Gift of Music
James Littlewood and the very fine slide guitarist Christine Bougie conspired to record this instrumental version of my song Summerfields as a surprising and delightful birthday present!
Sunday Street – the new song
Written & performed by The Loving Palms. Produced by Mike McWean.
The Loving Palms Acoustic Set
Live at Harrogate Theatre – Saturday 28th July 2012
Runaway
Finally, a new song by the Loving Palms – featuring the wonderful Christine Bougie on lap steel guitar. Mastered at Abbey Road Studios.
Aloha Supreme! Micropatronage and Karma
Christine Bougie’s new CD ‘Aloha Supreme’ arrived with me this morning, and I’m like a kid a Christmas waiting to play the Canadian jazz-guitarist’s second solo independent release.
Why Buddhism? #1
I grew up in a family without any strong ties to religion, which I now see as something of a privilege – although at the time I used to envy those of my friends on their Sunday school adventures. Neither were my family overtly humanist agnostic or atheist. I just can’t remember any sort of conversations about faith or religion at all in our household.
School of Gamelan
This weekend, I’ve been attending a two-day workshop in Indonesian Gamelan in Glasgow, lead by the great John Pawson of the South Bank Gamelan Players. The weekend got me thinking about the history of my connection with Gamelan music, and inspired me to write this blog entry.
Learning Another Life: The Vashti Bunyan Interview
In December 2008, I had the great privilege of interviewing the great folk singer/songwriter Vashti Bunyan for Northings Arts Journal. Amongst other things, we discussed her journey to the Highlands and Islands four decades ago.
A home from home in Ajo
I have found my new hot desk at the International Sonoran Desert Alliance offices in south-west Arizona. This week I’ll be in residence here in Ajo (pronounced ‘Ah-ho’), the largest town to be found in the US half of the Sonoran desert.
The Mexican Connection
I moved on from my retreat at Diamond Mountain in the middle of the week – brain and body sore from a strict regime of aikido, debate class and sleeping outdoors.
Bisbee bee
Last night, I headed out to see the Arizona Theatre Company’s latest production at the Temple of Music and Art theatre in downtown Tucson. I’m hoping to meet the theatre company’s managing director, Kevin Moore, later in the month, so thought I better do my homework!
Tucson, Arizona
Yesterday I picked up a surprisingly large hire car and moved on to the second stop on my Arizona sabbatical, Tucson.
Beyond the Leap
I’ve been a huge admirer of the words and music of Martin Stephenson since his early days with the Daintees back in the 1980s. In 2003, I was fortunate enough to meet the man himself for a couple of times. Here’s an interview I did with him in 2003.
Summerfields
Here’s a song I wrote back at University in York in the mid 1990s.
