OK, I wrote a massive blog, but something died and now I've lost the will, but I'll put down some of what I said. Apologies it's not as in depth as it should be.

MATT
Firstly, want to say a fond farewell to bassist Matt. I still remember the first show I met him at, and the discussion of hip-hop and beats and samples. I shared the road with Matt on two tours and he'll be sadly missed. Hoping to play with him again in Uuud this December, and maybe will see him on a few recordings or stuff in the future. Best of luck squire, in all your endeavours.

NEW SONGS
Put a new song up on myspace, recorded with rockband drumkits and midi signals, and built with broken computers, broken dreams, hearts and heads. Will do a proper, non-demo version soon. Enjoy.

FREE DOWNLOADS
Follow these links and get some demos that will never be released in this format. Or maybe in the long distant future. Seems a shame for them to sit doing nothing, so grab them while you can.

Lebanon
Northern Lights
The Fallen Line

Got some more as well, so will stick these up later.

GIGS
Yup, got a couple of shows coming up. Might even have a string section playing. Can't guarantee it, but will have new songs, and will have new musicians playing too I think, so come along and say hi.

Right, that's it. Lots more to say about what's coming up. But life's getting in the way of it, and it's 4:30am.

xo

Just to let you know, our new single "Breakups & Breakdowns" is now available from iTunes, so if you like, go buy and support independent music.

Buswell are on ~Annwen's show BFBS tonight (NOW) from 6pm-9pm.

Tune in at www.bfbs.com/music or go to Sky Channel 0211.

Quite chuffed to be in the same company this week as Nick Cave, REM and The Futureheads this week!

We're playing at Firebug on 14th may. If you're interested in playing with us and The Flaming Moes, drop us a message or e-mail 4thstreet@gmail.com

The video to our next single "Breakups & Breakdowns" is now up on myspace, and you can also see it on youtube.  It's done by Funkton Films and is getting some lovely feedback.  Enjoy!

Secondly, it appears we now have a facebook page.  It's here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Buswell/25905906912, so if you're on that, and want to become a fan, please do.  It's a good way of finding out about cool free treats and stuff.

Onwards and upwards, dear friends....

Our label, 4th Street Records, is currently looking at booking up a tour for us and label-mates The Flaming Moes in Sweden & Denmark in April, so if anyone knows of any good venues over there, either drop us a line, or e-mail info@4thstreetrecords.com.

Anyway, in my hunt around the net, I've found some stunning bands over in Sweden.  There really seems to be some stunning music coming out of the place at the mo, especially Gothenburg and Stockholm.  I'd recommend anyone typing in those two cities into the music search and I'm sure you'll not be disappointed if you're looking for new music.  I've not even checked out stuff in Denmark yet, but if it's half as good as the Swedish stuff, I'll be pleased.  I hope we get to play with some of these acts when we're over there!

Anyway, that's all for now!  Have a good new year y'all.
xo

Below are the final tour awards from our tour June 2007.  It was a tough call and there were many arguments over this, and many many others considered, but we finally decided on the following:

 

Best Voice - Neil Mcsweeney

Best Song - Love Letters by The Flaming Moes

Best Performer - Kristopher Järleby from The Flaming Moes

Best Band - The Flaming Moes

Best Night - Wednesday in Winsford

Best Quote - 'I dont want to sound like your mother, but are you both eating properly?' Tom in Barnsley

Best Host - Jill and Nigel in Winsford

Best Drunken Quote - 'I'm a professional musician and you should be playing more bass solos in the verse!!' Crutches guy in Bury

Best Drunken Escapade - Andreas from the Moes wondering around lost in Winsford.

Best Venue - Ligers lounge, Barnsley/DeBees, Winsford

Most Benevelant Figure - Mark In Edinburgh

Best Promoter - Steve Daggett in Newcastle (for going above the call of duty for a gig)

Best Engineer - Andy in York

Best Non-friend Accomodation - Travelodge

Best Game - Fives

Best Crowd Member - Kim in Newcastle

Best Cover - 'Walk on' by The Flaming Moes

Best Solo Artist - Dave Sanders in Coventry

Best Musician - Sam Lawrence from 'Wilful Missing' in Sheffield

Best Drink - Monkey Brain

Best Cuss - Crowd member who turned to Becky, said 'You've got a lovely voice', then turned to Shaun, said nothing, looked back at Becky and went "So how long you been playing piano?"

Lifetime Achievement Award - Lord Bunn

LEEDS
We arrive in Leeds early, after a lovely night at Camilla's, and realise this is one of the trickier nights.  We have no accomodation booked, it's in the middle of this downpour/flood and I've realised I've lost the adaptor to my guitar pedal as well as my phone charger.  No a good start!

We decide the best bet is for Becky to stay in a hotel bar and look at brochures of accomodation while I scour the shops for adaptors.  You've think it'd be easy to find a 12V adaptor wouldn't you?  Well, weh nthe pedal in question is a Yahama, and the adaptor is a stupid-ass 12V AC/AC adaptor, it's not as easy as I thought.  Going from music shop to music shop, I'm told the same thing.  Even an electronics store who can help me with the phone charger doesn't know where to get a 12V AC adaptor from.

I take a walk out of town and stumble across a little music store on my way to Maplins.  I think "why not try?  Might be possible".  SO I go in and ask.  Lo and behold, he has an adaptor (the size of two bricks!) and when he plugs in the pedal, it seems to work.  Huzzah!  I buy it and venture back to look for accom.

We quickly discover that finding somewhere to stay in Leeds on a Saturday night isn't easy, and although we're meeting our friend Gem later that day, we know she's moved into a new place and it would be awkward for her to clear with the landlord.  So instead, we mull over the three options:

1) play the show and get the last train from Burley Park to Sheffield at 10.15 and stay with Bunn.
2) stay later and get a taxi to Bunn's
3) pay the same as taxi fare for accom in Leeds

We decide to play it by ear, but pretty much know it'll be 1 or 2, depending on what the night's like.

We arrive at The Cardigan Arms around 5 and I'm gutted that we have just too little time to go to the cinema (my secret vice whilst on tour!) so we go grab some food and drinks in a nearby bar.  It is here that I have the worst White Russian of the tour.  Made with semi-skinned milk and just quite frankly of sub standard quality.  The food was ok, but this is not an Egon Ronay blog, so I doubt you all care about what I had for lunch.  But enough of my griping, back to the gig.

In soundcheck I discovered that the adaptor I'd spent good money on was useless as it created a strange buzz through the pedal.  Made me regret pausing on the way to Maplin, but hey ho, I made the most of it (after a suitable 5 minutes going "it's all doomed.  I don't want to play").  It's a tricky thing to shake yourself out of before playing.  You can easily put yourself in the worst kind of moods and sucking it in and getting on with stuff day in day out takes a lot of motivation.  But I'm a firm believer of making the most of the situation whenever you can.  If you ever find yourself in a place where everything's gone wrong and you really don't want to play any of your own music, use this energy and push it out through the songs.  If you quit before you walk on stage, you'll only disappoint yourself afterwards.

Anyway, the bands we were playing with tonight had been carefully selected to make a really good bill, and fair enough, I was impressed with all.  The State Of Georgia was defintiely the highlight.  A young lady with a voice and style similar to Aimee Mann.  Check out www.myspace.com/thestateofgeorgiamusic for more info.

The promoter, Neil, is a great guy too, and really works hard at bringing some great music together in Leeds.  Check out www.myspace.com/moogpromotions and you'll be greeted with a veritable cornucopia of mixed genres and gigs.  Plus, his band, International Trust, have been going from strength to strength recently, so hats off to Neil for keeping both going.  I know, it's not an easy job and one that's commendable.

Leeds was also the place for adding more rules to the FLaming Buswell Tour Rules 2007.  So far we've had..

1 - We drink what we have and carry nothing. the only exception is Stage Booze.
2 - Always correct people with innacurate french terms (i.e if they say Faux Pas, you say "actually, it's Folks Pass").
3 - Stage booze is for stage only (1 bottle of JD that we can swig from during the gig)
4 - Never respect a man carrying a dog
5 - A rule is not a rule until it's written down (and laminated)
6 - Only one trip up allowed per day. Whoever's first gets it for the day. No revenge allowed.
7 - Any word learnt in Swedish must no longer be uttered again in English.

