You Win Some...

I played the Duchess again last night, it went well... there were two other acts worth checking out:

The Bee's Niece - all the way from Norway, via Manchester. Lovely delicate songs with very well thought out lyrics. Lovely girl too!

Simon Andrews - great songs and now, with the lovely Katie, gripping harmonies. Well worth a listen.

My set went okay, The Fool I Am is proving a winner, and Obsession and I Need Your Love went down well.


On Wednesday night I went to see Laurie Anderson play. Now, I always get a mite suspicious when I see musicians sitting down to play... but fortunately Laurie was standing and despite my seat being a bit uncomfortable it was a very mesmerising 2 hours of playing. The songs/pieces veered from funny to thought-provoking to sublime. Very interesting and entertaining, if occasionally quite hard going (it's not exactly Pop you understand). I came away very inspired, albeit with a numb bum.


Hoping to record The Fool I Am very soon, if not today. Curiously I noticed that my song I Can If You Can contains the line "If you want me to be a fool, then I am", I hadn't made the connection before.

Next few chances to see and hear me play:

11th May - Cross Kings, Kings Cross
15th May - The Duchess, Battersea
29th June - Whitstable Biennale

plus, I'll be at The Montague Arms, New Cross next Thursday lending my support to Second Thursdays.


...And You Lose Some

I really hope Boris doesn't get in. He's a funny guy and all that, but running the most cosmopolitan city in the world... please god no! As Will Self put it, I'd rather have a lizard in charge than a clown.

Manning The Bar

Last Thursday I tramped up to Mannings Bar in Hendon with my guitar to play a set. I had been looking forward to this gig for a while as it was the first time in a bit that I'd had the chance to play a full set. The venue itself is a small stage and PA in the bar and myself and the other act were well looked after by George who hosted the night and did the sound. Initially it was myself and two bands but one act had pulled out so my set got even longer. They had been hoping to stream the concert via the internet, and I excitedly texted a few people I knew to check out www.theshowliveonline.com but in the end they couldn't get the streaming working so nothing got broadcast. Shame, but they should have it working for next time so that will be exciting for my far-flung listeners, plus I have a copy of the video on the way to share with you. My set went pretty well from what I could judge and I felt confident to include Vulnerable, which I only tend to play in more intimate venues. The new song The Fool I Am got a second airing too, check out the post below to hear a rough version of this tune.

My full set was:

All I Want
Do Your Want To Dance?
Obsession
Lightkeeper
When The Snow Fell In Denver
The Fool I Am
Vulnerable
I Need Your Love

The act after me were Skeleton Gun who had schlepped all the way down from Manchester for the gig. Despite the lead singer having a cold (and them having to beg, borrow or steal a few instruments, including my guitar) they played a great set. The singer was so on form that at one point in their set I found myself standing next to the bass player and drummer at the bar! They were good lads and even put up with me telling my Ian Brown story again (well the lead singer was wearing a t-shirt saying "I Happy Slapped Ian Brown" so what can you expect?!).

Looking forward to the next gig now, and the video from this one, so I can enter the YouTube world once again.

Love to all,

Dxx

P.S. Thank you sooooo much to all those who came down to support me... I owe ya one!

Go Or Stay

I've written a new song, which I've been battling with for a long time. It's got the best melody I think I've ever written and it's taken a long time to get a structure and a set of lyrics that match. I think I've managed it, but why not come down to Mannings Bar tomorrow and be the judge yourself. Btw, it's actually not about anything at all, but rather an example of a song which is just about strong writing. Having said that I'm hoping it will resonate with people's lives if they've ever had to make a decision.

I'm still trying to decide what to call it... the choices so far are Go, Go/Stay or The Fool I Am... any preferences?

Go
==

Go if you want to go,
Stay if you want to stay,
Just don't expect me to be waiting here endlessly.
Life is a mystery, to everyone including me,
I don't pretend to know the rules,
Just don't take me for the fool I am.

They all let me down,
My body that is failing me, the words escaping me,
They crumble to the ground,
And lie there soundlessly.

But I'm never tongue-tied
I've always got something to say,
But not today so...

Chorus

It all drags me down.
The decades of misery that stained indelibly.
And left their mark on me, there for the world to see.

But I know my own mind,
Surely I'm okay if you're okay, thanks but not today so...

Chorus

Go. Stay. Go. Stay.

I don't know what I've done.
I just know someone has to pay, but not today so

Chorus

Stay if you want to go,
Go if you want to stay,
You know that I'll be waiting here endlessly.
Life is a miracle it created me it created you,
I don't pretend to know the rules,
Just don't take me for a fool,
I don't pretend to know the rules,
Just don't take me for a fool,
I don't pretend to know the rules,
Just don't take me for the fool I am.

(D. Callow 2008)

Random II

Ostriches
I saw some Ostriches today in a field near Chesham. They are quite amazing creatures from a different time and space, they used to be dinosaurs dontchaknow. They can make the most amazing sound by inflating their necks - it sounds a bit like a didgeridoo.

Near Death Experience
I cut through a live power cable. It went pop, like someone popping a crisp packet. It burnt a 2mm hole in my metal clippers. The RCD in the house fuse box tripped. I didn't feel a thing.

Radiohead
I'm doing a remix of Radiohead's new single Nude. Lots of people are doing it. I think it's kinda cheeky that they charged us 79p per track to download the individual stems.

BBC6
I've put my name forward to appear on Tom Robinson's unsigned band podcast and show on BBC6. My friends Wayne (Fit & The Conniptions) and Victoria & Jacob have already been played. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Floorspot
I will be at The Duchess in Battersea Park tomorrow night to do a floorspot. Come along from 8.30 and join in the fun. Mine's a Guiness.

Love to all,

Daren
xx

P.S. Two new songs on the way too!

Live in North London

Next gig:

24th April 2008, 8pm
Manning’s Bar, 73-75 Brent Street, London,NW4 2EA

Sign Me Up!

I've been working hard on new mixes and songs for my demos this week. Finally I feel that they are completed enough for public listening. I've also produced some artwork to go with them, so I hope you enjoy the whole experience. As I'm hoping to use these demos as part of a package to get gigs and management / recording companies interested so I WOULD APPRECIATE SOME FEEDBACK!! Lay it on me... anonymous posters can do it too... your thoughts are very useful to me as I'm very close to these songs and sometimes I really can't hear them... anyway, here we go.



