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Friday, December 18, 2009

Mandalaband York Rehearsals 'A Bloodline Born'

Please do check out me singing with MANDALABAND. we're hoping to do some live dates next year... :o)

5:30 PM

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Mandalaband Rehearsals England's Heart & Soul

The first rehearsals from MANDALABAND, a project put together by David Rohl. It's hoped that the band will be performing live dates in Japand and america in 2010. Here's hoping....

10:07 AM

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A Big Fat Blog

Tues 28^{th April 2009}

It feels like it was about 1645 since I last wrote a blog… So I thought it was about time I put finger to keyboard and updated all of those that are interested in what’s been happening in the crazy, music-filled world of… ME :o)

WARNING: ‘EGO ALERT!’

First of all…

1) RIVERSEA: As some of you may be aware RIVERSEA were due to make their live ‘full band’ debut this last weekend just gone supporting MANNING (Sat 25th) and THE REASONING (Sun 26th). As it turned out I did the gigs on my own like a big fat ‘Billie No-mates’ (more on those nights to follow)…

One of the reasons we couldn’t do those dates as a full band is we are no longer a full band :o(

I’m sad to report that the man with the most impressive memory since ‘George the Forgetful Goldfish’ won 1st prize in the ‘Forget your own name’ competition (i.e. Our very own Mr Paul ‘Q’ Cusick) has had to bow out of the band due to forgetting that he actually joined us in the first place! :o)

No, I jest…

As some of you may also know Q has been working really hard on his debut solo album ‘FOCAL POINT’ since last year (he’s currently putting finishing touches to it right now in Fairview Studios in Hull… and rather excellent it’s sounding too!) and this has taken up a lot of his time. After it’s all finished and out in the Big Bad World I think he just wants some ‘time out’ from music and recording so he can actually spend some time with his lovely family (his kids haven’t really seen him out of his home studio since Christmas 2007!).

So I think Paul felt that he just didn’t want to get straight into recording the RIVERSEA album (currently ‘in-production’) and wouldn’t be able to give it the time it needs and deserves (he’s knackered, poor love).

So he decided to bow out now rather than feel Brendan and me breathing down his neck to get his guitar parts recorded (although, I have heard, he sometimes has enjoyed Brendan ‘breathing down his neck’) :o)

I’m gonna miss Q. He’s a great bloke and an amazingly imaginative guitarist. When you get him ‘in the zone’ he’s one of the best I’ve ever heard. He’s also incredible funny, generous and, it must be said, possesses the worst memory for songs/chords that I have ever known in my entire ‘professional’ life. It has been a cause of constant amusement/bemusement in all my time of working with him. And that’s been quite a while now…

I first met Q in 2002 when he auditioned for the guitarist position in GABRIEL (replacing the departing Colin Elsworth). He came up to me at the end of a GABRIEL gig in THE CROSS KEYS in York, pointed straight at Col and said ‘Can I have his job, then?’ He auditioned and he was great and the rest…as they say… is history…

We’ve worked together now for those 7 years and have written quite a lot of tunes together and recorded stacks of stuff during that time (the vast majority of our work has never really been heard outside the studio’s four walls). Q has always been there as GABRIEL sort of transformed into RIVERSEA and it’s sad that his involvement is coming to an end. It’s the end of an era… but it will never be the end of our friendship.

I have some great memories of Q (although I’m not sure he does!) and I know I’ll have lots more to come. His pre-sales on FOCAL POINT are brilliant and the work he’s done already on putting together Q ROCK RECORDS (his own record label!) has been inspiring to see. As RIVERSEA’s debut will be on Q ROCK RECORDS (that is if he doesn’t ‘let us go’ now!) he’s now, effectively, our boss! He’ll be breathing down our necks soon! I’m sure he’ll love it… ;o)

But for all the guitar work, the laughter, the banter, the sarcasm, the songs, the sights (and the smells) and, most of all, for the friendship… Thank you, Q… You’re a Legend and a star…

2) Q’S REPLACEMENT: Right… Now Baldie’s gone who we gonna get in? Watch this ‘breathing’ space… :o)

3) ACOUSTIC SUPPORT SLOTS: This weekend just gone I actually felt like a songwriter. As I mentioned earlier I played two great support slots and I played to crowds that actually LISTEN! Yeah, that’s right… LISTEN! Can you believe it?! I’m used to playing pubs/clubs where crowd ‘noise’ levels can sometimes be louder than the average MOTORHEAD concert…

So playing for a crowd that loves music, and ORIGINAL music too, is a real privilege for me. It really is. I don’t do it enough. I do too many ‘covers’ gigs. Mainly because I see them as my ‘day job’… It’s my ‘bread and butter’ so to speak. And yet, the ironic thing is, I took more money in CD sales this weekend than I normally would get paid at ‘covers’ gigs!

So thank you so much to all the people who bought my CDs this weekend. If you’re reading this it’s really good to have you on board and thanks for inspiring me and making me feel like songwriter again.

As always, though, on a personal note, I didn’t actually feel like I played and sang that well. My voice was only firing on 80% both nights (my ‘Christmas cough’ has stuck around for 4 months!) and, on Sunday, I played the entire set thinking my guitar was suddenly going to cut off as the ‘warning’ light on my pick up battery was on a deep, sinister RED from the 2nd song onwards!

But I did enjoy myself enormously and the crowds on both nights were just amazing… Very warm and welcoming. I loved it :o)

Thank you to Guy and all in MANNING and thank you Matt and all of the guys (and Gal) in THE REASONING (who were just ‘on fire’ on Sunday night… Bloody brilliant!)

Could the next support slots be with the ‘full’ RIVERSEA line up? We’ll have to wait and see…

4) DOCTOR WHO: ‘Planet of the Dead’ was a bit rubbish, really. 5 ½ out of 10

5) MANDALABAND: I’m still hoping to go over to Spain sometime this summer to do some more vocal work for David Rohl for his MANDALABAND project.

David came over here in January and we recorded some vocals at my studio (The BARN), which are going to be on the CD, which is to be released this year as the ‘B.C.’ album. I’m going over to David’s studio in Spain (I know… it’s hard work but some of us have to do it!) and lay down some tracks for the ‘A.D’. Album. When we do actually go over all depends on various resasons that I wont go into here. But both Tamsin and I are determined to get over there sooner rather than later…

6) RECENT FILMS: TWILIGHT was Rubbish… WATCHMEN brilliant… THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL disappointing… INKHEART entertaining… and I’m looking forward to STAR TREK… :o)

7) I’M FAT AND I KNOW IT! It whilst watching back some footage that Tam took of the Bilston gig that I realised that I have actually ‘eaten all the pies’ and my body mass now resembles a bag of very large potatoes :o(

Paul McKenna has been informed and a course on self-hypnosis is on my horizon. ‘Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full’. Say it with me now…

Give me 3 months and be thinner than Q’s memory flaps…

8) RIVERSEA’s DEBUT ALBUM: Is on its way… Slowly but surely… Honest….

OK, that’s it for now. I’ve rattled on… I didn’t mean to but I did. Thanks for sticking with me.

May the Force always be with us and may we all live happily ever after.

Marc

7:40 PM

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Into 2009.....

Wed 28^{th Jan 2009}

Hi Folks ;o)

Here we are (nearly) at the beginning of another year. We’re all a little older, maybe a little wiser and I personally am certainly a little fatter! There’s nothing I can do about getting older and I can’t unlearn what I’ve learnt but what I can do is shed a few pounds! And, with a little help from Paul McKenna and with ‘encouragement’ from my already petite partner Tamsin, I intend on doing just that!

So, from the beginning of February, it’s swimming, biking and ‘conscious eating’ for me (Look, stop me if you’ve heard this before!). Some of you’ll be coming to my gigs soon and saying stuff like ‘Where is he? I can hear him singing but I just cant….Oh wait, he’s behind that mike stand!!’ I’ll be getting sponsored by ‘Slim fast’ and all sorts! You just wait and see….

So…. What has 2009 got in store from yours truly music wise?

Well, lots of gigs (obviously) at lots of new venues (which is always nice). I’ve been sending out copies of WOOD & WIRE to various venues throughout Yorkshire for the last few months and now, at last, some are starting to ‘bite’ and bookings are flying in (which is always nice too!).

I should have a new microphone in the next few weeks (it’s a belated Christmas present), which should (hopefully) improve my ‘live’ sound (it’s a Shure Beta 87a, fact fans!). At some point this year I hope to upgrade my speakers too. The ‘Peaveys’ I use at the moment are great but they weigh a bloody ton and, to be honest, have seen better days. They rattle and vibrate sometimes like a ratterly vibrating thing and I’m in serious danger of permanent spinal damage if I have to lift them up any more bloody stairs!! (I wake up with backache most mornings… but that could have more to do with the fact that I like to juggle elephants in my spare time!)

CD wise the next project that is inching ever so slowly towards completion is the RIVERSEA debut album which we are hoping to have ‘ready’ by the summer. The album might be called ‘OUT OF AN ANCIENT WORLD’ and should feature around 12 songs.

I’m extremely pleased to announce that former GABRIEL drummer Alex Cromarty will be joining us on the album and (hopefully) at a few live dates this year. Alex is a world-class drummer (and one hell of a dude) so his contribution to the sound will be immense (which is also something I can say about the size of my belly!). He’s also an amazing singer so backing vocals are going to be something special too…

We are holding auditions over the next few weeks for a bass player to complete our line up. I’m really looking forward to getting in the rehearsal room and blasting through our tunes with a ‘full band’ at last. It’s an exciting time for all of us in RIVERSEA…

On the ‘solo’ front things aren’t exactly standing still either. I’m always writing new tunes (I’ve written about 7 new songs in January alone) and a few are already pretty definitely going to end up on my next solo album. I’ve no idea when a new solo album will be ready (the priority right now is RIVERSEA) and I’ve no idea about album titles or in what form it will take (Will it be ‘all acoustic’? Another 2 CD set? Who knows? Certainly not me!), but it will naturally evolve throughout 2009 and, by this time next year, will probably be available at all good record shops everywhere (or, at the very least, at my gigs and via my myspace page!)…

Speaking of my myspace page, Eagle-eared listeners (‘eagle-eared??!) may have noticed a couple of new tunes on my home page. I thought I’d try something different this year and every few weeks put up ‘first demos’ of brand new tunes. The first two, ‘A BEAUTIFUL THING’ and ‘ONE WISH’, are up there now for all the world to hear (‘all the world’? I’m been a bit optimistic there, aren’t I?!). They’re certainly ‘works in progress’ but I hope that people will enjoy hearing the tunes in this ‘stripped down’ state and, knowing how I soon discard songs, it may be the only time some of these tunes get heard by the masses (‘The masses’??! Who do I think I am?? The Pope??!)

Also this year should see the release of ‘B.C.’ the new album from David Rohl’s MANDALABAND project on which I sing two songs ‘BABYLON’ and ‘SOLOMON THE WISE’. David (who is based in Spain) was over here in December and he and I were cooped up at THE BARN STUDIOS in Copmanthorpe near York for a day laying down my vocals for the two tunes. It all seemed to go well and David (who is an utterly splendid chap) should by now be making final mixes back in Spain on this amazingly ambitious project.

Some of you may know, from reading my previous blogs, that the original intention was for my partner Tamsin and myself to go over to David’s house/studio in Spain earlier this month to lay down my vocal parts. This didn’t happen as planned due to various personal reasons to complex to go into right now but the plan is for us both to go out to Spain in the spring/summer time so I can lay down more vocals for the follow up album ‘A.D.’. We are both really looking forward to that (although I’m not sure David is now as I’ve told him I plan on bringing along every DOCTOR WHO DVD I possess in the hope of converting him from been a STARGATE-ian in to the one true WHO faith!!)

Instead of the trip to Spain mid-January Tam and I had a lovely 4-½ days break in The Lake District staying at Field House cottage in Borrowdale near Keswick. We were guests of my lifelong friend (and MOSTLY AUTUMN ‘leader’) Bryan ‘BJ’ Josh who hires out the cottage once a year so he can ‘get creative’ and do a bit of song writing. We had such a chilled out time and we both came back much relaxed and eager to re-visit the Lakes sooner rather than later.

‘Field House’ is haunted too (it’s over 600 years old) and we did experience a few ‘spooky’ happenings including two instances of Scrabble pieces moving on their own and a disembodied ‘female voice’ whispering in my ear! I kid you not! I plan on re-visiting ‘Field house’ soon but next time with a full ‘Most Haunted’ camera crew!

BJ was the perfect host and, despite the fact that on waking one morning we found the Scrabble board had been rearranged to read ‘GET OUT OF MY HOUSE’, we had a blissfully wonderful time…

But, anyway, I’ve rattled on again haven’t I? I’m such a ratterler sometimes. I think I must take after my speakers…

So that’s the basic plan for me: loads of gigs, lots of recording, plenty of laughter, family, friends and bucket fulls of rock n bloody roll….

Bring it on….

Peace, love and little toy Daleks

Marc

6:26 PM

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

A Blog Full of Secrets....

Hi everyone

It's been months since my last blog and lots has been happening (well, apart from me blogging, that is!) so I thought it was about time I put fingertip to keypad and let anyone who is interested have a little insight into the world that is 'My World'…..

So hands up those who are interested?

Oh ok, cool… If you'd both like to step this way….

And gaze upon A Blog Full Of Secrets.....

My acoustic album, WOOD & WIRE, came out to much acclaim and fanfare back in May (there was parties, knighthoods and everything!). It sneaked into the top 5 Billion on it's first week of release before sales peaked with a record breaking 6 units been shifted at a recent gig in Whitby!

People seem to like it (well, I've had none returned yet!) and apparently the 'WIRE' disc makes an extremely effective coaster. Which is always handy…

The good news for all you coaster lovers out there is my new 'band' project, 'RIVERSEA', are about to release their debut 'demo' CD in a few weeks (Or, if you're reading this after mid-October, IT'S OUT NOW!!!) 'The Acoustic EP' contains five 'demo' tunes of songs that will eventually appear on RIVERSEA's 'proper' debut album next year.

The main reason for this limited edition release (only 100 copies are been made!) is that RIVERSEA are set to make their live debut with a support slot for prog-rockers THE REASONING (who have just released a great new album called DARK ANGEL) at The Robin 2 in Bilston.

(Yeah, yeah, I know that the three of us actually played together for the first time at the WOOD & WIRE launch party but, as it was just on acoustics, I'm not counting that one…. So there!)

Again it's just the three of us doing the gig, although this time Q will be playing electric guitar so it's got a little bit of 'umph' to it. So the crowd are gonna have to imagine what the bass and drums should be doing. It's quite a slow set, too, which is going to make it a challenge to keep the audience's attention for 40 minutes… But we're up for the challenge. At the end of the day, the songs will have to stand up for themselves, so we've got to have confidence in them….

Gulp….

Do I have confidence in them?

Yeah, I do… I think the RIVERSEA stuff is the most mature and well-structured material I've ever been involved in. Not every one is going to like it but that's true of every band everywhere (Look, I've never understood how anyone can love THE SMITHS or REM and look at how many albums they've sold! And what do I know anyway?! I've got RICHARD MARX albums!!)

So I'll be interested to see how we do at the support slot. Hopefully we'll sell a few CDs and make a few new 'fans' who will go on to follow the band throughout 2009 and beyond….

Look at me been so optimistic! Next I'll be talking about world tours and DVDs! Although I can already see the idea for a DVD forming in our tiny, collective little brains…

But back to the 'Demo EP': It should be available from mid-October from my homepage and RIVERSEA's page www.myspace.com/riverseamusic . It's only 4 quid too, which is nice. And all proceeds go towards funding the recording of the album (and feeding the dog!)

It was whilst browsing the RIVERSEA myspace page that a guy called David Rohl stumbled across a tune called 'Out Of An Ancient World' (a tune from the demo EP, fact fans!). He liked what he heard and left a message saying so. Brendan was so chuffed, as David is a big keyboarding hero of his.

Now, some of you may not have heard of David Rohl (I hadn't, I have to confess) but, it turns out, he is an accomplished musician/songwriter from THE MANDALABAND, a top producer in his own right (producing such bands as 10cc, Godley & Crème), a best selling author and expert in the field of Egyptology and all things 'Ancient World' (you can see why he might check out the aforementioned tune, cant you?). He's even presented documentaries for Channel 4 and led expeditions in search of the real location of the biblical Eden (I kid you not… Google his name… It's crazy!)

So anyway, to cut a long(ish) story short, David wrote to me via myspace a few months ago and asked me if I'd be interested in singing on his new album MANDALBAND III…! The guy who sang on the last album was only Justin Haywood! Yeah, him out of THE MOODY BLUES! And now I was been given the opportunity to sing on the follow up! 'Would I be interested'? Is a pig's arse pork!?

(You know, as a vegetarian myself, I shouldn't really be saying stuff like that!)

This sounded like a great opportunity and an amazingly huge compliment. This guy has produced and worked with some of the top musicians and singers in the world and he wants little old 'me' to sing on his own stuff because he thinks I've got a 'fantastic voice'?! That is, without doubt, the biggest compliment I've ever been given and I don't think David will ever know how much it's meant to me to receive it.

Playing the pubs/clubs for 26 years without really 'getting anywhere' could sap the soul of even the most hardened musician and I'd be lying if I said that I've never had moments when I've felt like an absolute failure. Sometimes I think I'm either stupid or brave to have not given up by now.

So receiving David's praise is no small thing for me and a much needed confidence boost.

Although I am VERY critical of my own stuff…I always hear mistakes 10 ten times louder than anything else and very rarely do I think I've done a 'great gig' (although don't tell anyone I said that… It was meant to be a secret)…. but I've also always believed that I'm slowly, but surely, improving: that each new album is a step up, that I'm growing (in more ways than one!) as a singer and 'live' performer. I do still believe I'm becoming 'better at what I do' ('cos how awful would it be to feel you were getting 'worse??! I dread that day!)

And I LOVE singing and playing live and I'm extremely lucky and blessed to have a job where I get applauded for what I do (And how many jobs are they like that?). It may mean, at the 'level' I perform at, that I don't earn 'enough' money to have holidays and 'fancy stuff', but it also means that I sing for a living… I get paid to sing… And people smile at me and clap and sing along and everyone has a good night…How cool is that?

And I LOVE been in the studio and been creative. I get to express myself and bare my soul, to be honest. I think those moments when I'm in 'the zone' and my voice is working and everything is 'right'… those true moments of pure creation… are rewards in themselves. That's what I sing for… And I really cant wait to have those moments with David on THE MANDALBAND stuff.

It's a very scary, but also very exciting, thought to be vocally produced by a guy of David's standing. Scary because what if he just says… "No, it's not really working… You're just not as good as I thought you would be!" That'd destroy me. But he won't say that… Will he??!

Gulp

So, back to the plot… David and I have been exchanging emails and the nitty gritty of it is that, in January, my partner Tamsin and I are going over to David's house/studio in Spain for a week to record the vocals :o)

In our seven years as a couple Tam and I have never actually been abroad together (our biggest 'holiday' has been two days in the Lake District!) so to say we are 'right excited' would be like saying "BLINK was an OK episode of DOCTOR WHO"! In other words, a MASSIVE understatement!

I'll be in the studio for 3 of the days but in my 'days off' we've been promised by David some 'travelling' (who knows, when we come back, we may have discovered Atlantis!)

So it's all happening, isn't it? AND I haven't even mentioned my ongoing; time travelling, spiritually transcendental novel 'ETERNAL' yet! Which, in fact, none other than David Rohl himself has been reading and, apparently, enjoying… It makes me laugh to think with all his Real knowledge of the Ancient World and True history that he's reading me with my 'DOCTOR WHO discovers the Truth of existence' ramberlings! What must he think of me? He must really think I'm a right nutter!!

And who's to say he's wrong? There's definitely 'something of the Nutter' about me (especially on a Friday!). And it has been said by more than one mad scientist that I'm a Dalek short of a full battalion...

And that I'm fat…

But that's a story for my next blog…. "The Diet of Destiny"

Later, Dudes

Marc

7:25 PM

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Sunday, May 04, 2008

WOOD & WIRE is HERE!!!! :o)

Here it is again… That brilliant feeling song-writers call 'New Album Release Syndrome': Where your stomach goes all butterfly-ie at the thought of people actually hearing the tunes you've been working on for the last year or so.

It's a good time… A fulfilling time… This is, after all, what we write songs for… To be heard. We also write songs just for the shear pleasure of been creative. And I LOVE been creative and I hope I always will.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you 'WOOD & WIRE'. My Magnum Opus (or even Massive Octopus) A 24 track 2 CD Not Limited At All Acoustic Extravaganza of Massive Proportions (tell me if I start over selling it!).

The WOOD disc features all original tunes written by yours truly (sometimes with a little help from a few friends). Re-recorded GABRIEL tunes such as YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IM ALIVE and MOTHERLOVE are on there as well along with an all-new version of WONDERLAND (from SEASONS OF MY LIFE).

Then there's 9 more brand new tunes including current 'live' favourites (well, I like 'em!) LIFT ME UP, HE LOOKS A LOT LIKE ME and THE HEALING. I'm supported throughout by guest musicians such as Graham Hodge, Paul Cusick and Alex Cromarty (all ex-GABRIEL and ex-alcoholics). Brendan Eyre (he of the RIVERSEA) plays some lovely subtle keys on a couple of tracks and, of course, my beautiful sister Janine provides backing vocals here and there. Louise Dawson (a WRIGGERLER apparently) sings on one middle eight section… oh but what a middle eight it is!

The WOOD disc contains 12 Cover Versions of some of the tunes I perform live. I'm always (well, once a week) getting asked "Have you got those songs you're singing tonight on CD?" Normally I reply, "No… But I'm doing one!" Well, here it is. I've done one.

What's on there? CHASING CARS? Check. SHE WILL BE LOVED? Check. MAD WORLD? Check. ERNIE THE FASTEST MILKMAN IN THE WEST? Errr…. Not yet. Maybe next time….

So, anyway, what I thought I'd do is put the idea of a covers album and an all original album together and… Hey Presto… WOOD & WIRE is the result. That way it serves those that are wanting to hear me sing 'covers' and also those that like to hear my creative self (bless you, those people… I want to pickle and preserve you!)

And the sneaky thing is that means you have to buy one to get the other in this unlimited edition 2 disc set. Which is a cunning plan from my evil alter-ego (strokes goatie in full pantomime villain mode… Think 'The Master'… And not that rubbish John Simms bloke… I mean the proper Master… Mr Roger Delgado) :o)

Of course, my evil plan falls to pieces when I'm only charging £9.99 a copy (I'd be no good on THE APPRENTICE would I?). All proceeds go towards a very special cause (as always)… Basically it's going to pay back the loan for the making of them in the first place!

The launch night is on Wednesday 14th May at The Basement Bar, City Screen, York. I'll be playing an acoustic set joined by Graham, Q, Brendan and Jan. Alex and Louise (AKA THE WRIGGERLERS) are also playing a set and Graham Hodge will be doing some solo numbers as well. Should be a great night and a right laff! :o)

Doors open at 8pm (£2 entry on the door) and Graham will be on first around 8.30pm. Please do come along if you can make it.

So, that's it for now. WOOD & WIRE enters the world in all acoustic glory and it's time for me to start thinking about the next project.... Which Ive been doing anyway to be honest! RIVERSEA is coming along VERY nicely. I cant wait for you to hear our new stuff....

So I want to leave you with a question that's been on my mind constantly over the last few weeks. It's a deep question, up there with the search for meaning in life, the plausability of God and pondering on the nature of the Universe itself. It's a question that could have massive repercussions on how I view the rest of my natural life and it's a question I (and, I believe, the rest of the world) really need the answer to....

"What The Fudge is Catherine Tate doing in Doctor Who????!!!!!!!!"

Hope you enjoy WOOD & WIRE

Love and Peace

Marc

12:43 PM

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Friday, December 21, 2007

So This is Christmas......
Current mood:

blissful

'So this is Christmas....'

Hi All

It's Marcus here with more 'off the top of my head' mutterings. It's the 21st December as I write and Christmas (and a new DOCTOR WHO episode) is just 4 days away. I'm really looking forward to this Christmas, as is Enya who actually 'understands' Christmas this year (I went to her Nativity play last week.... It was sssoooo cute!).

'And what have we done?'...

You may have noticed that WOOD & WIRE (my new all acoustic album promised for a 'Christmas release') is still not out and at the top of the charts at HMV. What's going on? Well, it's all ready to go (and has been for a while) but we've had just a few unexpected delays and I'm now hoping for a release around the end of January/beginning of Feb. As soon as I get a launch date sorted out I'll let you all know.

'Another year over....'

And what a year. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster this year (in both good and bad ways) but one really good thing to come out of it has been my collaboration with Brendan Eyre on the RIVERSEA project. It's all going really well (we have 7 songs written already for the album which we hope to have ready by the summer). It's been great working with Brendan. He writes such soul stiring music that it makes me 'raise my game' in the lyric/melody department. I'm really loving the creative process.

If you havent already please check out our myspace page at www.myspace.com/riverseamusic where you can also see my good friend Dave Potter's video for the RIVERSEA tune ALL AROUND THE WORLD. It's a wonderful piece of work and manages to be both extremely moving and sad as well as been uplifting and inspirational. It certainly speaks to the soul.... Which is exactly what I want the RIVERSEA stuff to do...

'And a new one just begun'....

So hopefully this year you'll be seeing some RIVERSEA gigs. Whether they'll be just Brendan and myself or with a full band (Paul 'Q' Cusick from GABRIEL is working on the RIVERSEA stuff with us) remains to be seen, but both Brendan and I certainly intend getting 'out there' next year. The feedback we've already recieved for the RIVERSEA stuff has been extremely positive so we're really pleased with how's its all going. Could 2008 be the year that RIVERSEA dominates the world wide charts???! :O)

'And so this is Christmas and I hope you have fun'....

So I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who actually reads this stuff and listens to my/our tunes. As a songwriter it's so inspirational to know that people who love music actually listen and enjoy my/our stuff. It really does make it all worthwhile. So thank you for all your comments and CD orders through the year. I hope no one has been dissapointed in what they've heard.

I'd also like to thank Dave Potter for his hard work on the RIVERSEA vid as well as running my website and, along with his wife Karen, has come to probably around 50 of my gigs in this last year (imagine how utterly sick of my 'live' set they are!!!). I'd also like to thank Shaz and Steve, Carole and Peter, Jean and Gordan, Hiedi and Alan and everyone else of the 'regulars' who continue to inspire and encourage me with my musical endevours.

Can I also thank Brendan and Q for been constant musical partners and, above all, good friends. I must include Rob, Graham and my sister Janine in there too. They truly do lift me up...

My last thanks must go to the rest of my family. My step kids Kassie, Lewis and Josshua are always beautiful and fun, my daughter Enya has grown so much this year: she's even more perfect than ever.

And, of course, my partner and soulmate Tamsin has been a constant source of encouragement and love throughout this year and every year we've been together. She looks after me and loves me so completely that it's easy sometimes to take her for granted. I'd be lost without her. She continues to turn my world and I love her with all of my heart.

So.... onwards and upwards we go. Here's to 2008. May it be all we hope it can be. And let's keep all those thoughts in place to make sure that it is.....

'A very merry xmas and a happy new year.... Let's hope its a good one.... without any fear'

Marc

10:44 AM

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Monday, October 08, 2007

WOOD & WIRE, RIVERSEA and ETERNAL

Well, here it is at last.... My latest 'mutterings'... My newest 'blog'.... My most recent ramberlings from a disturbed and twisted mind (oh, hang on, that's actually my novel 'ETERNAL'.... more of which later)....

But first of all... Music:

WOOD & WIRE, my latest all acoustic album is done... Finished... and well and truly cooked (actually, there's one backing vocal to put on the last track, 'B WITH U'... but, part from that, it's all mixed and cooked and ready to be mastered).

Well, the 'original' side is. The 'covers' disc is still been put together. I have a feeling the 'covers' disc is going to be a mixture of 'live' tracks and studio demos (I'm still shifting through the dozens of mini-discs I have of live gigs to try and find desent versions of the tunes.... It's certainly hard to find them!)

But, all in all, WOOD & WIRE should be out around Christmas time (I'm hoping for the Xmas no:1 slot.... I can dream, can't I?). I'll be having a 'launch do' as usual and the date will be announced as soon as I know when the CDs are going to be ready. It'll probably be a mix of 'launch night' and 'Christmas party' (I'm making this up as I go along, aren't I?), so that'll be fun.

I'm really pleased with the album. It's certainly a lot more 'natural' and 'raw' than THIS IS WHERE WE ARE. It's certainly a lot more like the sound I make live (well, apart from the layers of backing vocals!) so I'm hoping that you'll all like it (well, my Mum does!)

If you havent checked out some of the new tunes please have a look at www.myspace.com/marcatkinson68

I also need to tell you about RIVERSEA which is a new songwriting project Ive started with a guy called Brendan Eyre. Basically, it's cool :o) Check out www.myspace.com/riverseamusic for some of our early demos and also please do check out Dave Potter's video for a demo called ALL AROUND THE WORLD which can be seen from a link from the RIVERSEA home page or www.marcatkinson.co.uk

I'm really excited by the stuff Im doing with Brendan for RIVERSEA. I think we're going to have a great album's worth of stuff released probably next summer and maybe even some gigs around that time too.

AND I've been writing a novel. ETERNAL is a story I've had in my head for the last 10 years or so and it's been great to finally get it down on paper (and screen). It's a deep story that combines my childhood fasination (DOCTOR WHO) and my adult obsession (SPIRITUALITY)! I kid you not! It's a journey of a novel and one that may not be finished for a good few months yet! I've written 11 chapters so far and have about 7 or 8 to go! It may blow your mind (mine certainly exploded about 3 weeks ago!) and you'll no doubt discover when reading it that I am in serious need of some serious counselling! :o)

You can read it here www.myspace.com/eternal or here http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=12581 or, if you send me an email to marc@gabriel-music.co.uk I can send you the original 'Word' documents so you could mayeb print them off and read them properly (I recommend this option. I'd never read anything like that off a computer screen. I like to have something in my hands... oh er missus!). I'm hoping to have the novel made up into a proper book when I've got it all done. should be fun.....

So, there you go: an acoustic album, a new 'band' project AND a novel. I've not been sat on my hands, you know.....

Anyway, got to go. I can feel chapter 12 coming on and also a new song called... eerrrrr.... 'The Song' keeps running around my head. Which to do? Which to do? Oh, it's a hard life been so creative ;o)

Peace, love and massive chocolate cakes to every one

Marc

9:48 AM

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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

WOOD & WIRE: The End Is Nigh....

Hi All

Well, it's been a while since my last 'mutterings' (in fact, I think Patrick troughton was the Doctor when I last posted!) but I have been hard at work on my new acoustic album WOOD & WIRE.

The good news is it's nearing completion and should be all done (mixed and everything!) by the end of this month. It's a double album with one side all original tunes whilst the other is a mixture of 'live' and 'demoed' cover versions. There's going to be 12 songs on the 'original' side (as well as a few more 'hidden' tracks) and 12 (plus some hidden 'original' live tunes) on the 'covers' side.

I'm currently shifting through a load of 'live' recordings trying to find decent versions of some of the cover versions I do (believe me, that's proving difficult!) as well as finishing off the 'original' tunes. I've re-recorded three 'old' songs of mine (WONDERLAND, MOTHER LOVE and YOU DONT EVEN KNOW IM ALIVE) to go along side the nine new tunes. And the good news is they're all sounding spiffing (or should that be 'spliffing'?).

I've got my sister, Janine, coming along to the studio next week to put some more backing vocals on for me and Iain Jennings (formerly with MOSTLY AUTUMN and now BREATHING SPACE) is coming along the week after to put some magic keyboards on for me.

You thought it was supposed to be an 'acoustic' album? Well it is, but I'm putting a dash of keys on some of the tunes just to 'lift' them on the right place. I wont over do it.... I promise.

Expect to hear some of the new tunes very soon as I plan on putting some 'early mixes' on my myspace page within the next few days. Please let me know what you think.

Right, got to go. I promise it wont be another six months before my next mutterings... it'll be 4 years!!!! :o)

Peace, love and rock n roll

Marc

11:18 AM

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