Music Around The World

Long Long Long Way Home

2011-07-22T12:48:00.007Z

What an incredible few months I've had! The Katie Melua tour has finally finished but not before covering over 10,000 miles across mainland Europe and the UK. I've had some wonderful experiences in Germany, Austria, Portugal and Poland to name just a few. Including driving at madcap speed along rainy autobahns, diversions into the Czech Republic and meeting a whole bunch of very friendly and interesting people. It would make a whole Blog of it's own and I can only apologise for not writing up more of it. Unfortunately this was a self-drive tour, and time was at a premium. I'm sure I'll share a few tales now I'm back and have some more time.

On top of all of this I came back to the UK in mid-tour to take part in two special events in my role as guitarist and backing singer for Charlie Savigar. Firstly we trooped off to Monmouth in Wales to perform on the Sunday at the Rockfield Country Music Festival. This was a great event to be part of and the band really rose to the occasion. At the end of the day we certainly weren't everybody's can of beans, but the response we got was great and we'd love to play there again.

Following on swiftly from that we dodged showers in Harrow to film a new video. It was an all day event including shots of us in the van, driving up and down the road (many times) and miming in front of a green screen. We were working with a young director called Maximilian White and he did us and himself proud with a really fun video. Enough talk - check it out here:

It was an incredibly long day of filming considering that it's a 2 minutes 40 seconds pop song, but the result was worth all the effort. Many thanks go out to Max and second cameraman Rob along with Michelle who did Charlie's make-up. We also should thank my dad Alan and step-mum Lorraine who lent us their house and Autocruise Pace mobile home for the day!! It was particularly poignant day for my brother (drums) and myself as we filmed the vast majority of it at the house where we used to live, and also practice with our first band. The ending was particularly serendipitous as we had originally planned to venture out to Chesham and film us arriving at the Elgiva Theatre, but rain delays thwarted us and so we opted to try filming at Brent Town Hall instead. As we drove over the hill towards the venue we had a vision of the white arch through the showers. It seemed like the perfect ending and indeed it was.

To check out a little more of what went on behind the scenes then check out this link. We'll be adding more to coincide with the official launch gig/party next week, details below (do come along and party with us). Btw, if you like the video when please do pass the link on to your friends, we need all the publicity for the band we can get - thanks guys!!

In other news Charlie is now a Rotosound Strings endorsee and we're really looking forward to an article they are preparing on her. Please do check out all her Summer gigs here and come along if you can.

Have fun! Daren xxx

OFFICIAL VIDEO LAUNCH PARTY

27th July 2011 - 8.30pm
CAMDEN ROCK
18 Kentish Town Road, London, NW1 9NX

15 Minutes Later

2011-03-06T09:54:00.004Z

I've had a really fun week as Charlie and I embarked on a mini-tour of London with our duo - Dare To Be Charlie - which ends tonight at The Living Room, Tower Bridge. We've really enjoyed both our dates so far which included a bar under a railway in Brixton (Brixton Bar & Grill) and a tent over Kensington with Flamingos nearby (Roof Gardens).

Tonight we take our guitars and show to the Living Room, which used to be Prohibition. Really looking forward to this one as we'll see some old friends from the 15 Minute Club and get another chance to play our songs. The set is really strong these days with a great mix of Charlie's songs, my songs and the co-written material. Talking of which we have a co-written song in the pipeline for release on iTunes later in the year. I'm also really looking forward to recording new versions of live favourites - Lightkeeper and When The Snow Fell On Denver under the D2BC banner. We'll be releasing these later in the year as singles with some new songs - all featuring Haydn Callow on drums and Alex Lofoco on bass.

So if you're at a loose end do come down and check us out at the Living Room tonight, it will be a fab night of music. If you can't make it, then do check out the link below and see some pics by the fabulous Victoria Morris from our set at the Roof Gardens:

Dare To Be Charlie Live At The Roof Gardens

Catch you later.

Daren
xxx

Something New

2011-02-27T12:10:00.006Z

I have to say I really love The New Root. I first saw their lead singer - Trish Boothby - perform at the 15 Minute Club in Hoxton. She had a very different style singing haunting songs in a vaguely Chrissie Hynde style whilst picking on a Fender Telecaster. It's great to see a female singer-songwriter on these nights which are often male dominated, but even better to see them playing electric guitar. It turned out that Trish quite enjoyed my songs too, so we stayed in touch and I finally got to she her full band - The New Root - when Dare To Be Charlie supported them at a gig in Bristol. I have to confess I was blown away! As well as Trish the band consists of a very tight rhythm section - a dreadlocked Joel Mines on drums and an occasionally be-hatted Craig Livings on bass - and the real icing on the cake for me (who loves the use of effects on guitars) - David Boothby on guitar. After seeing them live I coined the phrase - Kate Bush meets Radiohead - and that just about sums them up in a nutshell. As an added bonus there is a real depth to the lyrics and a great energy on stage that means they have the complete package. To cap it all their self-recorded album is excellent and well worth whatever you pay for it.

I really enjoyed their recent gig at the Bull & Gate, which was just an outstanding night. It went straight into my top 10 gigs of all time! Every song was strong, with my only slight criticism being that they played my favourite number - American Tale - quite early in the set. I also particularly enjoyed their new song but I don't know the name of that one yet. I became so absorbed in watching them that I didn't even notice the venue filling up behind me.

Everyone I play their songs too seems to like them as well, so I do hope you check them out and give this band from Bristol the leg up they strongly deserve.

The New Root Offical Website

The New Root on MySpace

The New Root on iTunes

Daren
xxx

Anywhere And Everywhere

2011-02-20T12:35:00.009Z

It's taken 4 months, but it's finally here! The next EP release from my musical partner in crime - Charlie Savigar. Unlike the last EP - Long Way Home, which was recorded at Francis Rossi's home studio and produced by Gregg Jackman where I sang a few backing vocals - I had a slightly bigger role in bringing this one to fruition. I had a hand in the engineering, production and mixing, as well as playing guitar and singing on all the tracks!

Aside from this the majority of the singing and playing is done by Charlie herself. She sung all the vocals and played guitar and all keyboards on all the tracks (she's a very skilful piano player, which we don't get to show off live yet). The final two musicians on the tracks are my brother - Haydn Callow - who played all the drums and Italian bass player - Alex Lofoco - who supplied all the low end notes. As is the modern way the songs were recorded in a number of locations including Acton and Clapham and then mixed in my own home studio. Charlie is one of those artists who can't really be pigeon-holed into one genre and she writes in a number of musical styles. So here's a quick breakdown of what to look out for on each track:

1) ANYWHERE AT ALL
This is a toe-tapping Country rock number. As with most of these songs - Charlie's guitar is on the right and my guitar on the left (the same as we stand on stage). This was actually the last of the songs that we recorded and I felt we got the best snare sound on this track. I had a very small contribution to the writing of this song as I came up with the "anywhere at all" lyric when we were jamming it originally.

2) ADRENALINE
This song is a full out rocker and the heaviest song we play in the set. In this case my guitar is double-tracked and Charlie's picked guitar part moves from the left to the right. We shortened the intro to make the song more immediate and we play it a little different in the live show. We had great fun getting the "heys" in the middle 8 echoing from left to right in the stereo mix. This was also Haydn's first recording playing double kick drum pedal (ie he plays kick drum with both feet, for that rolling drum sound).

3) NO GOOD FOR ME
This is a song that people often pick out as their favourite song in the live set. It makes use of a lot of harmonics on the guitar (where you touch the string lightly and pluck it so it rings like a bell or a chime). It's also a great lyric, which you might not guess is about alcohol and not being able to find the drink you like! We had fun at the end of the song as mostly it's played to a click track, but the drums and bass slow down and we had to slow our guitar parts and vocals to match what they've done.

4) BLUE DAY
Again another different feel for this song which is part rock, part blues and part ballad. It's also in 3/4 time which is a bit unusual for a rock number. The end of this song originally had a 4/4 section, but we decided to change this fairly early on in the recording process and keep the 3/4 feel all the way through. Originally it also had my overdriven guitar part played all the way through, but we gradually cut it out from parts of the song to create a sparser arrangement. We also had lots of problems with one of the sung days (the first one after the guitar solo) which had an annoying "click" right in the middle of it! In the end Charlie had to re-sing that one word!! You might also be interested to know that the guitar solo is actually three different takes edited together - hopefully you'll never know that now. I have to say I really like the ending of this track where the piano chords, bass and guitar all resolve back to the root chord. The sliding guitar stop at the end is from my very first guide guitar part.

Well there you go, that's a brief summary of each track and now, I hope, you are wondering where you can get hold of the EP!! Well check out this link:

http://charliesavigar.bandcamp.com

Where you can download the tracks in MP3 format or a number of others. Also if you are quick you can buy one of a limited edition of the EP on CD. These CDs (pictured above) are individually numbered and signed by Charlie herself! Move quick if you'd like one of these as there are only 30 or so left (from 50 to start with). If you are happy to wait Charlie's EP will shortly be on iTunes and so on, and you can also download her first 3 track EP - Long Way Home from there:

Charlie Savigar on iTunes

Hope you enjoy the songs!

Daren
xxx

P.S. For those of you born in the CD/MP3 age you might be interested to know what EP stands for. It's actually short for "extended play" and comes from the days when 7" vinyl singles could be made to play at 33 1/3 rpm instead of 45 rpm. Slowing down the spin allowed more music to be put on the smaller format - hence the extended play moniker.

P.P.S. You might also like to know where Charlie is in the Hotdisc chart as it's chart day again today. She was at #36 last week and #8 in the UK chart.

P.P.P.S. As a bit of fun there is no number #13 EP - instead there are two #14s in purple cases (Charlie's favourite colour).

Hotdisc Charts

2011-02-13T10:41:00.005Z

Sunday is the day that the Hotdisc charts are announced, and I can't help myself but get nervous. Some explanation is probably required: Hotdisc is a compilation CD of Country music tracks which is sent out to DJs, Magazines and other Country music people across the world. At the end of last year Charlie submitted her Country-tinged track - Long Way Home (recorded at Francis Rossi's home studio by Gregg Jackman and featuring myself on backing vocals and my brother Haydn on drums) - and this was included on disc 145 in January. As part of the package you get rated by everyone who receives the disc and this rating is used to compile the Hotdisc International and UK charts. Take a look here:

Hotdisc Chart

As I write this Blog Charlie is currently at number 20 in the International chart (down one) and unmoved at number 5 in the UK chart. But of course after midday today the position will have changed and eventually this song will drop out altogether. Hence my anxious wait to see where today's position will be. The first few weeks were very exciting. The song entered at number 38, then rose 9 places to 29 (the biggest mover that week), then four places up to 25, then another jump of 6 up to 19 and finally last week a drop of one place to the current position. The chart is revealed over the course of an hour long show that starts at midday and the tension builds as you get further into the show and your song has not been mentioned yet. Once we get the International position I also start frantically doing the maths to figure out where we are in the UK chart (this is published later in the day, and there is a show featuring these songs on Monday at 8PM on UKCountryRadio.com. This week will be especially nerve-wracking as we're expecting another a drop and we'll be hoping it won't be too great a fall.

Want to share the nerves with me? Well tune in from midday on a Sunday for the show hosted by the excellent Stuart Cameron:

CMR Nashville Radio

I do, of course, remember listening religiously to the chart show when I was a kid - tape recorder poised. The chart show was the one time when you could predict when certain songs would be on the radio and the trick was to press record just after the DJ's introduction and then pause it just before he started talking over the end! A real skill. This way you could record all your favourite tracks for enjoyment later. It's definitely a strange feeling to be listening to a chart show with a real interest in one of the songs! Let's hope for another good result this week.

One other part of the Hotdisc package is that you get 100 pieces of feedback from around the world. This is very interesting to see what people are saying about Charlie's track and where in the work her music is most liked. It seems we're very popular in Australia and New Zealand (what good taste you have) so who fancies organising us a tour down under? Good average scores from France, UK and Belgium are really encouraging whilst high individual scores from USA, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy and (most intriguingly) the Faroe Islands are just plain exiting.

Here's a collection of the very best feedback we received:

"Very good new act with a great voice."
John Morris, Trust AM Radio, UK

"Really enjoyable new act."
Petur Rouch, Faroya Radio, Faroe Islands

"Refreshing music and nice vocals with a tight production."
David Miller, Pukepatu Radio, New Zealand

"Likeable – more please from this gal."
Martin Van Der Laan, Radio Compagnie, Holland

"Liked Charlie but I would like to hear another song by her and I guess that will happen in the future – very promising effort."
Al Watts, Collingwood Radio, Australia

"Thanks to Hotdisc another new talent gets promoted. I liked it. Intrigued to hear what comes next from Charlie."
Tom Lambert, Variety Radio, Ireland

"She has a terrific voice. Very interesting song and great debut."
Gordon Davies, Radio Maldwyn, UK

"No doubt at all that Charlie is very talented and must be applauded for doing her own music. Some of the comments agree that possibly a more country sound would attract airplay and it will be interesting to see if she takes her music more into that direction. There is no doubt that there is a market there waiting for her to tap into, if that is what she wants to do. Her next move will be watched by many."
Stuart Cameron, CMR Nashville Radio, UK

"Well done Charlie – this is good and you are talented."
Ricky Lee, WCR FM, UK

"Great track and British too."
Graham Lees, Radio Fish, UK

"Promising artist, lovely voice."
Alan Potter, Tempo FM Radio, UK

"Certainly uplifting singing from Charlie, just proves how the home grown country music scene is growing and getting stronger all the time, with an abundance of hot new country artists such as Charlie. A new singer to keep our eyes and ears open to, with her own self penned hit material as well."
Tom Robinson, Kingston Radio, UK

Can I just say many thanks to everyone who said nice things, it's so encouraging for a new artist!

So has that got you as excited as me? I hope so, I'll drop a comment on this Blog later to let you know where we are. Plus, you can come and see Charlie and myself play this Friday 18th February at the Water Rats in London, UK.

Have a fun Sunday.

Daren
xxx

Lighting Up

2010-11-02T10:25:00.003Z

Sorry about the severe lack of posts!! I've been busy working on new recordings and gigs for both Dare To Be Charlie and the Charlie Savigar band and both acts are really making waves. I will do a post early next week as Charlie has a new toy that is well worth mentioning, but I'll need some decent pics which we should have after the gig this Friday at The Cobden Club.

Hope all is good out there and I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, do follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/#!/Daren68

Or eschew the virtual world and come see me in person!!

5th November - Café Rocks presents Charlie Savigar
COBDEN CLUB, 170-172 Kensal Road, London, W10 5BN

Doors 7.00pm Charlie onstage at 9.15pm
£7 with THIS INVITE
(£5 before 8.30pm or FREE before 7.30pm with invite):

18th November
HOPE & ANCHOR, 207 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 1RL

16th December
FIDDLER'S ELBOW, 1 Malden Rd, London NW5 3HS

29th December - DARE TO BE CHARLIE
UPSTAIRS @ THE RITZY, Brixton

Btw, if you're curious about the new toy the pic above is a bit of a clue. It's definitely be a highlight of the show (groan!).

See you soon!

Daren
xxx

Guitars Pictured: Taylor SolidBody Classic, Taylor T5-C and Taylor 314ce acoustic.

Daring To Be Live (On Video)

2010-10-02T10:37:00.003Z

The last month has seen me and Charlie play some fab gigs. We made our way up to Bristol to play on the same bill as the amazing Less Than Me and awesome The New Root (Kate Bush meets Radiohead - my current favourite band!) at The Croft, we rocked The Montague Arms with Charlie's band as Cowboys and popped up in The Ritzy in Brixton to recreate the sound of AM radio (we had a crackly mic lead... still played a great set though, even if we say so ourselves). It's been fun and exciting, we really feel like there is a momentum building up behind our music and we're looking forward to all the gigs coming up. We've even found time to get on the radio (Charlie's been on practically every internet show you can imagine - and I've been on Radio Sydenham) and we've got a fab show coming up on the 15th October on Resonance FM. We've also started recording some new tracks with the mighty Haydn Callow on drums and Alex Lofoco on bass, look out for those in about two months.

For those of you who haven't been able to make it to a show we have been videoing our sets and it's time to share a few of those with you. Charlie and my shows are not just about the songs, we also like to think that we have a bit of a stage presence and our on-stage banter can sometimes be very amusing in itself. So I thought I'd start to include a bit of our chat so you can get the full Dare To Be gig experience! We do hope you get to see us live very soon, as that's the best experience of all!

Let's kick off the videos with the song that starts our set - Dance. These are all from our gig at The Elixir Bar on the 29th September.

Technical notes (for those that love that sort of thing): Charlie's guitar is a Martin Alternative XT played through a collection of effects including a Boss Flanger that you can hear at the start. My guitar is a Taylor 314ce played directly into the desk. Charlie's auto-tune effect is a Boss VE-20 and all my voice effects (delay, harmonies, doubling and flanging to name but a few) come from a TC Helicon VoiceLive 2. Last, but by no means least, the tambourine is played with my foot! Check it out.

This one features another of Charlie's songs - No Good For Me, this time complete with her intro explaining what the song is about. Excitingly for us we got a spontaneous round of applause before we'd even finished the song, love it when that happens. Also listen out for the coffee machine trying to join in towards the end!

That's all for now on the video front, more songs to follow.

If that's whetted your appetite then do come and see us live, check out our live dates here:

http://www.daretobecharlie.com/

or tune in to Resonance FM (on FM and over the internet) on the 15th October at 10pm (BST / GMT+1) to hear us play live.

Daren
xxx

To Edinburgh and Beyond!

2010-08-20T10:34:00.007Z

I spent a very pleasant weekend just gone in Edinburgh with my friends Frog & Victoria Morris and Mark Quinn. They were up there performing on the Fringe and their shows were going down really well. The main show that Frog & Mark were performing was the Unwrong Quiz (which you may remember from my multiple appearances at the Montague Arms) - now reworked for a one hour slot in a cellar. Between the rounds it's traditional to have some music. For the Edinburgh run this was provided by Frog's brother Theo Morris, and he was doing a splendid job with songs about genetically modified dogs and land enclosure acts. On the Sunday though, Theo fancied an afternoon off so I was very privileged to step into the breach and reprise my old role as the fill-in music. The show seemed to go really well and I think everyone was happy with my contribution. I have to say though, I was very disappointed to not win a marrow, or Pots! The Game, or even a Crunchie on a mop - oh well, perhaps next time.

Whilst up there I managed to catch a lot of comedians, including seeing Robin Ince for a couple of pounds. I also saw Steampunk strippers, burlesque, singers, the mighty Beta Males Picnic in the bunker, a spell-binding one man show called Bane (very cinema noir) and Frog bemusing an audience with existential art wrestling and Dave "Security" (lovely legs, lovely, lovely legs). I also got used as a keyboard stand! Unfortunately I didn't get to see Utter, Gutted the musical or Charlotte Young's show (Aude, Vide, Tace) - but I hear they are excellent - so go and see them to make up for my absence!! I even got a seat on the train home, so that was a bonus.

Some of you will probably know already that I'm off on the road with Katie Melua again in October for nearly three months! So here are the last few chances to catch me live before then. Do come along and hear my exciting (and fun) duo - Dare To Be Charlie or see me playing guitar with the other half of the duo: the excellent young singer-songwriter - Charlie Savigar:

26th August, 8pm with Charlie Savigar
The Enterprise, 2 Haverstock Hill, Camden, NW3 2BL

29th August, 7pm with Dare To Be Charlie
The Croft, 117-119 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS1 3RW

9th Sept, 9pm with Charlie Savigar
Cowboy Night! @ The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, SE14 5JN

14th Sept, 8.30pm with Dare To Be Charlie
Upstairs @ The Ritzy, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW2 1JG

26th Sept, 8.30pm with Charlie Savigar
Tommy Flynn's, 55 Camden High Street, NW1 7JH

Hope to see you at one of these gigs, otherwise, catch you on the road some time!

Daren
xxx

P.S. The Dare To Be Charlie MySpace is now live, do add us to your friends:

In Real Life

2010-08-07T10:52:00.004Z

The internet is an amazing thing especially, it seems, for musicians who have many different ways to get their music to potential fans around the world. One site which is really good for this is Last FM, and a couple of years ago a chap from Sweden got in touch to say that he'd enjoyed listening to my music. You can still see his comment at the bottom of my profile from October 2008 - his username is Winterbay. Well this month he happened to be in London, and wanted to know if I was gigging. As I happened I wasn't, but it's easy enough to arrange something, so I booked Dare To Be Charlie in to play at the Elixir Bar last Tuesday. In the emails concerning this date it turned out that it was actually his Honeymoon!! So he had to get permission from his wife to come along!! It all turned out fine in the end and I met him and his new wife and it was a pleasure to play some songs for them and have a good chat afterwards. It was a really good gig for us, and it was made all the better that a friend from overseas was able to make it to listen. So many thanks for coming and your support over the last two years Peter (for that is his real name) - it was a pleasure to meet you and your wife and I hope you enjoyed the music as much in real life (as you say) as you did in cyberspace.

For those of you who are not in the UK, there is another chance to catch some off my own music, and also hear me talk about song-writing and some of the songs I've enjoyed over the years on Radio Verulam - tomorrow (Sunday) morning from 10am - 12noon. Tune in hear and catch the show:

http://www.radioverulam.com

There are also lots of exciting things happening with Charlie's music, so there will probably be another post to follow on that very soon. Plus, a bit shout out to Frog, Mark, Charlotte, Martin, Richard and Theo who are all in Edinburgh this week running or preparing their shows for the Edinburgh Fringe - good luck guys!!

Daren
xxx

Radio, Someone Still Loves You.

2010-07-30T10:16:00.005Z

When Queen wrote Radio Ga Ga, I feel that they were predicting the decline of the radio in the face of all-singing, all-dancing television. But they missed the mark somewhat as they didn't realise the effect that the internet would have. In much the same way as the internet has let unsigned artists reach fans all around the world, this global reach has enabled local and community radio to reach far wider and expand their audience. So it is that being interviewed or featured on local radio is now not the parochial experience it once was. Listeners from some very far-flung places can be tuning in, so it's always something that I really enjoy.

Following on from me and Charlie both being featured by our friend Lee Robson on Reach On Air a few months back, we have both been on shows again recently. Another friend - Acoustic Ashley Cowan - asked if he could feature Dare To Be Charlie on his Open Mic show for Sydenham Radio. We jumped at the chance, and he duly came to our gig at Babalou in Brixton with a microphone and a few questions. The talk ranged from advice to unsigned acts (and musical couples!!) to thoughts on use of effects in shows. It came out really well and hear the whole of Ashley's show on Vimeo. It's a good show with some interesting poetry and music and other features too, so do check it out. Our part is around 50 minutes in, and features a little of our songs Dance and Wash too.

The second show I have been interviewed for was a real treat. A few weeks back my dad was interviewed for Radio Verulam for a show hosted by Elspeth Jackman called Tracks Of Your Life. The premise is that, a little like Desert Island Discs, interviewee selects a number of records that have a meaning to them and talk about them with Elspeth. My dad's own show was a fascinating glimpse into his life, which I found both interesting and enlightening listen. It's also a fantastic record for future generations to hear what my dad thought about various periods of his life. My dad recommended that I should be featured on the show and I duly made the trip up to Smallford near St. Albans to record my show. It was really fun to choose 16 songs that had meaning to me through my life, and I really tried to find songs from every period rather than just concentrate on the more obvious choices. My dad had taken us on a musical trip through his whole life to date and I'd presumed that my show would follow the same lines. In the end though, although I did present the songs in chronological order, our discussion focussed more on popular music and song-writing rather than a dissection of my life. I had great fun making it with Elspeth, who is a very good radio host, and if you'd like to hear it then you can very soon.

The show will be broadcast on Radio Verulam Sunday 8th August from 10am - 12noon. You can tune in on line by visiting their website, or if you live in the St. Albans area you can tune in the old-fashioned way on 92.6FM. The show features tracks by my old bands Air and Normal, and also Charlie Savigar and Dare To Be Charlie as well as a selection of songs that have meant something to me over the course of my life. I hope you enjoy it, and many thanks to Elspeth for inviting me to take part!

It's quite likely that you will very soon have a chance to hear a live Dare To Be Charlie gig over the internet, but in the mean time you can catch us live at the following fabulous venues:

3rd August 2010, 8.45pm - Dare To Be Charlie
Elixir Bar, 162 Eversholt Street, London, NW1 1BL

18th August 2010, 8pm - Dare To Be Charlie
The Cuban, Stables Market, Camden, NW1 8AH

26th August 2010 (with Charlie Savigar)
The Enterprise, 2 Haverstock Hill, Camden, NW3 2BL

9th Sept 2010 (with Charlie Savigar)
Cowboy Night @ The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, SE14 5JN

26th Sept 2010 (TBC)
Tommy Flynn's, 55 Camden High Street, NW1 7JH

The last of these gigs might well be a debut for the full band line-up of Dare To Be Charllie - featuring Haydn Callow on drums and Wayne Myers on bass!! Stay tuned for more information on that.

Today's picture was from Charlie's excellent show at The Bedford in Balham taken by Annelie Rosencrantz. Look out for more pictures from this show on our various websites.

