15 Minutes Later

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

Manic Music Month

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

Farewell Prohibition

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

Coming Up For Air

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

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

Not Prohibited Anymore

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

Meetings And Partings

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

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

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

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

900 Seconds (approx.)

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.

Famous

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