The beginning of 2014 has been a
funny sort of fish. An interesting mix of gigs, recordings, putting together a
new band and the C word no less.
With the
Tamara andthe Martyrs’ album complete and released at the end of December, it was time to
move onto the next project:
The Girl with the Secret Fire. This album is a collection of all the songs I
didn't play with the Martyrs, solo and folksy with more of a go-out-and-romantically-drown-in-the-ocean
sort of style than our upbeat Martyrs’ dirge .
I started the year by recording some
demos with Richard Neuberg of
Strawhouse recording studios, and we were on our way. “Griefy but mythical” was
the phrase of the day. We are now in
July and making steady progress. The Martyrs’ album took two years so the release date of this album is firmly TBC.
To help me develop
these songs I decided to start a new band with Dave Griffiths (of Witches and Francis
Pugh and the Whiskey Singers fame) on the double bass and Tommy Longfellow, my
very favorite drummer. Stripping everything back like this is more appealing
to me now than anything else I feel I've done musically. The double bass and
drums have great synergy and compliment my simple guitar playing. Each instrument has the space to work with
the themes of the songs, and playing like this has reminded me that dramatic doesn't always mean
loud and heavy. This is undulating and intense,
and I’m totally hooked.
And the C word? Well,
what more do you expect from an incredibly pleasant night of poetry and music
at the
Albion Beatnik on
International Women’s day? Not the C word said once,
but repetitively, over and over again like a sad old pet being called in for
its dinner. After I’d finished my set, a
woman from the audience invited herself on the stage to instruct us all that it
was imperative for us to reclaim this word.
It was an interesting point, and one the audience didn't seem entirely
adverse too (although some looked horrified as they tried to crawl under the
wallpaper), until the woman then emphatically announced her hatred for the word
vagina, accusing it of being a dirty word that we should cease to use from this
moment on. And, just when I thought I
was going to be enlightened by an intelligent and crafty poem, the
disappointment smacked me in the face like a dog being shown
a card trick…
…this is why we have (and need) open mics.
Well done though to
Tina Senderholm and
Anna Hobson for
putting on a great night of music and poetry despite the lady-garden related
heckling. This is the beauty of Oxford’s
diverse and creative artistic scene, you never know what kind of night you’re
going to get.
If you want to hear a little of the new band then come along
to the Jericho tonight. We are supporting
Rainbow Reservoir’s EP launch and Billy T’rivers are also playing. We are
on at 8.00pm and I promise they’ll be no C-word shenanigans. Hopefully.
22 April 2015
All Tamara’s Parties had its 19th and final show
of the year last week in The Shed, Charlbury. Yes it is literally a shed; a
rather long one with toilets and a stage. A posh shed if you will. The music was seriously top notch,
but then what else would you expect from my nights? Roxanne de Bastion hot footed
it from London on the train to open up the evening for us. This was incredibly
good of her as she has just returned from a busy European tour and it was non-stop
raining all the way. Despite a guitar
string snapping mid-set, she lulled us with her beautiful voice and songs and an amazing cover of 'Hey Ya' which we happily sang along to.
The Shed looked absolutely bloody beautiful and this was all
thanks to Andy Pickard who runs this magical but versatile
space. He also delighted us with some
songs of his own in the form of upbeat and surreptitiously addictive guitar duo:
Billypure. By this time the booze was
flowing and our cheeks were nice and rosy, there was a faint scent of pine in
the air…wait a minute, it’s still only November?! But there was no denying it, the night had a
wonderful Christmassy feel to it, minus Santa’s creepy knee.
The Black Feathers closed the evening and I really was
speechless. The last time I saw these
guys play was a year ago when we both performed at The Ashmolean Live Friday
event. They are so so so excellent it
hurts. If you get the chance to see them then please go and take your friends,
your wife, your mum, dog, cat and anyone you pass on the street who looks like
they need something good to happen to them.
#amazeballs
Our 16th show is going to be incredibly special and this month we are hosting it in one of the oldest surviving buildings in Oxford: St Michael at the Northgate. Join us at 8.00pm for the following round up of great music:
My debut album, Girl Jokes about Boy Parts, has received its second review from the lovely folks at Music in Oxford. If you haven't yet got a copy then you can download it from my bandcamp site. There are also a few limited edition hard copies left which include some a lyric book which you can pre-order from the same site.