Happy listening!

Daren
xxx

Rock Royalty And Norwegian Sing-a-longs

2010-06-30T08:58:00.006Z

You've got to love my life sometimes. Yesterday I flew back out on tour again, this time with Katie Melua. This is for a series of Summer festivals and TV appearances in Europe and UK. We flew out from Heathrow yesterday and a particularly wonderful moment happened when we were waiting for our bags in Norway. One lady suddenly realised her enormous suitcase was passing by a little to quickly and rushed to get it. It was clear that she was going to struggle to haul it from the carousel. I was preparing myself to help when the man standing in front of me, none other than Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, moved a little quicker and helped her remove the bag. In fact we had shared our flight out with all of Them Crooked Vultures - ie Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones! Plus assorted other band members and crew, quite a collection of tattoos and sunglasses I have to say.

Being around all this rock royalty is very inspiring and it's sure to rub off on my next few performances. Most notably for those who haven't seen me for a while is the very new duo (soon to be band) that I have been gradually working on these last few months. This new act is called Dare To Be Charlie and is myself and fabulous singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist - Charlie Savigar. We've done a few shows already and the feedback has been extremely positive. We're planning bigger and better things all the time and it really is worth coming to check us out as soon as you can. I can safely say that this is the most exciting musical project I have ever been involved in, and that's saying something!

As I say it's still early days, but check back here for more information as we go along. In the meantime do check out our website and the picture above taken by the wonderful Victoria Morris. Make sure you check out her Blog too: Mrs Frog Blogs.

Here are the dates when you can catch Dare To Be Charlie live:

16th July 2010, 8pm
BABALOU
The Crypt, St Matthews Church, Brixton Hill, SW2 1JF

3rd August 2010, 8.45pm
ELIXIR BAR
162 Eversholt Street, London, NW1 1BL

I also now play guitar and sing with Charlie's band, featuring my brother - Haydn Callow - on drums too.

21st July - The Bedford, 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, SW12 9HD

26th August - The Enterprise, 2 Haverstock Hill, Camden, NW3 2BL

9th Sept - The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, SE14 5JN

26th Sept - Tommy Flynn's, 55 Camden High Street, NW1 7JH

See you there!

Daren
xxx

P.S. Oh, the Norwegian sing-a-long is the gig I'm working at tonight. A TV show in a hill fort in Halden, Norway. Apparantly the audience are expected to sing-a-long - sounds bonkers to me.

D2BC

2010-05-28T18:23:00.000Z

Charlie Savigar

2010-05-24T10:44:00.005Z

I first met Charlie Savigar way back in October 2007. It was a moderately memorable gig (mostly due to the fact that a band was playing in the room next door!) but I thought very little of it at the time. I do look back on it very fondly now as it was because of this gig that I thought to recommend Charlie to Lee Robson when he needed more artists for his Faith! album, and thus how we met up again (almost exactly 2 years later) in Margate for the album launch. As Charlie said in a text message afterwards: we won't leave it 2 years next time! How right she was.

A few weeks later, after we'd met up a few times and seen each other's bands, Charlie's guitarist quit her band with several big gigs coming up. In an effort to boost her sound I volunteered to sing backing vocals, and things just grew from there. Charlie then joined my band Callow Youth to sing on some couple of songs, and with my TC Helicon VoiceLive 2 box I started to add increasingly dense harmony vocals to her live set.

The real eureka moment for me came when we were strumming through my song When The Snow Fell In Denver on acoustic guitars. Charlie suggested slowing the song down and started singing a close harmony as we played it through. I'd always imagined the song with a male and female vocal on it (to kind of get both sides of the story if you like) but I had never imagined it would work so well. I must confess I felt very moved by what Charlie had added to the song - for the first time the song really worked for me. Unsurprisingly the idea of performing and writing songs together became very important to us both.

Recently we've performed a few times as a duo, with some great feedback (see the last post) and started to put together a new band, but more on that at a later date. We've also started to write new songs together, which is a really exciting thing for me. It's great to have found a collaborator who I feel so compatible with and I'm sure this will lead to some really magical things. We already have a few new ideas ready for you to hear, but you really will have to wait until the band is ready to go (am I teasing you enough?).

In the meantime there is a great chance to hear some of Charlie's story tomorrow night (and it is a fascinating story) - Tuesday 25th May - at 7pm, when Charlie will be Lee Robson's guest on Reach On Air. To listen in then click on the link coming up and then on Listen Live a little before 19:00 (British Summer Time - ie GMT + 1) and catch her show:

http://www.reachonair.com/

Also there is a great chance to hear our musical collaboration live on Thursday 27th May at Arch 635 in Clapham. We're onstage for half an hour from 20:30 and we can promise a super set with one co-written song and lots of new arrangements. We're also doing a longer, fully acoustic set during the day on the 5th June in Brockwell Park as part of a large art event - come and find us from 2pm. I've put a full list of Charlie's gigs below, all of which you will see me at in one role or another. Do come along. For those of you further afield, we're hoping to play a gig soon which will be live web streamed, so you can all listen in. Look out for more details in a week or so.

So what does the future hold for Charlie & me? Well we both have a few ideas, but I can promise you that whatever happens, it's going to be fun and exciting!

Happy listening,

Daren
xxx

27th May - Arch 635, 15 - 16 Lendal Terrace, Clapham, SW4

5th June - Brockwell Park (2pm - 2.50pm), Herne Hill.

11th June - Octoberfest, 678-680 Fulham Road, Fulham, SW6 5SA

15th June - The Library, 235 Upper St. Angel N1 1RU

21st July - The Bedford, 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, SW12 9HD

PS Picture of Charlie was taken at Camden Rock by Annelie Rosencrantz

Duo

2010-05-21T10:50:00.002Z

Planning a big post on my partner in crime - Charlie on Monday. But for now here's some great feedback we had from a couple of our recent duo gigs, and a list of dates so you can catch us in the flesh very soon.

"Lovely set, fantastic end to a gorgeous day. Charlie was every bit as good as you said she was. Brilliant." Carl

"Great gig on Sun. I really loved the male/female front person thing. It gave an edge to the songs I thought. Seemed to bring them to life, like seeing both sides of the story. I loved it." Trish Boothby - The New Root

27th May 2010 - duo with Charlie Savigar
Arch 635, 15 - 16 Lendal Terrace, Clapham, SW4

5th June 2010 - duo with Charlie Savigar
Brockwell Park (2.30pm), Herne Hill.

15th June 2010 - duo with Charlie Savigar
The Library, 235 Upper St. Angel N1 1RU

Love to everyone,

Daren
xxx

Manic Music Month

2010-04-30T09:46:00.008Z

It's been another mad music month, lots of gigs and lots of chances to see bands play. Here's a round-up of some of the highlights:

Dan's Send-Off
=============
The gig to see Dan off in style went even better than expected. Despite only a short time to get Haydn & Wayne up to speed with Charlie Savigar's songs I think they played really well. The vibe was great with people singing and clapping along and again we were told that our chemistry on stage was really good. It's a real sign of what will come when we have a regular band to back our duo act, it's certainly the most exciting thing I've worked on musically (and that's saying a lot!!) - so make sure you keep checking back for more news on this new act. I'm very pleased to say that Dan had a fabulous evening, all the acts played with gusto and gave him a great send off. As a bonus the ash cloud actually cleared enough to allow Dan to fly out to Cyprus on schedule, where he is currently getting a nice suntan apparently.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
==========================
Charlie and I had been looking forward to this gig for ages and on Friday 23rd the day finally arrived. It was a really great gig at the Forum with a lot of songs from the new album (which we really like) and the best of the old and we enjoyed every minute. Their new drummer seemed to fit in really well and the atmosphere was great as always (the picture above says it all). We enjoyed it all the more after spending the previous day working on our own music and some new recordings, including mixing a live version of When The Snow Fell In Denver which was played during my radio interview on the 27th.

Oh, we got some great t-shirts too, which you might well see at a gig very soon.

Torriano
=======
Charlie and I took our duo to the Torriano in Kentish Town on Sunday 25th (it was nice to be doing our own gig so soon after seeing BRMC in Kentish Town) and had great fun playing. The gig itself was downstairs in a little area that had a great vibe and the audience were very into listening and supporting the acts. The night was run by David Studdert who kicked things off with one of his own songs. Our performance went really well and we also loved the little backstage area where the artists could chill out whilst still watching and supporting the other acts.

Backfire Cool - 12 Bar
======================
Following on from the Torriano I made my way down to see another of David's nights at the 12 Bar Club near Tottenham Court Road. This is a venue with a real history of live music, although I'm not convinced it was ever a forge as the sign on the chimney says. The fireplace sure looks old, but it's far too small to be a forge I think! Anyway, I have to say it was a fantastic night of music and it would be unfair to pick single out any acts, so I'll save a review for another time. Suffice to say that the place was really rocking for a Monday night and David will be running nights there every month now.

Reach OnAir
==========
On Tuesday night I was scheduled to appear on Lee Robson's radio show - Variety Hits - on Reach On Air. This didn't start too well as phone problems meant we couldn't actually talk to each other! However, things recovered and went a lot better when this was fixed. I must confess I could talk about my music for hours and it was great fun and a real privilege to be on Lee's show. We covered a lot of ground and actually played 5 of my solo and band tracks, one of Charlie's (Long Way Home, on which I am singing, but am not - very sadly - playing the gong!!) and finally the first recording of Charlie and me as a duo. We were very excited to have a live recording of us singing When The Snow Fell In Denver which we previewed on this show. If you tuned in we would love to hear what you thought. I'm also hoping that Lee managed to record the show, so you can all have a listen even if you couldn't tune in live.

Thanks again Lee! Your support over the last year has been really wonderful and, of course, if it hadn't been for the Faith! album, I would probably not be working with Charlie Savigar now, so we owe you a lot!

15 Minute Club
=============
The week just got busier and busier as I headed to the Hoxton Pony on Wednesday to host the marvellous 15 Minute Club. I've written plenty about this in the past, so won't dwell too long. It's enough to say that it was an amazing night of up-and-coming original music in a really top London bar. All the acts who played were really good and really joined in the vibe of the night. It was wonderful to see Rae and Laurence down too, which really made the night special.

Unwrong Quiz
===========
In a rare night off from playing or talking about my music, I popped along to Frog Morris & Marc Quinn's Unwrong Quiz at the Montague Arms last night. I won a clock that tells you the time (wrongly) by decorating my answers very nicely. I also really enjoyed the music from Less and Fred Lindberg.

Frog and Marc are taking the Unwrong Quiz to the Edinburgh Fringe in August, so if you are going, do look out for it.

This Happy Band
==============
Despite the fact that my partner in crime - Charlie - is off for a break in New York this week, I will be picking up my guitar at least one more time... this Saturday I'll be in Brixton Market from about 2pm playing as part of the eclectic troubadours - This Happy Band. If you are in the area, come and find us - it will be a hoot!

Also, do come and see my band Callow Youth playing at the Elixir Bar on the 12th May. We promise a really tight and exciting set, so make sure you check us out.

There are also lots of exciting duo gigs coming up, which I'll write more about in my next post.

Bye for now!

Daren
xxx

Exciting Times

2010-04-21T12:04:00.005Z

There are quite a few exciting things happening behind the scenes: a new band, some new songs, gigs further afield in the UK and Europe and even a new guitar. But these are all for the future, in the present there are two really exciting musical projects to savour. Firstly my duo with Charlie Savigar is starting to attract attention and fans, we're expecting the crowd to continue to grow. Do come and check us out as soon as you can, there are lots of chances coming up (check on MySpace for a full list). Secondly my new band (Callow Youth) continues to get rave reviews and we're getting tighter all the time as we really start to know the songs, and get into the live vibe.

Here are the next three chances to hear me play, do come along to one or more!

Daren Callow & Charlie Savigar
Sunday 25th April, 8pm
The Torriano, 71-73, Torriano Avenue, London, NW5 2SG

Hosting 15 Minute Club (with a short set from Daren & Charlie)
Wednesday 28th April, 8pm
The Hoxton Pony, 104-108 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3AH

Callow Youth (band featuring Haydn Callow, Wayne Myers and Charlie Savigar)
Wednesday 12th May, 8.30pm
Elixir Bar, 162 Eversholt Street, London, NW1 1BL

Catch you later,

Daren
xxx

Photo is from Charlie Savigar at the Camden Rock taken by Annelie Rosencrantz. Check out more pictures from this gig on Charlie's redesigned website: www.charliesavigar.com

Clear Skies

2010-04-15T22:45:00.002Z

The sky is empty of planes today, a strange and ominous event. A reflection of the past or a prediction of the future?

Farewell to Daniel Joe

2010-04-13T08:44:00.004Z

I've played a great many acoustic and open mic gigs over the last three years, and the largest number of them have been for Daniel Joe. He's been running nights at The Phoenix, Power's Bar and the Edinburgh Cellars (plus one or two short lived others) for about two years now. He's always been a patient host and sound engineer in the face of many many acts of varying quality. It's been really inspiring to see how he's championed and rebooked a number of acts who were prepared to play regularly and work hard on their sound and songs. So it's with some sadness that we have to say goodbye to him for about 6 months. As well as a promoter he's also a singer, guitarist and performer in his own right and is off to perform in Cyprus for 6 months over the Summer. I'm sure all the acts that have performed and developed their songs and performance at Dan's nights would like to thank him and say goodbye in style, and there are two really good chances to do that this week.

On Wednesday (14th April) it's the last of Dan's nights at the Powers Bar in Kilburn (details below), and then the really big one: The Phoenix on Sunday (18th April) when a really large number of Dan's acts will be doing a small turn to say farewell. Charlie Savigar and I will be performing at both, on Wednesday it will be our duo act (which is really starting to turn a few heads) and then on Sunday a unique and mouth-watering performance backed by Callow Youth (Haydn Callow & Wayne Myers) with a half hour set to round the evening off and send Dan off in style.

These are going to be really fun, and perhaps a little emotional, nights so do come along if you are free on one or both, and see some of the great acts that Dan has helped to develop and support these last two years.

Farewell from all of us Dan, have a fantastic time in Cyprus, and we'll see you for more gigs when you are back in England!

14th April 2010 from 7.30pm
Stripped Bare @ Powers Bar
332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN

18th April 2010 from 7.00pm (lots of acts on this night!)
Stripped Bare @ The Phoenix
37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

Dxxx

Rock & Yoghurt

2010-04-09T10:43:00.003Z

I'm still recovering from last night (tiredness only) and what a night it was! Looking forward to seeing some pictures, but in the meantime suffice to say that we totally rocked! Haydn (Callow) was on amazing form and the set is really starting to click now. Wayne and Charlie also played their parts very well, and it was gratifying to have a number of people come up and say how much they liked it. The evening also featured songs from Jude Cowan, Theo Morris and Dave Hill; a picture of me as an evil robot (!) and a performance that involved a striptease, a long green wig and yoghurt (I kid you not!). Top night.

More music to come this weekend (see post below) - Charlie Savigar at the Camden Rock 6pm Saturday, and Charlie and me live as a duo on Sunday at the Cavendish Arms (some time after 7:45pm) - come on down and join in the fun!

Dxxx

Three Of The Best

2010-04-06T09:56:00.005Z

My dad doesn't really like my band's name: Callow Youth. His surname being Callow too and the phrase being much in use when he was younger it was used to tease him and he's not forgotten it. These days nobody much knows what it means, and for my own part the fact that it was used to describe Luke Skywalker in the novel of Star Wars actually made it rather cool. So hands up, who does know what the phrase "callow youth" means? (answer at the bottom of this post). Regardless of it's meaning the name tickles me as a moniker for my band. It's very useful that it has my name in it, but the "youth" part makes me laugh every time. Not that you'd know that we've been in one or two bands before this one, we all look so fresh faced!

I'm taking my band to the Montague Arms this Thursday (8th April) for one of Frog Morris's excellent cabaret nights. This month you can also expect to see a Voice Activated Drawing Machine, the singers Jude Cowan and Dave Hill, Charlotte Young and Dr. H. Notter giving a lecture on DNA cloning techniques and (as if that weren't enough) performance art from Alex Fear. All this, plus my kick ass rock band (Haydn Callow, Wayne Myers, Daren Callow & Charlie Savigar) all for £3! It's a seriously enjoyable night and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

There are actually 3 chances to hear me play / sing this week and the band gig is just the first. Secondly I will also be appearing as a backing singer for the Charlie Savigar band at Camden Rock on Saturday (10th April) as a part of the Camden Weekend - Charlie's songs are very catchy and feature really strong melodies and harmonies - her shows at the Cafe de Paris, The Troubadour and the Bull & Gate were all excellent and very well received and this one promises to be another great show, at the family friendly time of 6pm. Check out her recently recorded songs produced by Gregg Jackman on Last FM.

Thirdly Charlie and I will also be appearing in our spanking new duo on Sunday (11th April) at The Cavendish Arms. The duo act features a combination of the best of both of our songs presented in new acoustic arrangements, with harmony vocals and percussion, plus a few surprises. We're also writing new songs and previewing new material in the duo, so you should always hear something a bit different from our band shows. Charlie and I are really excited about this collaboration and I've been told that we have real chemistry on stage (by people who really should know better, ha ha) - so do come down and check us out. This show is free, so make the most of it!

So there you go, three good reasons to leave your house and venture out into music world this week. I should also mention that I'll be using my brand new TC Helicon VoiceLive 2 at all these shows and it adds an amazing sound that will really take your breath away. Here's all the details for you:

8th April 2010 - CALLOW YOUTH (feat. Charlie Savigar)
Frog Morris presents @ THE MONTAGUE ARMS, 289 Queens Rd, London, SE14 5JN

10th April 2010 - As part of the Charlie Savigar band
Camden Weekend @ The Camden Rock, 18 Kentish Town Road, NW1 9NX (6pm)

11th April 2010 - As a duo with Charlie Savigar
The Cavendish Arms, 128 Hartington Road, London, SW8 2HJ (7.30pm)

Looking forward to seeing you and playing for you very soon.

Daren
xxx

P.S. So what does "callow youth" mean? Naive and innocent youth. So who got it right?

Meeting Bob Taylor

2010-04-04T10:11:00.005Z

I've met a couple of legends of the music equipment world. I was really happy to get a signed poster of Jim Marshall OBE at a music show a few years back. Marshall amplifiers and speaker cabinets have virtually designed the way we hear and appreciate electric guitar today.

On Thursday I met a new kid on the block (relatively speaking) in the form of Robert Taylor of Taylor guitars. The event was a special Taylor presentation at Harrod's department store (some of you may have heard of it) and it was great fun to meet the man behind the guitars and try some of their new models. For those that don't know much about guitars, my acoustic guitar is a Taylor 210-E. It's one of those guitars that soundmen and audience love very much as it sounds great just plugged straight into the mixing desk. I've often loaned it to people who's guitars weren't working, or had broken a string mid-set and I've always enjoyed hearing how it sounds from the listener's point of view. It really is a great sounding guitar, and very inspiring for writing songs too as it also sounds great unplugged. Songs such as Lightkeeper and A Song About Pain were written on it, and sound at their very best played acoustically.

Charlie (Savigar) also has a Taylor guitar (see picture above, with Bob himself holding it) - a very beautiful Taylor SolidBody Classic in stunning purple flake. This is an electric guitar rather than an acoustic and it sounds great when she plays it with her band. According to the great man it is the very first one in that colour that they made, it's certainly a very special guitar. Charlie loves that colour so much that she is planning on getting an acoustic in the same purple sparkle! If you'd like to see and hear Charlie's Taylor then come along to the Camden Rock on Saturday 10th April - she's playing with her band at 6pm as part of the Camden Weekend.

I'd also like another Taylor guitar. They do some really fantastic sounding hybrid (both acoustic and electric) guitars and the one I'm after is the Taylor T5 - this amazing guitar will allow me to play both acoustic and electric sounds in the same song. It will be perfect for songs like Lightkeeper and When The Snow Fell In Denver which really need both sounds to be played at their best.

Until I have one though I'll just have to stick with my trusty Fender Telecaster (a very special guitar too) and you can hear this guitar in the flesh on Thursday 8th April with my band Callow Youth at the Montague Arms in New Cross.

See you there!

Daren
xxx

One Plus One Equals?

2010-03-29T10:56:00.003Z

Last night I played at The Phoenix in Oxford Circus as a duo with Charlie Savigar for only the second time. We've been really working on our set, taking the best of our songs and re-working them with acoustic arrangements and harmony vocals. The third member of our group (TC Helicon VoiceLive 2) has been working overtime too, with big harmony and choir sounds, echo effects and telephone / radio voices all at different times. We've also working in some percussion - including something very unusual, but you'll have to see us to find out what that might be. It all seemed to go down rather well last night, with some of the seasoned performers saying that they thought it sounded really good, and so much better than either of us playing on our own. One lovely chap actually came over to tell me that he really enjoyed it, especially my song Lightkeeper, which he said made him cry! I think he meant in a good way... it was a really touching thing to say and just added to my feelings of excitement over the night.

We're both really excited to take our duo to the Blag Club in Notting Hill Gate on Friday night (click here for the Facebook event). We have a couple of new tricks to add into the set and will be looking to just perform with even more confidence and passion. Do come along and support us if you are around, it's going to be a great fun evening.

Also do check out the dates of our next band gigs, mine comes up first: 8th April at the Montague Arms, and Charlie's next one is on the 10th April at The Enterprise, all very highly recommended.

Daren
xxx

Troubadours

2010-03-28T10:09:00.003Z

I have been to the wonderful Troubadour in Earl's Court many time, but never played there. This finally changed on Tuesday 16th March when my band, Callow Youth, headlined at a select night. It was a really cool evening, Frog Morris opened the night with poetry and puppets! Then Charlie Savigar and her band took to the stage and we really excellent (I am a little biased, but only a little) - her performances are coming on all the time and she was very good to start with! Luke Jackson then astonished the growing crowd with his powerful voice and intimate and well observed songs.

Finally it was our turn, and Callow Youth (Daren Callow, Haydn Callow and Wayne Myers - with a little help from Charlie Savigar) finally played on the famous Troubadour stage. We didn't manage to get all the performance on video, but here are a couple of highlights:

That was our intro song... and this one came soon afterwards:

I've been sadly neglecting my Blog recently, but this year is promising to be really, really exciting, so I'm going to make more effort. Plenty of band gigs with Charlie and my band coming up, plus going on the road with Katie Melua to do more merchandising later in the year. So look out for more things to read.

Looking forward to catching up with you all,

Daren
xxx

Callow Youth - 16th March 2010

2010-03-02T12:23:00.004Z

Stand by your spaceships my friends for the music event of the year (so far) - CD Live are excited to announce Callow Youth, Luke Paul Jackson, Charlie Savigar, Vashti Anna and Frog Morris live at the Troubadour. Please let me know if you are coming, so I can add you to "the list" which will save you £1 on the entrance fee.

March 16th 2010
Doors open 7.30pm

The Troubadour, 263 Old Brompton Road, London, SW5 9JA

Acts in order of appearance:

Frog Morris (host)
=========
Frog Morris is a man, a poet, a comedian, an artist and a real ale drinker. Nobody is quite sure which of these is the most important one, but we suspect it's the real ale part. His poetry takes you on journeys through a wild and wacky world of insane animals, beer, travel, space, bar snacks, pig semen and, indeed, more beer. Frog will be hosting the evening and sharing his crazy world with us between acts.
http://www.frogmorris.net

Vashti Anna (8pm)
==========
Vashti Anna is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Her voice is sultry and evokes thoughts of travel and losing yourself in fantasy and romance and smoke filled rooms in a way that is both nostalgic and bang up-to-date at the same time. Equally at ease on her own or with a wonderful assortment of other musicians she is the perfect opener for our evening.
http://www.myspace.com/vashtimusic

Charlie Savigar (8.45pm)
============
This country rock chick has it all, the songs, the sound, the attitude and the look. Her band are always tight and entertaining, and her catchy songs will have you singing along before the set is out. Glamour, unfailing enthusiasm and fun are never far away when Charlie plays. Your feet will tap and your ears will be loving every minute. She recently stole the show at the Cafe de Paris, and she's one of the co-organisers for this show.
http://www.charliesavigar.com

Luke Paul Jackson (9.30pm)
===============
What can be said about this young man that hasn't been repeated many times over. Don't let his age fool you for a second (he's just 15), this kid has the biggest voice you've heard in years. He will hold your spell-bound you from the very first note to the very last as his huge stage presence and talent shine through in his mix of original songs and covers all done in his unique style. This is a one performer who will be going a long, long way. If you don't believe me then just check out a few of his videos.
http://www.lukepauljackson.co.uk/

Callow Youth (10.15pm)
===========
A dynamic, exciting, original and eccentric three piece, Callow Youth combine driving rock, with reggae, jazz and spoken word to create a captivating sound. Daren Callow (Stars in Exile, Normal) is the lead singer and guitarist adding vocal effects and soundscapes via a TC Helicon Voicelive vocal processor, Haydn Callow (The Choice, Barron Knights, Honeytunnel, Damien McCabe) plays drums and percussion with great technique and passion which drives the songs with Wayne Myers (Fit & the Conniptions, Hadar Manor, Vivachi) weaving lyrical bass lines with a jazz feel and a broad grin. Fun, fantasy, love, sci-fi and life are all here, an explosive end to our evening.
http://www.callowyouth.com

I hope that's whetted your appetite, see you there!!

Daren
xxx

16.3.2010

2010-02-16T21:52:00.002Z

Notes From Holiday

2010-02-14T19:34:00.002Z

Kuwait airport only has three places to eat: Cafe Costa, Pizza Hut and, yes, McDonald's. Is this the price of liberation?

I love the Airbus 340 - very smooth plane. I actually slept fairly well on the way to Bangkok. I was awakened by a voice I thought they were calling my name, turns out they were saying "hot towel?". Still not a bad way to wake up.

There can't really be any reason why we can't use mobile phones on planes, otherwise terrorists wouldn't need to worry about all those, frankly dangerous, bombs. They could just call up auntie during take-off and cause untold chaos the world over. I for one though am glad for a little respite from the intrusive little buggers.

We lit a fire under a small balloon and watched as it slowly floated off into the Thai night sky. It's orange glow burning like a fiery star looking down on us. Mars too added it's angry red glow to the firmament. The light of the fragile balloon and the mighty god of war appeared much the same as they twinkled above us.

The moon was full and directly above me as I reclined by the pool. I was even more thrilled to know that the full awesome mass of the sun was directly below me, beneath the whole globe of the earth.

Lucy the babysitter returned scared. Up the road from our hotel there is a area of road patrolled by several dogs, they seemed reluctant to let her pass so she returned for help. It fell to me to perform some sort of masculine duty. We started off bravely enough, but after the first dog began to bark violently others joined in from all directions. These dogs were not on leashes either and, egging each other on, began to advance on us, Lucy hanging on to my arm for grim death. When one actually decided to lunge at us I saw my life flash before my eyes. I willed us on with the calmest wrds I could find, don't look directly at them or make and challenge, keep moving. Eventually, my heart tearing at my chest, we left their territory and the barking slowly diminished. We breathed again. A little disorientated it took two goes to find the right house (with more dogs), Lucy was safe, but it dawned on me that I had to walk back past the hounds alone! She walked me back to the junction I needed, are you married? she asked me.

Phuket town has a Tesco and a shopping centre. As if to remind me of Croydon, it's called Central.

Surin is just as expensive as London.

Bangkok has a most delicious mixture of old and new. From the ornate and noisy, yet wonderfully baroque Tuk Tuks, to the glittering skyscrapers.

Callow Youth - 21st January

2010-01-25T15:40:00.001Z

Can You Hear Me?

2010-01-18T11:46:00.005Z

Can you hear me? There are plenty of ways to do so, and this post is going to outline three of them. Read on wherever you are are in the world, as there is something for everyone.

First up there is fantastic chance to hear me live with my band - Callow Youth - this Thursday 21st January at the White Hart, 1 Mile End Road, Whitechapel. Callow Youth is a three piece band featuring myself on guitar, vocals and vocal effects; my brother Haydn Callow on drums and percussion (he's a truly amazing talent, well worth the price of admission just to hear his playing alone) and Wayne Myers on bass (Wayne is also a very talented multi-instrumentalist and a seriously good player). We'll be doing our usual mix of songs (including favourites; Lightkeeper, When The Snow Fell In Denver and I Need Your Love) plus all the spoken word, instrumental and weird sound effects that you would expect from us. We'll be onstage at about 9:45pm, so plenty of time to check out the art openings in the area, grab a bite to eat and a beer and not miss a note. Admission is just £4 on the door (£3 for students with an NUS card) - a real bargain, as it includes four acoustic acts too.

Can't get to the gig? Well how would you like me to come and play in your own living room, school, church etc..? well thanks to the growing phenomenon of Micro or Home Gigs this can be arranged. Do you have a room large enough to allow ten of your friends and the artist to be accommodated comfortably? If you have a detached or isolated space then we can bring the whole band, alternatively we can play acoustically or with an electronic drum kit. I can also arrange for more than one artist to perform and make a fantastic night of music for you and your friends. Prices would start from about £60 for one artist up to about £120 for a full band plus support act. If you can get 10 friends along that is only £6 - £12 per person and the price would include a demo CD (usually £3) so a great bargain. If you can get more friends along the price per person is a lot less. So what do you need to do? Well just think of a date (or dates to be on the safe side) and get in touch... drop me a line at music @ darencallow . co . uk (without the spaces). Acts I can get to play for you include myself, Callow Youth, Charlie Savigar, Fit & The Conniptions and more... the prices quoted here are for the south east of England, but we can sort out prices for anywhere in Europe or the world, if you really want it, it can happen!

So one more option to hear my music in this post: I am very excited to announce that you can now download the Faith! album from iTunes. This super compilation album sold in aid of Cystic Fibrosis features a unique mix of my own song - Lightkeeper, as well as tracks by Luke Jackson, Eddy Johns and Charlie Savigar to name but three. Only want one track, no problem just download the one you want, or grab the whole lot (a massive 18 tracks!!) for just £7.99 - every single penny raised will help this good cause, so please go and get one, more or all!

DOWNLOAD NOW!

That's it for now, after my gig this Thursday I'm off to Thailand for two weeks for a holiday. I'll try and do at least one post from out there, otherwise, see you all when I get back. I'll be heading to Charlie's gig at the Cafe De Paris, Leicester Square on the 12th, so maybe I'll see you there.

Daren
xxx

Picture is from my gig at The Library in Islington, taken by Harriet Armstrong - www.harrietarmstrong.com

Obsession

2009-12-30T17:52:00.003Z

It's been a month of real highs and occasional lows. I've had some great gigs and some ordinary ones, but the good ones are outweighing the others. The band gigs have been especially enjoyable. Last week on the 23rd we played at Power's Bar again and it was a tough gig to play with the audience either a) not being into us or b) not being there. But we still played our best gig yet. Haydn was on sensational form and Wayne too (despite a trapped nerve in his shoulder). We played like there were a couple of thousand people there to see us, rather than the dozen or so that were left by the end. That is, after all, how you should play every gig, so we felt good and energised if just faintly disappointed that we didn't get a bigger crowd. It was a quiet time of year anyway, so we're expecting better things in 2010.

Which brings me on to plug our two next gigs, which are both really exciting. Firstly we'll be at THE WHITE HART, Whitechapel (Mile End Road) on the 21st January. We are the only band on, so will be using Haydn's full kit again and really looking forward to it. The gig is upstairs, and we will be on between 9.30pm and 10pm, so plenty of time to come down after work. Do come along if you can.

Then on the 16th March we have a really excellent line-up for you at the TROUBADOUR in Earl's Court. We will be headlining, and the other acts will be Charlie Savigar and the 15 year old singing sensation - Luke Jackson. We are really hoping that Frog Morris will be able to be the host and perform sketches and poetry and there will be one more opening act. This night is NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!! You've had plenty of warning, so get it in your diary now, and make sure you are there.

Meanwhile my solo gigs continue. Best way to see those is to check out my website:

Gig List

I'll try and do another post early in 2010, but for now, I'd like to wish you a fantastic and music filled 2010. Make sure you get to see as many bands as possible and support unsigned and up-and-coming bands.

All the best!

Daren
xxx

Farewell Prohibition

2009-12-01T16:26:00.004Z

Andy Warhol said that in the future we will all be famous for fifteen minutes. It was way back in June of 2008 that I first played an acoustic set for the 15 Minute Club at Prohibition near Tower Bridge in London. Since that first 15 Minute Club appearance I've gone on to play at their venues in Islington, Birmingham and Oxford and the night's have always been excellent. They must have liked me too, as this year they asked me to take over the regular hosting of the Prohibition night. This was something that I was very happy to do, but it took a while to find my feet. The biggest problem was thinking what to say as I introduced the acts... I finally got the hang of it after a few weeks.

So it was with some sadness that I was there for the last 15 Minute Club of the year, and possibly the last one ever! If it does turn out to be the end of their nights there then it really is the end of an era. Mind you we went out in some style. We had nine live acts on the last night, including myself and everyone played really well. We even finished with the traditional 15 Minute Club jam (one of the things that make it very special and fun for musicians and audience alike), when both Laurence and Rae performed too. It was probably one of the most successful nights that I've been involved in there, and we can only hope that they are back next year. In the meantime though they have a new night kicking off at the Hoxton Pony on December 2nd... I won't be at that one though, 'cos it's my birthday and I'll be celebrating elsewhere!!

I certainly enjoyed my time working there, all the acts were great (thank you!) and the jams were always entertaining. It was interesting to see the difference in the way the acts treated me when I was just another performer and when I was the host! They tend to look up to the host a lot more, but it was fun to have that extra responsibility. It was a really good experience.

In other news, I've posted one more video from the gig at the Power's Bar... here it is:

I'm currently working on trying to book a few more band gigs, with some really strong line-ups, including Luke Jackson and Charlie Savigar, so stay tuned for more news on that.

Daren
xxx

More Power

2009-11-22T15:49:00.003Z

The gig on the 11th went very well. Many thanks to all those who came to support us.

Next two Callow Youth gigs are:

15th December 2009
LIQUID NATION, LADBROKE GROVE
161-165 Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, W10 6HJ

21st January 2010
THE WHITE HART, WHITECHAPEL
1 Mile End Road, Whitechapel, London, E1 4TP

Bookmark our homepage and join the mailing list here:
http://www.callowyouth.com/

My next solo gigs start tonight at Prohibition, St. Katharine's docks then:

1st December 2009, 8pm (solo)
Liquid Nation, 161-165 Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, W10 6HJ

9th December 2009, 8pm (solo)
Powers Bar, 332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN

17th December 2009, 8pm (solo)
The Edinburgh Cellars, 125 Newington Green Road, Islington, N1 4RA

27th December 2009, 8pm (solo)
The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

See you very soon!

Daren
xxx

Callow Youth - 11th November

2009-11-02T16:56:00.002Z

With great excitement I can announce that my new band will be called Callow Youth. The band is myself on guitar and vocals, Haydn Callow on drums and percussion and Wayne Myers on bass.

Out first gig will be at Power's Bar, Kilburn on the 11th November.

There will be more news and a website coming soon. But for now, stay tuned to this Blog for all the latest recording and live news.

Daren
xxx

Faith Album - The Launch

2009-11-01T16:40:00.004Z

Wow, is it really only a week? This time a week ago I had just got home from the Faith! album launch in Margate. It really was an excellent night at the Lido - a fantastic old seaside night club. I got there nice and early and there was plenty of time for main man - Lee Robson - to show me to my guest room and let me prepare for my performance. When I got back to the venue the soundman had temporarily disappeared, but it was wonderful to see Luke Jackson and his dad Paul, as well as Charlie Savigar, who I hadn't seen for about 2 years!

Soon it was time to get underway, as the lights came down and the people came in. I was opening the night, so had to hit the stage running and get things moving. I opened up with I Need Your Love and then played The Fool I Am, After All and finished with the track off the album - Lightkeeper. It all seemed to go well, so I was pleased that I'd done my bit for the night and could relax and watch the other acts. In fact everyone rose to the occasion. The first half of the night belonged to the unsigned acts, with excellent performances from Dan Cropper, Kayley Weller, Billy & Laura Page (over from Texas) and Johan Nøkland Lund (over from Norway I believe). I must admit to be slightly biased but my own personal favourites where Charlie and her band, and the mighty Luke Jackson who played a storming, professional and passionate set, that totally belied his age!!

After a short break it was the chance for the TV talent to show their thing. I believe that Ben Mills, Shaughnessy and our host, Daniel Evans have been involved in some TV show called X Factor, now since I've never seen it, it's hard for me to comment, but they certainly went down very well. I think it's pretty safe to say that Daniel was the crowd favourite by a long way... his spontaneous jam with Ben Mills, was another highlight. Oh, I almost forgot even my mate Eddy Johns managed to make it and perform a short set. Before we knew it, it was all over, just time for a group photograph and it was time to head to bed. I must say it was a very enjoyable and worthwhile project and I loved being part of it...

...but it's not over yet. This was, after all, only the launch of the album, now it's over to you. We are very pleased to say that the CD of the album is now available to purchase for just £9.99 with free postage in the UK and postage of only £1.50 everywhere else in the world. The CD has 18 tracks that have been donated by the artists and professionally packages and produced. My own track is a unique version of Lightkeeper that you can't get anywhere else, and there are also tracks by Luke Jackson, Charlie Savigar, Kayley Weller and Eddy Johns as well as many others. Even if you don't like all the tracks you should still buy a copy. As I said to a friend of mine, it only needs one of the artists to "make it" and you got something really valuable and special - and even if they don't you are helping a great cause. All profits from the sale of the album go to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

So don't delay, Christmas is coming, so treat yourself and buy a few extra copies for your friends!!

http://faithalbumlaunch.co.uk/shop/

I'm off now to host a night at Prohibition (Sunday), and then there will be another post on Monday when I have an exciting announcement. So come back then!!

Daren
xxx

Photo courtesy of 121 Pics:

Faith Album - It's Nearly Time!

2009-10-15T19:30:00.003Z

Several months ago a chap by the name of Lee Robson had an idea. He really wanted to raise money to help the sufferers of Cystic Fibrosis and approached a number of acts to provide songs for a compilation album. The artists came back with songs and the project grew to include a single release and an album launch concert to be held in Margate.

I decided to re-record one of my favourite songs - Lightkeeper - and drafted in Haydn Callow to play drums and Paul Tkachenko to play bass. You can read more about the progress by viewing these previous blog posts. Please note that this unique mix of Lightkeeper WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE ON THIS ALBUM! So if you would like it in your record collection, this is the only way to get it.

The other bands and artists on the album are as follows: he Dunnos (Germany), Anders Fransson (USA), Anglo Saxon (UK), Charlie Savigar (UK), Dan Cropper (UK), Billy Page (USA), Eddy Johns (UK), Johan Nokland Lund (Norway) Unfolds (UK), Kayley Weller (UK), Mike Hirst (USA) and 11 year old Jordan Jansen (Australia). Jordan’s song ‘I Wish’ which was written by Jordan and is dedicated to everyone who lost a loved one with CF.

As you can see there are a fantastic number of artists from several countries who have put time and effort into album, as well as Lee and all his team. Now we need YOUR help! A limited edition CD of the album is available for pre-order now. Please do go to the website (link below) and order a copy (or more, it would make a very nice Christmas present for that relation that you never know what to get). Even if you don't really like all the acts, we would urge to you buy anyway. It will also be available for purchase by download after the launch concert... which is the other way you can help.

Please do buy a ticket and come along to the launch. It's being held at the Lido in Margate on the 24th October. I'm very proud to be opening the show (at 7.40pm) which is hosted by Daniel Evans (X-Factor 2008), Daniel will also be performing along with Luke Jackson, Charlie Savigar, Dan Cropper and Kayley Weller.

Special Guests include Journey South (X-Factor 2005) and Ben Mills (X-Factor 2006), also coming direct from the USA just for this gig is Billy Page plus from Norway will be Johan Nokland Lund, with support from Shaughnessy and Michael Hinch.

I have to say that is quite some line-up and excellent value for just £6.50!!! This is one night of live music not to be missed. So I bet you are just itching to get the website address and find out more... well here it is:

http://www.faithalbumlaunch.co.uk/

Please do mention this album and launch concert on your blogs and websites, Twitter, Facebook wherever. Let's get a full house and sell many copies, it's a really good cause and I want us to raise as much money as possible. GO TO IT!!

The Band Begins

2009-10-15T19:09:00.004Z

It's always been a dream of mine to put a three piece band together to play the songs I've been working on for the last two years. Originally I planned to start recruiting players next year, but a chance to play a headline set at the Montague Arms brought the plans forward. So it was that two weeks of rehearsals and planning started. The first part of the planning involved working out which songs to play and then get some friends in to help play them. I'd had an idea to take the best of the acoustic arrangements that I'd been playing, and combine them with performance ideas and rock instruments.

Given that I only had a small amount of time to get a band together and limited rehearsals, I chose just five songs to play with the band and a further three to do on my own or in collaboration with other artists. My brother Haydn stepped up to play drums and percussion, Wayne Myers (of Fit & The Conniptions) agreed to play guitar and Edward Kaye took up the challenge of playing bass.

I started the set myself playing The End Of The World part I using the looper pedal and TC Helicon VoiceLive box. Then I was very fortunate that Martin White agreed to play accordion on an acoustic version of After All. Following that the band stepped up to play The Fool I Am followed by Obsession that included spoken word parts by Daniel Lehan and Frog Morris.

After the poetry it was time for the four last songs and so we played Lightkeeper, When The Snow Fell In Denver, All I Want Is You (featuring a reluctant Stuart on tambourine) and finished with a triumphant I Need Your Love. Not everything worked perfectly, for example we managed to play Denver better in the soundcheck, but we did enough to get a genuine call for an encore, we obliged with a reprise of The Fool I Am. There is still lots of room for improvement, but there was enough there to show that we had some big potential. The hope is to play with more players and finalise the line-up later this year or early next year. The next band gig will be on the 11th November at Power's Bar in Kilburn - so come on down and see the progress.

A big thank you to Haydn, Ed, Wayne, Martin, Daniel and Frog for their contributions. It's been a good start, but the future is going to be even better.

Band Debut & Faith Album Launch

2009-09-28T15:06:00.009Z

Hi friends, I just wanted to let you know about two exciting events that are coming up in October.

Firstly I am very excited to announce that I am putting together a small band to play at Frog Morris Presents on the 8th October. The band will consist of my brother Haydn Callow on drums, Edward Kaye on Bass and myself on acoustic and (shock! horror!) electric guitar, also performing with us will be Wayne Myers of Fit & The Conniptions on guitar and, hopefully, Martin White on accordion. I'm particularly excited about the chance to play with my brother again, he's played with many bands including, but certainly not limited to, Honeytunnel, Damien McCabe and The Barron Knights as well as many shows, and his own jazz trio. He's also taught at Drumtech and written for Drummer and Rhythm magazine - so he certainly knows his flam from his para-diddle!

We will be playing for about 40 minutes and the set will include solo numbers, full band numbers and one or two surprises. If you can make it down then please do, it should be an excellent evening. Martin White is also doing a set and I'm sure Frog will be doing a turn or two as well. I'm hoping to video our set too, so that I can share bits on YouTube, but please do come along if you can.

You can find the Montague Arms at 289 Queens Rd, London, SE14 5JN it's very near Queens Road Peckham station and not far from New Cross. Here is a map.

The second event I want to draw your attention to is the Faith Album which is launched on the 24th October and will be available to buy from the 26th October in aid of Cystic Fibrosis. I have recorded a special, full band version of Lightkeeper for this project. The recording again features Haydn on drums and Paul Tkachenko on bass, and will only be available on this album - it will not be released in this form via any other media.

The album, signature song ‘FAITH!’ will be performed by 15 year old singer / songwriter Luke Jackson who co-wrote the song with Charlie Mason in the USA. Charlie has co-written with some of the best stars around including "Hit 'N' Run" single, Billiam the UK supernova boy band with "The Beautiful Ones” their first top 40 hit single. Charlie has also scored co-writes with, among others, PJ Bianco (who hit No. 1 with the Jonas Bros.), Aussie hit maker Hayden Bell, Johan Aberg (of Christina Aguilera fame) and Westlife producer Niklas Jarl.

The other fantastic artists featured on the album are: The Dunnos (Germany), Anders Fransson (USA), Anglo Saxon (UK), Charlie Savigar (UK), Dan Cropper (UK), Billy Page (USA), Eddy Johns (UK), Johan Nokland Lund (Norway) Unfolds (UK), Kayley Weller (UK), Mike Hirst (USA) and 11 year old Jordan Jansen (Australia).

The album will be mastered right here in the UK by Ian Thompson of White Wolf Recording, Newcastle. Ian has over 25 years experience in the music/recording industry and has recorded artists including Erasure, The New London Symphonic, Floyd2 and many chart hit artists.

Sounds pretty exciting doesn't it? The album is available for pre-order on CD already and you can do this here:

http://www.faithalbumlaunch.co.uk/

All the money raised is going to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and it's only £9.99 plus an extra £1.50 for those outside the UK. So what are you waiting for? Go order a copy or two now! Those of you on Facebook can also join the Group for the album here.

If you are in the UK, you can also come to the launch night on October 24th at the Lido in Margate, tickets are on sale now, and can also be bought from the website above. Many of the acts on the album are playing, plus some special guests and it should be a really fun evening. I can't wait - will you be there?

And as if that wasn't enough I also have many acoustic gigs coming up in London, and hopefully some full band gigs soon too. Check out all my gigs here:

29th September 2009, 8pm
Liquid Nation, 161-165 Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, W10 6HJ

1st October 2009
Nine Bar, 146 Tanner Street, London, SE1 2HG

8th October 2009
Frog Morris Presents:
DAREN CALLOW + FRIENDS @ The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, London, SE14 5JN

11th October 2009, 8pm
The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0PP

18th October 2009, 8pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St Katherine's Docks, East Smithfield, E1W 1AA

24th October 2009
Faith! Cystic Fibrosis charity album launch - limited tickets BOOK NOW
The Lido, Ethelbert Terrace, Margate, CT9 1RX

1st November 2009, 8pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St Katherine's Docks, East Smithfield, E1W 1AA

I'm also going to be hosting some nights for 15 Minute Club in Hoxton, so stay tuned for more news on all this.

See you very soon, better go prepare for tonight's gig now! Although since it's actually tomorrow (29th) I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, that's how excited I am!!

Daren
xxx

P.S. More updates on the band and all gigs on Twitter.

This Happy Band

2009-09-20T15:26:00.005Z

Yesterday I was playing as part of This Happy Band an art project / pub crawl arranged by Daniel Lehan as part of the Nunhead Festival. It was certainly a fun and slightly surreal experience. We all gathered outside the Old Nun's Head pub near Nunhead Green and what a motley crew we were. There were pirates, musicians, a human percussion instrument (also known as Calum F Kerr), a laughing bear, a pantomime horse, a poet or two and a man dressed head to toe in camouflage as a kind of latter day Greene Manne. We collectively clattered and strummed our way around three pubs performing as we went. Frog Morris chipped in with a poem or two (mostly about beer), I performed a few songs as did Tim, and Mr Solo. There were many highlights to the day, but the performances in the Nunhead Community centre, and our impromptu appearance on the festival stage certainly topped it off. There is a small video clip of this on YouTube: the saxophone player is Viv and the ukelele is played by Tim.

We all ended up in the Man Of Kent for one more performance in front of the bemused locals. My version of Do You Want To Dance? was nearly drowned out by miscellaneous percussive noises. We all performed a final item and then relaxed with a few well deserved beers.

I'm just about recovered now and doing some practice before tomorrow's gig at the Camden Head - if you are free come along from 9pm - 100 Camden High Street.

Daren
xxx

All The Way There And Back Again

2009-09-18T10:20:00.006Z

It's been an emotional and creative roller-coaster for the past month, and it's been way too long since my last confession. I've been up north to Edinburgh, out east to Thetford(ish) and played and watched a whole variety of interesting performances. Here's some highlights:

Edinburgh Fringe
================
Where to start?! It was an amazing few days, lots of flyering on the Royal Mile (mostly in the rain) - late nights with friends, acquaintances and even the odd celebrity (failing to flyer Marcus Brigstock for example). Lots of good shows: I chiefly enjoyed Short Intention Span (especially all dressed up as Wally, and the creepy guy returning the condom), Moon Chavs, extremely sexy poetry with Richard Tyrone Jones & friends @ Utter, Robin Ince losing his mind onstage (downstairs at Negociants where I first played the Edinburgh Fringe in 1994), a mesmeric and intimate performance from Edwyn Collins, the filthy penis-obsessed Kunt & The Gang and, of course, the seminal, unforgettable, unexplainable and utterly unfathamable A Young Man Dressed As A Gorilla Dressed As An Old Man Sits In A Rocking Chair For 56 Minutes (about which plenty has been said already).

I must also mention TWINLESS by Charlotte Young - which was, after all, the reason why I was up there in the first place. Charlotte's piece was a combination of video and performance that certainly wasn't to everyone's taste. It concerned the death of her twin sister in a hideous tandom bicycle accident and how she dealt with the loss of a sibling and comedic partner. The performances all took place in the Crypt (very apt) below the Jekyll and Hyde pub in Hanover Street, after the comedy and before the eclectic A-Band. It was good to have a late evening slot as the subject matter was quite dark. Despite our efforts to warn people (my flyering technique of "It's about death, it's very funny" seemed to go down quite well) kind of, it was clear that the few people who had come expecting stand-up comedy or the like were to be very bemused as Charlotte shuffled in in her pyjamas and stood mostly in silence whilst the video ran. Those of us that got the humour though, found it utterly hilarious and wonderful, and this encouraged an initially nervous Charlotte to add extra lines during her raffle sections. The, totally ad-libbed, line of "It's that time again" spoken dead-pan made me laugh so much I nearly had an injury. The quietest night (just three people) was also excellent as they all won a prize and it was the only time that Charlotte almost lost it with laughter on stage... priceless.

It was with great sadness that I was unable to complete the run due to a family illness, but I just want to say many thanks for Richard Soames for stepping in to complete the run. It was a fabulous experience and it only remains for me to say THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to Charlotte for a fantastic first Edinburgh Fringe run... may there be many more.

Oh, and also there are still t-shirts available for £7 if anyone would like one (pictured above).

After spending time with my family, I slowly managed to get back into playing and seeing shows. I fitted in a short performance at the Kiss Of A Lifetime (by Mike Chavez Dawson et al) and a trip to the Tate to see a Pil & Galia performance. Next stop:

Frogstock
=========

Frogstock is one of those sublime english traditions that has survived in various formats for many years now. Last year I played at the acoustic, cut-down version and was regaled by Frog and Victoria with stories of fields full of stages, giant campfires, stalls selling all kinds of wonderous things, and young love (ah sigh). Frog swept his arm in front of him describing a marvellous field with a trailor mounted main stage, dance tent and many other wonders... ah how I envied experiencing these hedonistic delights...

...fast forward a year and there I was, walking into just such and arena of dreams (am I building this up enough yet?). This year the Swan pub in Coney Weston took up the mantle and lo! there was the main stage, lo! there was the acoustic / comedy stage, lot! there was the dance tent, bouncy castle, giant bonfire, stalls, food vans, t-shirt stand, impromptu performances, REAL ALE BY THE BARREL-LOAD and glorious english sunshine to cap it all.

It was a day about which only good things will be remembered. Young Henry playing on both the acoustic and main-stage, all the t-shirts selling out by mid-afternoon, impromptu Saxa-boom jamming, the Blo' Boys back to their best (pictured below), glasses of beer with friends in a field... what could be better? My own performance (at about 5pm on the mainstage) could not even be mired by a few sound glitches in the first song, or my glasses nearly falling off due to sweat (the stage faced directly into the setting sun). It was nice to revive All I Want Is Stu for another year, and songs like Lightkeeper were made for a festival atmosphere.

I even got the train back home after Deference Engine's performance, so was able to cap the whole experience by sleeping in my own bed rather than in a tent. Roll on next year, when I'm hoping I will have a band to perform with!

Well that's the major round up, off to catch up with a few Blogs now. Make sure you check out some of my up-and-coming gigs below and I hope to see you soon.

Daren
xxx

19th September 2009, 2 - 5pm
Nunhead Festival, Nunhead

21st September 2009, 9pm
RAW GEMS @ The Camden Head, 100 Camden High Street, NW1 0UL

28th September 2009, 8pm
Liquid Nation, 161-165 Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, W10 6HJ

1st October 2009, TBC
Nine Bar, 146 Tanner Street, London, SE1 2HG

8th October 2009
Frog Morris Presents:
DAREN CALLOW + FRIENDS @ The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, London, SE14 5JN

11th October 2009, 8pm
The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0PP

18th October 2009, 8pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St Katherine's Docks, East Smithfield, E1W 1AA

24th October 2009
Faith! charity album launch - limited tickets BOOK NOW
The Lido, Ethelbert Terrace, Margate, CT9 1RX

1st November 2009, 8pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St Katherine's Docks, East Smithfield, E1W 1AA

Twins, Wine and Frogs.

2009-08-17T09:51:00.006Z

I'm off to Edinburgh today, to provide technical support to my friend Charlotte Young and her show TWINLESS. The show deals with the sudden death of her twin sister and comedy partner Emily, and features a specially produced video and a raffle (with big prizes). My role is to make sure you can hear the sound and turn lights on and off and stuff... oh and sell t-shirts... something I have a fair amount of experience of. Since I'm very closely involved in the show I'm sure that you'd expect me to say it's very good and you should come and see it, so I won't. Instead I'll just mention that my bestest mate (m) James thought it was THE BEST THING HE'D EVER SEEN, EVER, and he's totally unbiased.

Anyway, here's some details of when and where you can see it in Edinburgh. It's free to get in, 10p per ticket for the raffle and the t-shirts are a mere £7. It runs from 25th - 29th August and starts at 23:00. See you there!!

It's not the first time I've ever been involved in a show on the Edinburgh Fringe. On August 21st 1994 I played in a bar called Negociants with my then band - Air. Rather bonkersly we decided to drive there, do the gig, and then drive back home (to Harrow) all in the space of a day. Somehow we survived without crashing the van, but I have no idea how. This time I'm going by Easyjet.

After I return from Edinburgh, I have just one day at home before flying to LA. I'm going to meet my bestest mate (f) Peachy there for a tour of the vineyards of California and such like. I'm sure it will be very civilised and we won't get drunk at all. Not even once.

After this mad-cap road trip I'm back in the UK with just a few days to prepare for the festival of the year. Yes indeed it's the return of Frogstock, bigger and bolder than ever. It's on Saturday 12th September and features the usual mix of music, comedy, performance art, ale, badgers and, almost certainly, more ale. It's in a pub this time, which indicates to me that there will probably be more ale than normal. Although that may be technically impossible.

More info here:

http://frogstock.frogmorris.net/

I'll try and keep you all updated from the festival, best wishes to you all.

Daren
xxx

P.S. You can find the rest of my gigs here:

http://www.darencallow.co.uk/gigs.html

P.P.S. Do also check out my friend Daniel Lehan's Blog from Finland:
http://greetingsfromfinland.blogspot.com/ I'm performing with Daniel at the Nunhead Festival on the 19th September.

Influences... Ultravox

2009-08-09T10:34:00.006Z

Music is a magical thing. It's remarkable how a tune, a melody or a lyric can transport you to another place, or bring back a vivid memory. So it is for me and Ultravox. Hearing any song off the Quartet album instantly re-locates me to Sheffield on Boxing Day many years past. We went to visit my dad's auntie Margaret and uncle Stan at Christmas for a few years when we lived in Liverpool. Since it was Christmas I always had a new tape to listen to (or one year a MW radio that never left my ear) and Ultravox is the one I really associate with this time.*

I'm sure most of you will be familiar with Ultravox from their, oh so nearly, hit song - Vienna. The combination of synthesizers, violin, drum machine and European imagery was certainly a mixture that appealed to me. In truth Vienna was not totally typical of what they did... for three golden albums (Vienna, Rage In Eden and Quartet) they mixed cinematic soundscapes, synthetic sounds and rock guitar to amazing effect. They were always inventive: detuned radios are switched off with click (Rage In Eden), delay soaked drums from the end of one song start another (The Ascent) and a range of swirling effects and noises. They also introduced me to a love of drums that go pfft, tic, dop and fah (as opposed to the usual rock: snap, crack and pop), which I've never lost. In truth I didn't think all that much of Vienna at the time, but fell in love with Hymn (from Quartet) - and then rediscovered the back catalogue. It wasn't just me they influenced, Depeche Mode were fans too, and I would imagine that bands like Muse and MGMT were heavily influenced as well.

It all went a bit wrong after they released Lament and then decided that the next step should be to fire their drummer (Warren Cann) and embrace world music. What followed was possibly the worst album of all time - U-Vox. Fortunately there has been a recent change of heart, and for their reunion tour, they reformed the optimum middle line-up (Cann, Billy Currie, Chris Cross and Midge Ure) and played all the hits from the three albums mentioned above.

I've rediscovered the joys of disappearing into a world of Ultravox music in the iPod age. It's a revelation to hear the details of the music now, that the cassette / Walkman combination conspired to obscure. Do check out a few tracks on Spotify or the like, and see what you think.

One final anecdote, my dearly departed friend Andy Hewitt was a big fan too. One day many years back he tuned into a radio programme and immediately identified Ultravox drummer Warren Cann as the guest on the show. After listening for a while he realised that he was a "mystery guest" and listeners were failing to identify who he was, it made him laugh as there was no mystery at all, just a voice he recognised and knew. If only he'd been near a phone to call in!

To hear the Ultravox influence, check out my songs: Lightkeeper, or Minneapolis Hungover Tired Awake.

Daren
xxx

P.S. I am very happy to say that I have actually seen Ultravox live... last year at Hammersmith Apollo, that's where the picture is from.

*Interesting fact: it was also this time of my life that I was initially thrown back to when standing in the back of a truck in 2006... when the snow (nearly) fell on Denver (okay Detroit actually).

Coming Up For Air

2009-08-05T12:02:00.006Z

Ever get the feeling that you're a bit too busy?! I've just found a few minutes to write up my Blog after playing three gigs in five days, and I've got two more coming this week alone.

On Thursday last week I made a trip to the Edinburgh Cellars for a show and then hot-footed it to the Duchess to attend my mate Will's last open mic session there. Will's night was one of the first I ever did as an acoustic artist, way back in February 2008. So there were definitely mixed emotions as I took to the stage with a five song set. Hopefully open mic night will continue in September, but it's uncertain at the moment.

Sunday night and I was at Prohibition in St. Katherine's docks. It was a really special night as Laurence (the co-host with Rae) was celebrating his birthday. He'd hand-picked all the acts and it was certainly a very fun night. I particularly enjoyed The Hall Of Mirrors and Sala, but all the acts put on really good shows. Even Rae joined in at the end as we performed an impromptu version of California Dreamin' with Sala on guitar, and the lovely Lyllou on violin.

Btw, make sure you check out Rae's new tune - Persuasion, which is currently being played by Pete Tong amongst others.

For some reason that I can't quite recall right now, I decided to play at RAW on Monday night. I was pretty tired that day, but still managed to get there and play. It was another very enjoyable night and I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures on the RAW site very soon.

And it's not over yet: TONIGHT I'm playing at the Powers Bar in Kilburn and tomorrow night, I'm heading to the Nine Bar in London Bridge Road. Both gigs promise to be really good, so do come along if you can. More details here.

You should also check out this show: TWINLESS that was previewed in London Lite yesterday, my friend Charlotte is performing it and I'm helping do something technical or other... highly recommended.

More soon,

Daren
xxx

Prohibition: Sunday

2009-07-29T12:25:00.002Z

This is just a quick post to plug a big show on Sunday 2nd August. It's 15 Minute Club at Prohibition, St. Katharine's docks again, but this time it's Laurence the co-host's birthday! The line-up has been hand selected and there are likely to be a few surprise songs and jams taking place. Come on down from about 7.30pm and be part of the fun.

I'm also playing at the Edinburgh Cellars tomorrow night (Thursday 30th July) and might see if I can sneak off to The Duchess in Battersea afterwards, where my friend Will is running his last open mic night there. It was one of the first ones I ever did, and it's still one of the best.

I'll be busy with gigs next week too: on Monday 3rd I'm going to do the RAW night at the Abbey Tavern in Kentish Town. Wednesday I'll be at the Powers Bar in Kilburn, and Thursday at the Nine Bar (near Tower Bridge again). Phew!

In other news I've been offered the chance to be tour manager for a band who will hopefully be supporting Status Quo through November and December. Sounds like an opportunity too good to miss!!

Hope you are all doing well, catch you later.

Daren
xxx

Down Under The Station

2009-07-19T09:10:00.007Z

We all had a feeling it was going to be an interesting gig. Even getting into the place was a challenge. Perhaps you've been to London Bridge recently and seen a long queue of people seemingly waiting to get into some part of the station basement. Well I know what they are waiting for now, and it's called Shunt.

Shunt is hard to define, it's part work space, part theatre, part art installation, part night club. The atmosphere is damp and humid, like being in a cave or some sort of Victorian England slum experience. It's no coincidence that the London Dungeon share the same space in the dank arches under the station. I arrived at the entrance in Stainer Street and then was led through a reception, bar, theatre and huge video installation that takes up about 10 arches to the far side of this eclectic venue. We were performing in the Speakeasy, which is a little pub sized room with a small bar and a big PA. The chairs and tables didn't match anything - least of all each other, and the whole vibe was easy going. The artists were all nervous and excited, we had no idea what the audience reaction would be to the mixed line-up that our host - Frog Morris - on behalf of Utrophia had assembled.

In the end we had no worries at all (apart from the odd technical glitch). The audience came in and out, but often stayed and crowded around the door to catch what was happening. We didn't disappoint them.

Frog was first on as host: Dave the security guard, who has an interesting line in safety information and an unhealthy relationship with his dogs! The first section of the show was dedicated to art. Daniel Lehan, becoming an increasingly confident performer, amused and entertained with poems and stories about sex, Sting and an interactive poem about buses in London. Next up was another gob-smacking performance from Duncan Ward. It's very hard to give a full flavour of what Duncan does in mere words, but suffice to say it involved, bags of compost, a bottle of champagne, leaves and other foliage, a paper aeroplane and, well, a fair about of mess. As with the last time I saw him at the Montague Arms, the audience were hushed into mesmerised silence, and the doorway was crammed with people trying to get a view.

After the art, it was the turn of the comedians, and James W. Smith, with musings on philosophy and sex and Aaron Barshak, the self-styled Comedy Terrorist, helped us understand religion a little more completely. There was also an appearance by the renown medium - Mystic Huere.

Finally it was time for the music! I was up first and went for the more performance art end of my repertoire. It all seemed to go down pretty well, despite one small equipment glitch. The full set was:

The End Of The World Part I
The Prophet
Lightkeeper
The End Of The World Part II
After All
When The Snow Fell In Denver (extended version including a spoken verse from Obsession)
The Doctor Who Theme Tune (Oh yes!)
I Need Your Love

I was very pleased to get some great feedback after the set, and sold quite a few CDs.

Last, but not least, was Deference Engine who despite one or two problems with the backing track played a storming set. In the end all that was left to do was sing a rousing chorus or two of Angry Badger (pictured above, Deference Engine just off) and we were on our way out of the venue into the south London night.

It was such a great event and, although we are unlikely to ever get the chance to perform at Shunt again, you can see similar nights to this EVERY MONTH - on the 2nd Thursday at the Montague Arms in Peckham.

Or if you want to catch my songs sooner, then I'll be at Prohibition (a mere stone's throw from Shunt in the St. Katharine's docks near Tower Bridge) tonight!

Daren
xxx

Not Prohibited Anymore

2009-07-08T13:20:00.008Z

It always amuses me when bars make some reference to abstinence or temperance. For example near Clapham Common there is actually a bar in an old Temperance Hall. Another example is one of my favourite venues to play - Prohibition Bar & Grill. I've been to two excellent Sunday nights there recently both courtesy of the wonderful people involved with 15 Minute Club.

Two Sundays ago I played an excellent night there with just two other acts including the lovely Liz Fyfe band, who were all very friendly people. Last Sunday I caught my mate - Acoustic Ashley (pictured above, he doesn't have a beard, that's a harmonica) doing some excellent looping there and also the talented and beautiful Linn Öberg. Both were really good nights with a good, appreciative crowd creating a fabulous vibe. I'm heading back there to play again this Sunday, so do come down if you want to be part of a fun and exciting night.

I also have to mention 15 Minute Club's night at the Living Room in Birmingham. I've played there twice now and both times the vibe was very friendly and relaxed. Looking forward to getting back there before too long.

Talking of returns, I'm also heading back to the Nine Bar on the 6th August. Coming up sooner I'll be at the trendy Shunt bar, down in the vaults at London Bridge. It's a night hosted by Frog Morris, who is also running his much talked about night at the Montague Arms - THIS THURSDAY. So do come down to any night you can make.

One other bit of news is that I'm finishing the Faith! mix of Lightkeeper today and tomorrow - it's sounding very good with real drums and bass now in place and I can't wait for you to hear it. Talking of which, I just found this video:

Live @ The Abbey Tavern

They got the captions slightly wrong, it is me and the song is definitely Lightkeeper.

Full list of upcoming gigs:

12th July 2009, 7.30pm onwards
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St. Katharine's Docks, Nr. Tower Bridge, London

18th July 2009
UTROPHIA @ SHUNT, 20 Stainer St. London, SE1 9RL (Photo ID required for entry)

30th July 2009, 8.30pm
Stripped Bare @ Edinburgh Cellars, 125 Newington Green Road, Islington, N1 4RA

2nd August 2009, 7.30pm onwards
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St. Katharine's Docks, Nr. Tower Bridge, London

5th August 2009, 8pm
Stripped Bare @ Powers Bar, 332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN

6th August 2009, 8pm
Nine Bar, 146 Tanner Street, London, SE1 2HG

24th October 2009
Faith! charity album launch: limited tickets - BOOK NOW
The Westcoast, 3-5 King Street, Margate, United Kingdom

See you very soon,

Daren
xxx

Faith Album Launch

2009-06-24T14:36:00.004Z

Work proceeds apace for the Faith charity album, and I am pleased to announce that the launch of the album will be on October 24th in Margate, Kent. The venue is called the West Coast and the night will feature acts like Charlie Savigar, Unfolds, Eddy Johns, Kayley Weller, Luke Jackson plus direct from USA: Billy Page. We will also have guest artists like Shaughnessy and, of course, myself playing on the night. I understand that tickets will be limited in number and will be on sale very soon. I will post more information here, but you can keep right up to date by checking out the album launch Facebook group.

Work on my new mix of Lightkeeper is progressing well, today I added and entirely new electric guitar part (Telecaster guitar pictured above). Now I just need a killer vocal and I should be there.

Don't forget that next Wednesday 1st July is my featured artist slot at the Loom Bar, 5 Clipstone Street, Great Portland Street, W1W 6BB. This will be a full electro-acoustic set with a new arrangement of After All featuring the loop pedal. It will be well worth coming down, doors open at 7pm, and there are seven hand-picked acts to watch. Get down early and enjoy the night!

Other gigs are as follows:

21st June 2009, open mic from 7.00pm onstage after 8.30pm
Stripped Bare @ The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

25th June 2009, open mic from 7.00pm onstage after 8.30pm
Stripped Bare @ Edinburgh Cellars, 125 Newington Green Road, Islington, N1 4RA

28th June 2009, doors 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine Docks, E1W 1AA

I'm also hoping to help out with some production and mixing for Fit & The Conniptions new album, so stay tuned for more news on that.

See you at a gig really soon!

Daren
xxx

Seeing The Light

2009-06-15T10:25:00.007Z

Technology is an amazing thing. These days I have more recording equipment and processing power available to me than many studios had in the hey-day of rock'n'roll in the 50s and 60s. Even the Beatles only had access to 4-track tape recorders in the early 1960s. My hard disk recorder can record eight inputs at a time, and play back up to 16 tracks, all in digital. To further complicate things, it also allows up to 8 takes per track. On my Apple Mac I can record as many tracks as the specification of my computer will allow. Currently the track count for my re-recording of Lightkeeper stands at 48 different "takes" on the hard disk recorder and track count on for the mix now stands at 32! It's only since the 1970s that so many tracks could be played back at mix time (on analogue tape) and, frankly, it's kind of mind-boggling.

It's further complicated by the fact that I am song-writer, guitarist, singer, studio engineer, producer and client! It's hard to step back from it all and just listen to the song and hear what it needs. This is why I've not listened to it for a day now, and will try and clear my mind before working on the mixes later this week. In case you didn't realise I'm working on this track for a charity album which will be released later this year. The album will be called "Faith" and includes a number of artists that I've seen or played with live, including Luke Jackson, Eddy Johns and Kayley Weller. It's in aid of Cystic Fibrosis and will contain 16 tracks in total. If you want to follow progress then check out their website here:

http://www.allroundmusic.co.uk/

As mentioned my own contribution will be a new (and unique) mix of Lightkeeper, featuring Haydn Callow on drums, Paul Tkachenko on bass and, err, me on everything else. This recording will exist as two mixes, one shorter one for my use on demos and a longer "album" mix just for this record. So essentially if you want to hear that mix, you will have to buy the album. You can follow my own updates on the track here or on Twitter. I will also be working of a shorter version for my own purposes, and I'll let you know as soon as you can hear this version.

In other news, last Thursday was a cracking night down at the Montague Arms again. This month's highlights included a laughing bear, a horse comedian, a real human comedian, Aaron Barschak, pie roulette and the excellent Dead Victorians. The latter featuring a unicycling violinist and the maestro Paul Tkachenko (again) this time on accordion, saw and bells!

Quite frankly a full review would be impossible, but here are some video clips:

http://www.youtube.com/user/charlotteyoung

Next one is July 9th - be there for more of the same, only different.

In the meantime, I'm playing tonight at the Abbey Tavern in Kentish Town. Full list of gigs is as follows:

15th June 2009
RAW Rocks @ The Abbey Tavern, 124 Kentish Town Rd, London, NW1 9QB

21st June 2009, open mic from 7.00pm onstage after 8.30pm
Stripped Bare @ The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

25th June 2009, open mic from 7.00pm onstage after 8.30pm
Stripped Bare @ Edinburgh Cellars, 125 Newington Green Road, Islington, N1 4RA

28th June 2009, doors 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine Docks, E1W 1AA

1st July 2009
Stripped Bare Acoustic Productions presents:
Wood 'N' Strings @ LOOM featured act
Loom Bar, 5 Clipstone Street, London W1W 6BB

See you soon,

Daren
xxx

P.S. The picture is Paul Tkachenko (AGAIN!!) this time playing Sousaphone for the Jazz Kings as part of the Croydon Jazz & Blues Festival. He's a busy boy!

Summertime (Almost)

2009-06-08T09:34:00.008Z

The Sun has made an appearance in London, and we've all been enjoying it while we can. It may not last long! This is partly why I've not written an update recently, but it's also partly because I've been very busy musically with gigs and recording for the charity album "Faith" in full swing.

Here's a bit of a round-up of what's been happening.

Duchess Showcase

It really was one of the nicest days of the year so far when I turned up to play at the infamous Duchess Showcase run by the excellent host Will O'Durkan. The Duchess has a stunning view of the looming Battersea Power Station (see picture above) and it's particularly impressive from the balcony where we hung out before the gig. The music itself was of the high standard that the Showcase prides itself on. Reuben Hollebon kicked things off with his enigmatic and individual vocal style. Laine Hines then played his retro blues eschewing microphones and amplified guitar to reach the room directly.

In total contrast to Liane I took to the stage with my VoiceLive box and looper pedal ready to go. In the end I didn't really use them as a combination of the vibe of the night and some monitoring problems meant they weren't really suitable to the evening. In the end a quiet version of After All seemed to go down the best. Many thanks to Frog and Victoria in particular who came down to support, and offered generous (and very polite) applause when Lightkeeper was introduced! A first for me.

The evening continued until quite late with first Tom Moriarty making the crowd swoon, and then Smile At Strangers making us, well, smile. Favourite moments were Tom giving up on a new song, which sounded excellent, but I guess was just debuted a little early. And then Tom (again) playing bongos for Smile At Strangers, a very relaxed and enjoyable evening all round.

Nine Bar

The Nine Bar is a new venue for me and also for the effervescent and tireless host Carl Chamberlain. Carl is one of live performer's champions and he really knows how to put on a good night and keep the crowd happy. I must confess I don't remember all the acts that played as amongst the sizeable crowd where my friends Alex, Seb, Rosie and (new friend) Ed. Now these guys are serious music lovers too, and made a point of listening, applauding and, occasionally, going to the front of the crowd to hear an act they really liked. All in all it was another extremely pleasant evening. The acts were strong, I got another sing-along going to The Fool I Am (first number of the night for me!! Lead by Carl, of course) and received some nice comments.

Carl usually does an much more indepth review of his nights than I can do here, so do follow his link above and check out his Blog.

Drum Recording

Those who follow my Blog regularly will know that I have been invited to submit a track for a charity compilation called Faith. Rather than submit an old track I decided to re-record a favourite from scratch. This time I would invite top musicians to play rather than do it all in Garage Band. Last Friday I recorded the drums played by the excellent session and live player - Haydn Callow. Who, of course, also happens to be my younger brother.

As an aside here, it is worth mentioning that none of this would be possible without my brother's influence. It is almost entirely because of him that I am playing and writing songs and performing these days. From a very young age he knew that he wanted to be a drummer and started getting a kit together as soon as he could persuade our parents to stump up the cash. In an effort to join in with him I first got a small keyboard and then, when this turned out to be not loud enough, an electric guitar. The rest, as the cliche goes, is history.

So it was a great pleasure to have him play drums for me on this recording. We set up the kit at a secret location in Hertfordshire and two hours later we had 5 good takes on disk for me to work through and add to the evolving mix of the song. Haydn's Yamaha kit sounds phenomenal and it's very easy to record, his playing is also accurate and original. The song is really coming on now and, after his suggestion, has both live drums and drum machine on it (plus a tambourine played entirely out of time by me). It's a very exciting prospect and this version of the song will only be available on the record, which will be available around October I believe.

Next stop on this trip is to record the bass with talented multi-instrumentalist Paul Tkachenko, before that though I'm hoping to add electric guitar and vocals today and tomorrow.

By the way, Paul and one of his acts: The Dead Victorians are playing at the Montague Arms - this Thursday 11th June. It's 2nd Thursdays hosted by Frog Morris that night, which is always a fun evening. I'll be there to support the night, so why not come down from about 8.30pm and be a part of the night which also features Pie Roulette!

Well that's all for now, catch you later.

Daren
xxx

Singalong If You Know Where I'm Coming From

2009-05-28T10:25:00.005Z

You know how sometimes things just come together? Well this week has been a bit like that. On Tuesday I was down at Bacchus in Hoxton Street to play a few tunes for the enigmatic Andreas von Graant's singer-songwriter night. Admittedly it was a very quiet night due, no doubt, to a swathe of post-bank holiday hangovers. Those who were there, however, had an excellent night. Opening up was Rachel Waite who's guitar pick-up had once been in the same room as the Beatles! I think their spirit was definitely infecting us all as she kicked things off with a wonderful set of original and cover songs. She was coaxed back for two encores (the second at then end involved borrowing my guitar, which was slung a bit low for her, but she coped admirably.

Next up was Lou who was great company all night and turned out to be a remarkably good player if somewhat nervous! Like me he can't play covers, but he demonstrated quite a range of playing in his set. He also produced a rendition of We Could Be Anything That We Wanted To Be from Bugsy Malone later on when we were well into the Guinness. He is certainly a dark horse.

Finally it was my turn and although I had brought my looper pedal I decided to leave it to one side and concentrate on unembelished songs instead. It seemed to work very well especially when the audience (such as they were) sang along to both The Fool I Am and I Need Your Love. My friend Peter summed up the gig thus (whilst very drunk on the black stuff) - She was great (pointing to Rachel), you were really good (pointing to Lou), BUT YOU ROCKED!! (pointing at me) Well I'm just glad someone approved, ha ha. Peter was last seen heading for a smoke with Lou... I hope you guys had a good evening.

I had to leave at a reasonable hour as I have to practice very hard for a gig this weekend. I am very happy to confirm that I will be playing the prestigious Duchess Showcase this Sunday 31st May. Full address below. This is a super venue and the Showcase is always a well attended night of excellent music. I'm thrilled to be playing there and am planning a great set. Please do come and join us from about 8pm if you can. For all the keen ones out there I'm also heading there tonight (Thursday 28th May) for the open mic night, from about 8.30pm.

Otherwise see you at another gig soon, next Thursday's gig at the Nine Bar is another excellent choice. Come along and sing along!!

All the best,

Daren
xxx

31st May 2009, doors open 8pm
Showcase @ The Duchess, 101 Battersea Park Rd, Battersea, SW8 4DS

4th June 2009, music from 7.30pm
The Nine Bar, 146 Tanner Street, London, SE1 2HG

15th June 2009
RAW Rocks @ The Abbey Tavern, 124 Kentish Town Rd, London, NW1 9QB

21st June 2009, open mic from 7.00pm onstage after 9pm
Stripped Bare @ The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

28th June 2009, doors 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine Docks, E1W 1AA

1st July 2009
Stripped Bare Acoustic Productions presents:
Wood 'N' Strings @ LOOM featured act
Loom Bar, 5 Clipstone Street, London W1W 6BB

Influences... Morrissey

2009-05-25T11:06:00.009Z

Morrissey has just turned 50 so it seems appropriate to say a few words, and what better person to kick off an occasional series on musical influences. I should say straight away that I wasn't a big fan of The Smiths, although I do own Big Mouth Strikes Again on 12" I prefer the live Morrissey version... "as her iPod started to melt". Somehow The Smiths were just too depressing in a pretty poor time for rock music in the UK.

Morrissey's solo music started in the same vein and then became more playful (if still willfully at odds with everything). I think the key difference though is the rest of his band, Boz Boorer and, particularly, Alain Whyte are big heros of mine and do, in fact, write most of the tunes on Morrissey's records. Ringleader of the Tormentors and You Are The Quarry are my favourite albums, but his band is also great live so check out the excellent Live At Earl's Court which sees them all at their peak (before Alain Whyte left the band) and includes some rare Morrissey tracks and some of the best Smiths songs too. This last record also includes one track that was never on an album but sums up the best of Morrissey's music for me, if you want one track to check out then listen to Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice - cracking tune, amusing yet caustic lyrics... perfect rock.

Of course I realise that Morrissey is much like that other British tradition that begins with M - Marmite. People tend to either love him or hate him - which is the sign of a truly radical artist, I could never court controversy the way he does, but I do try to be more creative than average in my lyrics. Whichever, it's good to see some real longevity in the UK music scene, so happy birthday you old bugger - I hope you have plenty more!

Some miscellaneous memories relating to Morrissey and (ahem) booze:

1) Drinking my friend Adrian's ENTIRE collection of red wine, whilst alternately playing and arguing for early or late period Morrissey songs as being the best. We agreed, drunkenly, to disagree.

2) Missing Morrissey's appearance at a Paris festival because Peachy and I didn't make it out of the hotel bar. What can I say, I enjoy getting drunk with friends... we did make it to see Radiohead the next day, and they were utterly fantastic.

To hear the Morrissey influence, check out my song: The Fool I Am

In other news, the recording for the charity record is full steam ahead. I'm very pleased that the peerless Haydn Callow and frighteningly brilliant Paul Tkachenko have agreed to play respectively drums and bass for me. I'm very, very excited about this. Now perhaps if I can just get Tony Visconti to produce it... hmmm. Much more news on this to follow.

The recording is leading to a slight lull in gigs, but I will be back stronger than ever with some new arrangements (although no new songs just yet) on the 4th June at the Nine Bar near Tower Bridge.

Full gig list:

4th June 2009, music from 7.30pm
The Nine Bar, 146 Tanner Street, London, SE1 2HG

15th June 2009
RAW Rocks @ The Abbey Tavern, 124 Kentish Town Rd, London, NW1 9QB

21st June 2009, open mic from 7.00pm onstage after 9pm
Stripped Bare @ The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

28th June 2009, doors 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine Docks, E1W 1AA

1st July 2009
Stripped Bare Acoustic Productions presents:
Wood 'N' Strings @ LOOM featured act
Loom Bar, 5 Clipstone Street, London W1W 6BB

Best wishes to you all,

Daren
xxx

P.S. Shamefully I have never seen Morrissey live, so the picture above is me and Peachy missing Morrissey in Paris, August 2006.

Early Warning

2009-05-17T14:22:00.005Z

As hinted at on Facebook (be-friend me here or become a fan of my music here) I was losing the will a bit. I'd had two good, but emotionally draining, gigs in London and had got home a 1am for the third night in a row. Then just as I was questioning myself some good things came along and it's time to share these with you.

Firstly I've got two good gigs coming up and I wanted to give you plenty of advance warning, if you can get into London on one of these dates, then please come and watch and listen. Firstly on the 4th June I'm playing as a headline act at the Nine Bar in SE1 (146 Tanner Street, London, SE1 2HG) close to Tower Bridge. There are four headline acts and five "surprise" slots, so it's going to be a super night of music. Get down for about 8pm.

Secondly I'm playing at the prestigious Loom Bar (5 Clipstone Street, London W1W 6BB) as a special guest on the 1st July (plenty of warning on this one!!). Doors open at 7pm and the show kicks off at 7.45. I'll be using all the gadgets (Voicelive box and looper) for this great show and there will be some surprises even if you've seen me recently. If you make it to one gig of mine over the Summer, then make it this one.

Thirdly there is a possibility that a new recording of mine will be on a charity compilation record (in aid of Cystic Fibrosis). Nothing definite yet, but I'll bring you more news as soon as I have it.

I'm also playing really good gigs at Prohibition and The Phoenix in central London, here are all the up-and-coming dates, put them in your diary now.

4th June 2009, music from 7.30pm
The Nine Bar, 146 Tanner Street, London, SE1 2HG

21st June 2009, open mic from 7.00pm onstage after 9pm
Stripped Bare @ The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

28th June 2009, doors 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine Docks, E1W 1AA

1st July 2009
Stripped Bare Acoustic Productions presents:
Wood 'N' Strings @ LOOM featured act
Loom Bar, 5 Clipstone Street, London W1W 6BB

See you at a gig very soon.

Daren
xxx

P.S. The picture is from Ultravox live at Hammersmith back in April - I was literally in row Z, but I still enjoyed it very much.

Somewhere

2009-05-12T12:11:00.003Z

It's been another busy week, but very enjoyable and it has brought some great experiences. Last week on Monday I travelled up to Birmingham to play the 15 Minute Club @ The Living Room. It was one of those evenings where everybody was on top form, all the acts played well and the sound and atmosphere was great. I used the loop pedal for my set and was very pleased with the reaction. It was also great to see Johnny Ryder again, that lad has talent.

On Tuesday I was in Portsmouth, playing the Shrek Rap (by Casdok) again for the Portsmouth Autism Support Network. It was a very enjoyable evening and it was great the DJ Kirkby and Chris King were there to talk about DJ's book. It was interesting to increase my knowledge of the real world aspects of living with Autism and there is talk of another performance of the 'Rap soon.

Thursday I was playing at the Edinburgh Cellars and again it was an excellent night. I met the splendid Peter Paul Parker, and also a lady who sang about her sex doll (amongst other things).

Sunday night and I was back at Prohibition near Tower Bridge and actually witnessed the bridge opening to let a tall masted boat pass by on my way there. The show was, again, of a really high standard and Rae really gets the evening going with her compering. The highlight for me was jamming at the end with all the acts, but especially Tres Womack, who was over from Texas, USA to promote an Americana CD that he's on. He very kindly swapped his CD for mine and I have been enjoying playing it ever since. The track "Gather Round" which he wrote with his brother (I believe) is my favourite cut.

I have a small treat for you which I shot on my mobile phone on the way back home from Prohibition, but before that just time to plug my next gig:

13th May 2009, doors 7.30pm onstage after 9.00pm
Stripped Bare @ The Powers Bar, 332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN

Hope to see you there, for a full electro-acoustic set, loops, voices and new versions of songs for your delight.

Meantime, enjoy this rough and ready video shot on my phone on Sunday night.

Daren
xx

London, Midlands, South

2009-05-03T10:53:00.004Z

I'm off on a little mini-adventure starting tonight, when I venture to The Phoenix in the heart of London. This will be a full showcase gig with all the bells and whistles (well vocal effects and loops anyway) - my friend Acoustic Ashley is playing too.

3rd May 2009, open mic from 7.30pm, featured acts from 8.30pm
Stripped Bare @ The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G OPP

Then tomorrow night I'm heading to the midlands to play a gig at the brand new 15 Minute Club venue in Birmingham. Do I have any fans in Birmingham? We'll find out tomorrow.

4th May 2009, music from 8pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living Room Birmingham, Unit 4 Regency Wharf 2, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2DS

Then on Tuesday there will be a return for the Shrek Rap (by Casdok) at a private autism support network event in Portsmouth. It's been fun to get practicing that again, and it's super that it's getting another hearing.

Will let you know how it goes on Wednesday when I've recovered!!

See you at at gig soon,

Daren
xxx

Mementos

2009-04-29T13:24:00.007Z

I'm back from LA and just about in one piece. Well apart from a severely bruised finger (I shut it in an industrial elevator door, yeah it did hurt). The last two weeks have been saturated with a host of experiences and emotions, way too much to document in detail, so here are a few snapshots (in no particular order, just as they come to me).

Waking up wedged into a airline seat, surprised to find that I've actually managed to sleep. Foolishly I start to watch another movie. Anyone know what happens at the end of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas? I can't help feeling it can only be bad. Just before we land I can swear that I hear the pilot say, "We hope to see you on another virgin soon".

Sitting on Zuma beach in Malibu, watching the sunset with Alex. I'm eating a picnic off a china plate with a knife and fork. Very civilised.

Walking downtown in LA in searing heat (they had a Spring heatwave just for me, it seems). It's a mixed area of very run down shops and beautiful old theatres. I walk for about 2 hours and am astonished to not see one MacDonalds.

Standing in a huge empty loft in the Toy District of downtown LA. Our voices echo around the walls. The view of the commercial district is stunning.

Trying not to laugh when a slightly camp real estate agent tells us that the apartment block we are viewing has a "breezeway".

More walking, this time on Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard. Checking out the handprints and the walk of fame. Is this the true mark of having made it? Curiously it kinda is just how I always imagined it would be, although I am slightly disappointed I didn't see C3-PO's footprints. There is a man dress up as Homer Simpson, apparently this is how he makes his living.

Watching the homeless people make camp for the night in the road next to our loft (whilst trying to avoid looking at the stuffed snake and mongoose diorama). There is a mission and a Police station just around the corner. It seems that they are allowed to sleep on the streets from 9pm to 6am. Prior to Hurricane Katrina the city aggressively moved them on, so I am looking at social progress (of a sort). It turns out we are actually living on Skid Row!

Champagne by the pool in the Standard Hotel on Sunset.

Wandering the lot at Rent-A-Wreck. They've told me that they rent cars to the movie industry. There is a green convertible Jaguar just like the one in Memento. I don't ask if it is the same one, I don't want to be disappointed. In my mind it is.

Getting lost in the LAX airport complex on the way to the car park. Twice.

Looking down in the blazing heat on the whole of LA from the observatory in Hollywood Hills. Wondering what would happen if there was an earthquake right now. Trying to take a picture of us with the Hollywood sign in the background. Failing comically... most especially when the passerby who volunteers to take the picture for us manages to get it right behind our heads.

Brunch (Dutch Babies and Mimosas) with a number of young defense attorneys in the suburbs of LA followed by table football (my team loses 1-2, but it's pretty close). Their descriptions of gangs and crime in the area makes Thornton Heath seem very safe.

Dxxx

La La LA

2009-04-14T10:19:00.004Z

More travels beckon as this week I'm off to LA and then it looks like I'm going back on the road as a roadie, but more news on that later.

First a round up of the last few gigs (mine for a change) which have all gone really well: last Wednesday I was in Guildford at a great bar called Fahrenheit 55 that has a great viewing area upstairs and I made full use of all my TC Helicon VoiceLive box and looper pedal during the set.

On Thursday I was up in Islington at the Edinburgh Cellars. Daniel, who promotes the Stripped Bare nights, had been let down by a couple of artists, and then on the night another had to pull out due to a death in the family! In the end there was just myself, Andy Page and my good friend CT, but we played our hearts out for the whole evening. I did two half hour sets and made use of the looper pedal again (despite a slightly dodgy PA) to entertain an increasingly enthusiastic crowd. The feedback from the evening was all really positive and I'm looking forward to getting back there soon. When I left Andy was still singing away with most of the audience joining in with his set of well performed covers!

Easter Sunday night brought me back to St. Albans were I first started out on the acoustic open mic scene. The Horn pub has just won an award as the Best Music Pub in the UK and it was fantastic to be able to use all my effects pedals with their excellent sounding PA and powerful monitors (the bits that let the artist onstage hear themselves... very important when you are building loops). The Sunday night crowd is very knowledgeable as most of them are veteran performers themselves, so it was particularly pleasing to have a good number of them come over to let me know they had enjoyed the set. Can't wait to get back there either!

Fancy hearing what everybody is talking about? Well you can tomorrow night, when I'm doing the full looping/VoiceLive show at the Powers Bar in Kilburn (332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN), I'll be on around 8.30pm. Alternatively you can check out my videos on YouTube:

Daren's YouTube Channel

There are new videos from an exclusive Whitechapel gig going up this week and next week.

You might also be interested to know that a written piece of mine has recently been published in A3 magazine. This is available free from many London galleries, plus I have a few copies that I can post to you if you'd like one. Leave me a comment if you are interested.

Right, better get rehearsing for tomorrow!

Daren
xxx

P.S. Heading to see Fit & the Conniptions at the Abbey in Kentish Town tonight, do come along if you fancy it.

Travelling

2009-04-08T10:49:00.008Z

I'm off on my travels again, tonight the one man electro-acoustic cabaret hits Guildford. Now technically this is a local gig as Guildford is in my county of Surrey, but it's still a fair old trek. I have to say I'm really looking forward to it, the set is really strong now, and it's a great sign when I can't actually fit all the songs I really want to play into my 25 minute set. My use of the looper and voicebox is improving with practice all the time. For the most part I can now hit the buttons I need without looking down, this is a bit improvement as it really lets me concentrate on performing the song and not on the technology. It's always supposed to be complimentary to the song and not take it over.

If you want to come along to Guildford tonight, here are the details:

Strangers On A Train @ Fahrenheit 55
3 Milkhouse Gate, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3EZ

My good friend and excellent multi-instrumentalist, Wayne Myers (Fit & The Conniptions) came to a recent electro-acoustic gig and wrote some nice things. Thanks again Wayne, hope your throat gets better soon.

For those of you unable to get to UK gigs there is some good news. I'm halfway through downloading video from my recent White Hart gig. This involves two video camera views so the editing will take a little longer than usual, but I would expect to have 4 or 5 new videos up some time next week. You'll hear about it here, but you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want the earliest possible chance to see them:

Daren's YouTube Page

Don't forget to give a star rating to any videos you like.

The rest of my gigs this week are as follows:

9th April 2009 - 8.00pm
Stripped Bare @ The Edinburgh Cellars, 125 Newington Green Road, Islington, N1 4RA

12th April 2009 - from 8.00pm onstage after 9.00pm
Blue Angel Acoustic Cafe @ The Horn, Victoria Street, St. Albans, AL1 3TE

15th April 2009 - open mic from 7.30
Stripped Bare @ The Powers Bar, 332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, NW6 2QN

Last night I ventured to the Hen & Chickens Theatre in Highbury (nearest tube Highbury & Islington) and saw The Brazner performing "Ay Me!". I'd seen Charlotte and Tom do some of these sketches before, but they were all excellently performed and really suit the small theatre setting. They certainly made me (and the whole audience) laugh out loud at several points and the horse comedian they brought in for the night was a real bray! Their show runs all week and is well worth a trip:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=57095362121&ref=nf

Finally I just wanted to make mention of the excellent new album by Hadar Manor - "Crossing London". This is a self-produced effort with help from many very talented friends (Wayne Myers, Tom Fry, Daniel Spiller, Geoff Southall, Gemma Fuller and Hezron Chetty to name check but a few) and can be bought for just a tenner (plus postage) here:

http://www.myspace.com/hadarmanor

The songs are all very good and recorded simply and with obvious enjoyment and a wicked sense of humour - drawing on her experience of busking and travelling across London. Some of the little bits of audio between tracks and the group singing on many tracks really shows this. It has to be said that all the tracks are tinged with a little sadness, so it never gets too sweet. In fact, having said that, some of the songs are downright heart-wrenching, but, hey, if you like a little pain with your pleasure (as I do) then this this is for you. A whole range of styles and sounds are presented here and I cannot recommend highly enough also seeing her live. Either with or without her talented band she is a mesmorising, beautiful, emotional and highly skilled performer.

Okay, that's all for now. See you on-line, see you at a gig - either way - see you soon!

Daren
xxx

Where Am I?

2009-03-26T11:47:00.007Z

Jet lag is real - I know, I'm feeling it right now. Monday night I flew the red eye back from Newark, NY and, despite having a full row of four seats to myself, got no sleep whatsoever. I did try, but a crying baby and proximity to the loo made it impossible. Still it was a novelty to be entirely horizontal on a jet plane - now I know how the first class passengers feel (they have some very natty bed/chair type thingies these days).

New York was good fun. It was fantastic to see Alex again, and I enjoyed staying in Brooklyn and traveling around different parts of the city on the subway. I really like New York, it's probably my third favourite city in the world (after London and Paris) and particular highlights this time were walking in Brooklyn Heights (great view of Manhattan), viewing art in Chelsea (Deitch Projects is always interesting), eating in 'the only diner in LIC' (that's Long Island City of course) and catching a funky Brazilian influenced jazz band in the West Village. I have to confess that I didn't make it to any open mic nights (boo!) - preferring instead to have a break from playing - which has really energised me for more gigs here.

After arriving home on Tuesday morning I got a text from my friend Wayne reminding me that it was Hadar Manor's album launch at the 12 Bar Club that night! Well I um'd and ah'd for about half an hour before deciding that I might as well fight the fatigue and go anyway. I have to say I am very glad I did. The 12 Bar Club is a very strange venue which used to be an old forge or something, and it's very hard to see some of the acts due to the close proximity of stage and balcony. All the same it was a very special night. The warm-up acts included a bagpipe player, a harpist, and several singer-songwriters who were all excellent. Hadar sat in with most of them, and I began to wonder how her set could match up - but I needn't have worried. When she finally took to the stage with her band (a little later than advertised) they produced one of the finest live performances I think I have ever seen. With the peerless Wayne Myers on guitar and Tom Fry on bass (sorry, don't know the drummer's name, but he was excellent too - AND he had a nice hat) they were joined by a succession of other musicians. Violin, trumpet, vocals, percussion, harp, keyboards and guitar accompanied a wonderful set that covered all the emotions and was constantly entertaining.

Here are the other artists who I saw that night: Vashti Anna, Sean Taylor, Bare Hat, Judith Haustein, Wayne Myers, Diego Lavardes, Daniel Spiller & The Broken Record Project, Gemma Fuller, Tom Fry, Geoff Southall, Spencer Pierce, The Entertainment, Beth Rowley...

(Pictured are Hadar Manor, Wayne Myers on guitar, drummer in nice hat and you can just about see Tom Fry on right of the shot)

Tiredness overtook me rapidly after Hadar finished so I headed home in a drowsy (but happy) haze.

I finally fell asleep at about midnight...

...and woke up at 3pm the next afternoon!!

Somehow, despite all this sleep/music induced euphoria, I managed to practice for tonight's gig at the White Hart in Whitechapel. It's easy to get to, just take a tube to Whitechapel station, turn left as you exit and walk up to Mile End Road... the venue is upstairs. There is music tonight from 7.30pm (open mic, including my mate Ashley Cowen) and then featured acts from 9.00pm - I'm due onstage at 9.30pm and will be off half an hour later so don't be late!!

I can promise some looped delights, weird vocals and carefully crafted songs both old and new... and that's just me!

See you there.

Daren
xxx

Playing Without Electricity

2009-03-09T12:19:00.004Z

I have to say I really enjoy playing genuine "unplugged" gigs. I'm sure that some performers hearts sink when they see that there is no amplifier or microphone to use, but actually I find it very exciting. There is a rawness and emotional connection that you get when the music from your guitar and mouth are reaching the people sitting before you directly. It has the added advantage of meaning that the audience has to remain quiet in order to hear the songs and this allows you to use playing dynamics and your vocal range freely.

I have just done such a gig at The Jago in Shoreditch. It was an electric (!) night of spoken word, poetry and music in an intimate and enjoyable setting. I particularly enjoyed the work of John Zammit, Andreas, the singing bouncer (who came in, sung one number beautifully and then left to go back to work!), Failed Hearts (part blues, part punk - nice harp playing), Trinity (the DJ, who played real vinyl and some of my favourite tunes - Supertramp anyone?) and the co-hosts David Amery and Jazzman John Clarke. I sold a good number of CDs, including one to a lady who wanted me to sing her a cover song before parting with her cash. In the end I managed a pretty reasonable version of California Dreamin' and the deal was done. I played 6 songs in total and the night comes highly recommended: it's the first Saturday of every month (so also a rare weekend gig) and I'm back there to play again on the 4th April.

I've got some really exciting gigs coming up, in north, south, east and west London, Guildford, St. Albans and (possibly) New York. Plus, this coming Saturday is the excellent Fiestival in Chatham, Kent. Expect lots of mexican themed songs and performances and lots of latin-American themed fun. I'm also back at the Montague Arms this Thursday (12th March) - this time performing a one-off interpretation of one of Daniel Lehan's art pieces. This really is a one-off, if you are not there, you will not experience it! In fact there are so many gigs that I can't really do them justice here, and I don't always have the time to promote every gig properly, so PLEASE go to my gigs page on my website and scan the list, find one near you and COME ON DOWN!

http://www.darencallow.co.uk/gigs.html

If you haven't yet taken advantage of the free downloads from the site, then I would swing by there too and grab anything you like. I'm about to record some new songs and review what is available for free, and what I will be charging for: so get in there now!!

Have a great week.

Daren
xxx

P.S. The photograph is from the excellent Powers venue in Kilburn, I'm back there for a featured set on the 15th April. Perhaps the Angry Badger has been down that way.

A Song About Pain

2009-03-02T14:30:00.005Z

There is a lot of pain around in life: the pain of loss, of separation, of illness. But can there be times when pain is a good thing? It warns us of problems, reminds us we are alive and some people enjoy the way it can mingle deliciously with pleasure. Some people mistake pain for love. Chastisement for devotion. All I know is that it is necessary, sometimes healthy and mildy addictive.

Am I a pain junky?

No idea, but here is a song wot I wrote about it.

A Song About Pain
==================

Another lover packs their boxes
And moves away from the lies
But there are no lies in the tears in my eyes
as I ask myself if I am to blame

'Cos it's not like I know any better
And it's not like I'll ever change
I just keep on making the same mistakes,
So maybe I just like the pain
Maybe I just want the pain.

So there I am just lying
Alone on my bedroom floor
Another vodka or wine will hurt me just fine
But you know that I still want more

'Cos it's not like I know any better
And it's not like I'll ever change
I just keep on making the same mistakes,
So maybe I just like the pain,
Maybe I just want the pain!

You give me pleasure and you give me pain,
Over and over and over again.
I need the torture and I need the fear,
'Cos it's not torture if I volunteer

'Cos it's not like I know any better
And it's not like I'll ever change
I just keep on making the same mistakes,
So maybe I just like the pain
Maybe I just want the pain.