And to this we added

8 - Each new town must accidentally be called "earth" first (i.e "it's good to be here in eart...I mean Leeds").

Realising we're quickly adding foolish rules to the list, we come up with number nine

9 - Rules are not toys

Subsequently realising two of the rules were about the rules, we nullify any more of these with:

10 - No more than three rules can be about the rules

And lastly, realising that we'd probably want to burn the rules at a later date, we attempt to stop this with the final rule...

11 - Once laminated, a thing cannot be burned (for the environment's sake).

So, providing we can get home and laminate these rules (which I have ever confidence Becky will do at the first opportunity), we have our final eleven.

On a slightly similar note, it was only two days into the tour I discovered just how obsessed Becky was with lists.  And I think I'm a bad influence on her, making her list things all the time for properity's sake.

One of the first things we did to pass the time was to write a list of seven things containing sevens.  although this list has long been burned, I think it was made up of the following

1 - 7 Wonders of the world
2 - Snow White's 7 dwarves
3 - 7 Deadly sins
4 - 7 Virtues
5 - 7 seas (although we do wonder if this was just some kind of vitamin supplement)
6 - 7 brides for 7 brothers
7 - either The Magnificent 7, The 7 Sisters or The 7 Sages (can't remember).

I've probably got these wrong, and have made a massive list folk's pass, but I'm sure Becky will correct me.

There have been many more lists created since we set out on the road two weeks' ago, and many new faces and friends we've made.  Maybe we'll create a list of all these things, or we'll have some kind of awards ceremony for the people we've encountered.

Anyway, for tonight, our chariot awaits and we jump in a cab to Sheffield, to stay with Bunn.  Due to the heavy rain and various problems with navigation, what normally takes 45 minutes takes 2 hours, but we arrive safe and sound and casa de Bunn by about 1:30, go grab some boozeage and settle down with my good friend for the night.

SHEFFIELD
The last day of the tour.  When I look back over the two weeks, they feel like they've gone by in a blink of an eye, but when I look back to things before the tour, they seem an eternity ago.  How does that work?  What does touring do to our own sense of space and time?  I'll never properly understand.  I'll be sad to see this end, but I know I'll take great pleasure in a short while seeing those I've missed, and I'll also get to relive good times with every diary entry I type up on the net (as I'm doing now, coincidentally!!).

Having got to Sheff early, we get the day with Bunn.  The 65 Days boys are all over in Norway (I can't help thinking they're so close to our Scandinavian brethren, The Flaming Moes, and if only we could get them all together over there) and the house is quiet without them.

We go into town, I pick up a proper adaptor (and curse the fool who blagged me the previous monster) and get some decent food.  It's also the first day of the smoking ban, so I'm keen to see how people are dealing with it.  Sheffield looks fine considering all the warnings of floods we're seeing.  We also find out about the bombing in Glasgow, and realise that everywhere we've been there seems to be a trail of destruction.  If we were with the full band, I'd say we're like the four horsemen!!

We get to the venue early and The Wilful Missing are soundchecking.  Sounds promising, and makes me think of Ox.  I'll be glad to get back home and work on stuff with the label and help get his stuff out in the UK.  It's gonna be a tough time adjusting to working with the guys on the label after being around the country, but I've seen enough good bands to really give us a decent amount to look at.

The night is a fitting end to the tour - we soundcheck a new song for Bunn (he's been one of the most supportive friends since the old days of Omega Red, and it's really him I have to blame for calling my solo stuff Buswell before the full band grew around it), we have a decent amount of respectful people for the show, and I think we play well.  Sadly, Neil McSweeney couldn't make it down (he does have a very little baba so it's understandable) but to make up for it, we were surprised halfway through our set by Tom (from Barnsley) who made a special trip down to see us (and parked on double yellow lines to come in as well, the maverick!!).  He was a wonderful sight, and really helped us tie in the beginning and end of the tour with a familiar face.  I hope I get to see him again soon.

