As promised, here are some photos from the Acoustic Gathering festival held in Scarborough on 16th September. Thanks to Steve Dickinson for these pics.

From L to R: Elliott Randall, Steve Dickinson, Tasmin Archer, John Hughes

Sunday 16th September was the Acoustic Gathering in Scarborough.

The event was held in Peasholm Park. The stage was a small bandstand in the middle of a lake and the audience were sitting/lying/standing on a bank opposite relaxing, eating, drinking and generally chilling out. There was a small cafe and a bar open for refreshments and there was a really good atmosphere about the place. There were performers on stage from midday onwards and we played at about 8 p.m. There is a complete list of all the performers and more general info here.

Elliott Randall joined John and I for this performance. We first met Elliott when he played guitar on some of the tracks on our first album and we’ve been friends with him and his wife Jane ever since. I also sang on his remake of ‘Reeling In The Years’ last year.

About an hour before we were due to play it started chucking down with rain and I feared that we may end up playing to the ducks. Thankfully it cleared up fairly quickly and everything dried up nicely in the warm breeze. It was just starting to get dark as we were rowed across the lake to the bandstand and the sky had some lovely hints of red seeping through. It’s the very first time I’ve taken to the stage by rowing boat We disembarked in a small back stage area on the bandstand where they were back projecting live video shots onto a screen and doing other technical stuff. It’s been a while since John and I did a gig and so I must admit to starting to get a little nervous at this point. After a brief line check we started with ‘Take Care’ and followed that with ‘Effect Is Monotony’. The sound on stage was a bit weird with an echo bouncing back from the banks of the lake but we all seemed to manage to block it out after a while and settled into things. The lights from the stage and the shore shone on the water as we played and ducks were regularly flying in and landing just feet away right in front of us. Obviously ducks of good taste We continued with ‘After Hell’, ‘Violence’, ‘Complaints’ and then ‘Sleeping Satellite’ which as usual got a great cheer from the audience. The rest of the short set was ‘Rain Falling’, ‘Emergency’, ‘In Your Care’ and we ended with ‘One More Good Night With The Boys’.

I’m not exactly sure how many people were there but I’d guess at a couple of thousand or more. There was a good vibe from the audience across the water and I hope they had as good a time listening and watching as we did playing. After we’d finished we left the same way we came in, by rowing boat. We were rowed back to the boat dock serenely and had a nice cup of tea. Rock and roll eh?

So our first venture back to the stage for some time was a very pleasurable experience and big thanks to Steve Dickinson for inviting us to play at this event. Thanks also to Elliott for agreeing to do this show with us and to the boatman whose oaring skills delivered us safely to and from the bandstand. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to put up very soon and we should also have some video footage of our performance too with a bit of luck.

I love tinkering about making sounds out of everyday objects. It feels like there’s something so primitive and instinctive deep down that drives this. Some people take it that much further though, like for instance these guys who made an instrument called a Helmholtz Double Siren. It looks like they’ve made it out of a bit of scrap wood and a brass cylinder powered by compressed air.

I suppose this is how all weird and wonderful instruments are made or invented. At least that’s the way it is to begin with until much fancier, more upgraded aesthetically pleasing materials are found.

In a similar vein, years ago I watched a programme on John Logie Baird, the inventor of the worlds’s first working television system. It showed him using what looked like really crude materials to build his invention. I realised then that you just use whatever there is at hand to do the job. It still amazes me to think how something that started out so basic an idea as now developed into something like the flat screen tvs of today.

Take a look at the strange drawing in this patent for an early electrical musical instrument. It was patented way back in 1893 by an inventor called Anacleto Montanelli.

The drawings in this patent are also pretty interesting. They’re by Leon S. Theremin who invented the Theremin.

The theremin produces such a wonderful sound. I suppose the most well known example of its use in popular music was by the ‘Beach Boys’ in their song ‘Good Vibrations’. What a great sound that is.

It looks simple to use but as with most great things there’s a real art to it. You control the pitch and volume by varying the position of your hands. Simple eh! Here’s a clip of Clara Rockmore also known as the Queen of Theremin. I can definitely see why she’s called the Queen of this instrument… Wow! she’s brilliant.

Just recently I’ve been invited to a few events that have showcased young talent in my area.

Manningham Housing Association held an event to celebrate Bradford’s diverse culture and community. There were many local people from different backgrounds in one place all enjoying each others company and the evenings entertainment. There was food from all the different cultures for people to taste. Performers ranging from about 11 years upwards entertained us. Some rapped while others either sang or danced.

There were groups of young dancers and I was impressed by how expertly they executed their moves. I could quite easily see any of them in a Missy Elliott or Beyonce style music video because they really were that good. Amongst the singers there was a range of vocal styles I heard from kids of all ages. They really sang there hearts out and all of them had stage presence. It was truly amazing to see.

The organisers erected a marquee in the middle of the park near Bradford’s Cartwright Hall for the event. Cartwright Hall is now a museum and art gallery but the grounds used to be owned by the famous mill owner Samuel Lister. It’s named after Dr Edmund Cartwright, who invented the first wool-combing machine. Coincidentally, Cartwright Hall is the place we shot the ‘real’ footage that we used in the Sedan video that we made available recently.

Today Bradford is a melting pot of people from all over the world. You only have to look around and you’ll see an array of interracial couples like Africans with Chinese, Indians with Europeans and all with the most beautiful looking children. It’s a real multicultural ethnic mix.

The whole evening felt like a massive swirl of rainbow colours which was a warm experience for the senses and the soul.

At another event, 10 girls from a school in my neighbourhood organised a fund raising concert for the ‘Make A Wish Foundation’. I was invited to make a surprise appearance and present them with flowers and cards to congratulate them for their efforts. It just so happens it was the 21st anniversary of the ‘Make A Wish Foundation’ who help grant wishes to children living with life-threatening medical conditions.Please update Flash Player to view this video.

The girls put on an amazing evening of dance, singing and entertainment and all the choreography was great. They seemed to be having loads of fun on the stage and there was a tremendous atmosphere in the hall. All of their friends whooped and hollered.

How impressive that these girls did everything themselves from start to finish… They booked the hall, they sold the tickets and programmes and sorted out all the costumes. At the very end we were all moved to hear a mother pay tribute to the girls for helping children like her own daughter living with a life threatening illness. It’s so fantastic that the girls managed to raise £700 over the two day event so I thought I’d share a short clip of that evening with you.

I was also invited to the final of the Bradfactor talent contest which took place at Bradford’s Priestly Theatre. Wow!! what a great evening’s entertainment that was. I was there to help present awards to all of the young winners on the night. I was amused to see that it was set up in the style of the Xfactor show and they even had a Simon Cowell impersonator doing the judging. Thankfully, unlike the real Simon Cowell this guy was far more amenable towards the acts.. He and the two judges were very complimentary about them all as they really did perform excellently. Every dancer, rapper and singer had talent and so anyone would have been hard pressed to pick a winner in each of the heats.

Bradford has got real talent out there and it was great to hear the organisers say that all of the winners will be given help to progress and develop their talent.

The voice is a musical instrument.

Anything that produces sound and can in some way be controlled can serve as a musical instrument. The voice is an instrument which consists of four parts: the vibrator, the resonator, the motor and the articulator. There are many musical instruments which have the first three parts in some form but the articulator is one of the main characteristics of the human voice. The voice is the most articulate instrument. Other instruments only play the tune, while the voice plays the tune and makes words.

In India the tradition of chant, a form of vocal meditation, is revered as the highest form of devotion. Those who practise this tradition believe that profound spiritual transformation can be achieved and that, through prayer sung from the heart, the voice can reach the divine. Over thousands of years the master musicians and sants (saint singers) have taken the tradition ever deeper although it is also practised by “common people”. They sang their devotional hymns as a part of the formalised music of India which has all helped to develop and progress this tradition. The rishi-singers believed that “Swaras” of Indian music were not merely a collection of notes but they were founded on microtones known as “Shrutis” which could bring the human-mind to meditation leading to the attainment of god-consciousness.

Divine Singing is an Indian tradition of using the voice to reach a realm where you and the divine sound are one. The word “divine” in this instance relates to something which has unlimited or universal power. I agree with those who believe that the voice can serve as a direct bridge to the divine or something bigger than just the individual. I’m aware of this because this is something I have experienced for myself when for example my ego is not present and I feel myself flowing along, singing with ease. I feel I’m being elevated with a sense of deep serenity and it’s like not thinking but observing yourself while doing something. There’s no worry or concern about singing the wrong note, or whether I’m making the right impression on my audience. It feels free of any thought or want and ‘feels like heaven’.

Take a look at the diagram below and check out this link for more information on how the voice works as a musical instrument.

The weathers been on my mind lately. I’ve been thinking about how warm it’s been feeling especially for this time of the year. Only this morning I looked out of my window and noticed that the plants in my garden are flowering which is quite disturbing. Coincidentally on that very same day I happened to be reading a post on some forum and a contributor posted that he was typing away on his keyboard when a ladybird walked across. Of course if the plants are beginning to flower then it’s only logical that insects will be up and about. The poor things are confused. Recently I turned on the television and saw Tony Blair being interviewed by a Sky News reporter for a special climate change feature that they had been running all week. They were inside what I assume was the prime ministers cosy looking kitchen chatting like old chums about climate change & carbon neutral footprints. He was asked if he was prepared to holiday closer to home in order to help cut down on carbon emissions. He looked slightly surprised at the reporters gall in asking him this and quickly chirped up that he wouldn’t be giving up his holidays abroad and that he wouldn’t expect the public to do it either. He said it would be impractical to ask people to do that. He added, he’s still waiting for the first politician who’s actually running for office who’s going to come out and say it and that they were never going to do that. It made me wonder if he had ever heard of the old adage ‘lead by example’.

“Apparently later Downing Street were reported to have said that Mr Blair offsets all his official travel, though I read that No 10 refused to say whether he did this on personal flights. They said that all government activity will be carbon neutral by 2015 and that the prime minister has taken a lead on this.” …Hmmm very confusing because that’s not what he seemed to be saying when he was on Sky News in the interview I watched.

More roads being built… more cars on the road… more people taking more cheap flights than ever.. and even more plans to build more planes which means more flights more frequently more often & more carbon emissions. This is a consumer age that we’re living in. I know that it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle once it’s out but it’s hard to see what we’re going to do especially if the likes of the prime minister won’t even take the lead on this serious issue.

I’m in a agreement with those who believe it’s down to each and every one of us to make the effort and do what we can to offset our own carbon footprint. Recently I read that Coldplay, The Dixie Chicks and many others had partnered with Conservation International and have agreed to offset the carbon footprint associated with their tours. They’re taking responsibility for the tons of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses generated by the trucks, busses, airline flights, hotel rooms, concert venues and even the fans driving to and from shows by donating an amount based on $10 per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2). The money will help to protect 832,000 acres of the Makira tropical rain forest in Magagascar. Well done to all those bands and I am going to think about how I’m going to approach things in this regard.

Yesterday was PulseFM Party In The Park, an open air event held at Myrtle Park in Bingley. I don’t normally do these type of events because I tend to stick out like a sore thumb theses days amongst all the young pop acts who perform at them. However, since Pulse is the local radio station of Bradford, the city in which I was born and brought up, and they’ve shown some support for my new record I thought why not for once.

We arrived at the venue about midday because I was originally scheduled to appear at about 1.30pm. Everything was well organised, much better than in the past when we used to do these sort of events ten years ago or more. It had been raining on and off all morning, so when we arrived we were escorted to our designated portacabin under a large umbrella. Unfortunately there had been a cancellation by one of the acts and things were running a bit late because they had had to reschedule the running order. We settled down in our cabin, sparsely fitted out with a couple of plastic chairs, a table and a mirror to wait for our rescheduled time. After signing some pictures and bits and pieces left by the organisers we were struggling to find anything else to occupy ourselves. We briefly chatted with the guys in the portacabin next door, had a pop at a few record companies, drank some tea and made several trips to the portable toilets to fill in time. There was a hospitality tent but we weren’t really hungry and didn’t fancy a drink so we didn’t bother with that.

