This is very important...on friday I tried to adopt a puppy from the CACC up on 110th st in ny. Its a long story of how i ended up there but all the same i found myself there looking for a friend for my pit bull charlie. It is heartbreaking going to this place...hundreds of dogs waiting to be saved and of course if they are not then they get put down. most of the dogs are pit bulls because there are so many assholes breeding them for fighting. makes you want to fucking scream. I met an amazing woman there called emily who walked us threw the maze of abandoned and forgotten dogs. i found a few i wanted but my favorite was this little pit bull mix who was white and brown and just would not let me go when i took her for a walk. we called her emily. we got her out of there asap and drove straight to the beach. at first she got along with charlie but something happened and the 2 did not gel. it became evident that we could not keep her. during tht time she never left my side. she was amazing. so sweet and came when i called stayed when i asked her to and she did her business outside. she is an amazing dog. we had to bring her back but emily (the woman who works there) promises she won't let her die. we need to find a home for her...please ask all your friends ...does anyone want a very loving dog? she is about 8 months old and she is sweet sweet sweet.....

more about music later when we have found emily a home let me know

this is a picture of me climbing. never have i tried before now. out of fear and  when i was a child, i was more interested in  music mags, kings rd...it was cool then in the early 80s, madness, johnny depp, twin peaks, the list goes on...everything and anything other then what my parents did or wanted me to do. but now that i have tried i wish i had started 20 years ago. its terrifying but when you get good i can imagine it being wonderful.

sorry i have yet again been a really shit communicator. what can i tell you about my last few months.i have been winding down and writing again. i have been listening to music...bat for lashes, noah and the whale, michael jackson out of every window i pass, graham nash, mumford and sons, elvis perkins and deerland. i have been rock climbing which i have come to realize is fucking tough, scary and crazy...but oh how wonderful. i have watched the tour de france cheering lance on- it was someone else. hated the hangover; don't get why it did so well, but loved bruno. bought a bike.

x

just got back from the great escape in brighton. as i said to someone, its like the indie band Olympics. the whole town is bursting with music , hipsters and  blind ambition. everyone is about to be the next big something or other and to be honest it all freaks me the hell out.

makes me want to hide under my covers. there were a few bands i was excited to see or curious about..wanted to see noah and the whale , mumford and sons, maccabees, little boots, metric but instead saw nothing. somehow we managed to miss everything. to be honest it was so packed at all the venues, i could think of only one thing and that was to be in bed. jay and jason flew over and i had gita and amy on strings. we played blue flowers on the first night in a church which was pretty cool. the sat we played the red roaster. it think sat sounded better but not too sure why.

my record comes out today in the uk. feels like the longest time coming. i guess you expect that it will be written on a banner across the sky and fear it will, but then if it isn't your broken hearted. Its one of those records that needs to just be out there and heard . go buy the damn thing if you have not already. buy it so that i have the desire to keep doing this weird job. today we rehearsed strings at gita's house. she was holding her baby and playing the violin at the same time. the house was filled with instruments and the garden was bursting with sun , flowers and green.  her husband was lovely and kept showing us strange things on the internet. we are playing 2 nights in brighton friday and sat and then who knows what. i guess i am ready to sit somewhere quiet and start again if i have to.  oh yeah and maybe have some babies..

the a camp tour is done. it felt more like a warm up then anything.

having jason with me was a heaven sent. everything he does is brilliant; his music , art,  he could prob fix a drain pipe if it was leaking.  record comes out on the 11th....on monday and i am trying to not be concerned about what happens. i guess i have done my bit. now its up to the gods..

playing in london on the 13th if you want to come buy your ticket now..

in glasgow. yesterday walked through this unbelievable park listening to andrew bird. i read that he has been around for 12 or 13 years touring and making records and can't believe i missed him for so long.

he played at carnagie hall in the fall but i was not around. please check him out. i think he must be classically trained or something because the notes that come out of him are so fucking out there.

apparently he played most of the strings himself. glasgow is beautiful along with a andrew bird sound track, and it is this morning as i am listening to jason singing leonard cohen through the hotel walls. i am having trouble sleeping lately. i panic about not sleeping and then spiral into restless panic. great. the record comes out in the uk on the 11 may. we are on tour with this swedish band called a camp. they are a mix of abba, rufus wainwright and more that i can't think of right now on such little sleep. they are friends of mine and nathan was so wonderful to me after my dad died. i was just feeling sorry for myself and he willed me to  his home in malmo and we recorded about 15 songs there. i would wake up , get coffee and then sit in front of the piano and write a song before noon and then we would record it that day...when sharks attack, big love, swing gently were all from those sessions. not sure what i would have been doing if he had not grabbed me. watching tv probably.

our birmingham show was our favorite so far. dublin was just the worst piece of shit. i managed to insult myself, jason and the audience in one go. all kinds of techincal problems occured on top of my insults.

belfast was ok. tonight we play glasgow and then to leeds in the morning then london.