Sunday morning arrives and it’s another glorious day. Al fresco tea and toast, kids sleeping in. So far so good, time to seize the moment and do something useful – gardening

I can’t believe that the rituals of English suburbia are so firmly embedded in my psyche i.e. the sun comes out, the shirt comes off – commence lawn mowing. At this stage I should say that I haven’t bought any sun block yet, but it is only April right – wrong!

Lunch arrives and I’m gently reminded about the kids grass allergy (lots of coughing and sneezing), and I’m getting daggers from the neighbours over the noise levels. The bearings are worn out on the lawn mower and it’s probably pushing out 100dBs. I did get it out of a skip but that’s my effort at reuse and recycling, but I concede that it’s knackered and we now need a new one. Maybe I’ll get a push mower, good exercise and I love that sound they make – evokes memories of childhood. Actually I like the thought of longer grass more biodiversity (although that means more mice and voles for the cat to bring in to the house as trophies). Jury’s out on the new mower.

By 2 o’clock I’m starting to look like a Swan Vesta, and have a brief conversation with the neighbours, over the hedge.

“… yes the sun is strong for April!”

My plans for today’s busking have been scuppered by sun burn and tinnitus (might be good for the curiosity / sympathy vote, but equally might end up frightening small children). Michele despairs and I mutter something about volcanic ash filtering the damaging UVA and UVB rays.

Retire to the man shed and bang out some tunes

Warren

Anybody who knows me will tell you that I’m a man of few words. If  I feel strongly about something I will probably try and write a song about it, but I have been told that perhaps I should share a bit more with the audience  – so I will.

There’s quite a few things happening in the Bath area at the moment – I’m looking forward to the  Larkhall Festival from 1st to 3rd May. I’m biased as I live there, but where else could you find a village square with a theatre, a delicatessan, a wine tasting shop, three take aways  and half a dozen pubs.  I’m looking forward to playing on Sunday 2nd at 4 o’clock (the very civilised Antiques Roadshow slot). Lots going on, and the fun goes on late into the night. Incidentaly I’m going to see Bill Smarme at The Rondo (Larkhalls theatre) – he’s a kind of west country John Shuttleworth, very accomplished, a ladies man with leopard skin acoustic guitar. Might also pop down to Komedia to see The songs of Nick Drake (sounds vaguely interesting)

The evening kicked off with Paul King sharing his words of wisdom on the past, present and future of the music industry…something about Paris Hilton in there somewhere? The audience was hanging off his every word, and you could hear a pin drop. It was barely 7 o’clock, and I was up next. I did a 30 minute set including Mistreating me, Sad Boy, Candy Girl, Lullaby for a Drowning Man, and Stargazing. A very appreciative audience, and thank you for the very positive response.

I managed to chat with a few people afterwards  including “Everybody be Cool” (thanks for the CD) fresh, tight harmonies and guitars just as I like them. I have to confess that I didn’t get to see all of  Suzeraine, The Wicked Tongues or Burning Condors, but the crowd was lapping them up.

Next gig is Powerdown at the Powerhouse on Tuesday 9th March at Metropolis in Chiswick. It’s a genuine acoustic night full of industry people  – can’t wait!

If anybody wants to come along,  let me know

Warren

I ‘ll upload some pics

Hope to see you there

Warren

Hope to see you there

Warren

Almost Christmas – I’ve been doing a few open mic slots recently in Bath, including The Bell, and The Porter both very welcoming hosts, a nice bunch of people, and a good opportunity to try out some new material. Saw a great act at the Bell, a bluegrass banjo duet, with a very charismatic woman playing an upright bass banjo?  The banjo appeared to be wearing a skirt and we were told it was because she was a lady banjo?

I’ve written a Christmas song that i will be upoading shortly

On a personal note, I’ve been looking at some new guitars recently, and it’s hard to believe, but I can’t find anything that I like as much as my old ’72 Eko Ranger. It’s heavy, the bolt on neck is too wide and too thick, and the machine heads are at best, functional. Perhaps it’s got something to do with the fact that its the first guitar `that I ever bought at the age of fourteen. It came from a small shop in Bath called Alun Jones, that sold dodgy second hand hifi equipment, and the occasional musical instrument; the kind of shop that sadly doesn’t exist any more. Over the years I’ve managed to hang onto a Takamine, a Nashville which is a 70′s Guild copy out of the Takamine factory, and a sunburst Japanese Tele which is currently fitted with a Bigsby. I’m lucky enough to have a fantastic vintage guitar shop on my doorstep, so I’ve played on some beautiful guitars – J200′s, Martin Dreadnoughts and lovely old Guilds, but nothing quite compares to my old Eko. I was recently very tempted by a lovely Taylor. Anyway I’ve decded to fit a new Fishman under saddle pickup, and I might fit a new set of Gotoh machine heads. I love authenticity in old guitars, but bits are starting to fall off! I have had a crack at making a few guitars over the years (the joys of a man and his shed) and I’ve got two on the go at the moment. One project that is on hold is a jumbo acoustic with spruce top and copper sides. The idea is to let the copper oxidise and turn to verdigris (a kind of organically evolving instrument). Shaping the sides hasn’t been too much of a problem, but joining them to the soundboard and routing the edges is going to be interesting. Who knows, it might have therapeutic powers like the copper bangles you buy in the chemist.

Speak to you soon

Warren