Each act was only performing a few songs so we ticked them off the list as they appeared one after the other until it was nearing our turn. We were sandwiched in between Sandi Thom and McFly. Whilst Sandi Thom was finishing her performance we were standing by the side of the stage and I had a real blast from the past. An old friend from many years ago approached me. At first I was a little confused because I was focused on going on stage but then I realised it was Gerrard, the guitarist in an old band called ‘Dignity’ in which I was one of the backing singers 20 plus years ago. On this occasion he was the guy responsible for the whole sound set up for the event but back then he was one of the members of the band who eventually voted for me to be sacked, I suspect because I wasn’t enough of a dolly bird. Typical I recall that I wasn’t very happy about it at the time but there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then and I can hardly hold a grudge when in retrospect he probably did me a big favour. There wasn’t much time to talk as I was about to go on so we agreed to have a chat afterwards.

Once onstage, I suddenly remembered why I stopped doing these events. The crowd was quite large, I’d guess at somewhere about 5,000 but jammed together at the front were hundreds of soaking wet, very young girls desperate for me to clear off and let their idols McFly strut their stuff. I soldiered on regardless and finished the scheduled three songs. I felt appreciated by some of the older members of the audience a bit further back but I’m sure the pubescent throng at the front were only cheering because I was finishing Well, we were all young once.

We met Gerrard again and walked back to the portacabin where we took some pictures and had a chat about old times and what he was up to now. I’ll post up the pictures if I get copies sent. I still had a live radio interview to do so we hung around a bit more until it was time to be called for that.

The two djs who talked to me were very perky and seemed interested in what I had to say. We talked about the usual things like where I’d been etc etc but oddly they also asked me my opinion about programmes like the x factor and pop idol. Well, I don’t watch them if I can avoid them but I have seen enough to have a bit of an opinion. I can’t hold any grudges against the competitors who go on them, after all they’re just desperate to try and break into a business that’s very tough to crack. If they’d been around when I was younger, and not knowing what I know now, I’d probably have been misguided enough into auditioning for them myself. I know that they are very popular programmes and they seem to be accepted without question by the competitors and the wider audience but I can’t help but feel that they are exploitive. The record companies must be rubbing their hands with glee as they pick up these kids on crap contracts that in no way reflect the fact that they don’t have to put any time or money into building up their profiles because they’re already well known. They make a few cheap recordings with them, make a quick buck, then kick them into touch when they grow up and want to develop. One of the djs commented to me about an artist who had been performing the same day and how he had been speaking to them earlier about his experiences after appearing on one of these programmes. He’d commented on how he was struggling to shake off the impression people have of him. This artist spoke of being ‘type cast’ nowadays and how changing peoples perception of what he was really about was impossible. He was finding it hard to be taken seriously. Well I could have predicted that before he even entered for an audition.

It got me thinking about how my own experience with a major record company and the media is not really that much different. Although I got into a record deal by a different route and write my own material I was quickly pigeon-holed after the success of my first album and encountered enormous resistence from the label and the media when I attempted to develop as an artist with ‘Bloom’. It was apparant after we’d finished recording ‘Bloom’ and prior to its release that I was at a crossroads. Faced with the choice of conforming to the stereotype that I’d been anointed with or digging my heels in and suffering the consequences of no support for the release I chose the latter. I have no regrets but I’m certain the whole experience with the rows I had with EMI about ‘Bloom’ was the cause of my block and subsequent delay in making another record. Don’t get me wrong, my first album was pretty much how we wanted it to be and I wouldn’t change it but I didn’t want to make part two of it for my second. Okay, we artists have to accept that business is business and major labels have no interest in what they put out as long as it sells. I only wish that they’d be a bit more honest about it upfront and not try to pretend otherwise that they give a shit about your art.

Anyway I’m getting off the track a bit now and I can see I’m heading for a rant so I’ll stop and say thanks to Pulse FM for having me on your show.

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.

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