after months of planning, the website hit some major technical hitches this week, due to flash, paypal buttons and various other unforseen glitches. This has resulted in another delay from the already postponed launch date. It's very, very frustarating, but everything is being done to get the site up as soon as humanly possible - the poor designer even cancelled a date today!

Well it's finally on it's way, the long awaited Kanute debut album "Standing Room Only" has gone into production in the form of a numbered, limited (one hundred) edition photo digipak. It's out on 29th June and will co-inside with the launch of the new Kanute website www.kanute.co.uk - where the albums will be available to buy for £10 - inc free delivery anywhere in the whole wide world. Magic beans are also accepted, though may need full magical testing for verification before goods are dispatched.

Thanks to everyone who has waited so long for it to arrive. I hope it was worth it!

To celebrate we are giving away a signed copy of the album to the first person who guesses what number I'm thinking of between one and one hundred. This will be the number of your numbered copy. I'll give you a clue - it's a Kanute number...

Have a good'n.

Rachael Kanute x

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Album timetable took a bit of a knock over the last few weeks from my getting a mystery recurring illness that has knocked me for six. Make that 68 (so, like manflu levels of illness).

Hopefully back on track now (mostly through my putting a brave face in it like a proper little trooper), the artwork is done, the tracks are finalized, the album name is picked, so it's just a case of getting the little things crafted into physical form and that's that. And it only took several years....

Hope noone else has the lurgy.

Kanute x

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Hello all. The album is finally coming together. Whoop whoop you might say. The track list has been finalised, the printing company has been located, the main thing to sort now is the artwork and the name. ANY SUGGESTIONS? I've got a few ideas, but I'd love some input and if we use you'rs then will will ofcourse mention where it came from on the artwork. Because we're nice like that. Have also been busy trying to get my head around Twitter. Not quite there yet - like at all, but have managed to get followed by some dodgy looking girls with their tops off. Which is, errm nice? Go and have a look at the very minimal page - my user name is RachaelKanute - I'm sure they have ways of looking for people on there... Anyway, best get off, things to do, people to see, lunch to eat and all that jazz.. Rachael Kanute We heart you. You heart us.

Hello all,

Well it's been a busy few months and between weddings and cat car crashes, there's not been much time for anything else.

Kanute is going to be holding off from live work for a while, while we focus on completing the long in the pipeline album. This is now my number one priority - so for all of you who keep on asking me if it's ready, I promise you don't have much longer to wait. Cross my heart hope to die, but please no sticking of needles in my eyes...that's just gross - who thinks of these rhymes anyway? Mentalists.

In the meantime, thanks for bearing with us, it really is so very much appreciated.

ta tar all

Kanute xxx

First things first, thanks to everyone who voted for The Suit and helped us win the competition that got me to the Big Chill. Very much appreciated.

It was a strange experience, we arrived on the Friday night and spent two hours trying to find the camp site in the rain and dark. Not the most fun ever had. The Suit, bless him, had taken our tent and put it up for us already, so we dumped our stuff and headed down to the festival where we had the best and most enjoyed bangers and mash the planet has ever known. We then sat in a tent with a massive white rabbit having a well earned drink. After that, we cut our loses and went to bed.

Saturday saw us all waking up in various states of, dazed, sleepy, hung-over knackeredness. Definitely didn't feel like we were about to play our first live gig, esp not on the massive club tent stage. We made our way down to the club tent and had the luxury of being the first on - so masses of time to prepare. Thank God. Really got us settled in and feeling like we were about to play the Big Chill. I must thank Will our bass player, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me his last Red Bull at this point, after he noticed I'd had a sneaky cry in my over tired state because my head didn't seem to be working properly. That stuff really works! Who knew!

Then we played the gig - the best we'd ever played any one of the tunes. People were dancing! Seemed to go down really very well - Phil (TH) was coming out with lines we'd never heard before - bouncing around my lyrics, pulling it well and truly out of the bag. Awesome. We were all very pleased with ourselves.

After the whirlwind of the gig, we headed to the champagne tent to celebrate and much fun was had by all - reliving the highs...then some more highs... Andy and I popped back to the tent at about 6pm, to have dinner before our evening of jam packed fun, I had a bit of a lie down, then woke up at midnight. Oops. We'd missed every single thing we wanted to see - including The Mighty Boosh. I was rather gutted.

So my first proper festival resulted in my not seeing a single band play - but I did get to play myself, so on the whole, I think I came out of it pretty well.

Thanks again everyone,

Rachael xx

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who came to our gig at the Mill last Friday. It was SUCH a lovely crowd to play to and we all really enjoyed the night.

I particularly liked it when the guys from the band (yes - Kanute) asked me why we were called Kanute and what was with the chair. You'd think they'd have wondered by now wouldn't you??!!

Things kicked off with the lovely Andrew James and band, then the unstoppable Socials with my lovely cousin Harry. Ahhhhhhhhh. Really I shouldn't keep picking on him, but bless, I remember him in that little blue and white romper suit... I have photo's for the right price :-)

Then it was us. Yey!