I Need Your Love
This is a song that was on my very first Air demo!! But it's evolved a bit since then and with a bit of multi-tracking I've come up with something in-your-face, yet fun. I hope! Stick with it as there are good bits all the way through to the end. Check it out, and don't be shy with the volume:
I Need Your Love



Obsession
Another song with a few versions kicking around, but I'm really trying to display a range of ideas and sounds, so I'm pushing this sparse version again. The ticking clock is actually a metronome, and the clinking sound just before the vocals come in is ice in a glass of whisky (really). Ideally I'd love someone to pay me to record all these tracks with real drums, they would sound so much better, but in the absence of that (or until I save up enough cash myself) then the Garage Band drums have to suffice.
Raw Obsession



Minneapolis Hungover Tired Awake
A more recent song that I've tidied up for public consumption and added a little percussion. Let me know what you think. Btw, can you spot the references to the Pet Shop Boys in this tune?
Minneapolis Hungover Tired Awake

That's it for now. I really hope you hear something you like, and if you fancy helping me out then please tell your mates, download the track to your iPod and generally pimp me around. Thank you!

A few gigs coming up soon too:

7th April, TBC
The Sun, Clapham Common
Open mic spot

24th April 2008, 8pm
Manning’s Bar, 73-75 Brent Street, London,NW4 2EA
An unplugged night at this North London venue.

11th May 2008, 8pm
Cross Kings, 126 York Way, London, N1 0AX
Featured slot at this wonderfully eclectic open mic night

26th June 2008, TBC
The Duchess, Battersea Park
A full set at the prestigious Duchess Showcase night

Love to all,

Dxxx

If They Were Looking Down, What On Earth Would They Make Of Us?

Another busy and somewhat surreal few days. On Sunday I played a floorspot at a night hosted by Brett Gowlett at the Cross Kings. It was entertaining in several ways, firstly I managed somehow to hook my guitar onto the wrong hole in my strap so it was hanging about 20cm lower than normal. Of course this doesn't sound like much, but when you are used to it being a certain position it makes it a bit more interesting than it should be to get your hands to go to the right places. Anyway, I think I got away with it.

Immediately after me there were two female stand-up comedians asking us to "flick our bead for Jesus". not me personally you understand, but the fellow girls in the audience. Their images of Jesus as a pin-up hunk are etched in my mind!! After them was a series of other performance artists and poets who swam in a paddling pool, recited strange poems (and a truly hilarious version of There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly) and recited weird and wonderful facts about the world! Needless to say the usual gaggle of white male middle-class singer-songwriters who performed in between were somewhat nonplussed. Brett is hosting another evening at the Hobgoblin in Islington on the 7th April if any of this takes your fancy, I'm hoping to play there too.

On Monday I went to see the Barbican's current art exhibition - The Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art, which is supposedly a museum of art as curated by visiting Martians. In fact it was a really enjoyable and absorbing modern art exhibition, which has been rightly praised by critics and public alike. I felt very glad to have seen it on a quiet day as I took the time to view every piece and was really taken by it. I don't think I've ever seen modern art in such an accessible and thought-provoking context, so I can't really recommend it enough.

Last night I sat and watched a video tape of Level 42 live at Wembley. It reminded me of a time way back when my friend (and my brother's best man) Andie, who was friend's with the band, threatened to get me an audition as their new guitarist. He was deadly serious, but fortunately it never came to pass. I was immensely relieved as I was scared shitless at the thought! Anyway, the video brought back loads of memories, and served once again to reinforce my belief that you should never let keyboard players sing!!

Currently I'm still working on a new recording, but I'm confident it will be finished enough by the end of today to get an airing. I'm also off to see my friend Jack Stafford play at the Troubadour tonight if anyone is at a loose end.

Okay, that's enough ramblings for now - back to the recording desk.

Dxxx

It's All Just So Unwrong

I had great fun yesterday afternoon. I was taking part in an afternoon of music, poetry, art and comedy hosted by Frog Morris at the Sun & Doves in Camberwell. It was part of a big month-long extravaganza loosely co-ordinated by The Guy Hilton gallery.

The afternoon didn't get off to the best start as Frog hadn't got a lead long enough to allow his Mac to be plugged into the PA. So he left to go to buy one and fellow performer Theo Morris took the opportunity to tune the Stylophones (!) with his friend Tom. Eventually Frog returned with a lead that was almost long enough, and with the aid of a table and a chair managed to get the laptop connected. The entertainment then kicked off with Theo Morris, (occasionally accompanied by Tom on Stylophone and air guitar, and Frog on vocals) performing songs about a goose, an overly large sofa and an angry badger.

The main event of the afternoon was Frog and Mark Quinn's Unwrong quiz. This is a great fun event in which there are no right or wrong answers and the audience are encouraged to submit surreal or funny answers and prizes are given out liberally. I tried to get into the surreal mood by answering all the questions in white pencil on a sheet of white paper, but I think I may only have been sabotaging my chances of winning a prize, as they couldn't read my answers. I did somehow manage to win two prizes over the afternoon, including writing the question for the answer "Sombrero" for which I wrote, "What is the saddest hat?" - Sombre-ro.. geddit?! Okay, so I'm no comedian... just as well that I was playing music then.

My real contribution to the afternoon was three sets of my own songs, starting with All I Want Is You and a new version of The Chosen One (which I will be recording next week). The second set was longer with Do You Want To Dance, Obsession, Lightkeeper and I Need Your Love. Since this was an art and comedy event, I also performed my Summertime Sing-a-long song - It's Summertime - which went down very well, with adults, bar staff, children and fellow performers all singing with gusto!! Thank you all so much for joining in.

More tunes from Tom, Theo and stand-up from Frog and Mark followed and the quiz answers became steadily more drunken. Towards the end of the afternoon I think Frog had a bit of a break-down as he decided to not be outdone by previous performers at these events. As the audience watched in horror he stripped to the waist, produced meths, cigarettes and large kitchen knives and then proceeded to stand on a chair blindfolded threatening to gut a small fish!! Common sense finally prevailed and with the help of his fiancé and three random small children he was talked out of it and ran crying from the pub! We hope he recovers okay.

Well this was certainly a different and entertaining afternoon, and if you fancy joining in something similar do check out Second Thursdays at the Montague Arms in New Cross, where Frog, Theo, Mark and myself are regular performers. You never know quite what might happen.

In other news one of my songs has been playlisted on IAC's Pretty Darn Good radio station and the new recordings are proceeding well. Also, do check out my brother, Haydn, playing drums in my Dining Room.

Love to all,

Daren
xx

It Would Be Wrong To Miss It

A New Look

A few weeks ago I had great fun doing a photoshoot with music photographer Kris Gruber. It was very enjoyable to hang out with him for a couple of hours and getting used to being in front of the lens again. It was freezing cold, and I only had on the jacket and t-shirt that you see in the pictures, but we managed to surpass the vision I had in my head for the pictures, so I was very happy.

Getting the disc with the pictures spurred me on to redesign the website, so please head over there and take a look:

http://www.darencallow.co.uk

My music has stepped up a level in recent weeks, with radio play, better gigs and new songs on the way so it's great that the website can match up to that.

