I seem to have been a little quiet of late... probably because I've also joined an indie band on bass and am on a furious learning curve! All fun though.

That said still had some fun at open mic nights, very interesting one the other week:

- opened with a hip hop act (!)

- later an elderly couple got up and played a recent indie tune by the Killers(!!)

- finally one act danced on the tables barefoot whilst performing(!!!)

Fun times indeedy...

If you'll allow me to indulge myself slightly, I have completed a recording of possibly my favourite song; Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill. This is one I'd like to share with everyone, so please have a listen.

The song is about Peter Gabriel's decision to leave the band Genesis, not an easy choice given he put a huge emotional investment in a lot of those songs. In Solsbury Hill he's emerged at the other side of that difficult decision and has regained his own sense of personal identity.

Years later after a very painful and traumatic breakup with a girl this resonated with me. NB said girl had a tendency to quickly replace a partner... and I was no exception.

Of course the band Genesis continued (flourished even) by replacing Peter Gabriel with their drummer Phil Collins. Given how much those Genesis songs meant to Peter Gabriel, that surely can not have been a pleasent experience. However he did go and see some of the early concerts and was man enough to humbly approach Phil Collins back stage and say:

"You sing my song better than me, but you don't sing them like me".

Aha. I know how that feels... and I agree with this sentiment. Of course people move on and are replaced (that's natural)... but it's never exactly the same, always a slightly different dynamic. I'm still me with all my plus points and I am still unique, as we all are.

There is an underlying positive message though, that breakups and change can be for the best. Plus there is the sheer elation of being able to be yourself again and face the world with a new spring in your step (recall that Peter Gabriel went on to reach new heights). So join me on a journey of personal liberation as we climb atop... Solsbury Hill.

~ Tony

P.S. Peter Gabriel often writes very moving songs and this is one of his finest. Indeed there is a whole website dedicated to people's stories of his music which I strongly encourage you to read: http://rec.horus.at/music/gabriel/Songs/about/

It looks like I'm back in song writing saddly... has it really been 18 months? Then again I did have glandular fever for the a 12 of those months which kept me off the guitar.

Had a lovely family Chinese meal on Sunday which put me in a good mood, got back home did some practise and just hit a good riff. Bingo! Usually when I write a song the guts of it are completed within an hour, this was a rare exception. The chorus took a little work but was completed in the first hour as we snippets of verses but overall the entire thing wasn't. Normally that's a death sentence for me, but for once I worked through it.

The following night I polished things off, but I'm still wary. There's an abundance of lyrics and chords, but I'm not satisfied! May come back to it but at least there is something presentable; we have a tune!

What's it like? Very riff heavy, a LOUD and a personal song. Exactly what I haven't written in ages. It had crossed my mind that album #2 will open with a bang (Ethereal Engagement, Anguish, both are loud and catchy) but then peter out as I have an abundance of slow or depressing songs.

 Something in your face and rocky was required... that's exactly what this new song is. Perfect. :-D

Something really tickled me the other day... Chris plays at weddings as an official classical guitarist.

One of his recent bookings requested that he play Time of Your Life. Now I may do it with a slightly optimistic "I'll bounce back from this" approach... but the official title includes the phrase Good Riddance.

I wonder if the bride knew this..?

Normally after a gig I run around and chase people for a general feeling of 'how it went'. This time around I didn't as much, I guess I feel like the roman god Janus; looking back and forward at the same time. 

And the old calls to me, through the January Rain... Sorry, side tracked for a moment there.

The omens for this gig seemed good, but unfortunately I think we learnt never to trust the tea leaves. Despite a huge out pouring of support from friends for possibly a final gig, the fates were against us. One by one through back luck and timing my friends were forced to drop out, car break downs, family problems, work everything seemed to just fall wrong. This is why I'm a devout coffee drinker.

Still one friend did turn up... a huge Peter Gabriel fan. Yours truly had worked frantically in the two week buildup to learn the fingerpick to Solsbury Hill and at the last minute decided to do a solo version of it with vocals. Not been that nervous on stage for a while! This did result in slightly more vocal vibrato... but overall quite pleased with it. Had to thank Chris for stepping in to back me on guitar. Of course I polished off my signature tune with typical gusto and practically screamed my guts out.

This did draw a comment that I make 'the face' when on stage (!). 

Anyway I feel in a different mood... a more acoustic one (ho ho).

From the opening bass line of Dan I'd forgotten just how good a bass player he is. There is something wonderful in his style, sound and just feel for the instrument. When he moves to London he'll be a huge loss.

