Calling all Cambridge people! Sunday Driver launch party

2:25 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Please sponsor me! Running 10km for Cancer Research UK

Go on, you know you want to :)


(This is me running at Hampton Court two years ago.I may be smiling but it was horrible...)

2:48 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Two big gigs!

I've been a busy girl over the past couple of weeks, playing gigs in London, Cambridge and Edinburgh, and also learning to play Simon and Garfunkel on the harp (long story, it doesn't sound all that great...)  Pics of my travels and travails to follow soon.

Anyway...two really big gigs coming up.

First big gig is this Wednesday, the Digitonal labum launch at the Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell:



Next, I'm playing at KOKO in Camden on Saturday 13th September with the Shadow Orchestra, supporting Hexstatic and DJ Food - wicked!



Tickets for this late-night extravaganza are going fast, but you can win a pair by answering this simple question:

Who were the original founding members of DJ Food?

Please send your answer, including your name and contact details, to info@shadoworchestra.com, and tell them I sent ya...

2:33 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Something new part 2: Introducing the Cool Kats

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, exciting things are afoot in the form of The Cool Kats - the world's most glamorous (and possibly only?) alternative lounge jazz harp and vocal duo.

I've teamed up with ace singer Kat Vipers to cover the whole gamut of popular song - from old jazz standards like Summertime or My Funny Valentine - to Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica, Joy Division and Nirvana.

Frankly, we sound great - check out some of the tracks on our Myspace page - not to mention the super-glam photos taken by Matt Farrow (aka The Magic Hours):






Available now for weddings, funerals, Bar Mitvahs, corporate functions, private parties, restaurant and bar bookings... get in touch if you're interested!

8:36 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Old stuff, new stuff, borrowed stuff, blue stuff...

*pulls up chair*
*looks nervously at fingernails*
Hey, I know it's been a while since I blogged. But it's been a hard year, and I've been through a lot lately.

So pull up your chair, have a drink and join me as I tell you about some of it.

Old (and current) stuff:
Sadly Bussetti bit the dust last year.  I guess the strain of having ten people in a band scattered across three continents was a bit much.  My good friend Henry Scowcroft, erstwhile bassist, has since gone his own sweet way, forming cult "sitting on stools practising their scales" act Sinking Cruise Ship Rescue Drama, and playing tambourine (and guitar) for upcoming folksy scenesters One Little Plane.

Currently occupying most of my time is Sunday Driver, and with good reason as exciting things are afoot. We were lucky enough to get a grant from the Arts Council (before all their money got pinched to shore up the Olympics...) and used the cash to record our finest album to date - "In the City of Dreadful Night".  The title is inspired by Kipling, and we've taken our style from the era, and (in keeping with our Indian vibe) the British Raj.  There's more info, pics and preview tracks up on our myspace page, and the first single (Heroes) will be out to download very soon. 

The album launch party is on Friday 17th October in Cambridge, and it will be ace - burlesque, comedy, poetry, people dressed as Victorians, and of course lots of music.  Join our Facebook group for more updates.



The Shadow Orchestra is also gearing up for bigger and better things.  We reocrded around 5 tracks for a studio EP last summer, and since then we've been mixing, gigging (including playing a couple of blinders at Camden's KOKO), mixing some more, gigging some more, losing a violinist, having babies (well Chris has, and my sister has)... and generally not releasing anything.  Now we've just recruited a new singer and hopefully the Shadow show will be back on the road very soon.

Life in Digitonal has been tough over the past year or so. We've not gigged much, and often it's been too much of a faff to drag my concert harp around the place.  Although we recently played a blinder at the Union Chapel in Islington, as part of the daytime concerts series. But liven yourself up, 'cos the album - Save Your Light For Darker Days - is finally coming out.  After a gestation period longer than an African elephant, we're launching the album on 3rd September at the Electroacoustic Club at the Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell.  Do not miss this gig - it will be all kinds of awesome. Plus, we are now officially hated by the NME.  I feel so proud. We're going to have T-shirts made up saying it.



New stuff:
What's new pussycat?  The Cool Kats, that's what. And it's so exciting that it deserves a whole separate blog entry, coming later.

Borrowed stuff:
As well as the usual weddings, funerals and Bar Mitzvah's that I play at to actually earn some bloody money from my music (and justify the cost of keeping what is essentially an enormous ornamental egg-slicer), I guess session work comes under this heading, and I've done a few bits of work here and there.

