Scotch and Woodsmoke

mahony @ colchester arts centre - 16 march

2012-01-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

Very pleased to be playing the arts centre on Friday 16 March.

Even more so as we're on a bill with ((Oh Dear, Sons of Joy and Halo Halo.

Good times.

mahony @ bandcamp

2011-12-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

we had a mahony get together last weekend, first time we'd played in about 6 years. We had a great time and miraculously managed to remember a whole bunch of songs, even though toms fingers were a bloody mess after a long time away from the bass.

Hopefully going to get some gigs sorted out, and got 3 new songs to get finished before the next practice. In the meantime just uploaded the last mini album we did to bandcamp - get it here for free

Raggeds recording lined up just before xmas, cd out in the new year. good times.

RIP Bert Jansch

2011-10-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

Bert Jansch was one of the artists i remember hearing from a very early age, mostly from the backseat of an ageing Citroen as my dad played Rosemary Lane or something from the Pentangle record Sweet Child. Didnt realise how much those tunes stuck with me until later on when I started listening to more folk music and they brought back a ton of memories.
He used to play at Colchester Arts Centre every couple of years and I'd go along with me dad and uncles whenever I could. Always amazing to listen to and watch, and seemed like a nice bloke too. I was really gutted to hear the news of his death yesterday.

Bloody awful singer mind you.

Gigs, Willy Mason cover

2011-08-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

Few gigs this weekend to mark what feels like the end of summer:

Beer festival at The White Horse in Edwardstone on Sat night with the Raggeds, and Sundays an afternoon of music at the Albion, where I'll be doing some songs solo, and maybe with some of the other performers.

Also Ant, Tom and me will be playing some songs at No Rain on 17 Sept, along with a bunch of other great bands. More on that soon.

Here's a Willy Mason number, looking forward to seeing him next week at the Arts Centre.

Into Tomorrow

Shedfest

2011-08-04T04:15:00.000-07:00

My pal Staff put on a great party at the Packing Shed off Mersea the other weekend with a bunch of great bands playing. I wasn't supposed to be playing but went along to help take stuff out on the boats, and weasled my way onto the bill. Did a few tunes solo on the acoustic and joined (((Oh Dear on guitar for Slow Cheese. Forgotten how much i miss drums and loud guitars.

Busy Boy

2011-05-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

Been super busy recently so still got half a dozen toons waiting to be finished. All my spare times been spent either up at my new allotment or writing an article about the allotment for Grow Your Own magazine. Should be out in the July issue, along with a bit about the Mersea site too.
Have been loving the weather and spending tons of time outside, the spuds are coming through now and as soon as the waters hooked up got a load more stuff to go in. well chuffed.

This is an old toon one that popped up in itunes recently. Forgotten i'd recorded this, and have no idea whose mandolin i was playing - its pretty ham fisted but think theres some scruffy charm to it (maybe).

Feels Like I've Been Dreaming

Cut The Strings

2011-04-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

I sat down with my Grandad a few months back to record him talking about his experiences during the war, something we'd been meaning to do for a while. I really wanted to get his personal account and to have something for all of his great-grandchildren to hear when they are old enough.

We ended up talking for about 3 hours, not just about the war but a lot of family history that I only really knew snippets of, and a world that seems long gone.

Of course despite having done a test run, and monitored the sound levels while we recorded, the next night I went to transfer it to the computer and found a 1.3gb file of nothing but silence on my 8 track. After kicking a few chairs around and swearing profusely I sat and wrote the bones of this song, which i finished just before my grandmother died in February. She was brilliant and I miss her terribly.

My grandparents got engaged just before my grandad Dicky got posted in 1939, and they finally married in 1945. Dick was posted again straightaway and only returned home for good in 1946.
The song ended up being more about their relationship and how the war put everything on hold. To be honest I've never heard me grandad use the term 'shithead', but as I was taking liberties singing about something I'll (hopefully) never have to go through anyway it seemed fair enough.

Cut The Strings

Summer lies in wait...

2011-01-31T14:25:00.000-08:00

So much for the frequent postings then.

Been trying to get the loft sorted out a bit into a usable study/recording space, but its still just a mess of guitars and the kids old toys that we can't quite bring ourselves to pass on yet. Managed to get up there and get this one recorded yesterday while the roast was cooking.

Summer

Couple of gigs coming up - Tin Pan Alley on Weds 9th Feb and SlackSpace on Sat 9th April.

Playing For Keeps

2010-11-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

1 day of Movember left to go, can't wait to be tache free. The novelty wore off pretty quickly!

Here's an old Mahony one I found lurking on my 8 track. Its in disgrace at the moment (the 8 track, not the song) after failing to save the 3 hours of my grandads war stories I thought I'd recorded.

Playing for Keeps

Thats my dear old friend Peter Nicholson (from the One Ensemble) on the doubletracked cello.

Off we go....

2010-11-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Been meaning to start this for a long time, a songblog, a place to post some of the backlog of toons I have and an impetus to get the new ones finished and out into the ether. This time of year always gets the creative sap rising so hopefully the posts/toons will come thick and fast. Going to be mix of old and new, covers and originals, and maybe some new versions of toons from my old bands, The Hoons and Mahony. We'll see.

The title of this blog comes from a song I'll get recorded and uploaded soon, and captures a bit of what I love about autumn:
'This seasons in full bloom, the smell of scotch and woodsmoke filling up the room'

First off a cover of a band from Woodbridge that I love, (((Oh Dear. Had the pleasure of sharing a bill with them a couple of times and always end up with this one going round my head for days afterwards.

Slow Cheese

And in a first post double bill extravaganza this one, from a little while back. Started it at home in Essex, finished in a hotel room in Dallas, Texas.

Long Time