Talking of gigs, don't forget that tonight I'm playing two sets at Finnegan's Wake in Ealing Green (W5 5QX). This is a great venue, and although the weather is supposed to be lousy tonight, I can assure you that it will be well worth the trip. So come along and hear me in the flesh.

More songs, more pictures and just generally more... on its way.

Daren
xxx

COMPETITION: A free CD with tracks of your choice (my tracks that is - cheeky!!) to anyone who can work out where we are in the pictures.

Goodbye Old Friend - II

I was never quite sure how it would work out when I realised that the guy who wanted to buy my old mixing desk was in Slovenia... but somehow it did. After about 30 emails and much tooing and froing we made it and the package left my house on the 12th and arrived in Ljubljana today at 3pm. Check it out here on the FedEx site.

I've had it for at least ten years and it's seen valiant service with many live acts and a few recordings across London, and now it has a new lease of live in eastern Europe. I'm hoping I might get to visit it some day.

Three Chances To See Me Play

There are three great chances to see me perform songs live coming up:

Tonight! 13th March
3 songs acoustic floorspot at the wonderful Duchess Bar in Battersea Park - 8:45pm
The Duchess, 101 Battersea Park Road SW8 4DS

Next Thursday - 20th March
Full acoustic set and extra songs in the round at the sublime Finnegan's Wake, Ealing Green - 8:30pm
Finnegan's Wake, The Green, Ealing, W5 5QX

24th APRIL 2008, 8pm
A full acoustic set at this new central Hendon venue - great for all you North London folks.
Manning’s Bar, 73-75 Brent Street, London,NW4 2EA


Plus, a fourth way to hear me play is to check the new podcast

Have fun, and see you all at a gig soon - or drop me a comment!

Daren
xx

DARE8 - The Lullabies Podcast

Okay, here it is, podcast number two. This one features the three songs I recorded for my Lullabies From The Wheels Of The Bus* project. You can download fuller versions of these songs from my website (see link above), and if you like any of the tunes please do spread the word and link to this blog or to the podcast.

DARE8 - The Lullabies Podcast

You can now subscribe to my podcast now by using this RSS link.

Once you have listened, then open your diaries and make a note to come and see me play on 20th March at Finnegan's Wake on Ealing Green.

Daren
xx

* Many thanks to Alex Staiger for the title of this project, and the album artwork.

Random

I have been tagged by (the highly readable, and ever so slightly addictive) Having My Cake to write down seven strange facts about myself...


The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
5. Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

Okay... not sure any of these are weird, but hopefully they are random.

1) For years I couldn't spell vacuum. I just refused to believe that a word could have two "u"s next to each other.

2) When the book Communion came out I became very scared of aliens invading my house. I couldn't even look at the cover it spooked me out so much, although ever the gluten for punishment I bought the sequel too.

3) I have a (these days mild) phobia about using the phone.

4) I once came second in a fancy dress competition with my brother (in 1977 at a Queen's Silver Jubilee party) dressed as St. George and the dragon.

5) One of my songs has been played on BBC Radio 1 (by DJ Steve Wright). My first band was called Air, we still get confused with the French band of the same name - although since we formed in 1986 we kinda beat them to it.

6) My surname means naive and innocent. In the book of Star Wars, Luke Skywalker is described as a callow youth.

7) I have been onstage with the Pet Shop Boys (in a white forensic suit wheeling a huge wooden cut-out of Neil Tennant's head during a very literal stage show for the song You Were Always On My Mind).

Which leads me nicely on to the fact that I'm recording a new podcast this afternoon... this time featuring the three tunes from Lullabies From The Wheels Of The Bus. Stay tuned - should be on-line by about 5pm.

Oh yeah, and I tag, Peach, Vi, Nobby & Me and Clarrisa - although it's a kinda soft tag, as I don't actually mind if you want to be tagged or not - your choice.

Daren
xx

P.S. My song Vulnerable is play listed on two US radio stations: Radio KWSS 106.7 FM in Arizona, USA and Paridize Radio - do swing by their sites and put in a song request... thanks!!

P.P.S. I hope the photograph is suitably random for you. Hee hee.

Ealing. Sober. Excited. Finnegan's Wake.

It's a fair old trek to Ealing Broadway from Crystal Palace, but well worth the trip. Thursday night saw me making said journey to appear at a showcase at Finnegan's Wake on Ealing Green. It was a really fun night with a small (but attentive) audience and three really good other acts. As seems to be the case quite a bit these days I was on first, but really enjoyed playing All I Want Is You, Obsession, Vulnerable, Do You Want to Dance and Lullabies. Although I had intended to play Home, but I had a mental block and couldn't actually remember the chords?!

Up after me was Rebecca Cross, who had actually come over from San Francisco to play (which is actually the biggest trek any of us had). She played a very soulful and enjoyable set. She was followed on stage by Victoria & Jacob, who have an eclectic mix of acoustic guitar, xylophone, melodium and sleigh bells. Victoria has a great vocal style, and their set was mesmorising and sparse.

Finally Jack Stafford took the stage sporting a fantastic moustache (the facial hair quotient on stage was very high, with my goatee and Jacob's full beard) and played a very entertaining and clever set. He'd come from Amsterdam, and Victoria & Jacob were from Cambridge, so we really were a far flung crowd.

Not only were all the artists great performers and entertainers, but they were also thoroughly nice people, and we all had a great evening despite the small crowd. Many thanks too to Tristan who did the sound and hosted the evening.

I'm working on two new tracks this week, and hoping to get another podcast recorded on Tuesday this week. Stay tuned!

Live At Finnegan's Wake, Ealing

Do come along tonight for a great acoustic evening of entertainment.

Doors are at 8.00pm and the show starts at 8.30pm

Full line-up:
VICTORIA & JACOB
DAREN CALLOW
REBECCA CROSS
JACK STAFFORD
5 MINUTE POP PROMO

****INTERVAL****

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE 2ND HALF OF THE SHOW WILL BE ENTIRELY ACOUSTIC AND CANDLELIT IN THE ROUND WITH EACH ARTIST PLAYING A SONG EACH IN SUCCESSION UNTIL 11.00PM

Finnegan's Wake, Ealing Green, Ealing W5 5QX

You Are Not Alone - Update
==========================

The deadline has been extended to March 9th... so get your submissions in and help support the Warchild charity.

Full details
here.

Round 'Em Up

It's been a busy week. After my podcast debut on Sunday I ventured out to Kentish Town on Tuesday to see three excellent bands at the Bullet Bar: My Federation (very tight performance and some interesting hooks - very silly website too, check it out), Drookit Dogs (bags of raw punk energy and attitude) and perennial favourites Fit And The Conniptions (Wayne has been having a tough time busking and broke a string in this gig so do visit his website, download a song or two and lend him your support).

