Here are a few things I do that are off-shoots of my main songwriting and performing.
Quiet loner’s journey to the netherworld
Since April 2009 this has been my residency on London’s bankside at the Gladstone (home of the fabulous Moon Music Orchestra). This is not your average music night. A part acoustic night / part variety show where serious songs meet the bizarre and silly. Regular features include the much loved Snaffle Raffle, the tombola of song and raising the spirit of a dead rock star.
Past highlights have included “Painting the Townes” where a member of the audience attempts to draw and crayon and bring to life the lyrics of a Townes Van zandt song which I perform on the hoof and “Sacrificing a Virgin” where I am forced to play a song of my own composition that has never been played in public before, usually with painful and difficult consequences.
Each month a special guest performer joins me. Past guests have included Dan Raza, Liam Dullaghan, Benjamin Foke Thomas, Trent Miller, Case Hardin, Oliver MacDonald, Roseville Grand, Greg Rees and Ghost Town Showdown.
Quiet loner under surveillance
This hour long show mixes songs, a slide show and commentary to explore what it feels like to live a life constantly under surveillance. Using photos of CCTV cameras and specially written songs the show is an entertaining and thought provoking critque of the Orwellian state. The show was performed as part of the CCTV Caberet a Mancehster show put on by the Loiterers Resistance Movement. Then in summer 2009 I was invited to perform the show at the amazing Shambala festival.
The Property of a Lady
I have been involved in writing a James Bond song which you can hear extracts of at www.thepropertyofalady.com I have also two other songs, Sparks are flying and The death of a popular hairdresser, with lyricist Sean Hannam which you can hear at his myspace site.
