The Loft Sessions #1 featuring Mark Cope

Here is the first Loft Session with Mr Mark Cope of Candyskins and Nine Stone Cowboy fame. Filmed in front of a very small live audience. Enjoy!


Loft Session #1 : Mark Cope & Tamara Parsons-Baker : Lemonade by Mark Cope from AdamPellinDeeve on Vimeo.

Party Time!

Picture by Pier Corona

Well, what an amazing Easter weekend. Friday night was ‘All Tamara’s Parties’ and the East Oxford Community Centre turned out to be a pretty awesome venue. We set the room up with candles and fairy lights and the audience brought the buzz. The acts were shipped on and off stage by George Chopping, Torquay's answer to Jules Holland, and undoubtedly on a fast-track to 'National Treasure' status. If you missed the party then you missed some great performances from ToLiesel, Ben Walker, Jack Grace and The Old Grinding Young. I also played a few new songs from my soon-to-be –recorded solo album. The next All Tamara’s Parties looks like it's set for Friday 1 June, so stay tuned. A big thanks to all the musicians, everyone who came along, and Pier Corona for catching the night with his magic box. For pics and videos go here.

The first Loft Session has been filmed, and we had a blast! With a small audience and a couple of beers we had a mini-gig in the comfort of our own home. The footage is now being cut up and taped together, and I’ll be able to post the first video soon.  You can view some pics from the night here in the meantime.

The Old Grinding Young pic by Pier Corona

The Martyrs began recording last week. We’ve been in the studio laying down Tommy’s drums and Humphrey’s bass. Now all that’s left is guitars from Tom and me, and then finally the vocals. So…not much then!! I've also been working hard writing the new tracks for my solo album. It’s almost finished though, and I will soon be back in the studio before to long to start recording them.

Hardy Times

Lots of things are starting to come together in the TPB/Martyr's camp. This weekend we film the first Loft Session with a very special guest. We've been preparing for this for a few months and have finally got our asses in gear. The video should be cut and polished within a couple of weeks.

Work on my solo album is going well. Half of it has now been written, including a new song I finished last night about Tess of the d'Urbervilles. I came up with a melody whilst reading the book and waitied till I finished it before writing the song. If you have read the book then you will know how harrowing the story is. I am a big fan of Hardy's novels and actually wrote 'I Stuck it Out' after reading Jude the Obscure last year. I might keep the theme going. So, any ideas of which Hardy novel I should read next? It has been suggested that I should write a whole Hardy EP, called 'Hardy Times,' or 'A Hardy Rain's Gonna Fall..' I think you guys can do better than that. Answers on a postcard please...

The Martyrs start recording next week and, what seemed like an impossible task creeps into the realms of feasibility. We are hoping to start gigging again at some festivals over the Summer period and then, when our album is complete, organinsing the album launch.

Stay tuned for videos and pics of the Loft Session...

Albums Galore

It's been too long since I last put mind to screen here and not because I've been lazing around on the couch drinking fizzy pop and munching crisps..oh no! The band have been busy rehearsing and writing. We're going to get into the studio in April to start recording our debut album. This is the first time I've ever been involved in recording an album and I'm really enjoying the process. I especially like jamming the songs and writing new parts. The boys have been flexing their vocal chords too and seem to have formed a kind of ghoulish barber shop trio behind my back. Still a lot to do but we are getting there..

My solo EP 'lover' has had a couple of lovely reviews and Tom (Sharp) and I have been working on this material to form a duo set. I write a lot of songs that would never see the light of day with the Martyrs and so working on both projects has been really fulfilling. You might have heard about my three colour EP series, well, the idea now is to release one of these a year. So it'll all be a bit more spread out than first envisaged. First I'm going to record my debut solo album. It will hopefully be ready in the summer and will feature loads of unheard material and a few other Oxford artists.

If you want to read the reviews that have recently been published about the EP then walk this way.

Get ready for more music soon...

tamaramusic.co.uk

Yes! I finally have my own website that links to everything I do, solo and collaborative.  You can check it out here.  My new solo EP also recently got a review from Music in Oxford blog. Read it here.
EP II is all written and ready to be recorded. The Martyrs start recording our album on Sunday and we can't wait. Phew! Blog will resume its normal volume of banter soon.

T x

Amazing Radio: The Other Woman Show

Last night I got played on The Other Woman Show, hosted by Ruth Barnes, along with some fabulous songstresses. If you missed it then you can listen again here.

Happy New Year!

My Dear Friends, Happy New Year! I hope my first missive of 2012 finds you very well indeed. I had a most refreshing Christmas vacance, taking in a little sea air and watching too much Poirot, it would seem..
While I was away I wrote a song called 'Waiting for You' and made this little video of it.
Waiting for You from Tamara Parsons-Baker on Vimeo.

It's still in its early stages (written and recorded within a few hours) so let me know what you make of it. I was thinking some cello might sound good on it..

Photo by Pier Corona

I've already played my first gig of the year. It was the Pindrop acoustic night at the Port Mahon on the 2nd January set up by Seb Reynolds. There were loads of great acts including Joe from Borderville, the Epstein, a band I saw first a year ago, Swindlestock, and the people's favourite, Huck, of course, with his new brand of baladeering. Huck's forthcoming narrative, cross-genre album of intoxicating Americana, 'Alexander the Great', is shaping up to be something quite else. You can see videos from the night here.

Swindlestock by Pier Corona

I'll be taking a little break from live performance for a month or so. I want to concentrate on recording and writing new songs. Plans for the Martyr's album are finally coming together. I can't wait to get back in the studio with the boys, o the boys.. I'm also looking forward to recording my second solo EP at the end of the month. O yeah! I have a fresh batch of my first solo EP, 'Lover', waiting to wing their way to your door. These solo EPs will form a sneaky little series. You can order the first, the white disc, from the store if you haven't already got a copy. It is available to purchase online from here. It'll also be available on Itunes "soon". I'll keep you updated..

Although I won't be performing live for a while I will be starting work on another new project "The Loft Sessions". These will be live acoustic sessions, recorded in my attic, featuring collaborations with a whole host of Oxford's finest. The first session will be up by the end of the month (fingers crossed) featuring a very talented chap I met up with before Christmas. So, till then keep on feeding "ze little grey cells, n'est-ce pas?"