Our set was very strong, I even nailed my solo for Away with the Fairies (and Dan thankfully did not jokingly refer to it as about my 'dirty trip to Brighton' this time!) Constant rehearsing paid off! Very nice to see my Peter Gabriel and Genesis fan in the audience singing along to Follow You, Follow Me.

As our set drew on the constant guitar changes Dan and Chris had to make left me as the unofficial speaker of the band. Usually I'm not one for thinking on my feet whilst talking to an audience, but this time it felt like I had to make the effort and it worked. Was quite pleased with myself.

Finally we approached our last number before I thanked everyone for supporting us over the last 14 years... I'm going to miss that band.

Of course it's not all over; we will do something together again. Just things will have to change.

Maybe that's good? 

The last week or so has been a mad rash of activity, notably the possibly final Acoustic Moods concert required a lot of rehearsal time.

It does feel quite strange to think that some tunes have been played live for possibly the last time :-( 

Lately my confidence for getting back on stage has returned. It feels wonderful.

So I've been deliberately pushing myself to visit new open mic nights, trust me I've been having the 'time of my life' this last week or so. Nothing beats the rush of excitment you get playing somewhere new and meeting new people. Open mic nights have given me a lot of faith in people and from a social side it's wonderful to walk in with a guitar and know it's possible to start up a random conversation about music.

Tom Kerswill organises a few open mic nights around the Manchester UK area and is extremely knowledegeable. He recently updated his website and I intend to go through a lot of his notes.

For anyone else out there with an interest in open mic, I highly recommend: http://blog.tomkerswill.co.uk/03/2006/open-mic-nights-in-manchester/

 Keep on rocking in the free world! 

I'm going to make an unusual blog post and advertise my friends CD; Ghosts. There's a news article up with the cover sleeve and notes on his website, plus a few sample songs on his MySpace page:

http://www.acousticmoods.co.uk/chris/cds.html

http://www.myspace.com/chrisdumigan (Ghosts & January).

NB the MySpace page has some of his classical tracks, Ghosts contains 13 songs written in his youth and they almost all have vocals.

Highly recommended stuff, if you like my stuff there's a good chance you'll like Chris' album; I was the co-producer :-D

How odd, all the recent illness and crazy recording sessions had quite a negative effect on my abilty to get on stage; I'd lost my bottle.

So I used the bank holiday to settle into:

1. tightening my recordings
2. rehearsing with Acoustic Moods (although we're still very ragged)
3. rehearsing for a live solo gig

The lay off seems to have made it pretty difficult getting back into things. Even with the band I'm having trouble just switching off and becoming 'part of the machine' in the rhythm section. Dan has crafted an excellent set and am hoping that we've got through the hard part and it'll start returning. Right now it feels like a hard slog.

Oddly even my solo music is the same, am having difficulty remembering it! There's a certain feeling and timbre in my voice for my signature tune (Ethereal Engagement) and it's not quite returning. Had noticed myself backing out of gigs a lot.

So I set a target, a mate was hosting an open mic and I was determined to go. In the past three days solid rehearsal normally see me right... so I set about forcing myself to play a 45 minute set each day of the bank holiday. There was an improvement but not as dramatic as I had hoped. In short I was shaking like a leaf when I stepped on stage! 

I owe some of my friends a huge amount of thanks... Roydan and the others were cheering me on through every number and it meant a lot. Admittedly the later verses of the Times They Are-A-Changing felt good... a first step.

Now I need to build on it. 

Some songs are like opening a can of worms... 

The thought had occured to me that I needed to review my collection of songs for album #2. Many (10+) years ago I wrote two songs with my then fiance, very dark stuff about her engagement before me. Good songs, her lyrics my music but emotionally very unhealthy. So I mothballed them, leaving them untouched and on the shelf.

It's getting about time to dust these songs off and get them down. Good for my mental health? Probably not. Everything she wrote about is 100% against what I believe in. Just because a relationship is strained is no excuse for either party to be controlling or almost psycho... nor should people constantly try and recapture what is lost. Show back bone and walk away, don't ping pong.

Knowing what the songs are about and the history behind them, revisting is uncorking memories and opening a can of worms. To be blunt it makes me downright furious at everyone involved.

So I've done what I've always do; channel that anger into my music. The other weekend I layed the guts down of the first song entitled Anguish. That must be the most vicious, venomous, violent lead vocal I have ever done. Am glad no-one was in the room whilst I did it, would have scared people!

When the vocal was done I just felt completely and utterly emotionally drained, but it was worth it. That brought something out of me... but I think I'll need some time to shake it off. Not healthy at all.

Hold on to your hats... if the first two tracks are any indication then album #2 is going to be a corker.