The music tonight is of another decent quality, but it's The Wilful Missing who stand out for us.  Bunn and I kept looking at each other during their songs and commenting on the lead guitarist/mandolinist/keyboard player.  Whatever that guy did, he added the midas touch to the songs.  Not saying the songs aren't great, but when you hear a hook or riff that makes you turn to the person next to you and nod, you know something's being done right!!  They were a nice bunch of lads as well, and I couldn't believe they hadn't played out of Bradford more often.  I'm expecting by the time this is posted up (edit - didn't realise it'd take me a month!!) that they'll be out on the road more often, so if you see the name The Wilful Missing, definitely check them out.

Really enjoyed tonight, and the promoter's got a good thing going on in Sheffield.  I've played at The Boardwalk and UTB a few times, but tonight felt like a really good vibe and I wish the guys at Wagon Wheel Media the very best.  Been good to meet so many great promoters.  You know, looking back, I can't think of a bad one.  That's saying a lot.  I'm sure there was, but at this moment in time, wrapped in the coccoon of nostalgia, I'm loving every minute of this tour.  Been an eye opener travelling around on trains and buses and struggling to gigs with a piano on my back.  But it's been worth it.

After the show we go back with the incredible Lord Bunn and spend the rest of the night doing our tour awards and having a laugh.  Sadly, Becky's got them all written down and I don't know who won what at the moment.  But given time we'll announce the winners, and then send everyone a laminated certificate.  It's the only way.

But for now, it's goodnight.  As much as I've enjoyed touring this time and building on the followings we had from the first tour, I think I need to get my head down and work.  I have three albums in my head and if I just keep touring they'll never come out.  This has filled me with a thirst to get more stuff done.  To get out these songs, and these videos and just to spend the rest of the year creating.  If I'm lucky, a few people may remember me the next time we play, but if not, it's a whole new challenge all over again.

So for now...take me back to dear old Wiltshire, put me on a train to Swindon town.

xo

HULL
Hull, dear Hull! I played my first solo set from the last tour up here in March and really enjoyed the place, apart from being tired after travelling from Bournemouth. This time the band have doubled in size and we're here nice and early. Having originally planned on staying in a B&B a little out of town, we decided to find somewhere closer, considering the venue was next to the station, and knocked on the first place with a vacancy sign. It was a tiny door, and the guy running it, a strange but friendly Caribbean man, greeting us and invited us into a place that smelled of the erasers you used to get at school. This was clearly a no star hotel, and the kind of place that I sorta love. The carpet doesn't fit, there's no locks on the doors (well, there are, but the wood's rotted away) and the shower makes a gurgling sound. Pretty funny place. Becky & I have a laugh about it, go out to get something to eat and when we come back, there's toilet rolls hanging on the door handle of the room. Part of me thinks "why not just give the door a little nudge and put the rolls in the bathroom yourself!" The guy also comes up demanding his money for the room. When I politely give it to him, he responded with "I sincerely apologise. Some people are fiends, but you are a geniune good person. I am so sorry to offend you."

After a quick snooze, we got to the venue and met Darren, the promoter. He's certainly one of the nicest and most accomodating promoters around, and really is doing his bit in Hull to get decent acts in. Last time I played with Kristen Marie Holly from LA, and this time, it's another great line-up. There's even a little bit in the paper. Good work Darren!

Anyone, onto the night. First up is a guy called Dave Abbott who is pleasant enough, although I really wanted to tell him about the pick holder on my guitar as he kept losing his in his pocket. Then we had Jack Summer, who was also touring. Reminiscent of Billy Jon in some ways, he was a really nice guy, and I traded an album for a t-shirt (almost doubling my wardrobe!). Next up was Troy Faid. Amazing guitarist, and for me was like Django Reinhardt playing The Smiths. Pity he left right after he played, as really wanted to chat to him. Ah well, his loss. Next up was a young girl called Sarah (I think it's McCluskey). I was amazed when I found out she was originally a drummer in another band and only just started doing solo acoustic stuff, then found out she was only 15. Hopefully she'll have a good future ahead of her.

Was a decent crowd for when we played, and seemed to be appreciative. It's tough playing these songs day in day out, reliving past memories, and opening old wounds, but it's better than getting desensitised to the songs. And tonight's kind of shows make it worthwhile. People listening and getting something out of the music. Sometimes it's like a cathartic experience and I'm not sure who it benefits, but I know that after shows like Hull, I don't need to go lie down or weep afterwards (I know, I sound like a girl!). Maybe it's because they're taking whatever I'm giving and I don't have to hold it in any longer. I dunno. I'm babbling.

