This morning I woke up with a dream still fresh in my mind.

John and I were in what appeared to be a foreign country. It was evening time and we were taking a walk around the town that we were visiting. It wasn’t yet quite dark and the only others out and about were a few shady looking characters who made me feel a little nervous. An old guy we bumped into went out of his way to give us some friendly advise about not going to certain areas because they weren’t safe. Then he just disappeared.

I remember we started walking fast and then running because we were trying to keep our distance between ourselves and the shady looking bunch that appeared to be following on behind us. We were running uphill, street after street with rows of houses. Every time we got to the top of one street a building would block the route ahead of us so we would have to take a longer way around to get to the next street. This was happening time after time and we were shattered pushing each other on when either of us wanted to rest. It was like a workout. This went on for what seemed like ages with the permanent threat of being caught up by those following. Eventually we came across a bar and decided to go inside for a drink so that we might find people to socialise with who were friendly. The bar was empty apart from a few people dotted about the place. Inside the decor was modern but the people there spoke what sounded like an ancient language. At times I think I could understand what they were saying. We sat at the bar and John ordered drinks for us both. There was a barman and a couple of young ladies serving drinks and the barman chatted to us and enquired about what we were doing in that country and particular place. We appreciated his interest. When I looked around at the others in the bar I noticed a strange thing. Everybody was paired off with another which in itself didn’t seem strange but each pair of people consisted of one black person and one white person.
It was a very quiet place and in some ways the atmosphere reflected that of the streets we had followed to find this place. For some reason I felt less uncomfortable in this bar though.

A man sitting next to me at the bar also asked us why we had come to that country and to this particular bar and enquired if we weren’t missing home. I wasn’t feeling totally chilled there but I didn’t realise that I was missing home until he mentioned it. That feeling disappeared though and we carried on drinking and chatting with everybody there. Then I woke up.

The subconscious is an amazing thing and today I felt encouraged to find out about dreams and analysing them. I came across these links initially.

Dream Moods

Dream Journal

Dreams and dreaming

Lucid dreaming

Here’s a little treat for you all. A lovely little video shot recently of my two favourite guitar players (sorry John ) Elliott Randall and Steve Donnelly playing together.

I first met Elliott, who needs no introduction really, when he played some of the guitars on Great Expectations and we have remained friends since. Recently I had the pleasure of doing the vocal on his remake/cover of the Steely Dan classic Reelin’ in the Years. Elliott, of course, played the famous guitar solo on the original. In the mid nineties Elliott joined us to play a show at the Bottom Line in New York, it was a really special gig for me in Elliott’s home town.

Steve Donnelly played guitar on Bloom and was in the band when we did a short tour of the UK following the release of the album. He also joined John, Pete Thomas and myself on some acoustic radio and TV sessions we did here and in Europe.

Here’s the video on YouTube

Check out Elliott’s website and his ep containing the cover of Reelin’ on iTunes.

This gives me a primal sort of feeling, something to do with the sound of the drum loop I think. Its working title is simply “Strong” because I’m singing this word in amongst the other bits and pieces of jigsawed words I’m uttering as I look for a melody. I put the clip together from some footage I shot some months ago, long before the idea for this little loop came. I hope you enjoy it. Please update Flash Player to view this video.

NOTE ABOUT THESE CLIPS

One of the ways we start composing new songs is with a simple musical or rhythmic sequence which I ‘jam’ melodies over until I’m happy I have something that has meaning to me. I thought these song sketch ideas might be of interest to some of you and so I’ve decided to make little movies of some of them and post them up. They don’t all mutate into finished songs, those that don’t often spark off other ideas which we develop in other ways. The pictures are generally recorded with miscellaneous portable implements I carry around with me for spur of the moment things. Please feel free to sign up and leave your comments and please remember that all the material is copyright.

Water me please!

I got a new plant a couple of weeks ago although I don’t know what type it is because I lost the tag. It was cheap, about £4.00, and it’s leaves are maroon with a slim dark green edging that goes all the way around them. It’s very pretty to look at. I was told by the shop that all I need to do to take care of it is to give it plenty of water and keep it away from direct sunlight if possible, but the main thing is that I must keep it well watered. My history with plants has not been good, I tend to either let them dry out or I over water them and they die. I’m ashamed to say it but I’ve killed a few plants in my time and so I really really want to be successful with this one. So far it’s still thriving on my windowsill mainly because this plant is very obliging and communicative. Every time it needs water its leaves droop noticeably. You would have to be blind not to see it. I give it a little drink and it perks up again almost instantly. It’s so easy to look after. I wish my other plants were as dramatic as this one is at alerting me to their needs. I need a gadget that you stick into the soil and every time your plant needs watering it says “water me” and tells you the amount it needs as well so that you don’t overdo it. I’m sure there must be one.

Talking of gadgets I found this website which has loads of gyroscopes and other interesting gadgets. I really like looking at things like this and I particularly like the pocket microscope. Have alook for yourselves at www.gyroscope.com

It’s hard to write down but the last week or so has been very difficult for a lot of us round here since our friend Lynne died. It was her funeral on Monday just gone. She’s going to be missed by all who knew her, she was a really lovely person.

The hearse was to be escorted by motorbikes as Lynne’s long long time friend is president of a motorcycle club. We all met up at the pub where she lived and worked in preparation for the procession. Those of us who don’t ride bikes were going to follow on in our cars.

Outside the pub it was really something to see, all her friends were there standing and waiting amongst all the bikes that were lined up along the street ready to follow on in procession. The hearse arrived and set off followed by at least 50 gleaming bikes some of the riders having removed their helmets as a mark of respect. Some of the bikers took it in turn to stop other traffic at the lights so we wouldn’t get split up on the four or five mile drive to the cremortorium. Later, a lot of the bikers said that they’d had difficulty seeing as they were filling up with tears as they rode along to the place where we would pay our last respects and say goodbye to our dear friend. We were all very emotional and moved by the occasion and the experience of the procession. At times it felt like we were in some scene from a film and it put me in mind of a place like New Orleans, maybe, where a procession of mourners would be passing along a road and all the bars and saloons would be empty because everybody had gathered to line up and watch the funeral procession go by. It really was a very fitting send off and I think she would have been very proud.

Goodbye dear friend and may you be forever free.

This idea was born on the 9th May 06 and I’ve given it a working title of ‘The Highest Ground’.Please update Flash Player to view this video.
The video shots are taken near where I live. The light was so pretty and mesmerising on that day I felt I had to take some pictures to capture it. I remembered about the video I’d shot after I’d got the song sketch together and I think they fit well together.

NOTE ABOUT THESE CLIPS

One of the ways we start composing new songs is with a simple musical or rhythmic sequence which I ‘jam’ melodies over until I’m happy I have something that has meaning to me. I thought these song sketch ideas might be of interest to some of you and so I’ve decided to make little movies of some of them and post them up. They don’t all mutate into finished songs, those that don’t often spark off other ideas which we develop in other ways. The pictures are generally recorded with miscellaneous portable implements I carry around with me for spur of the moment things. Please feel free to sign up and leave your comments and please remember that all the material is copyright.

I’ve called this song sketch ‘Genevieve’. I started it on the 5th May and added to it a few days later. Please update Flash Player to view this video.

The visuals are snippets of stuff I have lying around on my laptop that I collected just for this occasion.

NOTE ABOUT THESE CLIPS

One of the ways we start composing new songs is with a simple musical or rhythmic sequence which I ‘jam’ melodies over until I’m happy I have something that has meaning to me. I thought these song sketch ideas might be of interest to some of you and so I’ve decided to make little movies of some of them and post them up. They don’t all mutate into finished songs, those that don’t often spark off other ideas which we develop in other ways. The pictures are generally recorded with miscellaneous portable implements I carry around with me for spur of the moment things. Please feel free to sign up and leave your comments and please remember that all the material is copyright.

Today is my birthday so it’s a fitting day to start a new blog. I intend to post regularly but my past experience of these things says I’ll probably go through phases, so we’ll see . John has promised to try and contribute too so that should fill things out a bit as well.

I’ve also decided to post up the occasional song sketch that sometimes start out our compositions. I’m going to put images to some of them for no good reason other than I have lots of bits and pieces of video and pics that I accumulate and they need a home and purpose. I’m posting up two such sketches today to start things off, Genevieve and The Highest Ground, and there’ll be more to follow soon. You’re all welcome to leave your comments on these and other things I post but you have to register to do so which I think is fair enough.

So here we are. Another year, a new blog and a new album coming…. I wonder how I’ll feel about it all this time next year……