First was a session for the lovely, and extremely talented, Julie McKee, for her new album "What a woman shouldn't do".  It's a lovely blend of jazzy pop and soulful songs.  I'm only on the last track, but I commend the rest to you.

And just a couple of weeks ago I found myself trapped in a basement in the BBC's Maida Vale studios recording a session with Aaron Jerome and his super-funky band for Mista Jam's show on BBC Radio1Xtra.  The session should be aired in a few weeks, and recording it was a blast.  The tracks sound fantastic.  It's always fun to work with excellent musicians, and playing along with the likes of Richie Spaven and the others was a privilege.  There's more about the session on Aaron's blog, but here's a pic:


Blue stuff:
Not much blueness to report in my life, and I'm thankful.  I've got more than enough going on to keep me busy. 

But if it's blues you want, you could do much worse than to check out my boyfriend Ricky's amazing band Belleruche.  Their last album on Tru Thoughts has sold like the proverbial hot cakes, and they're currently gigging pretty much all over the world.  Jealous? Moi? Just a bit...  Anyway, their new album, The Express, is due out in October and it's just fab.  Check them out, and tell 'em I sent ya.

Well that's all the news for now.  I'll be back to a regular blogging schedule from now on. Don't leave it so long next time, eh?

6:55 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Another gig cancelled

12:44 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Gig coming up - Wednesday August 15th

Assuming I make it back from an adventure in Birmingham in time, I'll be playing here on wednesday 15th August:

I'll be playing with half of Sunday Driver, doing a stripped down harp/guitar/vocals set, after the last one at Safe as Milk worked so well.  Music starts at 8.30, we're on at 10pm.

Satchmo's is a cool venue that I often drive past and think "oooh, I really should go there!"  Well, now I've got the perfect excuse. And you have too - hope to see you there.

9:47 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Gig this Thursday

Half of Sunday Driver are doing a very special stripped down acoustic set on Thursday at the Old Ship, Mare St, Hackney as part of the Safe as Milk Acoustic sessions..  Harp/clarinet plus sitar/guitar plus vocals. Sweet :)

Not sure what time we're on (must find out...) Probably about 8pm I reckon.

If you're around it would be nice to see you.
[URL=http://www.sundaydriver.co.uk]Sunday Driver website[/URL]

5:39 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Off to the Proms! - Tallis and his chums.

Last night I had an absolutely wonderful experience, thanks to the BBC Proms.  I went to see Late Night prom 6, featuring a staggering bill of Striggio, Lassus and Tallis.  I am a huge fan of the glorious polyphony of early choral music so this was a real treat.  Tallis' 40-part motet "Spem in Alium"  (aka "Spam in Onions"), which we heard last night, is one of my favourite pieces of music.  It's just gorgeous - rich and complex, sounding as fresh and inventive today as it first did 400+ years ago.

But the big hit of the evening was the first performance in modern times of Striggio's "Ecco si beato giorno"  - a staggering work in 40- and even 60-part harmony.  Real "hairs up on the back of the neck" stuff.

Anyway, I'm not just telling you this to show off.  I'm telling you this because thanks to the lovely BBC, you can listen again to this Prom for a whole week.

Link to listen again to all the Proms. 

There's some fab treats in the Proms this year, including the Swingle Singers doing Berio last Monday night. I know people knock it, but the BBC is such a fantastic institution, and Listen Again is making music (and radio) available to many more people.

Here endeth the lesson. Go listen to Tallis and his chums and grab yourself a slice of heaven right now.

4:26 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Lack of blogging...

Thanks to the combined uselessness of my housemates, and the providers of telecommunications in this fine land, I am without the internet at home.  Thanks to my job, I'm unable to piss away hours of time at work uploading photos and blogging.  So my online adventures are somewhat curtailed at the moment.

Recent great moments have included the Belleruche  album launch party at the Luminaire  - maybe the best gigs I've been to all year.  The album is out now - go buy it! More pics here  from the oustanding Matt Farrow:

I was at the front, dancing like a loon:

The other thing I was up to was seeing the fabulously named Tits of Death on Friday night at the launch party of their new single, Iron Nipples.  Great fun, really stylish, loads of energy and good tunes. I had a blast, but had to sneak out during the encore to go on to a friend's club night. Hoepfully I'll get some pics up soon, broadband willing...

5:26 AM - 1 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment