Notes From

The big day has arrived! I couldn’t be happier that never again in this country will I have to play a gig in a smoky room, but it is going to be interesting to see what side effects the new smoking ban has. Scaremongers are …

I’ve discussed my disinclination to leave my house to see live music in this column before, along with the irony that I expect others to do the exact same thing to see me play. What can I say, I’m a fickle artist! It’s not that …

There’s no question in my mind that My Space is a wonderful thing but I find it alternately inspiring and overwhelming when you get a glimpse of the sheer number of bands and promoters are out there trying to do their thing. It doesn’t help …

And so the big day arrives with a bang! I’m up early and cycling through quiet city streets already dappled with sunlight, cameras slung around my shoulders. I switch to public transport to make my way over to the Red Start in Greenwich Park and …

Playing a gig as a solo musician can be quite a strange experience. Rocking up to a dingy pub on your own with just a guitar for company can be at once isolating and liberating – you may miss out on the friendly banter of …

As the fair weather of Spring tentatively approaches, any attempt by the pretty blue sky and sunshine to wean us all off our incessant computer based social networking by dragging us outside is made more difficult by the advent of Trig.com. Based in Sweden, it’s …

This week: my thoughts on the Glastonbury hoo-hah plus a quick round up of forthcoming London music festivals for every budget I was supposed to be meeting up with a friend this morning to have breakfast and catch up but got blown out because she …

I very randomly won tickets to see Scott Matthews play an intimate gig at Islington Bar Academy on Tuesday night, as part of the Xfm sessions series. After being blown away by his album “Passing Stranger” I was disappointed to leave the venue feeling slightly …

I had my first gig of the year a couple of weeks ago – a birthday party in a Masonic Lodge in Kent. Not my usual venue of choice for playing rock music, it has to be said, and my globophobia (fear of balloons, yes, …

Lately I’ve been going to watch more gigs than play them, it’s been quite nice to have a rest! The most unusual was at The Horse Hospital a couple of weeks ago. The McCarricks (recent interview here) were performing pieces from their “Music From The …