Anyway, sold a fair bit, met some great people, and had a great night. I'll always come back to Hull, and always be happy to play for Darren.

BIRMINGHAM
Originally, Birmingham was planned to be a day off, staying with Becky's friend Camilla, but as we approached New Street Station, I got a sense that we should be doing something. Like an adventure was round the corner, waiting for us to appear. So I started to google open mic nights in brum to see if there was anything going on that seemed suitable. A smattering of things appeared, but the one that caught my eye was the Open Mic Night at The Rock'N'Roll Cocktail Bar. Mainly because it had Neil McSweeney doing a guest slot. I couldn't hear his songs, but was swayed into wanting to go down and play/watch him based on the following info:

The reviews of his stuff sounded like I'd like it
He's on the Kids label, which is a subsidiary of 14th Floor Records (home to Damien Rice, Biffy Clyro & Nerina Pallot to name a few)
He's based in Sheffield (where we would be playing on the Sunday)
He's supporting Amy MacDonald (same as we were)
He looked like a bit of a dude

So, with that information in hand, we decided to get down to the bar for 5 and drink lots of cocktails in anticipation of a good night.

Neil turned up, and was indeed a dude. Had a good laugh with him, and he played a wonderful set, reminiscent of a male Tracy Chapman. also could hear a bit of Ox in there. Good stuff, and well worth checking out. It was only marred slightly by the fact there was a group of drunk girls, one of them (a teacher, none the less!) armed with a tambourine who insisted on playing along to anything he did. Statements like "keep up" from Neil having gone over her head, she then says, mid song "you don't mind me playing do you", to which Neil, quick as a razor, sarcastically replies "why would I mind? I mean, I'm sure you let your kids play tambourine in class all the time don't you". After this, the playing stopped and they sheepishly left. Genius cuss.

Played a few songs, watched a few other acts (including a Mr Boswell!), chatted to Neil breifly a bit more, then jumped in a cab to Moseley. All in all, a fun night, and one that I'm glad I found out about.

COVENTRY
This is kinda my home town. There's more Buswells in Coventry than in most of the UK, and this is where a lot of my family reside, so I always like playing here. Tonight we're at The Albany Pub (not the Club as I'd previously thought!) for Ditch The TV with Beneva. Got this show last minute through our friends, Fearne, and sadly they'd had to pull out. Real shame, as the night was a really good mix of people, and all were appreciative. When you're playing some of the stuff we play, especially as a duo, you know that if the crowd's loud, you can pretty much forget the stuff with silence in. But tonight was a perfect night to try this out. Apart from me losing my pedal adaptor in Birmingham, and having to wing it with pedals from Malc from Beneva, we opened the night and played one of our best shows. Felt really at home in the place, and the guys putting us on were incredibly decent. A real charmer of a show, and sold probably the most we'd sold all tour tonight.

Beneva were up next, and thoroughly enjoyed their set. It's kind of weird. One minute it sounds like Belle & Sebastian, the next it feels like it should be a comedy act. Really good mix of stuff, but halfway through I start wondering "would it work at The Edinburgh Festival". A little shift to the way it's viewed, and they could be a great comedy act. Not saying they're silly or their songs are stupid, far from it. It's just I get this feeling that Malc and Nathan have something about them that makes people smile, and it'd be good to see them do really well because of this. Something like Tim Minchin. Or maybe it's because my songs are so miserable that I just really want to her funnier stuff! I dunno.

Next up was Dave Sanders who was like the prodigal son back in Coventry. Great stuff, and I can't recommend it enough. Check out www.myspace.com/davidsandersmusic and hear for yourself, and if you're ever around, go watch him live. This guy is stunningly good.

So, after a lift back to Moseley from Nathan (who must get the award for most benevelant figure for this!), we're meet back up with Camilla, Ohmi (?) and the guys, and stay up drinking whiskey and playing new games. Tonight was definitely one of the highlights of the tour and the memories will stay with me for a long while. Coventry, your distant son was happy tonight.

UP NEXT....LEEDS & SHEFFIELD