Freya has turned one this month.. I can’t believe how fast the year has gone.. I should have been to Paris and back to do some early promotion for TWS which will be released there very soon, but postponements have meant that I should be going in a week or so..
Hope everybody that wants to natter will wait for me.. My bag has been packed and unpacked in readiness for ages and as for poor Whizzy.. I’ve packed and unpacked her so often she doesn’t know whether she’s coming or going… It will sort itself out and it has just been an unforeseen combination of impossible events that caused the postponements.. Fingers crossed..
Now then what else.. Ah yes the Oxford Folk Festival has happened and mightily successful it was as well. I helped with the Artist Liaison thing making tea and coffee and finding people places to put their instruments and sorting all that kind of stuff, but also this year singing a song with one of the bands.. ‘The Roots Union’.. I sang ‘Ribbon Bow’ and you can see how it all went on the Video page here. If I look as though I am laughing it’s because I can see Freya dancing in the arms of her mother.. She’s a little orange blob on the left hand side of the stage bouncing about in time to the music..
I sang it again with the band in Axminster at the Oxjam gig at the Guildhall.. There was a lot of hanging about at that gig which wasn’t so good, but I’d forgotten just how much waiting around there is in the life of a musician… And it was blimmin’ chilly.. Still it was really nice to stay with friends Ian and Sue and many thanks to Ian for acting as my chauffeur for the weekend..
..and The Roots Union are lovely and talented people.. thank you for playing with me
Oh, I nearly forgot.. one of the highlights of April was meeting the Estonian Ambassador, Dr Margus Laidre who had invited me to a reception at the Embassy where Tim Bowness was playing for him. I had been invited to another Estonian reception back in February, but it had clashed with the trip to Norway so I was really delighted to have another chance to meet him. Lovely!
Lee and Lisa Fletcher came up from Paignton to go to the Embassy and we travelled into London together..where we met Nick who was my escort for the evening (thanks for the loan Fi!)
This gave Lee and myself a chance to catch up on how the new tracks were coming along.. and how we hoped they would eventually be used. It looks like they will be the next Jude album.. ‘Newborn Creatures’
Markus Reuter has been very involved with the project, I have written words to some of his music and some wonderful musicians have contributed as well.. More later on this!!