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?

Gig cancelled

Folks, just a quick update, sadly our gig tomorrow night (9th) at Verve has been cancelled as the venue has managed to double book itself. We'll be back there before too long though, watch this space.
cheers

New Song

just a quickie for you today, i have, as you will have deduced from the heading of this piece, written a new song. Written, played through once, then straight into the phone and published.
Here is the song what i wrote: