Trains (not plains or automobiles), new song up.

It seems that train travel is a very good way to stimulate my brain into creative activity. "A prologue" was written on the train last month and this week, coming back up from down south again, I wrote another song - a slightly more upbeat one this time so hopefully Hils will like it...
Scratch video embedded below and lyrics below that. What I haven't got yet is a proper title for it - other than "Curtis Stirling".

Curtis Stirling, so I’ve been told, built a flying machine in his back yard.

And after all the questions I’ve asked, it seems that this is where it starts.

This could be the middle of nowhere, if somewhere had ever cared.

And you can see three counties from that spot over there.

This is how the story starts. This is where legend begins.

And after all, after all, it all comes back to him.

People talking will make a king appear, sometimes all it takes is need.

Curtis shined a light into the dark, they sing a defiant hymn round these parts.

This is how the story starts. This is where legend begins.

And after all, after all, it all comes back to him.

Sometimes they hear trumpets. Sometimes they see wings.

Sometimes there come investigators, to tell them that they’re seeing things.

Curtis Stirling, so I’ve been told, took the flying machine from his back yard.

He’ll be coming back one of these days, wrestling bears when times get hard.

Curtis Stirling, so they say, didn’t die and he won’t fade away.

This is how the story starts. This is where legend begins.

And after all, after all, it all comes back to him.

It all comes back to him.

It all comes back to him.

New Song in draft form...

On the train down to Norwich last week I came up with some words.
Here they are:

A Prologue

There's a dead man in the back seat, but he's not my main concern.
There's a dead man in the back seat, and a lesson for someone to learn.
There's a dead man in the back seat, and there's a gap in my mind
between where he and i meet, and the evidence you find.

There's a natural explanation, there's some history hiding.
I'm sure I can find some kind of truth if I just keep on driving.

There's a dead man in the back seat, and we're running low on fuel.
He and i are going to have to figure out exactly what we're going to do.
See I'm not short on ideas but it's preying on my mind
that, one way or another, we're running out of time.

There's a natural explanation, there's some history hiding.
I'm sure I can find some kind of truth if I just keep on driving.

Someone's father? Someone's son. 
Some wrong punished or some wrong done?
A straight road to the coast to dump a bag of bones?

There's a dead man in the back seat, and only he and i know
how this came to pass and how it's going to go.

There's a natural explanation, there's some history hiding.
I'm sure I can find some kind of truth if I just keep on driving.




Rather than going to work early this morning, I came up with a tune.
Here it is:


But does it need some drums? I'm thinking yes...

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 little help please

I'm going to try and do a bit of an experiment in making my music available for wider use. You can already download the songs on a pay what you want basis, but that's not what I'm thinking about.
My plan is to make all the original multitracks for those songs available.
I have three challenges to this though:

1) the sheer amount of time it's going to take me to upload 55Gb of 88.2 24bit files.

2) Choosing where it should be uploaded to. I'm thinking a torrent site but with the pirate bay now being blocked in the UK (and not being particularly techy and not knowing how to get around that)  the obvious target has gone.

3) Getting word out that it's there. Back to the old obscurity problem.

Now obviously no-one can help me on the first one, but any advice or suggestions on the second two would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks