Can You Hear Me?

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

Faith Album - The Launch

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!

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!!

Band Debut & Faith Album Launch

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.

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

Faith Album Launch

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

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)

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