Spring Sprung!

Spring is here! Spring is here!

Gorgeous weather here in London today (and for the past few). Looks like more of the same for the weekend!

First order of the day. Magic Ship gig in Brentford tonight. Right now it's not looking good for me making it, but I'm trying to figure that out! Anyone who wants a (free!) good rockin' time, get down to The Globe and support the band. Details on their website, here.

Did I mention it's free? What I didn't say is that they're doing 2 sets, including new material. Should be a good time with a few beers.

What else? Jamiroquai's made a new album. That came in under the radar.

Going to see Lyle Lovett tomorrow. I have no clue about his music so I'm going in blind! Fingers crossed, eh?

On the Rockschool front, we had a lesson yesterday and I told Teach that due to time constraints I was finding myself spending more time practicing the performance pieces than the techniques, which is a bad, bad thing! I'm not 100% sure that I'm even going to bother taking the exam, so really what I want out of school is to maximise my improvement. Teach suggested that maybe what I should do is switch to the Grade 4 pieces for the exam, which should free up practice time for the stuff that really interests me. I think I agree with him! I had a look at some of the Grade 4 pieces on YouTube and I reckon I could nail each of them in a matter of hours. They still contain all the techniques that I want to practice, but they're just a little less challenging. Ironically, I also think that some of the Grade 6 pieces are easier (for me) to play than the Grade 5 ones!

Anywho, that's about it. Looks set to be a beautiful weekend! Maybe I'll put in some 'garden strumming time'.

Oh, and here's some gratuitous guitar porn for y'all on a Friday. I'm not in the market for a new guitar, but if I were I'd definitely be checking one of these out: the D'Angelico New Yorker solidbody. You can get one with a Bigsby tremelo, but, y'know, I hate tremelos, so I think I'd save $100 and stick with the basic...

Eye, Eye, Captain

So, I had my appointment with the eye doctor. Same story... don't know why I'm having issues, but here are some handy hints, potions and ointments to sort you out for now. My current 'issue' is now a non-issue so I should finish up with the antibiotics I have... plus I have a new topical kind to massage into my eyelids before beddy-byes for another month to (hopefully) prevent re-infection. Take two asprin and call me in the morning...

Basically, I'm feeling like my warranty has run out and I'm now 'that car' you borrow from a friend which comes with a list of instructions on what to do if it won't start in the morning... "no, no, no... if it stalls then you need to open the petrol cap, pump the gas pedal three times then wait five minutes before turning the key again..."

You know what I'm talking about, right? For now, though, I'm on the ocular mend. Shit, if I were a celeb this'd probably be the time that I'd start going all yoga/macrobiotic/only eating certain types of carbs before 11am type of person.

Thank goodness I ain't no celeb, eh?

Other body parts aren't doing so well, but that's another story! Here goes. So, I spent most of the weekend trying to get back up to speed with my Rockschool stuff, reinstating practice/warmup routines to try and improve my fingerboard/picking accuracy. I spent a lot of time with some chromatic exercises, basically doing a 4-finger crawl up each string, moving up a semi-tone each 4 beats until I reached the 15th fret then spidering back down again. Ascending chromatics are easy. Descending take a lot of control so that you don't allow your fingers to flap all over the place like headless chickens.

I started off being completely useless, but after an hour or so most of my digits were coming under control. The exception was, of course, my wayward 'more tea, vicar' pinkie. I think I basically found that if I made sure I got my pinkie and ring finger down and positioned correctly behind frets on the 1-beat then everything would go according to plan. If I only got my pinkie lined up then things were certain to go to go to hell in a handbag pretty quickly. The thing is that you can get pretty confident, say, at 40bpm, then when you try 60, suddenly those drums are coming at you mighty fast!

I hate running exercises. Okay, so everyone says you really ought to do them and I agree but really, why can't you simply buy finger memory in handy 1GB blocks off the internet?

To the point! There must be one in there somewhere!?!? Oh yes. Fingers. Ouch!!!! At some point over the weekend my middle finger on my left hand started to give me gyp. Middle knuckle. Ow, ow, ow. At first I thought that maybe I'd twisted it or something. Last night after the gym it was miraculously better again, even though just holding a dumbell over my head was a dicey (possibly DUMB) idea at the start of the training sesh. Woke up this morning and, once again... ouch! I slightly suspect that it might be digital gout. Lots of red wine and meat over the Xmas period. I've had gout in my foot before, and this feels similar. I guess I'll lay off the sauce for a few and see whether that helps. No, I'm not giving up meat! ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!

What else?

Oh, before I forget, due to a scheduling faux pas I'm not going to be able to make the Magic Ship headlining gig at the Half Moon in Putney on Friday.



Just because I won't be there doesn't mean that you guys won't have a good time if you head on down there. Go check out the band!

Last but not least I actually dragged myself down to the open mic at the Spice of Life pub in Soho last night. I hadn't been there since I realised that the team from Up All Night had moved to a different venue and the quality of the acts had gone down. Well, I don't know what happened but several of the guys who used to play there were back, some sporting brand new images...

...and some not (we'll leave that subject alone, eh?)

I don't know if it was my mood or if I was finally seeing the scene as it really is. Most of the singer-songwriters basically traded off a) their looks or b) their vocal stylings. The 'material' wasn't there. Everyone used the same chords and chord forms, injecting key variety using a capo. Ironically, the one song I actually liked was performed by a guy who I really didn't care for, stylistically. The lyrics were basically aimed at a guy who'd just been dumped by a girl who had been cheating on him, but nevertheless he who felt like it was all his fault. Doormat city.

Oh, and there was another guy who basically looked like a skinny little Hollywood brat (jealous? ME?), who could play really well and sang with a voice reminiscent of a drunken Ray LaMontagne. I'm not certain, but I don't think the drunkenness was affected.

The thing I do like about open mics is that, sat there in the dark, listening to this new and unfamiliar music, I get inspired. Usually lyrically. I'm not saying that anything I come up with is good, but the ideas just pop into my head without me sitting down and trying to induce creativity.

One idea was came to me whilst watching the twinkie Ray LaMontagne chap. Not my type at all, yet as he sang I became absolutely fascinated by his performance, which gave me the idea for a song about not finding someone attractive until you saw them in a different light (eg singing/performing) at which time their beauty shone through.

Another one was about being in a troubled relationship and feeling like although your partner was going through a tough time you had to find a way to stay happy and positive to keep things together, even though on the surface that might seem heartless or even cruel.

Yes, all of which sounds very much like well-worn singer-songwriter fare. Eugh!

Maybe I should stick to rock shows!

AND HOW COULD I FORGET TO MENTION...

The Derek Trucks Band's new CD, "Already Free", is in stores and available for download RIGHT NOW!

Magic Ship @ The Half Moon, Putney

Rocked. Absolutely.

Check out Col's blog for pictures of the gig, here. They had the crowd from the get-go. Grabbed hold and didn't let go.

Tim actually summed up Magic Ship's performance much better than I could. His take on the show was that the band took their own original material and 100% sold every number in a way that was accessable, even to someone who hadn't heard the songs before.

When Col asked me what I thought over an after-show beer I let him know that they really hit it on every song. The only tune that felt like it needed a little more was "LoveTel Motel", the title track from the band's debut album. Funny thing, that, replied Col... somehow he'd managed to turn the volume down on his guitar and he couldn't get it turned back on! Showed the versatility of Sam, lead guitarist and co-singer. He carried the tune and nobody really noticed!

Way to go Magic Ship. Knocked it out of the park!



In celeb news, rubbed shoulders, metaphorically, with Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters on Saturday night. He was special guest at Justin Bond's show, "Lustre" at the Soho theatre and was mingling with Joe Public afterwards. Seemed very down to earth despite being an international recording artist. It's nice to know that celebs are real people, too. No, I didn't talk to him... what would I say, anyway?

The Fillmore Five World Tour

...or how to circumnavigate the globe from the comfort of your own living room.

Now that we have our home back to ourselves I took some time yesterday evening to reacquaint myself with my acoustic, Blackie. I have to say that she was sounding good. Vibrato was flowing freely, and, possibly due to the inevitable reduction in callus thickness from not playing recently, I felt like I could feel the guitar better. Often when I'm jamming I'll start off plucking notes from an Arabian sounding sextonic scale, which I've blogged about before, and last night was no exception. At some point I decided to head west, segueing into a North American minor blues pattern. Pretty soon I found myself adding in British Blues tonality of the major pentatonic colour notes, as favoured by Mr Eric Clapton. A hop, skip and an arpeggio later and I found myself back on the magic carpet ride of the sextonic. How many Air Guitar Miles did I earn for that trip, eh?

It's come time in the project to s**t or get off the pot, as Tim's Mom says. I've made a couple of potential contacts through the Partysounds website so I'm gonna drop them an email. After all, Summer's here and it's time for dancing in the street.