Friday saw another trip to the Montague Arms in New Cross. This time as the filler in a rather odd pub quiz sandwich. It was strange to play to the drunken Friday night crowd rather than the (more attentive) 2nd Thursday's art crowd. There was a fair bit of heckling, but thanks to the two girls, Mark's friend and the sound guy who led a clapping fightback from the front. I actually enjoyed it immensely and played a full set comprising:

All I Want Is You
Lullabies From The Wheels Of the Bus
Obsession
Minneapolis. Hungover. Tired. Awake (complete with vintage Boss BF-2 Flanger!)
Do You Want To Dance?
Vulnerable
I Need Your Love

Thanks again to Frog Morris and Mark for letting me play, looking forward to the next one.

Next on my to-do list is to record some stings for broadcast on NAB - "My name is Daren Callow and you are listening to NAB radio..."

I'm also heading to St. Albans again this Sunday for a floorspot at The Horn and next Thursday I'm at Finnigans Wake in Ealing. See you there!

P.S. I am desperately looking for a bass player and drummer to become permanent band members, check out the Gumtree ad here and pass the word on.

DARE5 - The First Podcast

Okay, here it is. Best not to say too much, but let you download and enjoy. Please do leave your comments so I know what you all think. You'll find three songs on this podcast - All I Want Is You, I Need Your Love and Do You Want To Dance?

Enjoy,

Daren
xxx

DARE5 - The First Podcast (9.5Mb) - 13'52

Plan B

It's Sunday today, and it is traditional that I stomp off into the night and play a floorspot at the Cross Kings in Kings Cross or The Horn in St. Albans. Tonight, however, I thought I'd try something different. This time I'm going to bring you my floorspot live on the internet. Well I say "live" but I don't actually know how to do that, so I'm going to record it "as live" and then put the MP3 file up for you to all hear. I kind of PodSpot if you like. This has three advantages for me. Firstly I don't have to venture out on a cold night, secondly I get two of my songs on disc for future usage and thirdly, I get to reach a potentially much wider audience.

So here's how it will happen. At about 8pm I'll set up the microphones and play my two songs into the computer. Once I've had a chance to listen and tidy up the file I'll put a link up here so you can download it. I guess it will be available no later than 10pm, just in time for you to listen before going to bed. So check back later for an update and let me have your comments as always.

Btw, to all my readers without a Blog, you can leave comments too if you wish... just click on the 0 COMMENTS (or it will say 1 COMMENT or the number of current comments) link below and type away. You can leave comments anonymously if you wish.

See you all later!

Daren
xx

Giving Winter The Boot

Great fun at the Boot in St. Albans last night. Sean and I managed to romp our way through It's Summertime, Obsession and Do You Want To Dance. It was great to have Sean's playing and backing vocals again. It makes me hanker for having a proper band again. After the duo stuff I did All I Want Is You and I Need Your Love on my own and all the tunes seemed to go down well.

The super photos on the Blog today are by the wonderful Kris Gruber and are actually from when we played at The Horn the other week. Check out some more here. Oh, and that's Bill Johnson lurking in the background with the tambourine.

I'm looking forward to recording a couple of popular live tunes this week, so stand by for more listening pleasure.

A Good Idea

My friends Peach and Vi (with others) are putting together a book of short stories for charity. I just wanted to lend my support and encourage you to support this too. Click here to see what it's all about and get involved.

Made it to Cross Kings last night, but not early enough to play. Never mind, there were the usual collection of interesting and varied acts. There were Bob Dylan and Neil Young lookalikes, a female pianist, a pair of likely lads (who looked like cockneys, but were from Finchley) and a variety of other talent. Always worth checking out on a Sunday night.

Next gig is at the Boot in St. Albans on Tuesday with Seany Boy again.

DARE2 - More Than Ever

Time for another remix. Today I have the delights of Elite and her tune More Than Ever. This is another great pop tune and at just over 3 minutes it's a great length and I didn't tire of it at all whilst mixing. In a similar way to my first remix I decided to strip things back and really let the vocal come through. The vocal take on this is very good and quite spine-tingling in my opinion. I added a few synths and re did the drum part with extra handclaps for a dancey feel. Anyway, enjoy and let me know know what you think.

More Than Ever - Elite - 3'03

Summertime in St. Albans

Well despite a complicated journey to St. Albans via the Eurostar terminus at St. Pancras International (really), I had a fantastic time at The Horn on Sunday. I once again welcomed in the Summer by playing It's Summertime, but this time accompanied by Sean Watkins on bass, and Bill Johnson on tambourine. I had truly forgotten how wonderful it is to perform live with other musicians (it's been a long, long time) and also to hear the crowd singing along with your song. Nothing much beats that feeling and I think we went down well. Sean and I enjoyed ourselves so much that we've decided to do it all again next Tuesday (12th Feb) at The Boot in St. Albans. So do come along an sing along once more. My friend Kris Gruber took some photographs which I will post when I have them, and thanks again to all those who sang along. I'm also hoping to do a solo performance again this Sunday at the Cross Kings in Kings Cross.

I now have my own Musician page on Facebook, so if you are a Facebook user please do drop by and add yourself as a fan.

I also notice that my plays on Last FM have gone up quite a bit in the last few months, so if you have listened to any of my tracks, and have traced me back here, please make yourself known.

Right off to practice Man In A Suitcase by The Police which is my song du jour.

Extra Fun At The Montague Arms

Someone worked out that January had an extra Thursday, so Frog Morris and the 2nd Thursday's crew trooped down again to run the Unwrong Pub Quiz. This was similar to a normal pub quiz except that there were no wrong or right answers, surrealism and creativity would win prizes! It was also accompanied by some suitably otherworldy music.

I was the light relief whilst the questions were marked. I'd noticed recently that annual events are happening earlier and earlier these days. For example, Christmas starts around the middle of September and Easter eggs often make it into the January sales these days. With that in mind I decided to have a sing-along of my Summer anthem to welcome THE START OF SUMMER!! The weather did it's part too, with the worst weather of the year so far. Perfect English Summer conditions, as if to re-inforce my point. I printed up some lyric sheets and encouraged the (admittedly small) crowd to sing along, which they did with gusto!! So well done to everyone there for a very fun evening. I'm doing the Summertime sing-along again at The Horn this Sunday, so do come along and join in.

As far as the quiz went there were prizes for everyone. I won a laser pointer for my answer to the question "Discuss?" when I drew a picture of a discus. Although co-host Mark though it was a UFO. He had a point. I'm disappointed I didn't win anything for guessing the question to the answer "Norway". I wrote "Complete the well known Frank Sinatra song; I did it _______". Geddit?

