I have recorded french versions of four of my songs and made them available as free downloads. You can find them at:
 
http://johnmeed.bandcamp.com

The songs are:
 
1 Le centre du monde
2 Les enfants de la mer
3 Hold on (version française)
4 Poussière d’étoiles

They are also on my facebook page (under the 'My Band' tab) at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Meed/10201408030

Please do download them and leave me a comment either here or on Facebook.

There is also a slideshow to go with Les enfants de la mer.


Les enfants de la mer

John Meed | MySpace Music Videos

We spent this weekend with our friends in the north, culminating with the 'return' John Gaskell tribute concert in the parish centre in Shevington, just outside Wigan, on Saturday night.

The parish centre was chosen for special reasons. It was where John first began playing music in public, and where he first met Malcolm Charnley, who organised Saturday's tribute.

The concert was a great success - the Wigan Crew (Malcolm plus Nigel, Bernard and Lou - himself hotfoot from playing drums for the Merseybeats at a concert the night before) played a set of John's excellent songs, plus sets from the 'Living Soul' and 'Winter's Tale' years.




John's son, Tom, opened the second half with some superb guitar work (notably his version of 'I'm so glad') and was joined by Nigel from the Wigan Crew for a lovely version of 'Helplessly hoping'.



I chose songs that I remembered John enjoying - including my memories of growing up in Rochdale (Spotland Road) and the Last bus to Leeds.




Jim and Liz flew the flag for Cambridge Folk club and raised the roof with a version of 'Those were the days' accompanied by a remarkable number of tambourines.



The following day we were able to call in at Rochdale and to visit the houses I lived in as a child, my old school, the Spotland Road, Toad Lane Co-op...




...as well as the amazing moors that surround the town.

Neil King at FATEA has written a nice review about 'When the music ends':

'This is the third John Meed album we've covered and I continue to be impressed by his sense of narrative and perception. A great example and album highlight is "The Woodstock Rest Home" which sort of harks back to the 'I like my artists dead ideal, could you please just stop touring the same old thing.' "When The Music Ends" is a series of sketches, life reflected through song. It seems to be an album of getting old and the changes that brings to perception as well as body. There's a bonus of two tracks remixed by Stu Hanna that rounds it all off nicely.'....

http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/releasesbi.html....

Thanks to everyone who came to Cambridge Folk Club on Friday to witness the birth of my new CD, ’When the music ends’, and the strange sight of me playing piano on stage (and remembering most of the notes). A special thanks to Lester and Cliff for their fabulous lead guitar and violin playing. There are more photos in my photo album.

              

And here is a video of 'Flatlands':



And one of 'When the music ends':



I'll have copies of the CD at my gigs, or you can order it via my website (www.johnmeed.net) or from iTunes at:

My third CD, entitled 'When the music ends', is now at press and is due for release on April 24. I'm really pleased with how it has worked out and am especially grateful for the contributions of Lester Lloyd-Reason (lead guitar), Cliff Ward (violin) and Amanda Hall (vocals).  Somehow or other we managed to clone Lester for 'Flatlands' where he simultaneously plays 6-string and 12-string guitar, while on 'Woodpeckers and Bluebells' Cliff doubles up as an entire string section and an electric guitarist. The CD also include memories of growing up ('Queen Mary, 'Red Caravan'), reflections on life and loss ('Clarendon Road', 'The empty nest song'), love songs ('Every day', 'Rainbow') and a humourous look at the not-too distant future ('The Woodstock rest home'), as well as two remixes by Stu Hanna of Megson. I've put four songs from the CD up on my myspace page so far - I'd welcome any comments on them! The full track listing is below. I'll have copies of the CD at the gigs, and it will also be available from my website and on itunes.

I will be playing two gigs during the Spring to mark the release:

- On Friday April 24 Lester and I (and hopefully Cliff if diaries permit) have been invited to play the opening set (starting at 8pm) at the Cambridge Folk Club in the Golden Hind, Milton Road, Cambridge to celebrate the CD release. Also playing that evening are George Breakfast and  Cath Coombs. See www.cambridgefolkclub.org.
- On Saturday May 30 we shall carry on the celebrations at Cambridge Acoustic Nights at CB2, Norfolk Street, Cambridge, starting at 8.30pm. All the musicians who played on the CD will be joining me on stage and we'll have some classy special guests as well. I'll confirm details nearer the time or you can check my website or www.myspace.com/cambridgeacousticnights.

If you are around on either or both dates and within reach of Cambridge it would be great to see you.

When the music ends – Full track listing:

When the music ends
Red caravan
Rainbow
Queen Mary
Waiting for the argonauts
The Clarendon Road
The empty nest song
The Woodstock rest home
Every day
Woodpeckers and bluebells
Flatlands
Hold on

Bonus tracks:
With those eyes
Queen Mary (Stu Hanna remix)
Rainbow (Stu Hanna remix)

My second CD, 'Powder of the stars', is now available on iTunes. There's a link in the 'Sounds like' bit of my myspace page, or you can go to the iTunes store and type 'John Meed' in the little box in the top right hand corner. If you do the latter it will probably also ask you whether you meant to type John Deed, which is both somewhat deflating and rather puzzling as if you follow the link he seems virtually non-existent! Please do have a look if iTunes is your thing.