In other news, I've finally found time to listen to a couple of the albums I've bought recently. A couple of weeks ago, in preparation for his upcoming London show (July 7), I purchased Jason Mraz's "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things". On first listen most of the songs kind of washed over me, leaving no real clue as to the longevity of the album. Stylistically, it's a departure from his early work, following on from his previous offering, "Mr A-Z". The mixes are fuller, the vibe is more laid back. The funky white boy has brought in a horn section! There's a smidgen of Jack Johnson stylee island rhythm here and there. The overall vibe, though, is lounge jazz without the Mraz trademark street corner rappin'. For me, Jason was at his best when it was just him, his guitar and Toca Rivera on congas. It's always difficult to adjust to his more produced releases, but I'm still looking forward to seeing him live as that's really where the boy's character shines through.

I was extremely pleased to have Magic Ship debut album "LoveTel Motel" drop through my letterbox and to find that it's good. Really good, in fact. It's consistently rocks with an upbeat feel good groove. Right from track 1, Magic Ship kicks the door down with "Fly!", a definite crowd pleasing stomper. From there on in the tunes just keep getting stronger and stronger. The album peaks at song number 7 with the title track. The band keep the pedal to the metal for "Love & Glory", bringing it home with "Tumbling & Falling" and "Lifeboats For The Dead". It's a credit to the Magic Ship boys that as Colin Gillman's gruff vocals fade out on track 10 you're ready to hit 'play' and listen to the album over again. If you're looking to hear something new and fresh, go on, buy British! Buy the Magic Ship CD.

I still haven't touched a Tom Petty greatest hits album I bought along with the Jason Mraz CD. I've never really listened to Mr Petty's stuff before, but I have high expectations that I'll like it. We shall see!

The Magic Ship Has Landed!

Sounds like the Magic Ship album launch party was a stormer! Check out their website for a sample of their first live gig or if you're feeling greedy, go to Istvanski's site to download the official bootleg in its entirety.

Like what you hear? Don't waste time! Head over to Stone Island Records to buy the album!

The Americans Are Coming, The Americans Are Coming!

Actually 'the Americans' (my mother-in-law and our niece) arrived yesterday afternoon. As all good houseguests should, they came bearing gifts: a couple of rather festive Fender-branded T's and a pair of Ray Bans, styling circa 1970... retro-chic straight out of Carrie Bradshaw's closet.

Now, I'm more of a Gibson meets Prada kinda guy, and green isn't really my colour, but y'know, I think I can work with this stuff!



Sometimes, being one half of a bi-national couple has its benefits. Family don't drop in every day, and when they do they bring cool pressies!

The flip side is that today I'm suffering from 'passive jetlag'. I may not have crossed time zones but my delightful-but-hyper 8-year old niece did... my required (or at least desired) 8 hours sleep was significantly shortened by her 6 hour time difference! So, it was a Fender T, retro Ray Ban, two coffee kind of morning, and I'm downing my third java boost with lunch.

Still, last night was a lot of fun. My niece loves the fact that 'Uncle Kenny' plays guitar and she tried to put together an impromptu concert. She even wrote a new song for the show, which had pretty damn good lyrics, considering the vintage of the source. A tale of forlorn longing and the loss of intimacy. I'm not kidding!

As she already knew the lyrics to "Proud Mary", remembering them from a road trip we took at the tail end of last year, I set to learning the chords and trying to remember the rhythm. Sadly, the show per se never actually got off the ground due to a scheduling conflict with din-dins. Dinner itself was less than nutritionally balanced and included a lot more chocolate than I'm used to.

Tonight is the debut gig and album launch party for Twickenham-based rockers Magic Ship. I was hoping to head over to Barnes to catch the gig, but with the arrival of the in-laws that doesn't seem likely. For any of you who are local and at a loose end I heartily advocate getting down to The White Hart to check out the band.

Trust me, you're going to like what you hear, you'll get to meet the band and, last but definitely not least, you'll be able to buy their hotly-anticipated debut album at a special reduced rate.



Oh, and while I think about it, I'd like to send out a special 'hello' to all the Rufus Wainwright fans who've stopped by over the last couple of days! I didn't realise that the boy had such a following! I've not had such a huge spike in my page hits since I mentioned having seen Pete Doherty walking down our street! The cynics amongst the blogging community will doubtless accuse me of milking the keywords 'Rufus Wainwright' and 'Pete Doherty' to boost my traffic, but, frankly, if that was the case then I'd have pointed out that I posted a 'review' of his 'Hampton Court' gig yesterday. Oops... I just did. Sorry...

I wonder what a duet between Pete Doherty and Rufus Wainwright would sound like... (okay, not really...)