I was so enjoying the evening that I forgot to get any pictures. Ah well.

7

My best friend Peach has tagged me to blog a list of seven things of which I approve. Now as she points out this is not the easiest exercise in the world, but I guess the randomness of it is part of the fun. So this is by no means a definitive list but rather the first seven things that came into my head (minus music which since this is really a music blog and not a "personal" blog as such I thought I would have a holiday from).

Did you know that the number seven has ancient and spiritual meaning far beyond its basic value as being one more than six. In the bible it was used on many occasions to signify special meaning. God created the earth in seven days because of this significance (not some literal event), something utterly lost on Creationists. The idea for and length of the week also came from these origins, rather than the other way round, in case you were wondering. The "clean" animals were loaded into the Ark in sevens as opposed to the "unclean" animals that were loaded in twos. Seventy times seven was thought of in much the same way that we think of infinity now, ie the biggest number possible rather than the more prosaic meaning of 490. Anyway, history lesson over, here beginneth the list:

1. Englishness - not some flag-waving nationalism mind you, but the concept of living and being in mainland England and the elements of character this implies. By it's very nature the English are a mongrel race and this is what I whole-heartedly approve of. The Angles after all were Germans and so, for that matter were the Saxons. Along the way we've acquired heritage and genes from the Scandinavians (Vikings, Norsemen), Italians (Romans), Celts and (god forbid) French (Normans) to name but a few. More recently you can add African and Indian influences to the melting pot and you come up with the thing that I call Englishness. I get the feeling that it's all to do with intelligent, itinerant, creative people coming here and then being beaten down by the weather, whilst simultaneously falling in love with the range of natural beauty we have here and creating the slightly curmudgeonly, highly original race that we are now. A land of real diversity.

Did you know that the UK's most popular dish - Chicken Tikka Massala - is an example of this hybrid culture... it's an English invention dontchaknow. Oh and did you also know that the Romans gave the Scots bagpipes and haggis (amongst other things). The less said about the Romans the better though.

2. Football - well actually all sport. It is after all the more civilised version of war and for that alone I endorse it. We cannot survive as humans without tests of strength and tribalism, and since I am utterly opposed to war, sport is the next best thing and should be encouraged as much as possible.

3. Scepticism - I have nothing against other peoples views, and I do not claim to know anything definitively. I cannot disprove the existence of aliens, fairies, the spirit world or god. But I know that I prefer to treat with them with a healthy dose of scepticism and don't believe it makes me any less an interesting person. I'm not even asking anyone else to follow my lead in this, I just know that I approve of that way of viewing the world, and that's about that.

4. Science Fiction - on the other hand I do like to take my brain on journeys through the extraordinary. I like to dream and I like to create worlds and stories in my head. I've read comics for as long as I could read, and now I enjoy Sci-Fi more than any other literature. I still long to climb into my spaceship, pick up my laser gun and crusade across the universe...

...AND BEYOND!

5. BMWs - by which I mean all purveyors of German sports cars.

6. Guns for Kids - at the risk of sounding a bit "they did me no harm" heere I'd like to vote for this one too.

When I was young a company called Airfix produced a small range of 3/4 size guns based on real weapons and quite clearly aimed (ha ha) at kids. They were must have items in my eyes and I spent my childhood running around the garden and the local streets and woods in a variety of para-military outfits shooting anyone that got in the way. Even at home I had a large collection of toy soldiers (from ho/oo & 1/32 scale figures to Action Man) with a bewildering range of authentic weaponary. In 1977 I swapped my lego Sten gun and cap guns for an Imperial Blaster and lightsabre, and carried on doing much the same.

In the Scouts I fired .22 rifles and pistols (real .22 guns, not air rifles mind, although we did shoot them too), I also had a 4 inch sheath knife and at least two other pen knives. I loved war comics and war films and even to this day I dream about stumbling across a new realistic arsenal in some imagined toy shop. In my mind I drove tanks, submarines, warships, jet fighters and death stars. I built forts and emplacements and drew the things I couldn't create on paper. I must have spent hours documenting and inventing these grisly scenarios and you know what...

...it didn't do me any harm.

7. Goths - they have the best clothes, get to wear make-up and bondage gear and listen to better than average music. They are all sweeties too. What's not to like?!


I think everyone I know has already been tagged, but just in case you haven't then I tag Cake and Nobby & Me.

First Gigs Of The Year

Thursday 31st January - The Montague Arms
289 Queens Road, New Cross SE15 2PA

Someone spotted that January has an extra Thursday this year, so the 2nd Thursday's crowd are back with the Unwrong Quiz Night, along with comedy, art and music (not necessarily in that order). Since all the yearly events (e.g. Christmas, Easter, etc...) are happening earlier and earlier every year, I thought I'd welcome the Summer with my summertime smash: It's Summertime


Sunday 3rd February - The Horn, St. Albans

A cheeky floorspot at the popular Sunday night in St. Albans. This time reprising It's Summertime with original bass player - Sean Watkins. Anyone fancy playing drums for us?! Lyric sheets will be available for a mass sing-a-long.

CD Review: Picture Perfect / Vivid (Outfit Records)

I have a strange love/hate relationship with music. None more so than when handed a demo CD to listen too. I find it hard to do. But, of course, I should try to expand my musical vocabulary at all times and expose myself to all kinds of aural stimulation. So to that end I have decided to carefully listen to, and in fact review all the CDs I get given and here's where this will happen. Hopefully this exercise will be good for me and interesting for you... but I'm sure you'll let me know.

First up is Picture Perfect / Vivid. Now I came across this CD in central Croydon where the artist himself was selling his homemade CDs in the street. Now, I'm a sucker for an artist promoting himself so I bought a CD (£2) and vowed to listen. This was no easy task as this self-styled "mix-tape" is a daunting 20 tracks long!! Those who know me will understand that rap is hardly my forte, but I like to think I can enjoy anything good.

So what's good about the CD? Well it's certainly bombastic and in your face. You are never in any doubt who you are listening to as Vivid name-checks himself on almost every track. Actually that's something that other bands should take on board - especially live. I saw a really good Japanese band at the Hope And Anchor the other week, but they never mentioned their name and consequently I can't track their music down. The production is mixed, but mostly good without ever being special. (Btw, if you fancy hearing what I would think of as a special mix then check out Ride by A Mountain Of One - thanks for the tip Robin) It has the usual smattering of samples, some of which I couldn't place - a pitch shifted Elton John sample on Wonderful made me chuckle.