I'm in the midst of my third CD, provisionally (but hopefully not literally) called 'When the music ends'. If all goes well it should be ready in the spring at some point. I'm really enjoying working with Lester and Cliff on it.

I've also at long last got round to creating a youtube account (http://uk.youtube.com/user/johnmeed) and you can see Oliver's lovely video of Rocks and stones there.

Lester and I (and Jill and Isabelle) ventured out into the wilds of the fens a few weeks ago, just as the icy winter wind decided to set in from the far north. We fetched up in Kings Lynn for a gig at the Acoustic Kitchen. A nice venue organised by the excellent Pete Kitchen and frequented by a friendly audience but safely one of the worst performances I've ever managed. The sound was iffy - when Lester asked to have his guitar turned up, they turned mine up, and when I asked to turn mine down.. you guessed it! We recovered from this only for the virus that had been threatening all week to remove half my voice. At least now I can see the funny side of it. I hope the audience could.

The Acoustic Routes Christmas charity concert was altogether better. Jo (Hurwitz) and I played Fairytale of New York, Bernard filmed it all and you can see the result at http://uk.youtube.com/user/bernardhoskin - not to be missed! The acts that night were all rather good too and there are further videos on the same site.

My best wishes for 2009 to everyone!

Last night the Cambridge Folk Club held its 'A concert for John' in memory of John Gaskell, one of Cambridge's best local songwriters who died in the summer. It was a superb evening, with the first half closed by John's son Tom, and the second half ending with a performance of several of John's songs by The Wigan Crewe, four friends from John's home town.



Some very moving moments, especially three performances of John's song 'Time to say goodbye' - one a video of John playing the song at Cambridge Folk Festival. I played 'The ant and the grasshopper' (John was definitely a grasshopper and the audience supplied some interesting sound effects) and 'The last bus to Leeds'.

John had set up a Myspace page (www.myspace.com/johngaskell though there's no music there) and I had added the first (and only) comment to it. I miss John and his sensitive songs - as so often it struck me how much second rate music has commercial success while so many gems remain unknown, and many of John's songs merited much wider airplay.

It also struck me how a songwriter lives on through his or her songs and the whole evening was a very fitting tribute. I've uploaded some more photos in an album under 'View my pics'.

I'm listening to the CD of John's music 'Songs Part 1' and have just heard the rather prophetic words that close John's song 'Golden days':

'I recall the way you smiled
The way you whiled away my life
And now in my final hour will I rest in peace
Me and my teddy bear on the pillow case
Even in the windows of my shroud
The suns always lighten the clouds
Red rose horizon in the western sky
Silver stars in my gaze
And teenage delirium, wide-eyed innocence
Antediluvian golden days.'

We got back from the deep south of France just in time for my birthday. As a present, Oliver produced a video of 'Rocks and stones' which is very original and rather splendid. It features a starring turn from Brighton Beach. I recommend it - there's a link here or you can find it under 'View my videos'.

Rocks and stones



On our way down through France we visited Belle Ile en mer, off the south coast of Brittany, on the way down for the first time and walked bits of the coast path - stunning scenery if a little disconcerting to suddenly find yourself confronted by bus loads of tourists as you reach the top of yet another cliff climb.



There are a few more photos in the album on my myspace page. We also stayed with friends and family in Angers, Cognac and Bergerac and were made most welcome.

We then spent some time in Collioure where I got to play a few songs to the local residents in a street party. Some friends had translated two of my songs into Catalan (merci Jean Michel et Suzou!) so the Catalan version of 'The centre of the world' (El centre del mon) got its first public airing. Probably the scariest live performance I've ever done! I may have written a new song as well, but am not sure if it will be fit for public consumption. There are some more photos of Collioure as well up on myspace.



We also discovered two great French artists - Balbino Medellin live (www.myspace.com/balbinomedellin) and Keny Arkana on CD (www.keny-arkana.com). Both very committed musicians, well worth looking into. Rather remarkably, we saw Balbino playing on an outdoor stage, completely uncovered, when it started raining. He kept on playing, fully amplified, while the summer rain was presumably causing untold damage to the instruments.

Now autumn is here I'd better start thinking more seriously about some recording. And if you're near Cambridge, Lester and I should be playing CB2 in Norfolk Street on September 22.

I'm in the midst of listening to Portsihead's 'Third' for the first time. It's awe-inspiring. There's echoes of other music I love - My Bloody Valentine in places, Jefferson Airpane's final track on 'Crown of Creation' in the last track - but it's also very very different and keeps taking you by surprise. I'll probably be adding to this blog as I listen more, but for now - it's ace. Check it out.

Five years on
Five years of blood and betrayal
Five years of loss and suffering
Five years of deceit and deception

Five years on
The man on the radio woke me
Said things are now getting better
Green shoots in Baghdad and Mosul

Five years on
Five years of deceit and deception