Howdy Folks, LONG TIME I know… Shameful… But I have been busy, moved state(home in Tasmania again - WAHOO!), building a house, as well as all the musical adventures.
So…..
Since the last update, and following on from the news then - Appalachian Heaven String Band are in talks about beginning work on another album, and the Homegrown Quartet has recorded all principle tracks and just waiting on some last additions before the record is ready for unleashing!
In the last month I have been working on two tracks for the MAES - Maggie and Elsie Rigby - with a couple of good pals, John Flanagan, Andrew Small, and Rowie Wise. Sounding great and due for a wee EP later in the year.
Big news tho - my record finally went and got itself finished… Turn & ReTurn. It’s being distributed by the great folks at MGM
I’m really happy with the album. It’s been a LONG journey from the inception of ideas to the finished product. I first started hearing how a mandolin and trumpet combination had potential while sharing a flat with Toby Shippey and our late night repertoire building experiments. My (still unreleased) Ten Titles project recorded in Greece showed the potential of dual melody composition and arrangement. Continuing those ideas developed into how to overlay vocal sounding lines onto the traditional forms and rhythms of jigs and reels. Exploring the Cretan lute and lyra tradition and its rhythmic similarities to the simple drive of the Velvet Underground and the late 60’s/early 70’s Rolling Stones, my love of the Grateful Dead, Terry Riley and experiences with Senan’s Haggart, Shooglenifty and even the Tasmania Youth Orchestra - all went in the melting pot and out came The Circuit.
Huge thanks to the band who amiably went along with it, to Calum Malcolm for being such a good sport and coming out to engineer and oversee the first round of tracking, to all those involved centrally and peripherally… It’s been a huge thing.
We took the band to the Newstead Live Festival, launched the band there, and the album at the Spotted Mallard a couple weeks later. It's a great thing to take to the stage and I'm more thana . little excited t how the sound will develop on stage. Fierce fun...
I'm currently booking shows for this music in Tasmania and NSW. The calendar will be updated ASAP to reflect these once confirmed...
March saw the return of my hero Andy Irvine to Australia and me to the chair next to him for the tour here. Always a pleasure, and inspiration and a deep well of connection tot he tradition from which to draw from. I'm really no different from the little kid who put Planxty tapes on repeat in the cassette player to go to sleep to so each time on stage leaves me a little bit giddy!
Work continues on projects with Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton - there should be more news on that soon. Very excited about what the two projects will deliver.
My sleep music is on the backburner for now but won't be for much longer, more gigs coming, more productions in the works - more news SOON!
all the best for now
LP