'Cos it's not like I know any better
And it's not like I have any shame
I just keep on making the same mistakes,
So maybe I just like the pain
maybe I just want the pain
maybe I just love the pain

(D. Callow 2009)

Oh, and you can hear how it sounds right here:

A Song About Pain - MP3

It's dedicated to all my friends in Blog world and real life, who like to invite a little pain into their lives from time to time - you know who you are.

Daren
xxx

P.S. I love the picture on this post taken by the excellent Kris Gruber. I will send a signed CD of this song and a few others to whoever can get closest to guessing where it was taken. Nearest guess (as measured on Google Earth) wins.

Music Around London

2009-02-28T19:56:00.007Z

Busy, busy week. So here's a quick round up.

Tuesday

Open mic night at The Eagle near Old Street. Nice to be playing in a different place and to a fairly big crowd. Also good to see my friend Anne-Marie Sanderson on great form.

Wednesday

Back to the River Bar on a very, very busy night. Played my two tunes, met some nice people and hung around to see the rest of the night.

Thursday

This one deserves more than just a single line... I was very excited to play for Jazzman John up at the Fused Lounge Bar in Lewisham. This was partly because it's an easy bus ride for me to get there, but also because it promised to be a great night and I wasn't disappointed. First up was a fantastic trombone three-piece, who really entertained us and finished with a cover of the Star Trek theme! I was next up, and despite a really dodgy mic played through four of my songs. The evening went from strength to strength as performer after performer produced some really memorable moments. Sometimes Jasmine improvised with an electric cello, loops and effects, and Dan Razer played some great guitar and very evocative songs. The evening ended with Jazzman John himself rapping over improvised guitar, cello and saxophone (pictured above). It was and excellent night, and I do recommend it highly.

Saturday

Oh yeah, that's today... I have finally recorded my new song called A Song About Pain - I will Blog on this properly tomorrow and give you a chance to hear it.

Next gig is on Monday when I head to the Abbey Tavern in Kentish Town for the RAW open mic night.

Daren
xx

Meetings And Partings

2009-02-23T11:48:00.006Z

Life is made up of meetings and partings (name the film). And always more partings.

Last night saw the final performance of 15 Minute Club at the Living Room in Islington. The reason for this is Islington Council changing their rules on music licensing due to an incident on a packed Saturday night disco. The venue now has to have TWO paid doormen on any music night, even the sleepy Sundays that the 15 Minute Club acoustic acts put on. The economics don't add up, so the (unpaid) musicians have to move on. Ours was a quiet, family friendly night where acts of any age got their 15 minutes and then relaxed and watched the other acts perform, and it is no more. So much for the support of original music in the UK. One person and a lot of bureaucracy have closed an exciting and fresh venue.

I actually feel sadder about it today than I did last night, because it was a surreal night for another reason which I'll come to. All the acts performed to their best for the Sunday night eaters and drinkers. My set featured a new song (more on that very soon) and an new piece of percussion (any guesses?). I really enjoyed all the acts Denai Moore, Harley Moon Kemp, Amy Wyke and two other chaps who's name I didn't manage to retain (sorry guys) - if they get in touch I'll rectify that. The jam at the end was great fun too as I improvised 15 Minute Club related lyrics to Get Back!

The weirdest part of the night came just after I had met Harley. A guy walks into the bar who is the spitting image of one of two brothers that used to be in a very successful 80s band that I grew up listening to. After a little bit of covert glancing on my behalf he came over and sat next to me. He asked if I was one of the other performers and I became increasingly convinced that he was one of the two men in question, or just an amazing dead ringer. I quickly formulated a plan to find out: if I introduced myself to him then he would give me his name and I would know. So I did and I could have sworn that he said his name was Neil! That's my rubbish hearing for you, he did though say he was Harley's dad (and her mum introduced herself too) and when she was introduced as Harley Moon Kemp my heart gave a little start. I had, as you all probably guessed already, just shook the hand of Martin Kemp the bass player with Spandau Ballet and, it should be noted, Shirlie Holliman - one half of Pepsi & Shirlie. I missed out on the chance to perform my songs for him, as they left with Harlery and her friends shortly after she finished playing, but I have to say he seemed like a thoroughly nice man. I suspect he probably thought I did recognise him, but I'm glad that in my naive way I just introduced myself as if he was any guy. Which in way, of course, we all are.

Meetings and partings indeed.

In other news, I'm playing twice this week. On Tuesday I'm going to try my hand at the open mic night at The Eagle, and then on Thursday I'm a featured act at the Fused Bar in Lewisham. I've also booked a featured artist slot at the White Hart in Whitechapel on March 26th - this will be a full electro-acoustic gig and I promise will be a must see (and hear, obviously).

Don't forget that the Shrek Rap CD is still available and all proceeds go to Autism related charities.

Have a good week!

Daren
xx

15 Minute Club @ The Living Room

2009-02-22T10:52:00.003Z

I'm off to Islington tonight to play at the last 15 Minute Club gig at the Living Room. It's the last 15 Minute Club at the Living Room so it's sure to be an emotional night! If you would like to follow my preparations then tune in via Twitter:

http://twitter.com/Daren68

Planning to play my new song again (I did play it at Prohibition last week, but it's moved on since then) and stay tuned to this Blog for a chance to help name the song again. I also have a new piece of percussion that I'm going to use for the first time tonight. Really looking forward to it, so do come down and support:

22nd February 2009, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living Room, Islington, N1 8LN

In other news, I've also got a great gig booked up at the White Hart, 1 Mile End Road, Whitechapel - if you've never seen my full electro-acoustic gig (looper pedal, VoiceLive box, percussion etc...) this is the one to come to. I promise to put on the best show I can. The date is 26th March - keep it free!

More on tonight's gig later.

Daren
xxx

The Real Brits

2009-02-18T15:39:00.003Z

So we are living in a golden age of British music? Well that may well be true but if it is it certainly has little to do with major record labels, especially at the grassroots.

Which is where I was again this Sunday just gone at Prohibition. I was there to witness the excellent original music of Byron Johnstone (pictured) and Sala. Both produced fun, exciting sets albeit in very different ways.

Byron Johnstone is a solo guitarist with heavy Flamenco leanings (but that's not the total of it) - he is also a great user of technology, with a looper pedal and reverb pedal being used to full effect. A great mixture of technique and textures and rhythms. He doesn't just play the strings, he creates rhythm parts, of surprising complexity, from hitting and tapping parts of his guitar. It's quite mesmerizing and brilliantly performed. The Flamenco pieces certainly went down well with the high percentage of genuinely Spanish people in the audience. On top of this he's a good looking chap and very nice person. I consoled myself with the fact that at least my lyrics are better than his (ha ha).

Sala speaks at least three languages (I actually heard him talking fluently in all three), as a large number of very attractive female fans and can play guitar and especially piano with are real flair and a great deal of enjoyment. He was a pleasure to meet too and I hope to see him again soon. Check them both out here:

Byron Johnstone

Sala

All this fun (and my set too, of course) was brought to you by the excellent 15 Minute Club, and I'm appearing for them again this Sunday at the Living Room (not Prohibition as previously billed). For the really keen I am also at the River Bar again tonight, and The Duchess in Battersea Park tomorrow (Thursday) night.

Loads of gigs coming up, so I've posted them below.

See you at a gig really soon.

Daren
xxx

22nd February 2009, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living Room, Islington, N1 8LN

26th February 2009, 8.00pm
Fused Lounge Bar, 21 Lee High Road, Lewisham, SE13 5LD

8th March 2009, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St. Katherine's Docks, nr Tower Bridge, E1W 1AA

12th March 2009, 9.00pm
2nd Thursdays @ The Montague Arms
- one-off performance of a Daniel Lehan piece

14th March 2009 - 8.00pm
Fiestaval @ Poco Loco, 58 High Street, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4DS

8th April 2009 - 8.00pm
Strangers On A Train @ Fahrenheit 55, 3 Milkhouse Gate, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3EZ

12th April 2009 - 8.00pm
The Horn, Victoria Street, St. Albans, AL1 3TE

In The Shadow Of Tower Bridge

2009-02-15T13:35:00.002Z

Wednesday I played two songs at the Live In London open mic at the River Bar. Friday I'm back playing six songs to a packed bar. I made some mistakes, but gave it all I had. I met some old friends, I made some new ones. It was good.

Tonight I go back to Prohibition in St. Katherine's docks. I have a new song. I'm not sure whether to play it or not, but I think I might have to. Just to see what happens.

I hope to see you there.

Daren
xxx

What?!

2009-02-13T14:18:00.003Z

I can't really describe the antics at the Montague Arms last night, and I'm quite sure you wouldn't believe me if I told you. So here's a picture instead.

Captions or suggestions at to what was happening are welcome!

Meanwhile, don't forget tonight's super gig at the River Bar, 206 - 208 Tower Bridge Road, music kicks off at 8pm. It promises to be a super night.

Daren
xxx

Friday Live At The River Bar

2009-02-12T11:19:00.006Z

Last night I ventured to the open mic night at the River Bar near Tower Bridge. It was a really good night, and all the better for me as I now have a gig on a Friday night in London!! The only downside (there had to be a catch) is that it's TOMORROW NIGHT! So no notice at all, but it's looking like being a really, really good gig. So if you have no plans or even just loose plans - change them and make your way to the River Bar:

Friday 13th February 2009 - 8pm
LONDON NIGHTS LIVE downstairs at The River Bar
206 - 208 London Bridge Road, London, SE1 2UP

The venue is in the downstairs bar, there are five hand-picked acts playing 25 minute sets and IT'S ON A FRIDAY!

In other news I can confirm that will be playing at Fiestaval which is being held in the Poco Loco Mexican restaurant in Chatham, Kent. This will be on the 14th March and should be another crazy night. Unmissable if you are in Kent or, quite frankly, anywhere in the south east of England.

If you want to keep even more up-to-date with what I'm doing, you can now follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/Daren68

If I can figure out how to do the mobile phone updates then I can even report on the crazy goings on during the evenings that I Blog about here.

See you at a gig very soon, don't forget this Sunday and next Sunday at Prohibition (also near Tower Bridge)

Daren
xxx

Life Goes On...

2009-02-05T11:28:00.005Z

"...Sing-a-long if you know where I'm coming from"

It's been quite an intense couple of weeks in many ways, and I must say I'm certainly feeling it a bit. The last few days especially have been a time for reflection, re-motivating and re-starting. Last Sunday (1st) I played at the Surface Unsigned Festival in Tufnel Park. On the whole it was a fun experience, I met some cool bands (and one decidedly uncool singer) and I pitched my solo set (with voice effects and looper) against five rock bands! It was certainly a crazy thing to do and it was no huge surprise that I didn't get through to the next round, but all the same I was a bit disappointed. In the end the maths was just weighted against me, I'd relied on picking up some of the band votes (each band got two votes worth 20 points each) which I did (more than any other act) but just couldn't pull in the text votes and audience votes to get into the top 4. I have to say though I did well not to come last, and I am very grateful to all those who texted in and, especially, to Adrian, Olivia, Alan (my dad) and Lorraine who all come through the snow to vote for me in person. If you are interested you can see the full breakdown of the scores here:

http://www.surfaceunsigned.co.uk/londonHomepage.html

As you can see I missed out on fourth place by just 14 votes! Mind you The JayWays, who pulled out on the day, are an excellent band who might well have displaced a few higher up. At least I was there, I competed (against bands) and did myself proud. It was hard work doing the looping and trying to sing in tune when the onstage monitoring was a bit iffy, but apparently it sounded good out front, so what else could I do?

After enjoying a couple of post-gig drinks and hearing the result I headed out to find that the whole of London had turned white! As you probably know, we don't get snow in London very often and we are never prepared for it. Consequently I arrived at Balham station (after a very pleasant journey with one of the other bands and four girls from the Czech Republic!) to find no trains running, no buses running and one of the two cab companies shutting up early! The other company had a queue and there was me with a guitar and a bag full of electronic equipment trying to get in whilst the snow fell on me. I couldn't actually get into the lobby, so I check the buses again (no joy) and was just beginning to think I might actually have to walk home (some 9 km or so) through the increasing piles of white. Fortunately the other cab company had space for me to enter now, so I did only to find out that the cab that had just left was my best bet. Fortunately they waited, and after a quick trudge around the corner I was finally in a vehicle that was able to get me home safely.

In other news, the videos from the Double Book Launch are now up and you have a choice of two, this is my favourite:

Taken by Casdok herself, this one skips the intro and gets straight into the performance. Cunningly this angle means that you can't see the music stand with the lyrics on it (with the pages the wrong way around). You can just about make out a cable running from the PA and up inside my jacket to my iPod headphones - used as cunning in-ear monitors - vital to making sure I could hear what I was doing. If you would like to hear the (slightly nervous) introduction to this piece, then check out this version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAYBizvWDso

Don't forget that you can buy a copy of the Shrek Rap single (either on CD or as a download) for a donation of just £3. We have already raised £17 this way and it would be great to get even more money for DJ Kirkby's local Autism network. Do get in touch via a comment or an email to music @ darencallow.co.uk (without the spaces) and your very own copy will be on its way. It also includes two of my songs recorded especially for this release as an added incentive.

So what's next?

Well apart from a new version of Obsession and a new song called Life Goes On (see lyric at the very top), I'm also working on a piece for Daniel Lehan's show 50 Not Out at the Montague Arms on the 12th March. I'm also planing to record Until We Pass This Way Again and a new acoustic version of Lightkeeper. So there will be plenty to see and hear very soon - come along to Prohibition on the 15th February to hear some new things.

Daren
xxx

P.S. Do check out the radio show on South City Radio (see below) if you haven't already.

South City Radio - A Double Dose

2009-01-29T12:06:00.009Z

Yesterday was a truly fun day and a small milestone in my journey as a musician. A little while ago I met a chap called Patrick at one of CT's RAW nights (thanks CT!!) and he invited me on to his radio show. I was delighted to accept, of course, but I had little idea what was in store for me. His show is called PH7 from the Neutral Zone (PH7 - neutral - geddit? Actually it took me a while) and yesterday was the day that I made my way to Peckham to take part in his show. I had originally thought that I would just be having a small chat and playing a couple of songs, but as we planned the show in a local squat (more on that later) I realised that it was going to be much more than that. In the end it turned out to be a whole hour dedicated to my songs, influences and recordings - such a fantastic experience for me. I think I played four or five live songs (I'm just listening to the show now to remind myself) plus a couple off CD and talked about some of my early musical influences. I have to say I'm particularly pleased that the show featured both Abba and Bruce Cockburn - now when was the last time a radio show had both of those artists on at the same time. Anyway, you could be listening to the show right now as you read this - so head over to South City Radio's Shows list and scroll down to where you see my picture and listen to the PH7 show for Weds 28th Jan.

After a very enjoyable chat and some live songs we headed back to the squat where Patrick was preparing for his second show of the day. This is a totally different beast. Airing at 10pm - live from the Peckham squat, this show is a chaotic mix of talk, music, noises, improvised singing and whatever else was going on. It all ends up with a big jam and makes for an unmissable show. I don't think this one is available to download later so if you didn't tune it you wouldn't have heard me playing practically my entire catalogue live in a disused pub - complete with some "interesting" drumming and background vocals provided by some of the visitors that night. You would also have heard a very rare cover version of California Dreamin' !! Actually the background vocalists where three super girls one of whom was amongst the squatters evicted from Mayfair during the day (you can just about make some of them out in the picture above).

I managed to get in a few plugs for my gigs and also the 15 Minute Club, Surface Unsigned and my friend Frog's nights on 2nd Thursdays at the Montague Arms. It was there playing for just over an hour so you can imagine how much I was enjoying myself.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as I enjoyed recording it, and I just want to say a big thank you to Patrick and Roxie (the producer) for making it so easy and enjoyable.

See some of you on Sunday, or at a gig real soon!

Daren
xxx

Radio Play And Shrek Rap CD

2009-01-27T13:02:00.005Z

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be playing live for PH7 in his Neutral Zone show on South City Radio this Wednesday (28th Jan). They played one of my songs on the show broadcast on the 21st which featured Steve Bolt and Chosen Fume, which you can still hear via their website. Tune in live tomorrow at 7pm, or if you can't listen live revisit the site and download the show at a later time.

The double book launch and live performance of Shrek Rap went very well (see below) and if you would like to own a copy of Shrek Rap (by Casdok) on CD (also featuring The End Of The World Part I and After All) then please send me an email: music @ darencallow.co.uk (without the spaces) with your address, I would ask for a donation of a minimum of £3 all the profits from sales of the CD will be donated to autism related charities (to be confirmed shortly) - payments can be made via PayPal at the same email address or via the button on my Music page. If you would prefer to have the song via MP3 download, then please make your payment and then contact me by email, and I will send you a link to download the three songs and album cover.

For more information about the books the launch was for, then go here

Do not forget Surface Unsigned Festival 09 at the Boston Music Room on the 1st of February. The format is a kind of battle of the bands, so I really need your support. If you cannot attend then please consider texting your support (see below). Contact me for tickets (email music @ darencallow.co.uk - without the spaces) as you will save £1 on the door price if you buy from me.

1st February 2009, 9.30pm
Surface Unsigned Music Festival, Boston Music Room, 178 Junction Rd, Tufnell Park, N19 5QQ

If you can't make it then to support me please text "LONDON 6004" to 64343 to vote. (You must be 16+ to vote, texts cost £1.00 plus standard network charges. Please get permission from the bill payer. Customer services: info@surfaceunsigned.co.uk or contact us on 0800 434 6076).

Details of more gigs coming up can be found here.

Many, many thanks again for all your support!

Daren
xxx

Double Book Launch - Countdown

2009-01-26T10:17:00.018Z

Today is the day of the double book launch and my once-only performance of Shrek Rap (by Casdok) - I'm intending to update this Blog during the day, so do check back often.

10:18am
I'm up and, coffee in hand, I've just listened to the three songs for the Shrek Rap one last time on CD and on my iPod. In all honesty I could fiddle around with the mixes for a couple more weeks, but there is no more time, so I've drawn the line in the sand and am about to start pressing the CDs for tonight's launch. In any case all three songs (Shrek Rap, The End Of The World Part I and After All) are very much "live" acoustic recordings, and I'm pressing them all myself - so there is very much a "handmade" feel to this release, which is good. This is very much a unique and limited pressing CD - so get ready to place your orders!

10:52am
CDs burnt: 10 CDs Printed: 1

I've just had my version of the Little Chef Olympic breakfast - two free range eggs, British bacon, mushrooms, gluten free bread, baked beans (take note Heston!) and, of course, HP Sauce. Oh and a glass of orange juice too. CD burning progressing well. Time to catch up on some emails.

11:36am
CDs burnt: 20 CDs Printed: 7

Have just worked out that I need to leave here at 4:45pm to get my train. The day suddenly seems really short!! Have loaded the route from the station to the venue into my iPod (fantastic gadget) - so I can't get lost on the way. CD burning halfway through: got to press on!

12:08
CDs burnt: 26 CDs Printed: 15

And my guitar is out of it's case. This is important as at some point this afternoon I will need to practice what I'm playing tonight. The guitar was actually tuned to an open D tuning. Not for me you understand, I only play in standard E tuning, but for the poor chap from Low-Fi Lung who was playing on the same bill as me at The Living Room, Islington last night. In one of those sickening moments that haunt all musicians of wooden instruments, his guitar slid off the piano it was leaning against and onto the hardwood floor - snapping the neck in the process. Total nightmare. I loaned him my guitar to finish the set, but it was hardly any compensation: it's a truly horrible thing to break your instrument. Listen and learn kids - put your guitar on a stand, or lay it flat on the floor - don't take risks!!

12:27
CDs burnt: 31 CDs Printed: 23

Hi DJ Kirkby! (see Comments below) - that sounds like quite a breakfast although perhaps more brunch at this time of day. A regular royal feast. Yeah, the walk to the station is 30 minutes from here, so hence the early leave. Let's hope the train isn't cancelled, as the next one is an hour later.

12:37
CDs burnt: 32 CDs Printed: 26

Coffee and Creme Egg break. I've also submitted the CD track listings to CDDB - so you if you have iTunes or similar loaded then you should get the track names automatically. Nothing more annoying than having to type in the track names yourself, especially as they are only written on the CD itself!

12:54
CDs burnt: 39 CDs Printed: 32

Point taken about lunch (see DJ's second comment below) - where has the day gone!? Very nearly there on the CD burning now. Oh, I should say that DJ Kirkby is the author of one of the two books being launched today - worth noting for those occasional Blog visitors. The heater is on in the rehearsal studio, so I'm close to the first run-through of the day.

13:11
CDs burnt: 40 CDs Printed: 40

That's it - the first batch of 40 CD Singles are ready to go. Time for a break from computing and have a bash at playing through the tune. See you in half an hour or so. Do leave a comment in the meantime. Even if it is only what you had for lunch.

13:57

Why is it, do you think, that I decided to compose the music for the Shrek Rap with my capo on the guitar at the second fret? I'm not actually singing it, so the key the music is in is not really relevant. How very odd. Oh well, too late to change now - have run through the Rap twice, and it's sounding just fine. Resting my voice now, as I wouldn't want to get any throat problems before tonight.

15:18

Just chilling out a bit now, starting to get a little nervous. I want to make sure I take everything I need... I usually forget something. Ham salad for lunch.

15:32

Just seen the website for Rosie's Vineyard (where the book launch is) - looks very nice indeed. I always enjoy that first cold glass of wine after I play, and this looks like just the place to drink it.

15:56

There are a few ritualistic elements to a music performance, and all artists are different. One of my small rituals is that I like to put on my stage clothes to do my last practice, to get into the right persona as it were. So I have changed and got myself into the right frame of mind. My outfit for tonight is the one that uber-stylist Jeffrey Bryant helped me pick out - it certainly make me feel both comfortable and more like an artist. Funny how clothes can do that. Right, last time to practice then it's time to pack.

16:25

Okay, that's it for now. I'm all packed. I don't think I've forgotten anything, but we'll see. Heading out in 15 minutes or so to walk to East Croydon and get the train. Just want to get on with it now really. The waiting before you play is really the worst bit of live work, but it's all part of the job. If there is Wi-Fi at the venue then I'll try and update the Blog from my iPod, otherwise, if you want to hear how it went, tune back here tomorrow morning. I should be home by about 1am, and will write up something then.

Wish me luck!

01:11am Tuesday

Back. Home. Safe. Too much to really express here right now, in fact it hasn't really sunk in yet. I met some great bloggers, had a fun (but very brief) time, learnt a little bit more about Autism (there is plenty more to learn) and even had the presence of mind to buy a copy of both books and get them signed by the authors (so unlike me).

Oh and the Shrek Rap went well (so I'm told) - I'm waiting now to see the videos to make my final judgement, but there were no big mistakes. So, phew. I'm so glad and grateful to have been part of a special evening - I only wish I could have stayed longer and talked to more people.

So thank you Denyse, Chris and Jen for your faith and trust to let me get involved in your creations. I look forward to seeing you again and finding more outlets for your writing and the Shrek Rap.

Night night all, see you tomorrow.

Daren
xxx

Shrek Rap - The Single

2009-01-22T20:08:00.005Z

I'm very excited to announce that as part of my commitments to DJ Kirkby's book launch I'm am recording three new tracks to put on CD to sell at the event (and over the internet). All money raised will go to the Portsmouth Autisim Support Network (and other selected charities). The single itself will feature the following tracks:

1) Shrek Rap (by Casdok)
2) The End Of The World Part 1 (Acoustic)
3) After All (Acoustic)

All three tracks have been recorded in one take - with a "live" feel. Shrek Rap was written by fellow blogger Casdok and features a backing track created with my Boss LoopStation RL-20 pedal. This is a pretty fair representation of how I'll be performing it on Monday, although there is always scope for improvisation in this approach and no two versions will be quite the same!

TEOTW I and After All have both been recorded very simply, the former in two takes (the end part was created separately using the loop pedal again) and the latter in one take - that is to say that the guitar and vocals were recorded at the same time. I've been looking forward to recording a version of this song featuring my ever improving picking skills.

I'm just in the middle of mixing the last of these tracks, and once it's all done I'll let you know how you can get hold of a copy either on CD or as a download.

If you are free this Sunday or next then please come along and see me play at The Living Room in Islington (this Sunday) or The Boston Music Rooms (next Sunday - 1st Feb). Also please do vote for me in the Surface Unsigned Festival by texting "London 6004" to 64343 (Please remember to include a space between the area and the band's unique number otherwise we will not be able to use your vote. 16+. Texts cost £1.00 plus standard network charges. Please get permission from the bill payer. Customer services: info@surfaceunsigned.co.uk or contact us on 0800 434 6076). As far as I am aware there is no option to vote other than in person on the night or via Text.

Lost And Thieved

2009-01-08T12:21:00.006Z

Three gigs in as many days, but not all my own this time. Monday night I was at the inaugural RAW (Real InterActive Writing) workshop and open mic night at the Abbey Tavern in Kentish Town. It was my first time there and I was highly impressed not only by the standard of contributions, but in the energy and attitude of the performers, next one is the first Monday of February, I expect it to go from strength to strength this year.