On the downside, it is very long. But I guess this kind of CD is for listening to at a banging house party where Bacardi and Red Stripe are flowing like water, with the bass turned up bowel-shakingly loud and the atmosphere hot and heavy. In which case it would probably go down well. Some of the lyrics are a bit "out there" - my favourite is "She wears my semen like Nivea face cream"!! In the end I've given it 3 out of 5, but really it should be 3.5 'cos there is one track that stuck out for me and that's Salute, which interestingly is the only track produced by Versa. Urgent strings, in your face drums and plaintive rapping make this the top track for me.

Okay, that's it for now, follow the links to check it for yourself:

http://www.myspace.com/absarmi

http://www.myspace.com/vividdonvito



Next up, Rex Kwondo and my own remix of More Than Ever by Elite.

Normal Service Almost Resumed

I went up The Horn again the other night to see the eclectic Astral Gurus play and was happy to bump into Sean and Bill. Sean used to be the bass player in a band called Normal for which I was the second guitarist. When I left, Bill took over. Sometime after this the lead singer and creative driving force behind Normal - Stevie Simmons - died of a brain tumour. It was a sad and traumatic loss at the time and came in the midst of one of the worse periods of my life. Fortunately things have improved since then and I'm glad that Sean and I have stayed in touch. In fact Sean collaborated with me on my summertime anthem - It's Summertime - which failed to trouble the competition judges at XFM, but is now the biggest download from my website!! We have vowed to reprieve it for a live performance at The Horn in the next couple of weeks.

On top of this, Bill has an unfinished Normal song on his multitrack recorder. He's keen to finish it as a tribute to Stevie and this is a great chance for me to wheel out my electric guitar for a change. I'm looking forward to working on that too.

One last piece of news is that I have the next track in my remixing series to work on, and it's a cracker. I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with it towards the end of the week. Btw, if you are an artist looking for a re-mix of a demo, please do get in touch.

More very soon,

Dxxx

DARE1 - L'echarpe Perdu

It has long been a desire of mine to enter the world of mixing and production, so to this end I have approached some friends of mine with the offer of a free re-mix for one of their songs. This is to provide me with items for my portfolio and to get valuable experience in a range of music and styles. It also gives me a great opportunity to share some music with you which I am fond of, but which is not mine.

First up is a really charming song by the name of L'echarpe Perdu (I believe it means the lost scarf, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) by Fit and the Conniptions (otherwise known as Wayne Myers. When I listened to his original mix I was really struck by the chorus and even though this is a very short song I felt it had potential. One happy accident is that Wayne forgot to send the drum track through originally, and I realised that it had a really good feel without it. So I left the drums to come in later and let the song build more gradually. I loved the simple harmonies on the chorus and enjoyed layering these up and then adding some 70s style strings to build the end. It's only a mere 2 minutes and 13 seconds, but I believe it's perfectly formed (I mean the song rather than my mix).

Please take a listen and let me have your thoughts. If you know of anyone who would like a track mixing or some help with producing a demo please get in touch. I am looking to do one or more tracks for free, and then a few at reduced rates to help gain experience.

Enjoy!

L'Echarpe Perdu - Fit And The Conniptions - 2'13

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May I wish all my readers and friends a very happy and prosperous 2008! My 40th year, dontcha know?!

Normal service will be resumed next week, but look out for new songs and re-mixes of some of my friends material as I develop my production and re-mixing skills.

Lots of love,

Dxxx

Proper Bo

I'm playing a proper actual gig tonight, at the Cross Kings in King's Cross.

It's a mixed night of floorspots and booked acts so should be pretty entertaining and a great way to kick start the Christmas day festivities, plus if there is any mistletoe I will expect a good luck kiss. From everyone!! Ha ha.

If I don't see you, have a great Christmas and relaxing New Year!

Lots of love,

Daren
xx

Hope & Banker

Phew - I'm back!

I've been moving house, hence the hiatus. Last night I went to the Hope & Anchor in Islington for what turned out to be a very pleasant evening of music. My friend Wayne of Fit And The Conniptions was playing and after a marathon walk to find a working cash machine I was relieved to find he hadn't played yet.

First up was a young guy who seemed to have brought his entire family and church youth group with him. He was a kind of cross between Buddy Holly and Kurt Cobain, if such a thing is possible. Next was a Japanese act with the most amazing sound and a singer who stood stock still nearly all the way through the set. Following this was a singer who looked like the bearded teacher from Grange Hill (what was his name?!) and seemed to have a fanatical following who were actually quiet when he played! Finally Wayne rocked up with a fantastic saxophone player. The whole evening was frankly excellent, and well worth £4.50 to get in.

Another chance to see me play is coming up, if you are around, do venture to Cross Kings on the 23rd December. See you there!

Dxxx

From A All The Way Back To A

Many years ago (1987 ish) I was sitting in a pub in Stanmore with my friend Andy Hewitt. I mention this seemingly banal experience because without this event, and my friend talking loudly about the music industry, I would never have met Mike. Mike overheard Andy talking that day and went on to manage my band. We became good friends too. Because I met Mike that day, it was possible two years ago for Mike to think of me when he needed someone to go out on the road with the Pet Shop Boys.

And so the adventure began.

Because of that day I have travelled to something like 100 cities in 25 countries. I've written songs in the back of trucks in Denver; had close encounters with prostitutes in Montreal, a large snake in Miami, party people and pirates in Salt Lake City, drunk Germans in errrr Germany and Stella Artois in Belgium. I've seen where they make Volkswagens in Germany, where they race horses in England and watched the sun come up over an Austro-Hungarian hill fort in Serbia. I've bought coffee for the England football team doctor in Skojpe and ukuleles from the state fair in Phoenix.

I've had dinner and close encounters with popstars, made new friends and (yikes!) started Blogging. I've pushed scenery around, dressed up in white forensic suits, operated follow-spots and got to travel in a tour bus.

I've sold t-shirts to people of most nationalities (except in Macedonia where I didn't sell a single one!!) in tents, stadia, theatres, foyers, swimming pools, corridors and the plain old open air, all over Europe, Canada and the US - as far west as San Francisco, east as Bucharest, north as Bergen and south as Miami.

It's been a blast, and now it's over.

On the plane back from our last gig in Romania the monitor engineer Seamus passed me his iPod Video and urged me to watch an episode of Pets. I did and it was very good ("So you are saying that Gog is a dog, or a hog and Magog is a fog"). As the credits rolled a name flashed by my eyes. I had to do a double-check, but there it was. Clear as daylight.

Sound by Andy Hewitt.

Of all the things in all the places at all the times.

Surreal.

But then that's me all over.

Whatever next?!

Dxxxx

Me Tube

Back safe from Bucharest, more on that later. In the meantime here is my first ever appearance on YouTube.com

This is a compilation of clips from the SECOND TUESDAY event.

Enjoy.