I don't know what we did, but it must have been something good, because the sale of our chair T-Shirts went through the roof after. But then, who doesn't love T Shirts with chairs on? Well exactly.

Thanks to Tim Reid on sound - back for a second time after the Superconnected gig that kicked us off. To the Mill staff, to Harry for all your extra help, to Carl for giving me the means for so many one liners at his expense, to Sarah and Mark for coming a REALLY long way....and about a gazillion other people too.

So next stop Leamington Peace Festival on June 14th.....

Ta tar for now, Rachael xx

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Well, I arrived last after lecturing everyone on getting there on time - as the sat nat didn’t know where the Ricoh arena was and then we hit the Enemy gig traffic. Uber stressful believe me.

The Isle itself is a strange fish, once past the ridiculously strict and intimidating security, long escalators down take you to a suspended glass floor over a pool of running water, filed with pebbles. Very strange feeling (not as strange as looking at the crazy tables in the bar - Steve actually felt sick).

Then you are in the casino - Vegas meets a train station platform. I’m not convinced I’m a casino girl - you can smell the desperation of all that "show me the money" angst. The Isle bar is on a big semi circle with the stage raised high up, behind the orange slice shaped bar. Big stage and great sound.

After sound check, Tom and Joel then snuck off when I wasn’t looking and blagged their ways backstage as used to go to college with the Enemy boys. The rest of us were left nursing our Sunday dinners and feeling a bit old.

Despite the fact that it was a late Sunday evening the crowd seemed pretty awake, well done crowd, and it was, even if I say so myself, a good gig. Tried out some new material, I only went wrong twice but I think I got away with it, and I had a shiny new red belt. What could be better...

Thanks to everyone who came and for your messages since. Thanks to Sarah who managed her little heart out - well done chick.

So all in all, I’m all reved up and ready for the next one...

Things have gone a but crazy here of late, we cornered ourselves a lovely new agent, in the form of Miss Sarah Parkin, and she's whipping us up in to frenzy of activity.

We've mostly finished our EP... I say mostly, we all sat round to listen and picked fault is our own bits that no one else heard a problem with, so we're a few tweaks away from having a finished product to exchange for earth money. Or cake. Which ever comes in the bigger slice :-)

As a taster, I've put my personal favourite, Academy, up on the profile page for your enjoyment. Fingers crossed. Do let us know what you think about the live band - we love it but it would be great to hear how you think if stacks up against the uber-studio-fied material. The tracks were recording using no samples or magical buttons - it's all just our little fingers playing their hearts out.

We have a few gigs confirmed now (thanks Sarah) Jam at Escape is pretty much confirmed 15th April, Mill Banbury in the main theatre (v exciting) on 16th May and we've been asked to play at The Enemy's aftershow party at the Isle @ Ricoh Arena on 6th April. Which is nice. We likie. You have to be a member of the casino to go, but on the plus side, if you are, and you manage to get in, it's free! Yey!

We've also been beavering away learning new material so we're very excited about getting gigging again.

Coming soon will be some shinny new Kanute merchandise. We're thinking tote bags, enamel badges and nice skinny T Shirts - but let us know if you have any ideas as we're open to suggestions. What would you like to own with a nice big (or small) chair logo on it ay?? ay??

We've stocked up on little badges and stickers so will be giveaways a plenty at up coming gigs.

I think that's it on the band front. As for the next big Kanute wedding, you'll be pleased to hear we've sorted out the cake (or cakes at we've having a gigantic cake stand filled with individual chocolate cakes) and the flowers (lots and lots and LOTS of pure white orchids with diamantes wired in to them. Ahhhhh). I also have a very sparkly tiara and and thinking hair down is the way forwards...

Take care,

Ta tar for now,
Rachael

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Dear Sir/Madam,

Ref: Tesco Organic and Free Range Chicken Availability

Along with a lot of other consumers, I recently watched the series Chicken Run that highlighted the reality of what cheap chicken actually costs – in terms of the quality of life for the animals involved.

Unlike most, I could hold my head up high and say that I was already buying free range chicken and could carry on as normal. Go me.

At first, I was pleased to see the difference on the shelves – in that all the organic and free range chicken produce had gone, leaving just empty shelves. I saw this as a good sign that the program had made a really positive impart on the general public and hoped that maybe this would ring the changes for the industry, something long overdue in my opinion.

However, weeks on, I have not been able to locate a single pack of free range – organic or otherwise – chicken breasts pieces on your shelves. I shop on average twice a week, on different evenings and every time I am confronted by the same empty space, while there is a large chunk of the aisle full to the gunnels with cruelly-assured chicken pieces available.

I am left wondering if this is actually a clever policy by Tesco, relying on the short collective memory of the general public, in the hope that we will simply buy the cheap rubbish and stop "being silly" about insisting those pesky chickens have a half decent life before we eat them.

Whether canny, cynical planning, or just the ineptitude of your staff who order in stock, I find the situation both unsatisfactory and irresponsible on your part as a golden opportunity to dramatically improve animal welfare throughout a massive industry is being lost through your carelessness or plain old stubborn greed.

Shame on you.




Rachael Gray