None of Us Are Free....

But I come quite cheaply.....

Yesterday I signed up for The Gospel Choir , who will be on the same stage as the King of Rock and Soul , Solomon Burke. While I knew of Solomon Burke he only burst into my musical sphere when he released the album "Don't Give Up On Me" which contains the excellent "None of Us Are Free". This was sceduled in for the Gospel Choir to perform , But Mr Burke wishes to sing the song himself with the Gospel Choir, this is beyond my wildest expectations. Here's him in 2003 on Top of The Pops with Steve Wright getting the description correct for once:



Heres a link to Emusic that will allow you to download the 2002 album with a free trial.

Anyway I 've joined up with the Gospel Choir half way through rehearsal , and choir consists of outsiders like me, a core of the Custom House house choir , and various memebers of other choirs including a student called Lauren who guessed I was going there as she noticed me dropping my sheet music as I dozed on the Metro !! I was gonna get a taxi but she guided me straight there and told me where to sit , with the half a dozen men , among the multitude of ladies!!

The Choir is led by Sharon Durant , who's voice is the purest I've heard since Joan Baez and that's saying saying something . Her choir website is here , which gives details of what's happening as well as link to "Mouthful" , the accapella group that she is a member of.

Sharon's voice alone deserve's a page article , but she is leading this thing, arranging all the parts for all the different parts of the choir , singing those parts out for the groups to sing , and then getting everyone to sing their parts and bring them together to make a harmonious whole. The work , skill , talent , and enthusiasm of this lady is a wonder to behold .

Last night we worked though "Down To The River To Pray" and "Daddy Sang Bass / Will The Circle" . I started with sheet music and lyric sheets , but Sharon is so good that she had me ditching the paper and following her, and I'm not that hot on the old remembering front!! The music Sharon has lined up consists of a wide ranging spread of Old Time Americana featuring arrangements of traditional material as as Leadbelly and Carl Perkins songs.

Anyway this is Day One from me , working towards the night on the 23rd of July which we join the bill with Mr Burke. When I left I needed to get to North Shields and missed the ferry by two minutes resulting in a half hour wait in a deserted Ferry Terminal , but saw some amazing cloud formations , so maybe even that was worth it...


If you fancy the concert , there's a link to a two for one ticket offer here.

Festivals , Guitars, Opportunities and Sun

This has been quite an amazing week for me, while there's no major live upheavals , lots of things seem to be going well and opportunities popping up in the most unexpected areas. One of these is the opportunity to perform on the same bill as Solomon Burke at the Summertyne Festival in the Sage Gateshead as part of a country gospel choir . At first the fifty pound price tag put me off, being a total cheapskate , but I assume you'll get to watch the great man as well which ids worth the price on its own. Added to that you'll be learning to sing as part of a choir and this begins to look a bit of a bargain . Theres full information here.

KING SOLOMON





Also I'm still pondering the purchase of a pink acoustic guitar from Windows in Newcastle. While that may not be the one I get , I will buy one this week despite the fact I have an adequate collection of electrics and keyboards!! One can never have too many things to make noise with






THREE LIONS




As well as that , we have the Mouth of Tyne Free Festival on Sunday 11th of June. The same day as the World Cup Final . The headliners are the Lightning Seeds !! . Imagine , and I will allow myself a little hope , if England make the final . Broudie and fininsh with "Three Lions" , tey show the Final on Big Screens in the Priory , England Win , and the broudie comes back on for another round of "Three Lions" to finish the night !! I don't think it will happen but we can all dream ... and if you put in the effort dreams can come true!!!

Bricking It - Logs From Recycled Newspapers

Bought a new lawn mower and one of these things for making logs from old newspapers. Apparently the logs take about three months before they are ready to use , and a weekends papers (four in our house) is enough for ten of the logs or bricks.


Making them is fairly simple but I need to wait three months to see if they are a success.

What Goes Around Comes Around (Literally)

A guy called Martin Skelly has come up with this device device that enables you to play your MP3 Playlists like a vinyl record !! I checked the date , It's June 13th not April 1st so it may be true. Apparently you load your playlist onto the disc , and the put the disc on the player , put the needle on the disc and away you go. I believe each track has it's own colour so you know how long you have to go !! What information there is is on the guy's web site here.




While I'm impressed with the concept , it does seem a bit pointless , though will be a talking point at parties. The whole point of MP3 is convenience , and this device jst seems to make it more inconvenient to play your MP3s , but it a very stylish way. I personally won't be buying one but reckon it will sit nicely next to that iPad you've ordered!! You can get your iPad from Orange here:



The thing about this , if Apple were marketing it , then it would sell by the lorry load , let's face it , if you can make a success of the iPad and iShuffle you can sell sand to Arabs and ice to Inuit!!

Seven Days In North Wales

Just back from an excellent holiday in North Wales that way exceeded all expectations.

On the way down we stopped for lunch at a pub called The Black Swan in Ravenstonedale. The menu was not extensive, but everything on it looked absolutely gorgeous and we sampled the Lentil based Shepherd's Pie and Fish Pie . The service and staff were really friendly , and it was so good that we stopped there on the way back , and made the mistake of having starters this time , which just meant we couldnt finish the main course , full marks each time. Their website with all relevant information is here.


We arrived at the cottage , The Old Threshing Barn at Babell , near Holywell , to discover a superbly fitted place , with lots of room , and great sun deck and sun room . The hook and chain and low beams in the bedrooms are slightly disturbing , but this definitely rates as one of the best places we've ever stayed. You can check out the details here




Though most of the holiday was for relaxation , we had some excellent days out in:

• Chester , where we took a boat ride on the Dee , discovered and excellent pub called The Brewery Tap and a great rock T-Shirt shop called Sohos staffed by two totally great "rock" guys and gals. I ended up buying 5 T Sirts there. The website is here.
• Conway , which had great views , a superb castle and some excellent cafes, shops and eateries , and the smallest house in the world!!
• Bodnant Gardens , a National Trust site which is well worth a visit. Check it out here.
• Pictures from the holiday can be found here.

One amazing thing was that I didnt come across a single record shop during the week , which is a bit disturbing. I wouldn't like Tesco as my only source of music.
All in all a major success and we'll be going back again.

A Bad Week

I assume this week finishes today , Saturday. It's been a bad week. The Tories get in , but don't get enough seats to form a government. This means that Proportional Representation rears it's head as that's the price the Lib Dems will want for a coalition. The BNP polled almost 2% of the national vote , under proprtional repesentation that would translate into about 12 Parliamentary seats , would it be worth it?

Oh , and to cap the week off , Leeds got promotion. Remember this is a club that refuses to disclose who owns it and has been through god knows how many administrations. Then again with Ken Bates involved what can you expect. Still maybe watching the video below of "The Damned United" will make things better:



Though next week things start looking up with gigs by Alabama 3 :



And then the most expensive tribute band in the world, The Australian Pink Floyd Show , worthe every penny and they have a giant inflatable Pink Kangaroo!!

A Permed Mullet?

One of the things about having an interest in music is that sometimes you buy things then don't have a chance to listen to or watch what you've bought. The Hightone Records Story is one such example , which I picked up for under a tenner from Amazon Marketplace from a recommended price of £47!!.


Anyway last night with a friend and a few bottles of fizz and take away pizza we started watching the DVD. This is generally excellent , leaning towards country , but the opening track "My Baby Thinks She's French" by Joe Ely , someone well respected in music circles , features a cobination I'd never in my worst nightmares considered could exist - a permed mullet !!!
Here's a picture from the video.