait ages for an update and then get 3 all at once...
Another last minute gig, but this time it's with someone who I've actually heard of (or should that be "somebody of whom I have heard? I think it should, but let's crash on)...
Yep, first time back at fibbers for a while supporting the excellent James Yorkston. Also on the bill are Mary Hampton and David Jaycock. Normally this would cost you £11 on the door but if you print off the flyer (i.e. the picture above) it's just £5. Aren't i good to you?
The only downside to all this is that because of the busy bill i'll be on pretty much on the dot of 8pm. Don't be late...

Gigs and stuff!

New news! Not that old re-cycled type...
Some of you have been asking when we're playing next in York, well, the answer is "next week".
Yes, fresh from the school of Giving People Plenty of Notice, Dr Jones and I will be playing at the City Screen Basement on Thursday 15th next week. We're playing alongside Heath Lanzillotti and Codeine Vacation, about whom i know nothing. But it's a fiver to get in and that's not bad for 3 acts i reckon. Music starts at 8:00.
Hot on the heels of this we have a gig in Ripon on the Sunday (18th) for those of a (slightly) more northerly bent. It's in a wine bar in the centre of town (I assume it used to be a bank?) - more details under the gigs section.
After that we're going to take a bit of a pause. We're back in the studio doing another chunk on the album shortly and it's going to be a whole load of stuff we don't usually play live; as a result i'm going to need a shed load of practice so we're taking a bit of time away from the stage.
Bear with us, we'll be back soon with a few new songs to tempt your appetite.
stay well
Drew

Life has been kind recently

It's been a while since my last update; there are many reasons for this. Some of them are good reasons, i will share some of them; some of them are not good reasons but i may still mention them briefly, so that they don't feel left out.

I've been across to Florida for a wedding, down to Hampfordshire for some camping, up to the Lakes for a gig and some walking and played my first all-night-on-my-tod gig in York. These have all been good things but have contributed to the web-silence somewhat.
The bad reasons are that work's been busy and i am so very, very lazy. But let's move on from them, they have all the recognition that they deserve.

So let's move on in a going forward manner (a phrase which, i am convinced, is only two interviews away from a politician's lips) and i shall let you know what's happening in my tiny and insignificant segment of the world.

Firstly, we have a couple more gigs lined up, one in Ripon on the 18th of October, the other in York on the 4th of December (once again i find myself in the rare position of being able to give you plenty of warning). More details can be found, strangely enough, in the gigs section.
We might also have a gig on the 30th of September at the Theater Royal in York but i really don't know what's happening with this one (for any readers new to this site, his is the kind notice and organisation i generally provide).

Secondly, work on the album will be getting a kick-start in November. I know it's been over a year since we started it, but i've got a week booked in the studio in November and i'm hoping to get the bulk of the recording finished by the end of that month. I'd still expect a further couple of months of production and stuff before we get round to actually having anything saleable but hopefully we'll be able to get something out in the first half of next year.
You'll note i'm trying to add a trace of realism into my estimates!

But anyway, because i'm going to have to write, learn and practice a whole load of new guitar, mandolin, squeezebox etc parts for the studio work, I'm not going to be booking anything in over the next couple of months. All being well, come December we will have got our recording pretty much done and i'll start touting for more gigs.
Stay well

Rhythm Section Wanted

For the past 18 months I've been working with Dr Jones on the cello and, by all accounts, that's going pretty well. We've just opened the Limetree festival and, over the past couple of years, have played supports to the likes of Great Lakes Swimmers, Langhorne Slim, Stewboss and Martin Stephenson. The first full length album with Soup records is in the works and will be out around the end of the year.
Did i say it was going pretty well?
It's going very well.
But it's time for the next step, you see, there are some songs that just don't work that well on acoustic guitar and cello. They need a bit of rhythm. Specifically they need a double bass and a drum. Maybe more than 1 drum.

So this is, in the words of They Might Be Giants, the rhythm section want ad:
Double Bass player and drummer wanted, based in the York / Leeds area, to support singer/songwriter and cellist for recording and live gigs.
You will have kit, transport, time and a genuine interest in my kind of music. I have the songs and the recording deal.

A lot of what we do is completely acoustic, so if you're looking to rock out, well, I'm sure there are plenty of other bands who'll snap you up. If you're still curious, check out www.drewstephenson.com and www.myspace.com/blindddrewsmusic and drop me a line.

Festivalities

So this weekend we play our first proper festival. Well, it's my first proper festival, i'm not certain i can speak for Dr Jones, i certainly shouldn't be able too, i mean, she's qualified and everything. But anyway, i digress...
We're opening the Green Man stage at the LimeTree festival, which (i'm hoping) will be good. But, not having done something of this scale before, i have lots of questions, will there be a proper back stage with lots of muso people? Will there be anyone there at midday friday when we play? Will i have to spend two days in the rain and mud surrounded by hippies? If you choke a smurf, what colour does it turn? Why do whales have to be so big? What's with all the questions?
Who knows, i'll update the website afterwards. Assuming the hippies haven't got me.

On other news, for those of you who are Leeds based, i'll be doing a slot at Verve bar again on the 30th, hopefully it won't be cancelled this time. No Dr Jones for this one though so a chance to drag out some of the older, darker stuff. Any requests?