Dxxx

That Was The Week That Was

In no particular order:

1) I was coming off the tube at Aldgate East with Alex when I spotted a familiar face framed by white hair. He was carrying a camera and peering down the Tube tunnel, researching a new book or programme? It was the unmistakable features of Dan Cruickshank, I was almost tempted to ask for an autograph, but decided that TV Presenter-worrying is not really my style. He has the most fantastic voice.

2) I was in the ex-Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street (it's now called something utterly unmemorable) pottering about. I spotted that there was a band setting up in the music store in the basement. I was just pondering sauntering down to check them out when, amidst muted screams they began to play. It was Wet Wet Wet!

I ran out of the store.

3) I went to Paris with Peachy. Despite cold, strikes, a broken train and a very heavy bag (get a wheely case!!!) I had a relaxing and enjoyable time. The champagne was chilled, the hotel trendy, the food wonderful and the company perfect. Paris genuinely feels like a home away from home now, just a small shame that my friend P couldn't join us, despite living in Paris, she was in England for the weekend.

Doh!

4) Went along to the 10th Anniversary of the Blue Acoustic Cafe at The Horn last Wednesday. Strange evening of crazy cheering audience in the first half and crazy cheering table football players in the second half. Had to sneak out early as I didn't feel too good, but great to see Kris, Sean, Bill and plenty of familiar faces in the crowd.

That's the week that was. This weekend features a trip to Bucharest with the Pet Shop Boys. This is definitely, finally, for sure the last gig with them ever. Well alright the last gig this year anyway. I won't be spending my birthday in Moscow after all, so next week there will probably be a big PSB retrospective.

Please check out my tunes (see below) and let me know what you think.

Lots of love,

Dxxx

P.S. Check this out, very silly: http://store.shirtsofhawaii.com/tstefiuk.html

3 New Mixes on MySpace

I've uploaded three new mixes of songs to my MySpace profile, please go and check them out:

www.myspace.com/darencallow

Obsession is a new acoustic arrangement of an old song. Lightkeeper and Vulnerable are remixes of songs I recorded specially for the Guitarist song competition.

Dxxx

Wot A Laugh

I played at the Montague Arms in New Cross on Thursday at a new event of art, music and poetry called SECOND THURSDAYS. It was hosted by Frog Morris and the atmosphere was friendly and eccentric. The bar itself has a plethora of eclectic knick-knacks, mostly of a boating nature. Any place that has a Penny Farthing as a railing and a huge model boat over the bar gets my vote any day.

I did a small set first a the main act had pulled out, playing songs from my Lullabies album.

Next up was Frog Morris doing his excellent stand-up routine, I greatly enjoyed his new take on the Spanish Armada and the poems/songs The Angry Badger and I Was The Pig Semen Delivery Man were familiar favourites.
http://www.frogmorris.net

After Frog we had a debut performance from Fred - Sweden's guitar playing answer to David Beckham. He'd never performed on his own before, and it showed, but he won the audience over with his perseverance and pluck.
http://ateljen.50megs.com/

Then it was the turn of Victor Mount, with his guitars, kick drum and violin!! He kept forgetting the words to the songs and then interrupting his own performance to tell anecdotes. Very funny.

Finally I took the stage again to play a selection of my other songs and the evening was over. It all went very smoothly and the venue is a really fun place to play. Looking forward to the next on on December 13th.

Dxxx

Liquid Piano and the RAF

I've been working the last four days at Music Live in the Birmingham NEC. I've been helping to promote and sell a guitar accessory product called the Facelift. It's been fun, but hard work and I'm pretty shattered today. As is traditional at these events a fair amount of alcohol and frivolity is involved. My favourite experiences were listening to a pianist and singer in the lounge of the hotel. I'm always amazed by anyone who can make a piano sound liquid and organic and they certainly did that, I was highly impressed.

I also enjoyed meeting a couple of guys from the RAF who were on some sort of blag trip, seeing how far they could get and how many missions they could accomplish without any money. They were funny and articulate guys who actually gave me heart for the future of our country and armed forces, even though they were very, very, very drunk indeed. I bought them a round of whiskies and never had to fork out for another drink all evening... not sure quite how they did it. Regards to John the bar manager too, lovely chap who's knowledge of drinks and generosity knows no bounds.

I also went to try and see my MySpace friend Elite play last week. It was at the Cross Kings which I've played at twice myself, so I was looking forward to going and hanging out. One thing I failed to spot the three times I've been there now is that there are two stages!! One is downstairs and that, of course, was where Elite was playing. So I nearly missed her altogether, fortunately she decided on a whim to play the upstairs stage too, so I got to hear two songs after all. I was so embarrassed I sneaked out.

I've not touched a guitar for four days, as it was the last thing I wanted to do after being bombarded by music of all kinds for four days, but I'm playing at the Montague Arms this Thursday so I'm practicing hard again. I'm reminded of Andy Summers of The Police, who reflecting on rehearsing for their Synchronicity tour said: After two weeks we sounded like a school band, after four a college band... it took us nearly 6 weeks to sound world famous.

This Thursday's gig is hosted by my friend Frog Morris and should be a lot of fun, see below for details.

Dxxx

P.S. Thanks to Peachy for her comments on the previous version of this post, interesting views, about which I couldn’t possibly comment. Ha ha.

Coming Up...

Me And The Monkey King

I had a dream.

I was standing outside The Morrison hotel in Dublin. It was cool and breezy. The popstar Ian Brown was there, he was putting gravel on a light in the floor. He seemed very happy.

Then I was in a nightclub with more popstars and lots of people in sailor uniforms. I meet a guy called Mitch, he's a millionaire clothes store owner. He takes me to a secret place in the club and introduces me to the Irish mafia. I smoke a cigarette. He asks me if I'm gay or straight and then tells me how he cheated on his wife - I'm the only one he can tell.

Then I'm outside and eating a Burger King meal with a Kiwi and a dancer called Swan. It starts to rain heavily. So we walk the other way around the building to stay dry.

I'm back at the door of the hotel. Ian Brown is still there.

I go to bed and fall asleep.

Only...




...it wasn't a dream.

Dxxx

Cross and Cras in King's Cross (and St. Pancras)

A weird thing happened to me on the tube home from Cross Kings in King's Cross on Sunday. A bizarre reflection occurrence meant that a man with a dark beard and bald head had said head transferred onto the body of a white tracksuit wearing lady... it was very odd and took me a good minute or two to work out what was going on.

I took the picture above too (a rare picture of me!!) and I love the fact that I've ended up being both cross and cras (sic). I was feeling kinda cross, although that might have been wine-rage, who knows.