It's Tuesday night and I'm heading through the extreme cold to a venue I've not been to in a while. All I really remember about playing and seeing bands at the Water Rats is that it's extremely loud! Well I wasn't disappointed. I went to see Thick As Thieves (pictured above) perform and they did not disappoint either. Their sound is a combination of Iron Maiden, Nirvana and perhaps shades of Guns N Roses but with an inventive twist or two. They seemed to be reading my mind through the evening, as no sooner had the thought "oh they should get the drummer to join in the harmonies" enter my head, but Lo! it was done. Okay smartarses, I thought, where are the quiet bits to go with the in yer face noise - and Lo(2)! a quiet vocal section ensued. There were other examples of this, but I can't remember them now. All in all it was certainly enjoyable, and above all LOUD! In fact they have subsequently informed me that their middle name is Loud (which I guess makes them David, David, Loud and Emma - or perhaps Thick As Loud Thieves - not sure) - which means that I will probably have to make my middle name "Earplugs" next time I go to see them play.

On Wednesday I went to see the Lost And Found Orchestra at the Southbank. This is a big show from the people that brought us Stomp, and I have to say it practically defies description. Within the show are elements of music, dance, comedy, theatre and, er, DIY. It's quite a spectacle and I thoroughly recommend it.

News
====

There are too many shows coming up to mention here in detail so I'll mention just three and list them all at the end.

On 26th January I am very excited (and slightly nervous) to be performing my interpretation of the Shrek Rap by fellow blogger Casdok. This will be at the book launch for From Zaftig To Aspie (details below) written by DJ Kirkby whom you will probably also know from the Blogging sphere. I don't want to give too much away about my performance, but it will be combining elements of my live show (most notably looped pieces like The Prophet) with a spoken word delivery that (at the moment) seems to be somewhere between Lou Reed and Baz Luhrman! Whether or not a recorded version of this track will ever make it into the public domain is uncertain, so if you really want to hear it - you'll just have to be there!

Very early notice, but on the 12th March at 2nd Thursday at the Montague Arms, I'll be performing another interpretation of a written piece. This time it's a piece by Daniel Lehan.

Finally, please, please, please consider either coming along to, or texting your support for my Surface Unsigned Festival 09 appearance - I need say no more!

Happy New Year to you all!

Daren
xxx

10th January 2009, 7.00pm
The Rialto Club, Raynes Park Lantern Centre Coffee Shop, 195 – 205 Worple Road, SW 20 8ET

11th January 2009, 8.00pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living Room Oxford, 1 Oxford Castle, Oxford, OX1 1AY

25th January 2009, 8.00pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living Room, 18-26 Essex Road,Islington, N1 8LN

26th January 2009, 8.00pm
From Zaftig To Aspie - Book Launch
Jardin Du Vin in Rosies Wine Bar, 87 Elm Grove, Southsea, Hampshire, PO5 1JF 87
- one-off performance of Shrek Rap by Casdok

1st February 2009, 9.30pm
Surface Unsigned Music Festival, Boston Music Room, 178 Junction Rd, Tufnell Park, N19 5QQ

15th February 2009, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St. Katherine's Docks, London, E1W 1AA

22nd February 2009, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St. Katherine's Docks, London, E1W 1AA

26th February 2009, 8.00pm
Fused Lounge Bar, 21 Lee High Road, Lewisham, SE13 5LD

12th March 2009, 9.00pm
2nd Thursdays @ The Montague Arms
- one-off performance of a Daniel Lehan piece

Christmas Present

2008-12-20T12:28:00.005Z

I had not particular plans to write another post this year, but I experienced another wonderful evening of music at The Duchess in Battersea Park on Thursday and couldn't let it pass unrecorded. The open mic night at The Duchess is hosted by Will O'Durkan who always gets the evening off to a great start with a couple of tunes. We used to play down by the gents loos (which was always entertaining when someone started up the hand dryer - the whole stage shook), but recently the stage was moved to near the door and it's a much better place to play. I was second on after Will and, despite my half-pint of Guiness slightly skewwing my timing, felt I played well. I played Lightkeeper, The Fool I Am and I Need Your Love. A quick audience poll (picking between happy and up-beat, or sad and Christmassy) chose When The Snow Fell In Denver as the last tune (guess which one of the two that is!!). Of course I can't really comment on my set, but if any performers or listeners are reading this, feel free to leave your review as a Blog comment.

After that the performers all hit a really high mark. I don't remember the exact order, but praise must go to Ashley Cowan (great first tune, pictured above), Dog Boy (super sing-a-long to the tune My Love Is Subject To Change), Tobacco Brown (multi-talented picker hailing from Vancouver and Croydon - I particularly liked the rhythmic guitar tapping), Tammay (lovely strong voice) and Steve the harp-playing, box thumping osteopath!

In the end I got so into the whole event that I had to run for my train... and missed it anyway! But even the overly long journey home could not diminish what had been a top drawer night of entertainment. And you don't even have to pay to get in!! I'm really looking forward to more nights there in the new year - perhaps I'll see you there too?

All the best,

Daren
xxx

P.S. Have just been over to Giggles blog, and had to give a mention to the gold-hearted Nitebyrd - who not only said very nice things about my music in her Blog, but also has just played Santa with a lovely gift. Visit her now and spread the love!!

Surface Unsigned Festival - 1st February 2009

2008-12-18T14:22:00.009Z

I am playing on the 1st February 2009 as part of the Surface Unsigned Festival 09.

http://www.surfaceunsigned.co.uk/homepage.html

1st February 2009, 9.30pm
Surface Unsigned Music Festival, Boston Music Room, 178 Junction Rd, Tufnell Park, N19 5QQ

This is a large series of gigs that support and promote unsigned acts all across the UK. However, in order to get through to the more exciting latter rounds you have to survive the earlier "battle of the bands" style rounds. Which is were you can help in one of two ways:

1) If you are free on the 1st February and can get to north London (Tufnell Park) - then please come along to my heat and give your support. I'm on at 9.30pm and you will get a chance to vote for your favourite act of the evening. If you can attend then please get your ticket(s) from me as this will save £1 on the door fee. Please add a comment to this post or email me (music @ darencallow.co.uk - remove the spaces) with the number of tickets required and an address to send them to. Tickets are £6 each, please bring the money with you on the night).

2) If you cannot get to the gig, then you can support me by text message. To vote for me text "LONDON 6004" to 64343. (You must be 16+ to vote, texts cost £1.00 plus standard network charges. Please get permission from the bill payer. Customer services: info@surfaceunsigned.co.uk or contact us on 0800 434 6076). You can vote any time from now right up to the gig and the votes will be counted on the night and added to my score in the venue.

Many thanks in advance for your support, I will send out more reminders in the new year, but thought I would send this invite out early in the hope that as many people as possible can make it along.

Can I also take this chance to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Thank you for all your support and love in 2008, see you all in 2009 if not before,

Daren
xxxx

900 Seconds (approx.)

2008-12-17T14:17:00.007Z

Short post today, as tomorrow I start a campaign to drum up support for a competition I'm entering. Just to say that Sunday's gig at the 15 Minute Club @ Prohibition was another excellent night. All the acts were really strong and the atmosphere was excellent. If you haven't yet been to one of their nights then I cannot recommend them enough. They are run at three venues (two in London and one in Oxford) and are free to get into. You always get 5 up and coming acoustic acts, plus music from the hosts, and often a musical jam at the end. Check out their MySpace site (below) for more information. I'm playing at all the venues (including a trip out to Oxford) and those dates are below.

http://www.myspace.com/15minuteclub

And here is when I'm playing there:

11th January 2009, 8.00pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living Room Oxford
1 Oxford Castle, Oxford, OX1 1AY

25th January 2009, 8.00pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living Room
18-26 Essex Road,Islington, N1 8LN

1st February 2009, 9.30pm
Surface Unsigned Music Festival
More on this tomorrow!

22nd February 2009, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition
St. Katherine's Docks, London, E1W 1AA

Daren

P.S. I'm one short of 40 fans on Facebook - go on, make my year and add yourself!! 40 seems appropriate somehow.

All Elbows And Arms

2008-12-13T13:35:00.004Z

This week I played two gigs in two days. Wednesday was a last minute fill-in at the Fiddler's Elbow in Chalk Farm. I enjoy playing there as the sound is good and you actually have monitors on the stage so I can hear what I'm doing. It was a very cold night, but a good crowd came out and we had a really good evening. Had a bit of a technical disaster during Denver. There is a spot when I have to change patch on my voice processor and then sing a note and then stop playing. The idea is that the note rings out in the gap at a tempo that I've tapped in earlier (are you following this?!) I then join in playing at the same speed. Unfortunately I managed to not change the patch, so I sang the note, stopped playing and... nothing! Nightmare, still I think I got away with it. You can hear how it should sound here:

Daren's Videos

Thursday night took me to the fabulous Montague Arms in New Cross. This was the last of my birthday celebrations and boy did we celebrate in style. The event was billed as a Masquerade Ball and it was great that so many people got into the spirit and either brought masks, or made them at the craft table (pictured above). All the artists that performed were excellent: Anne-Marie Sanderson, Eddy Jay, Steve Antoni and Wayne Myers - thank you all. Many even played in masks, which is quite a feat! I didn't manage that as my mask kept hitting the microphone! My set was interrupted by the arrival of a wonderful homemade birthday cake (yes, with 40 candles!!) - thank you Victoria!! I was also somewhat spooked out by all the posters and "Daren" masks that people were wearing.

The night was capped by the arrival of Uncle Santa (Santa's lesser known reindeer loving brother) and a sing-a-long with karaoke Santa too! Quite frankly the whole evening was excellent, and it all carried on afterwards back at Frog and Vicky's place with Doctor Who and Strawberry flavoured vodka (and the world's cheapest Scotch!). If you've not yet been to 2nd Thursdays at the Montague Arms - then get along. It's every 2nd Thursday of the month and it always fun and interesting.

Don't forget to ink in 1st February for my gig in Tufnell Park - more details to follow next week and look out for some more excellent live shots from Kris Gruber.

This Sunday I'm at Prohibition for 15 Minute Club. Do come down!

Music Mayhem

2008-12-07T15:54:00.005Z

This week is the last chance to officially celebrate my birthday, but what a lot of chances there are!!

First and foremost is the fantastic - Masquerade Ball at the Montague Arms in New Cross. It's part of a series of wonderful and enjoyable events that are run every 2nd Thursday in the month. This time around you need to be wearing a mask to get fully into the vibe, for those unable to organise one before the night there will be a craft table to make your own. Yes, at the Montague you really do get to be a kid again. Since this event is partly to celebrate my birthday I've chosen all the acts, so you will be able to listen to and flirt with anonymously: Fit & The Conniptions (half inscrutable Guinness slurping Wayne Myers and half hilariously self-deprecating webcomic!), Steve Antoni (singer, songwriter, guitarist, inspirational teacher and published poet), Jacen Bruce (the spirit of Rock'n'Roll incarnate), Anne-Marie Sanderson (acoustic angel of the north), Eddy Jay (talented folk picker extraordinaire), Frog Morris (he's a big Doctor Who fan y'know) and myself. Now if that line-up hasn't got you salivating then there is a buffet too! Yes, this is the place to be alright. So be there - this Thursday 11th December - kick off is around 8pm.

If you really can't make it to the masked mayhem on Thursday, then you can catch me at one of the following other gigs:

7th December, 8.30pm
The Horn, Victoria Street, St. Albans, AL1 3TE
- a return to the open mic night at this lively venue

10th December, 8.00pm
The Fiddler's Elbow, 1 Malden Road, London, NW5 3HS

11th December, 8.30pm
Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, New Cross, London, SE15 2PA
- have I mentioned this yet?

14th December, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St. Katherine's Docks, London, E1W 1AA

18th December, 8.00pm
The Duchess, Battersea Park
- the last Open Mic night of the year!

So there you have it. Hope to see you all at a gig very soon - I'm off to practice for my floorspot at The Horn tonight.

Daren
xx

1968

2008-12-02T12:43:00.004Z

1968 - what a year that was: Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy are assassinated, protests against the Vietnam war continue - the Beatles and Stones rule the airwaves. Iconic images appear everywhere: the black power salute at the Mexican Olympics, the tanks rolling into Prague and the world changing Earthrise picture taken by William Anders from Apollo 8 - the first manned spaceflight to the Moon (or anywhere that wasn't Earth for that matter).

And on 2nd December that year a boy was born in the Barony Hospital in Nantwich, Cheshire.

If you have a drink in your hand at any point today, then drink a toast to me and wish me a happy birthday - I'll know when you do, and thank you all for your support and love over the last year.

Here's to the children of '68!

Daren
xxx

From The Heep To The Duchess

2008-11-28T12:15:00.005Z

Another fun and busy music week. On Sunday I was privileged to be a guest of the legendary band that is Uriah Heep at The Astoria. As much as I enjoyed their set, I did find myself reflecting back on the other bands that I've seen and heard at this iconic venue. Is this the last band I will see there? I hope not, but things do close and the world moves on.

The Astoria is a real "old school" rock venue, that actually used to be a dance hall way back in the day. My good friend and boss - Mike - told me that his parents actually met there many years back at a dance! How many people have met at one gig or another, I wonder. Highlights of my days at the Astoria include: seeing Gene's last ever gig (where Martin Rossiter scratched away the Gene logo on the kick drum so it read "Gone" - poignant); meeting one of my heroes - Steve Lukather of Toto - in the upstairs bar (thanks Andie!!) and the climactic ending to the Longview song Further - with all the band (and most of the audience joining in) - good times.

The Heep themselves were obviously used to playing on much bigger stages, the actions were all big and the songs dramatic. Great harmonies and no compromises on being a big rock band. I couldn't help feeling though that if this wasn't the main influence for Spinal Tap, I don't know who was!

Yesterday (Thursday) saw the return of the open mic night at The Duchess. It was great to see Will again after the birth of his bubbling baby boy - Sonny. He'd moved the stage to a great new position near the door and it was great to be able to play five songs in total. A rare outing for Lullabies From The Wheels Of The Bus was dedicated to Sonny and also my friend Sarah and her baby - Harry. Much love to you all. It was fun (if a little nerve-wracking) to play in front of an audience again, but I really enjoyed it and it all seemed to go down well. The other acts were all enjoyable too, and I must give a big mention to EdMan - who has really moved his playing on since I last saw him: his album will be out very soon.

Thanks for the Bourbon Edman!!

As you might expect, if you know me at all, the birthday celebrations began in earnest last night and will continue tomorrow (Saturday) - at the Royal Oak in Borough. Come along if you can!

Right, this week's task is to write a new song - stay tuned!! Oh and if you haven't checked out all my live videos, please do - and leave me a comment!

Have a great weekend,

Daren
xx

The Prophet / Lightkeeper

2008-11-23T13:09:00.002Z

This is the last video from the Monkey Chews gig and features a medley of The Prophet and Lightkeeper. The former features the harmony vocals of my TC Helicon VoiceLive box, and again it was all created live with a Boss LoopStation pedal.

Although I didn't know it at the time the line "Where did all the money go?" now does seem rather chillingly prophetic!

Daren
xxx

Music Magic

2008-11-22T12:59:00.005Z

Last night I was in Alexandra Palace to see a band: majestic soundscape, incomprehensible high-pitched lyrics, a Les Paul played with a violin bow... could it be? No, not an impromptu Led Zeppelin reunion, but those doyens of ambient music and the current coolest Scandinavian band on the planet - Sigur Rós. Of course the lyrics were only incomprehensible as I don't actually speak Icelandic, and I must confess to being pretty much a Sigur Rós virgin.

As mentioned the setting was Alexandra Palace, and it has been a while since I was there last. Considering how cold it was, it was great that they had a continuous loop of courtesy buses to ship the (mostly young and European, if I'm not mistaken) audience to the venue. A couple of queues aside it was a mostly painless process and even the buy-your-tokens-here-swap-them-for-booze-over-there system at the bar was tolerable.

The band themselves arrived unheralded (apart from bi-lingual roadies testing mics in Icelandic - "einn, tveir, einn, tveir anyone?") and the previously described music commenced. The backdrop for the band appeared to be a series of over-sized Chinese lanterns (presumably from Ikea), which glowed ominously in time with the sounds. There was no video screens in the traditional sense but the band and various other images were converted into a kind of pseudo-art and projected from time to time. I have to say the effect was about right, and I imagine if I had been on something stronger than white wine I would have been utterly swept away by it all. The music itself was weird without ever being unbearable, and there were some particularly cinematic moments that had me tapping my feet and nodding in approval. Since I'm not familiar with songs themselves I can't say a lot more, and have no idea what they actually played, but I enjoyed the experience. They also did some unusual things with smoke and lights, and the waterfall and snow effects were quite wonderful and, since I do love a good visual/sound combination, my highlights of the night.

Musical mention this week must also go to Wayne Myers who played at the Blag Club on Wednesday. This Sunday I'm off to see Uriah Heap, now there's a band for ya!

I must also take this opportunity to congratulate Peachy on the birth of her baby boy - Harry Peach (7lbs 12oz) on Tuesday this week. Lots of love and best wishes to you both.

Oh, and while I think of it... stick the date Sunday 1st February in your diary, more details to follow.

Daren
xxx

When The Snow Fell In Denver - video

2008-11-19T12:00:00.004Z

As promised here is the third of the four videos from the Monkey Chews gig. It's the full live version of When The Snow Fell In Denver, complete with false ending and the big electronic finish! It's worth pointing out that everything you hear on the track is created live (and has been mixed pretty much straight off the desk) - there are no overdubs or extra parts added. The looped guitars and kick drum are via a Boss LoopStation RC-20 and the infinite echo and "girl" harmony parts are via a TC Helicon VoiceLive box. You can just about see it at the end when the camera pans down to show me on the floor.

It's a pretty tricky song to play (and create, if you like) and it shows as I'm a little nervous at the start and very relieved at the end. Anyway, enough words - enjoy!

There is one more pair of songs to come and another creative use of electronics, so look out for that towards the end of the week.

More news to come soon about Surface Unsigned and other gigs, but for now I just thought I'd mention that I'm heading to the CD launch for Fit & The Conniptions tonight at the Blag Club in Notting Hill Gate, in case anyone else fancies coming along.

Daren
xx

December Gigs

2008-11-16T18:48:00.004Z

Hi all,

several great chances to see me play coming up in December - and help me celebrate my birthday too!

4th December, 8.00pm
The White Hart, 1 Mile End Road, Whitechapel, E1 4TP
- this is a combined open mic night and featured acts, there's always a high standard of music and this is my third appearance here. This is the best chance to see me play a full set with all the electronics, so do come along and enjoy the night. If you are an open mic performer, then get yourself on the bill too, but do mention that you've come to see me on the door.

7th December, 8.30pm
The Horn, Victoria Street, St. Albans, AL1 3TE
- a featured set at the renown St. Albans venue.

11th December, 8.30pm
Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, New Cross, London, SE15 2PA
- The Masquerade Ball - featuring Fit & The Conniptions, Jacen Bruce, Anne-Marie Sanderson, Frog Morris, Eddy Jay and others... I'll be playing a short set at the start of the night, the £5 door fee includes a buffet. Please wear a mask, prizes for the best ones.

14th December, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition, St. Katherine's Docks, London, E1W 1AA

Surface Unsigned Music Festival

It's not until February (date to be confirmed very shortly) but you will very shortly be able to start texting to support me. Just text "LONDON 6004" to 64343 to vote.

(You must be 16+ to vote, texts cost £1.00 plus standard network charges. Please get permission from the bill payer. Customer services: info@surfaceunsigned.co.uk or contact us on 0800 434 6076).

Have fun!

Daren
xxx

www.darencallow.co.uk

Home

2008-11-14T16:47:00.002Z

I'm back in my home... and am relieved to discover that I can still play the guitar.

Now for some sleep.

Dxxx

Enjoy The View

2008-11-05T19:18:00.004Z

Yesterday I was in Aberdeen. During a break in the day I took a walk out of the venue, over a mist shrouded links golf course. Warmed by the light of the setting sun, I climbed the last dune and was awe-struck by the sight of the North Sea bathed in the most extraordinary late afternoon light. In the distance were two oil tankers making their sedate way across the horizon (you can just make them out in the picture above, the guy on the shoreline is Michael one of the caterers), nearby the bobbing heads of seals and gulls. It was beautiful, incredible and chilling... and amazing sight.

Today, as I write this, I'm on the 15th floor of the Radisson in Birmingham. I have a view of the city lights and rumbling traffic... and all across the sky the fireworks of Guy Fawkes night are exploding in technicolor flashes. Beautiful too, in it's own way.

Daren
xx

Channel Fiver

2008-11-01T22:03:00.003Z

Do you remember that I was involved in filming an Open Mic Night for Channel Fiver? Well it's for a show called Best Friend's Rehab and it's being shown on Monday at 10pm. Do check it out if you can and see if you can spot me, or even hear my songs being played. It's unlikely that I'll be anywhere near a cable TV at that time, so I'll have to rely on you guys letting me know if you spotted me.

Btw, I'm coming up to a big birthday, and I'd like to take this chance to invite you to a couple of celebrations:

Firstly to celebrate the end of my 30s, please join me at the Royal Oak in Borough (near London Bridge) 44, Tabard St, London, SE1 4JU - on Saturday 29th November from 7.30pm onwards.

(Keen people should contact me, as might well start drinking earlier in the area. Also, anyone who would like to stay over at my house is welcome.)

Secondly, to celebrate the start my 40th year, please join me for a Masquerade Ball at the Montague Arms in New Cross on Thursday December 11th from 8pm onwards. Entertainment will include, Fit & the Conniptions, Steve Antoni, Jacen Bruce, Anne-Marie Sanderson, Frog Morris and myself. Please wear a mask!

Friends and relations are welcome to either celebration.

You can also celebrate with me at any of my gigs in December:

4th December, 8.00pm
The White Hart, 1 Mile End Road, Whitechapel, E1 4TP

7th December, 8.30pm
The Horn, Victoria Street, St. Albans, AL1 3TE

11th December, 8.30pm
Montague Arms, 289 Queens Rd, New Cross, London, SE15 2PA

Have fun!

Daren
(in Newcastle)

Staying Alive

2008-10-20T19:19:00.003Z

I'm in Paris today, on the last of three back-to-back shows. It's taking its toll a bit, I feel tired and run down, but tomorrow is a day off (hoorah!), although there is another drive tonight on the bus. I'm looking forward to a bath and a bed that doesn't bump up and down all night.

Yesterday I was in Groningen in Holland and I learnt an important first aid tip whilst going with the runner to get change. He'd been told that the correct speed for doing heart massage in CPR is 100bpm (beats per minute) and as luck would have it the Bee Gee's song Staying Alive is 100bpm and will do very nicely thank you as a tempo guide for, well, keeping someone alive. How good is that? You'll never forget it now either. Of course I'm already hatching a plot to write a song that is exactly 100bpm, annoyingly catchy and entitled in such a way that it becomes the de facto life saving song.

The picture on today's post is from a sports hall in Riga, Latvia. I think the idea is that drunk people can lean their heads against the basketballs to avoid falling over whilst peeing. Clever huh?

More soon,

Dxxx

On The Road In Latvia

2008-10-12T07:17:00.003Z

I'm back in Latvia, and I'm thinking that it must have been a flying visit last time as I remember nothing at all about it. It's a beautiful city though, currently wrapped in autumnal colours. As I took a walk yesterday through a mixture of ex-soviet and medieval streets the leaves were falling like Ochre snow.

The walk ignited my creative fire and there are some song lyrics bubbling up again. At the moment they are in that stream of consciousness stage (kind of like Jason Mraz if he was depressed) but they'll shape up pretty good. It's nice to have another set of ideas on the go. Unsurprisingly this tune has the working title of The End Of Empire (can't have more songs with End in the title, so that will have to change).

It's 10:22am here and I have 10 minutes or so before vacating my room, so just enough time for this quick post to say "hi" and read a couple of other Blogs. Will try and post more from the gig later.

Daren
xx

Randers

2008-10-03T17:30:00.004Z

Yes, that's where I am today. Randers, which is in Denmark. It's actually a quite picturesque town on the edge of a river. I took a very pleasant stroll to it's shores and watch a wonderful sunset over the wetlands. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of being on the road with a band. There are lots of similarities with my last tour, and many differences too. For one thing there are two real bands on this tour, and I'm hoping to make friends with most of them and find out what I need to be doing to get to their level. I only really miss two things from home, my friends (two in particular who are going through big changes in their lives) and my guitars. I miss practicing and writing songs, it's so much a part of my life these days that I feel quite bereft. Perhaps if I can befriend one of the guitarists I might be able to snatch some practice time.

Tonight will be an early night and, thankfully, I have a late call in the morning. I'm looking forward to the sleep and rest (I struggle to get good sleep on a tour bus) as tomorrow will be a busy day again.

Right off to read some Blogs and catch up.

Daren
xxx

Hit The Road...

2008-09-26T10:55:00.003Z

So here is the news...

