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

Let the people decide...

In the spirit of democracy, and because i found a new widget on the site, i've added a little poll on the right hand side of the page. Following on from the earlier posts about what to do with the album when it's done, i thought i'd throw open the floor (as it were, not literally though, that would be awkward, and probably inconvenient).

So make your mark and have your say, you're empowered!*

Quick reminder that we're playing the Fox and Hounds in Newmillerdam in Wakefield on Saturday with our label-mates TWO, should be good.

Stay well

* you may be empowered but i still reserve the right to ignore the lot of you!

Tired, very tired

Cracking gig in Melton's Too last night. Thanks to everyone who made it down, and thanks to all the guest musicians. Top night all round.
Despite the curse of two-wheelers and Meltons coming round again. The first time we played there i got knocked off my motorbike the day before and had a nice concussion, this time i fell off my mountain bike and dislocated a finger (fortunately it was on my right hand and i was able to pop it straight back in).
Haven't made any progress on the album yet i'm afraid. Still working on it and still thinking about how we release it, but, in one form or another, release it we will.
I'm also trying to figure out how i can get MP3s up here on the site so i can share some new stuff with you as and when i come up with it. Any techs out there got any ideas?
Just a quick update this time, partly because it still hurts to type, but mostly because i've been too lazy/busy to do anything. Anyway, for those in the north we have a gig with TWO in Wakefield on the 20th but that's all that's on the radar at the moment.
Stay well.

Brand New Year, Same Old Problems

So, way back in 2008 (seems a surprisingly long time ago now) I released the Digging for Bones EP, and later on that year started recording a full length album. 2009 turned into a difficult year to keep things going and it wasn't until November that we had another chunk of time in the studio and managed to make some real progress.
I reckon we're about 85% there now, give or take a half percent either way, but the biggest problem still hasn't been addressed.
I refer, of course, to the problem of how to sell the bloody thing when it's finished.
And they do have to be sold. The idea that you can give away your recordings for free and fund them from live shows and merchandise sales is strictly for established bands with massive global fan bases. For the rest of us it just doesn't work like that.
I regularly read Tom McRae's blogs and find myself wondering that if a musician and song-writer of his calibre can't sell enough records then what chance to do the rest of us have?
So, cutting to the crux, i'm trying to decide what to do with the album when it's finished. The most cost-effective option is to release it as a download only. But most of my friends and most of the people who are into my music seem to like the CDs. Unfortunately there aren't enough of them to justify doing a CD run (i'm sitting on, well, let's just say a LOT of boxes of unsold EPs at the moment).
So i'm kind of heading towards the idea of a limited run. 100 CDs, first come, first served. We won't make a penny on a run of that size but at least it'll give the people who really want a hard copy the chance to have one and we shouldn't actually lose money this time.
What do you think?

Oh yeah, and happy new year...

Flood!

Nothing to do with They Might Be Giants sadly, just a bit of an inconvenience in the gig tonight. The City Screen basement bar is flooded out so the gig has been moved to The Junction on Leeman Road. All tickets will be honoured there or you can get a refund from City Screen.
Sorry for any hassle.