The open mic night at Cross Kings is great fun (oh and happy 1st birthday to you all as well... well done David Goo for lasting that long!) but also very frustrating. I saw some excellent acts (stand up Laura Younger, Liz Arcane and Sam from Twickenham), and some bewildering and beautifully British acts (stand up Todger! No one got my joke when I kept shouting "Release Todger!" and then found it rib-achingly amusing. note to self... drink less!). I got funny looks when I told one act that they were better than their guitar, I meant it as a huge compliment. Another act I went to compliment looked at me and asked if I could hear anything else during their first number. I wondered if they meant voices from the spirit-world or perhaps just an errant mobile phone, but in fact she just meant that she felt it could use some drums! She asked me if I was a producer and, not untruthfully, I told her I was and gave her my card. Actually I often come across acts that are excellent and I'd love to work with, but just as often see utterly awful, or worse, very boring acts squeezed alongside.

Why do these people play on a Sunday night in King's Cross... why, for that matter, do I? Who knows, but I'm glad they do (I think) although I often do wonder... All I can really say is come along and see for yourself, check out the acts, say what you think. Give your support to the tryers and the greats, and show your indifference to the mediocre. There's lots going on out there and you will always hear something you enjoy.

Dxxx

P.S. I played All I Want Is You and a new version of Obsession that I'm very excited about.

P.P.S. The food is very good too!

All Good Things...

There are lots of good things happening in my music world...

1) I'm buying a house with room to put a small studio in it

2) I'm putting together an exciting new band with my brother and a sensational young bassist called James Gruber. Some clips of rehearsals to follow soon - stay tuned!

3) The PSBs continue to tour despite a few date changes

4) I've got a new set of chords for an old song - Obsession - which I will record soon as I put together a proper solo demo

Happy times.

Dxxx

Miss The Train? Who, me?!

Yup, I'm back on tour with the fabulous Pet Shop Boys! Have I missed it? Hell yeah. All the guys on this tour are fantastic, and I'd rather be here than petty much anywhere else... but I nearly wasn't "here".

We flew out to Madrid fine, but then encountered the baggage reclaim at Madrid airport. It's not slow, particularly, but it's a very big airport and it just takes time for the bags to arrive, and we had a train to catch. We split up, NT and the tour manager in one car and the crew in a bus. Guess who got to the station first (and on time), yeah us in the bus. Guess who had the tickets, yeah the tour manager... in the car, which arrived late and we all missed the train. Ho hum, time for tapas and a glass of wine. We'll be on the next train, no doubt. Except the next train is full, so... 8 people get on the 20.08 and the remaining 5 have to get the 21.30... that's me, in case you hadn't guessed. Not a great hardship as it meant a taxi ride to Plaza Major and a meal on the management. I have to say I'm still in awe of having dinner with a world famous popstar... I should be getting used to it by now. Just call me a kid at heart.

Lovely trains in Spain, btw. We passed the journey (at 300 Km/H) doing crosswords and drinking red wine, bus to the hotel, and here I am... blogging again... Suede playing and another vodka calling from the minibar... hard life, huh?

Dxxx
(in Zaragoza, Spain)

What's Missing From This Picture?

A new venue last night - Leonards in Farringdon - two stages one with a heavy rock band or two and one with the "acoustic" acts - almost a festival vibe. I was just glad that the Prodigy didn't come on in the big tent while I was playing!

First up was Tiger Lily, who played well and had some interesting songs. Then it was Tony (My Sweet Idiom? Not sure that's right, see pic). Truly lovely guy with a distinct voice and a great sounding Epiphone Firebird, but very depressing songs!! Then it was Charlie Savigar who has a great voice and some catchy tunes, good guitar player too.

After that it was Mr. Limbic And The Whole Damn System who comprised a laptop, funky guitarist and bassist and a chap singing, making funny noises and playing percussion. Interesting mix that somehow managed to be very slightly less than the sum of it's parts, but hats off for being different and playing well. Actually having said that, everyone played well, so hats off all round.

Finally, at 10pm, it was my turn, and despite being pretty tired I think I did well. I even managed to squeeze in 6 songs (All I Want is You, I Need Your Love, Tomorrow, Vulnerable, Lightkeeper and Do You Want To Dance?). I was heartened by a couple of people saying my set was strong, including a guy that said he saw a lot of live music.

So a pretty good night you would think, well what was missing from this picture?

Ah, an audience maybe?! Well you can't win them all.

Dxxx

P.S. Many thanks to James and Alex for coming down, all the other acts for sticking around to hear my set (thank you, thank you) and Simon for doing the sound superbly.

Just Another Day At The Office

Just when I thought I'd had my fill of surreal and (mostly) enjoyable evenings, another one has come bumbling along. Last night I thought I'd try the open mic evening at The Cross Kings in, erm... yeah, you guessed it, King's Cross. By reputation this is a good night with a good host and nice P.A. My friend was playing piano between acts and I wanted to check that out too.

I was very tired from the goings-on on Saturday (see below), but I made my way down and found the venue easily. First impressions were very good. The bar has friendly staff and is decorated in a fun, bohemian style. The host, David Goo (great name), was friendly too and introduced himself as soon as he saw my guitar. The Sunday night consists of floorspots followed by booked acts, and promised to be great fun.

Floorspots kicked off at 7.30 with birthday boy Pete Scott, and I followed next. The venue was almost completely empty, but I'm used to those sorts of gigs, and it was a welcome relief after Saturday's boisturous punters. I played three songs, and my tiredness showed a little as there were a few small playing mistakes, but the vocals still sounded strong so I was pleased. Several more floorspots followed one of which was a friendly chap by the name of Edwin Addis, who I'd met previously at Edwards in Hammersmith. The venue was still empty, but we all tried our best and the standard was pretty high.

After the floorspots ended we went on to the booked acts, the first of which consisted of a cello player, violinist, percussionist and two female singers singing in some language that sounded a bit like Turkish, but could have been anything. In a slightly surreal twist about 80 people emerged, as if from nowhere, and packed out the entire venue. Where were they when the other acts were on?! Anyway, they seemed to enjoy the band they'd come to see and some even stuck around to see the next acts. These consisted of a couple in jeans and check shirts singing about how sick they made each other (kinda funny, but a bit lightweight), You And Me singing songs about the trivia of life (with a superstar recorder player... more on that in a minute) and Preacher Boy, who had come from the States and played Dobro steel guitar extremely well and sang pretty good. My friend Wayne Myers (Fit and the Conniptions) provided a variety of ivory-tinkling between acts.

I have to say that I was most excited by the recorder player for You And Me... who looked and sounded exactly like Keith from The Office (far left in the picture), and you know what? It WAS Keith from The Office, or more accurately Ewen MacIntosh who plays him. How cool is that?! I only wish I'd known for sure it was him when I was there, I would have got his autograph.

Who knows what will happen next? I've no idea, but I do know when "next" is, it's this Thursday at Leonards in Angel. See you there!!

Dxxx