This Blog is going back to it's roots. By which I mean that I'm going back out on the road again to be a roadie and sell some t-shirts. Those that know me well will remember that I started this Blog as a way to stay in touch with friends and chronicle my exploits whilst touring with the Pet Shop Boys. Well here we go again, only this time it's with Katie Melua!

It looks like there are some new places and some old place on the route. A whole bunch of new crew members and merchandisers to meet along the way, and hopefully some songs to discover too. The downside is that all my gigs in October and November need to be rescheduled, but I'm sure the experience will make me even keener to play and record into the new year. Wish me luck!

As if that weren't enough, stay tuned too for details of my birthday exploits in December... it's one of those ones that ends in a zero... so you know what that means... PARTEY!

Daren
xxx

Moving On

2008-09-24T11:29:00.003Z

Hi all. It's typical isn't it, just when I get awarded my first Blogging award (thanks Trixie!!) - I turn into the world's worst Blogger. Time for a quick round-up I think:

Lesstival - Where less is quite firmly and certainly, less. This whole festival was just slightly more disappointing than I expected. The Red Arrows display was certainly the low point, for one thing the cut-out arrows were definitely a shade of pink. Although as co-organiser Stuart Whitehead pointed out: "They're less red - right?" I had fun though, although not as much as I'd expected.

The Chequers, Fordham - Slightly daunting to play a 45 minute set of original music to a group of locals that are used to covers from the dexterous Jacen Bruce. But fair play to them, they stayed and clapped and even bought me a drink or two, so it must have gone well. It was nearly all over, however, when the double bass decided it wanted to join in and very nearly fell on my head. Quick thinking from an audience member saved the day.

Filming at The Duchess part 2 - This time it was for a Stella Artois advert or some beer or other. As usual though, they'd finished filming by the time I arrived! It was still an entertaining evening as I ended up jamming on a cover of The Doors' Light My Fire.

Other News - well there is some, but I can't tell you yet. I will know more later today, so stay tuned.

Daren
xxx

Until We Pass This Way Again (Video)

2008-09-15T14:54:00.000Z

The End Of The Video Quest

2008-09-12T09:57:00.005Z

It's taken me nearly a month and a lot of false starts, but yesterday I finally got my first proper clip up on YouTube! You'd think it would be quite easy these days, but no! Either the video was too dark, or the music unintelligible, or the picture was the wrong format, it just seemed to be one problem after another. Yesterday I finally cracked it though, and the first of four videos from my Monkey Chews gig went on-line. Enough talking, here it is:

There will be three more videos to come, so look out for them!

Okay, I promised not to mention it again, but there are only two more days of voting left for Orange Unsigned - so please pop over and give me two more votes (one each day) - if you haven't signed up yet, it's never too late!!

http://orangeunsignedact.co.uk/acts/daren-callow

Lot's of great gigs coming up, including some out of town (Ely, St. Albans - and I'm hoping to get down to Brighton to play soon too) - for the full list go here. One in particular I'd like to draw your attention to is Thursday 25th September at the White Hart in Whitechapel (1 Mile End Road) - I played there a couple of months back and despite being hard to find (the stairs are behind two closed doors, one of which is marked Private!!!) boasts a great PA and a musician friendly atmosphere. I'm taking all my kit (weird voice box and looper included) to this one to create a big sound... hoping to video it too, so look out for that.

That's it for now,

Daren
xxx

I Need Your Love (And Your Vote)

2008-09-06T10:01:00.004Z

This is the last time I'll mention this, as I'm not hugely into doing on-line talent competitions. But please do sign up as a fan on the Orange Unsigned site and vote for me as often as you can spare the time... here are the official instructions:

Hello everyone.

It is with great pleasure we can announce that Orange unsignedAct
is now open for voting!

You can vote up to three times per day (one vote per act) – so
logon to www.orangeunsignedact.co.uk now and give your favourite
acts the chance to win one of the 25 spots at the auditions and
the much sought after prize, thanks to Channel 4, Orange and
Sony Ericsson.

Remember, you can only vote if you're logged in as a fan, so if
you aren't one already – go to the site and sign up now.

You can vote each and every day until September 14th – so keep
coming back to the site and support the music you love.

Thousands of talented artists are relying on you – be the best fan
ever and make a massive impact – get voting now and be a part of
music's future!

http://orangeunsignedact.co.uk/acts/daren-callow

Hopefully you'll help bring my tunes to the attention of the judges, but I realise that it's all a bit arbitrary (ie those acts with hordes of internet-savvy fans will do best) - but hey, I'm in it, and I want to win it!!! So I really do need your love!!

Thank You so much to those that have voted and will vote!

Off to play at Lesstival today, the festival where less is definitely less.

Lots more gigs coming up, check them out here.

Daren
xx

Famous

2008-09-01T11:31:00.006Z

You know you've really arrived in the Blog world (and the world in general) - when you are featured in a RAT GiRL comic strip!! It was a total surprise and it's really made my day. Do check it out here:

The Adventures of RAT GiRL

Thank you sooo much Giggle!

Btw, the free sampler CD offer is on-going... and I'm just about to upgrade it to version II (mostly the same stuff, but with a new version of Lightkeeper, the live part of Denver, and a new "secret" track)... so if you'd like a copy winging its way to your mailbox (anywhere in the world) just email me a postal address to music @ darencallow . co . uk (remove the spaces) - and it shall be yours!! I can't guarantee choccies though, but if you write something nice about me, who knows...)

Speaking of famous, last night was 15 Minute Club @ The Living Room in Islington. I have to say it was another excellent night, those 15 Minute people put on a quite excellent show. All the acts were very good indeed, which made me quite nervous to be there, if you want to check them out here are some links:

Lisa Theunissen - the beautiful host of the evening, very powerful voice and songs.
Luke Jackson - yes he really is 14!! I was very impressed, he has a great voice and plays with total confidence. A real star in the making, and his dad (Paul) was lovely too.
Belinda Oakley - arrived late so had to go on without much preparation - didn't show though. She both looks and sounds beautiful - captivating!
Daren Callow - I hear he's really good (and well dressed) - but I missed his set as I was otherwise engaged. (ha ha)
Kirsten Thien & Galia Arad - two sassy chicks from NYC, they nearly didn't make it as one of them forgot that you might need your passport to get into the UK... they are heading to Ireland now.

There was also Lawrence and another chap on piano, but I didn't write his name down... sorry!

The evening ended with us all jamming on Oooo Take Another Little Bit Of My Heart Now Baby... (really) and then I ended up chatting to a chap called Karl who used to roadie for Culture Club and Depeche Mode (amongst others)... he has a tape somewhere on top of his wardrobe of the very first time that Sade played as Sade.

Phew. No wonder my head hurts this morning.

P.S. Please vote for me: http://orangeunsignedact.co.uk/acts/daren-callow

I Had A Dream

2008-08-29T16:45:00.005Z

I knew it was ready.

I plugged in my headphones and listened to check the levels. As I listened I forgot what I was supposed to be checking and found I was just hearing the song. Emotions welled up inside me as I was catapulted back into my days working around Europe and the fractured emails and texts that make up some of the lyrics. It was all about the distance: the distance between people who are doing what they love but cannot be together. It made me think about the future too - and how it would happen all over again.

It's ready, please listen and enjoy:

Lightkeeper MP3 (3'40)

NB To get more of an album vibe, then you should also download The Prophet and The End Of The World Part II which come before and after it respectively.

Next job is to record Until We Pass This Way Again - as a DJ would say... Stay tuned!

Lightkeeper
===========

I hope that you got home okay,
I had a coffee in Stockholm,
There are riots in Estonia,
And somewhere we are still at war.

I had a dream,
That I was the lightkeeper,
A beacon in the night,
I was the lightkeeper.

I've a fantasy to share with you,
But it's cold and it's wet,
They're burning cars at the airport,
But I can still get your text.

And I had a dream,
That I was the lightkeeper,
A beacon in the night,
I was the lightkeeper.

And the beautiful people were everywhere,
But they had no faces,
And you were blinded by the light,
And could only feel.

But you found me by my energy,
The days are long without you.
It's funny how when you find it,
You just can't live without it.

And I had a dream,
That I was the lightkeeper,
A beacon in the night,
I was the lightkeeper.

I hope that you got home okay,
I had a coffee in Stockholm,
There are riots in Estonia,
And somewhere, we are still at war...

(D. Callow / G.A. Staiger)

Next gigs (not all in London!!):

31st August, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living Room, 18-26 Essex Road, Islington, London, N1 8LN

6th September, 7.30pm
Lesstival, somewhere in Kent
The most minimal festival of 2008, it's small, but beautifully formed.

17th September, 8.00pm
The Chequers, 58-62 Carter St, Fordham, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5JT
Taking my urban songs to a rural setting.

25th September, 9.30pm
The White Hart, 1 Mile End Road, Whitechapel, E1 4TP
Open mic night at the White Hart

2nd November, 8.30pm
The Horn, Victoria Street, St. Albans, AL1 3TE
Featured artist slot at this excellent St. Albans music venue.

Live On Your iPod

2008-08-23T11:02:00.009Z

Well here it is. The videos are still a little way off, but the MP3 files are here (courtesy of Joel Armsden of eARmusic.co.uk). I've also put together a cover with a live shot (from a previous gig) by Kris Gruber. I will probably do a second cover once I have a decent video still, so then you'll have a choice.

Enough preamble though, here are the 5 MP3 files (six tracks) for you to listen to. I've done a small commentary on each track below, but if you want to listen before being influenced by what I have to say then here you go:

Live In The Urban Jungle

1. The End Of The World Part I (Live) 4'35 (D. Callow)
2. The Prophet / Lightkeeper (Live) 7'11 (D. Callow / G.A. Staiger)
3. Until We Pass This Way Again (Live) 4'20 (D. Callow)
4. When The Snow Fell In Denver (Live) 6'42 (D. Callow)
5. The Fool I Am (Live) 4'14 (D. Callow)

All songs recorded live at Monkey Chews, London, UK on 19th August 2008 performed by and copyright Daren Callow and mixed by Joel Armsden.

Okay, there are the tunes. Before I write a little bit about each song I just wanted to say that all these songs are pretty much as you would have heard them on the night (barring a few level adjustments) - there are NO overdubs and NO backing tracks. The extra noises and guitar lines were all played by me live on the night... I'll explain more as I cover each song.

1. The End Of The World Part I

I wrote this song whilst watching 28 Days Later, and originally it was going to be about environmental issues, but I decided that was just way too cliched, so instead it's about something else entirely. Please excuse my preamble on the MP3 file, I was a bit nervous to start with. The song features my tambourine (played with my foot, and cunningly taped to the floor this time!) and the Boss Loop Station (sampling footpedal) towards the end (the layered guitar parts, the first of which I play by hitting the strings with my hand). There are a couple of small mistakes, but I think I get away with it... just!

Interesting fact - the line "How can we stop you screaming" is influenced by Whitley Strieber's book - Communion.

2. The Prophet / Lightkeeper

There are two songs for the price of one here, but they can't be easily separated as they run into each other. The Prophet is a new song which heavily features my clever voice box and the Loop Station again. Lightkeeper is a song inspired by travelling with the Pet Shop Boys in 2006 / 2007 - the lyrics are a collaboration between myself and Alex Staiger - based on our emails and texts during that period. I really was in Estonia you know... I just about get the join between the two songs okay, but you can hear a slight click.

Interesting fact - the spoken words at the end of The Prophet are "Keine Krieg mehr bitte" - it's my pigeon German and was inspired by the man who decapitated the waxwork of Adolf Hitler in the German version of Madame Tussauds - it's supposed to mean "No more war thank you" but my German is not that good.

3. Until We Pass This Way Again

My second favourite song on this recording, this is the most recent song I've written. It's a kind of modern folk tune. Nothing much more to say other than it's about the passage of time, oh and I totally mess up the start!

Interesting fact: The noise at the end is Joel's dinner arriving. You'll see this on the video!

4. When Then Snow Fell In Denver

Please excuse the slightly cringe-worthy introduction! Also I mess up the start as I'm trying to play and tap a half-tempo rhythm with my foot at the same time! (I've changed the settings now so I can tap full tempo) Fortunately I didn't muck the ending up, which is my favourite piece of music (of mine) at the moment. The guitar layers are created with the Loop Station and the backing vocals and infinite echoes with my voice box. The backing vocals are mixed a little bit high for me, but they represent what you would have heard live, so I've not changed them. This song was the runt of the Lullabies From The Wheels Of The Bus litter, but I've grown to love it. I especially enjoy singing all the weird harmonies at the end. The kick drum is also supplied by the Loop Station, and it's always a good feeling when I turn it up to find that I've actually played in time!!

Interesting fact: It's entirely possible that I wrote this song in Detroit and not in Denver at all... oh, and it didn't actually snow.

5. The Fool I Am

Last song of the set, and a bit rushed as the adrenaline was definitely flowing after playing the end of Denver. This song is not about what you think it is.

Interesting fact: Someone in the audience was so amazed that I'd actually reached the end of the song that they broke a glass in celebration at the start.

Enjoy!

Dxxx

P.S. If you don't have an MP3 player and would like a CD of this concert then just let me know your address and PayPal me a minimum donation of £2 and it shall be yours! PayPal button is at the bottom of this page: Music - and my email is music @ darencallow . co . uk - just remove the spaces. Oh, you'll also find lots of other files and album artwork to download on that page.

One Man, One Guitar, Five Nights...

2008-08-21T11:31:00.007Z

Well I made it intact, five gigs in six days - including one in a shed. For those that missed it, here is a quick catch-up.

Unwrong Quiz, Montague Arms

Recently declared the Best Pub In Britain by the Rough Guide to Pubs - this eclectic pub is home to some of the best alternative and cross-over entertainment in the UK. The evening was a new version of the Unwrong Quiz night hosted by the unfathomable Mark Quinn, and unstoppable Frog Morris. As usual I was the serious music filler in a comedy sandwich and the audience barely knew what to make of me. It was a fun night all the same and it was great to play two long sets as well as debut our new song in tribute to the magnificent Montague - (Woo Hoo At The Montague!).

Highlights - Watching people sing along with All I Want Is You. Giggling my way through Woo Hoo. Finishing the complicated back-to-back songs The Prophet/Lightkeeper to stunned silence!

Frogstock, Blo Norton

In some ways I should have been prepared having done so many nights with Frog and his friends in pubs across London, but nothing really prepares you for Frogstock. Despite it's scaled down and re-branded appearance this year - as Acoustock - it's still a great event. It's almost too much to Blog in detail here, but suffice to say that the evening started with peacocks on the roof, an art tent and Quinn vs. Quinn Olympics (!) and ended with a live rave in a shed and blazing braziers and fire-jugglers lighting up the night.

My own contribution was very much in the middle of the evening, and with a wonderfully Heath Robinson boom mic stand rigged up I played though eight or so of my best songs as the sun began to set. It was great to be part of the evening and so good that everyone played drums and percussion and many acts formed loose bands as the night wore on.

Needless to say I was very tired the next day, but somehow made it to the train and back to rainy London.

Highlights - All I Want Is Stu - with THE Stuart himself on the duck maraca! Accidentally becoming one of the Blo Boys for life by joining in on their rendition of Angry Badger. The aforementioned shed-rave, with live rapping, beat box, and full band... IN A SHED!! When Frog poured a pint of real ale over my head... I knew it was a top night.

15 Minute Club, Prohibition

From the sublime and ridiculous to the sublime and sophisticated. Despite being somewhat tired (but fortunately not particularly hungover) - I was happy to be able to play at this very well organised night again. You get four songs and they went well if not particularly special. They invited me back, so it must have been okay.

Highlights - All the nice people I met, including Rae, Lawrence, Josh and all the performers.

Fiver Programme recording, The Duchess

Wow, this is turning into a long post... are you still with me?! So Monday night comes around and it's time to return to an old haunt - The Duchess pub in Battersea Park. Lurking in the shadow of Battersea Power Station this is the usual venue for the Thursday night open mic sessions, but this was Monday - so what was happening? Well as part of a TV show for Fiver an open mic night was required as a backdrop and my friend Will O'Durkan had been approached to put on an ad-hoc "open mic" night at this picturesque venue. So Will called, and we all responded - arriving in the early evening with our guitars and songs ready and a few nerves in the stomach. Now I've been filmed before and despite a slight fluttering in the stomach I'm usually not too badly effected, but this was for TV and we were all keen to impress, not just to do Will proud, but to give ourselves a chance of being on the goggle-box. The anticipation continued as we greeted fellow performers and signed release forms, it was odd to be involved in an open mic night where everyone was there by invitation. I cooled myself off by stepping out into the beer garden for a while and considered what two songs I might perform to impress, but not over do it. Nerves would make some songs difficult so I decided on a middle route... up tempo, but not over complicated.

As we all know, in life there are no re-takes, but on TV... well it's just re-take after re-take. Will started the evening off, only to be asked to do it all again, and again... until the producer was satisfied. Ashley - the first act - kicked off, and played well despite having had his wisdom teeth extracted only a day or two before. I was to be the third act...

...and my turn duly arrived (after the sublime Katie and Si) - and guess what?! Yep, the TV cameras all disappeared into the beer garden to film the "best friends" talking about their performance to come. Typical huh? So whatever editing takes place, you won't see me perform on TV (yet) - you might well hear me in the background and you will certainly see me standing at the bar and drinking Guinness (looking pretty good in my Jeffrey Bryant styled outfit, if I do say so myself) - so what can you do? Despite that it was a really good fun night, it was great to see Will and some of the other performers again - perhaps I should suggest to Will that he has invitational evenings more often!

Highlights - Katie and Si performing perfectly as always. Watching the poor girl who's TV show it was having to do re-take after re-take as they tried to capture her performance from every angle.

Live Recording, Monkey Chews

You'd think that that would be enough for one weekend... but no! I'd arranged to head up to Monkey Chews on the Tuesday to get a recording of my live set (and a video too). It all come together pretty well on the night (you will be able to hear the results later today), so I won't say much. I'll let you decide how I did.

Highlights - Seeing and old friend. Giving out a world record 14 CDs after the show. Getting slowly sozzled on white wine knowing that I'd had a really good 6 days.

We're S - H - O - P - P - I - N - G we're...

2008-08-15T19:12:00.004Z

...shopping, yup.

Rendezvous... Twelve noon... Oxford Circus... outside H&M... okay, on the face of it it doesn't sound too promising, but when the man you are meeting is the stylist, costume designer and wardrobe genius behind the the Rolling Stones (Voodoo Lounge 1984, Bridges of Babylon 1997), Pet Shop Boys (Discovery 1994, Nightlife 2001, Fundamental 2006-7), Tina Turner (Private Dancer 2001), Cyndi Lauper (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun 1994) and Duran Duran (2008) then its a whole different manner... this is practically a once in a lifetime event... even for someone like me that really does not enjoy shopping.

Suffice to say that Jeffreeeeey (for that is his name, albeit with less e's) is a gentleman, a scream, a god of fashion and a total and utter star. Want to see the results...?!

Well come down to a gig... ha ha.

Dxxx

P.S. Or look out for the videos after Tuesday's recording.

P.P.S. Okay, perhaps that was too much of a tease, so here is a pic:

Here There And Everywhere

2008-08-12T09:22:00.010Z

This weekend brings an exciting set of gigs, a mini-tour even. It all starts this Thursday 14th when I return to the Montague Arms in New Cross for a brand new Unwrong Quiz night. For those that don't know, the Unwrong Quiz is the invention of Frog Morris and Mark Quinn and involves rounds of questions which have no wrong or right answers! Instead prizes are given for creativity and humour (the more surreal the better) - which invariably means that everyone gets a prize. It's a funny and stimulating night, and what's more you get to see me play too! I will be doing at least two regular sets and then one set of sing-a-long favourites (Angry Badger etc...) to round off the whole evening. It's all good clean fun (mostly), and should be doubly so this time as fellow Blogger - Trixie - will be there with her sisters to celebrate her birthday (perhaps some other Bloggers too). Do come along and be part of it all! The Montague Arms is at 289 Queens Road, New Cross SE15 2PA - it's £3 on the door (£2 Concessions) and entertainment starts about 8.30pm.

After I've recovered from all the mayhem, I'll be catching a train out to the wilds of Blo Norton, near Diss (not dat, diss!) for the remains of Frogstock. Which is not much after the local council got a bit fed up last time, so it's been re-christened Acoustock this year, and apparently I have to play songs in the key of D, although I forget why.

After training it back from Diss, I'll be tubing it down to London Bridge to play 15 Minutes @ Prohibition on Sunday 17th, which is certainly somewhat different from a field in Norfolk. This is a showcase night for the best in acoustic music from the capitol. I will be getting my fifteen minutes, so why not come down and take a listen. I'm taking my VoiceLive box down this time and I promise to make it an unforgettable 900 seconds. Think you've seen singer-songwriters before?! Well if you've never seen a performer play guitar and sing whilst triggering 4 part harmonies from a computer, layering loops from a phrase sampler AND playing tambourine with his foot, then you have not seen this one! Prohibtion is in St. Katherine's docks near Tower Bridge. Be there from 8pm - entry is free, and the food is good too.

As if that were not all enough, I will be capping this mini-tour off by recording it for posterity. Tuesday 19th will see me playing at Monkey Chews in Chalk Farm, where the set will be recorded and videoed, so those that can't make it will have the chance to see me on YouTube and listen on the internet. To be a part of the recording, please be at the venue by 8pm prompt! As an incentive to attend, everyone who comes will get a copy of the set on CD - bargain!

Btw, at all these gigs I will be giving out my CD samplers and taking emails for my mailing list. If you cannot make it, but would like a CD please email me (music @ darencallow . co . uk - remove the spaces!).

Somebody Loves Me

Small things mean so much when you are a musician and songwriter. This morning someone on Last FM clicked a small icon to say that they "loved" one of my tracks. Thank you Samantha829x - you made my day! Btw, the track in question was After All - which in some ways leads me nicely on to...

Farewell Peacharse

My very bestest friend (f) and the reason why I am blogging here at all, is putting down her metaphorical pen for a while. She's soon to become a mother for the very first time and, as I'm sure many of you know, becoming a parent is not easy at the best of times but has been particularly fraught for Peachy, and it's understandable that she might need a break from being the UK's 50th most influential blogger (and as if this sentence wasn't long enough already, she has also had to change job and is currently buying a new place to live - world's three most stressful things anyone?!). She has hinted that she may return with a Baby Blog, but for now farewell. I love you sweetie, thanks for introducing me to this weird and wonderful world of Weblogs - come back soooooooon! Oh, and buy her book!!!!!!

Head here to send her some love of your own: http://peacharse.blogspot.com

That's all (for now) folks!

Daren
xxx

STOP PRESS - As if that were not all enough, I have just found out this morning that on Monday I'll be performing at an ad-hoc Open Mic night for the benefit of Channel 5 cameras!! They are filming a new show called Best Friends Rehab and on the show a girl plays at an open mic night... well you get the drift. Should be on TV next year... HOW EXCITING IS THAT!!!!!!

A Day In The Smoke

2008-08-08T10:17:00.007Z

The morning was barely stretching it's limbs as we emerged from London Bridge station. A short hop, skip and jump past one of my favourite views anywhere (across London Bridge towards Tower Bridge), a rumble along the tube from Bank and we're jumping in a car near Bethnal Green tube and heading for eagerly anticipated (especially by the drooling canines in the car) green spaces.

Minutes later we are walking happily on Hackney Marshes. One of London's hidden emeralds. A lush green space replete with a river (the Lea), wetlands (some thanks to bomb craters from back when the marshes were the destination of choice for unexploded WWII bombs), horses and gaggles of dog walkers. A little taste of old London that left us smiling, recharged and already looking forward to a return. Even one of England's typical summer downpours could not dampen our mood.

After this we took a trip in a vintage BMW into the art gallery district of Bethnal Green. Slight disappointment on realising that there were actually no exhibitions on, was tempered by a visit to an eclectic bar near Red Church Street. After this we went out separate ways, and my journey took me home again to (much needed) extra practice!

The evening brought me another journey back into town. This time to West Brompton and another (this time rainbow coloured) London gem that is The Troubadour. I was here to see the uber-busker Hadar Manor play in the basement venue. The gig was great fun, and my friend Wayne (Fit And The Conniptions) outdid himself with some quite excellent playing on his brand new Ibanez semi-acoustic. Praise must also go to the wonderful soul singer who (unaccompanied) entertained and amused us before Hadar's set. She had been pulled in at the last minute (hence the lack of band) when the Aussies who were supposed to be performing were turned back by UK Immigration!

After this entertaining (if expensive) evening, I trundled home via the Tube and tram (yeah, we are dead European here in Croydon) - with my thoughts occupied by new song ideas and visions of London past.

Dxxx

Next gigs:

14th August 2008, 8.30pm
Montague Arms, New Cross

17th August 2008, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ Prohibition
Prohibition Bar & Grill, Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine Docks, East Smithfield, E1W 1AA

19th August 2008, 7.30pm
Monkey Chews, 2 Queen's Crescent, Chalk Farm, NW5 4DT

31st August, 7.30pm
15 Minute Club @ The Living room
18-26 Essex Road, Islington, London, N1 8LN