Hey everybody,

Hope all is good.

Great new!

My track ‘Scarborough Bay’ was featured on BBC Introducing Yorkshire on the weekend!

It’s a song about my life and times in Scarborough and my love for the town.

Thanks for playing it guys.

In other news.  I have some great gigs coming up in London in April and May.  Please see my gig listings for more details.

I’m also booking a full UK tour starting late June, and have some great venues lined up already which I shall announce shortly.  If you’d like to see me and my band perform anywhere in particular, feel free to get in touch.

Catch you on the road!

Al

Hey, hope everyone’s happy and well.

Over the last week I’ve been recording with Mr Jonnie Walker, at RunAground Records, in North London.

It’s been an interesting and exhausting experience, working out the best way to go about laying down the tracks, for optimum sound and groove quality.  Ideally, I would have liked to have recorded live with the full band present, but as it was just me and Jon, we had to go about things a little different.

For most of the tracks, we laid the bass and drums down first, to get the groove, then overdubbed the voice and guitars.

Jonnie was on top form as usual, the drums – sounding very promising indeed.  The rest, not too shabby either.

Tracks recorded so far include;

A Simple Message
My Love You’re Never Far From
What Have I Done
Scarborough Bay
Thinking Of You Still

I’m hopeful for the results, and look forward to showing you all, once it’s mixed.

A great time was had playing at the Elgin, The Worlds End and The Spice of Life.

Big thanks to the venues and promoters for having us, and all who were there, listening and supporting.

Also a big big thanks to my mate Rouben, for letting my stay on his sofa for the week!!!

Cheers for reading,

Take care, Al

Na ven,

I’m gona be down in the dog for a week. Feb 13th – 19th.

During that time I’ll be recording a new EP at RunAground Records, and playing shows at some great venues across London (see gig listings) with the awesome Jonnie Walker on drums/ percussion.

It’s all very exciting stuff.  I shall let you know more as it unfolds.

This week, I’m lucky enough to be going on a ski trip to Sestriere, Italy, with some good friends.

I’ll try not to break any bones, or have too much fun!!

Thanks for reading,

I wish you a great February!!!!!

Al

Hey, I hope everybody had a great new year and xmas!  I’ve been back home in Scarborough over the winter enjoying home comforts… ahhh.

While I’ve been home, I’ve been busy writing, recording new demos, sorting out my website, and playing music with various different people.  I’ve also been enjoying seeing my friends, playing pool and getting out in the countryside

A shot from the old railway line in Burniston.

My last gig in Scarborough for a while is coming up this Wednesday at Mojo’s Music Cafe on Victoria Road from 4pm – 5pm.  The atmosphere is great and the food is delicious.    The superb Harriet Frank will be joining me for a few songs also.  Hope to see you there!

So I’ve been in London for almost 4 months now.  A lot has happened!  Far to much to attempt to recall!  I’ll try and give you the highlights…

Where to begin… oh yes the start. Abbey Road…Well Scarborough, then Abbey Road.

on 17th Jan, I left my home in Scarborough.  My awesome band mates, all my gigs and fans, friends and family, my Dog Bella, the seaside, the countryside, the free accommodation, meals and washing (which by the way, I am now extremely grateful for)… and moved to London,  LONDON!

Why you ask?  I was bored, I wanted to do something, I had pretty much done everything I wanted to do in Scarborough, on the music front.  The days were moving swiftly, it was time to make a move.

I had no gigs lined up in London, and no real idea of what the hell I was getting into.  Just my savings, one or two loose contacts, and a lot of determination and belief in what I do.

My Mum and Dad very kindly drove me down and helped unpack my stuff…

I moved into a lovely little place in Hoxton.  A small, 4 bedroom, 0 living room, ex-council maisonette.  Also living here are my three fantastic house mates, a set of characters, Ben, Tam and Andy.  We have a great laugh and talk a lot about stuff, you know, the vast intricacies of life.  At least we did… Now we have an Xbox.  Oh dear, there goes our conversation.  Saying that, I’m getting pretty good at Pro Evo now.

A few days after I moved in, I went to Abbey Road studios to attend the BBC introducing Musicians masterclass.  That was amazing!  Just to be inside, with all that history.  Not to mention all the fascinating, influential people, that were there on the day.  I was 1 of 200 people from the whole of the UK to be invited.  What a privilege!

My mate Jared, (from the York based band, La Petit Mort) also attended the day.  We caught the tube from Liverpool St. and went to all the same sessions.  I spent most of my spare time meeting the rock stars and the DJs, handing out disks and cards.  I must have handed out over 30.  Which was all I had!

An agreed mistake was attending the guitar masterclass session at Maida Vale.  I was expecting Newton Faulkner… new chords, techniques, aging superhero’s, UFO’s, hello’s… instead, we endured an hour of talks with three metal heads.  I found myself on the receiving end of “guitar talk”.  I’ve had complaints myself in the past.  I’d never understood it until that day.  I felt the full wrath.

They talked about different distortion pedals and loopers and delays and filters and tuners and choruses and amps and amp simulators and drop D and drop C and reverb and overdrive and fuzz and EQ and pre EQ and post EQ and mid cut EQ and mid boost EQ and in phase and out of phase and blah blah blah… Technique I enjoy, I can go away and try it out, learn it, it’s timeless.  Technology on the other hand, gets old QUICK!  I shouldn’t really be complaining.  But seeing as we were in the studio where Led Zepplin and Hendrix recorded.  I was expecting a little more.

In whole it was an amazing day and I am extremely grateful for being invited.  A highlight for me was meeting Jamie Cullum…

So there I was, milling around the Abbey Road canteen.  I look to my left… and bloody ell, it’s only Jamie Cullum, from the TV, that music guy, you know that guy who plays the piano, Jamie Cullum…  Yes.  JAMIE CULLUM.  I happen to be a big Jamie Cullum fan, so this was perfect.

The first thing I did was shake his hand, tell him how much I enjoy his music, his cover of “What a Difference a Day Made” and his songs “Love Aint Gonna Let You Down” and “These Are The Days”.  I gave him my CD.  He accepted it graciously, and put it in his coat pocket.  I later found out that he went straight from Abbey Road, to somewhere near by, to interview Sir Paul McCartney about his new jazz album,  “Kisses on the Bottom”.  So my CD would have been in his pocket then!

:O !!

He was a nice guy and gave me a lot of his time.  I began to ask him about how he started out in London and where he went to do his gigs.  He mentioned Pizza Express and a few other places. He told me to take every opportunity to start with.

Later in the day he gave a masterclass and performance in Abbey Rd, studio 1.  He talked about writing, his journey before being recognised, signing his record deal and what that meant for him.  Plus a load of other interesting matters.  His performance was flawless.  He played “All at Sea” and “Frontin”.  He also did some improvisation, demonstrating his creative process, with accompaniment from his piano and a beat app on his iPhone.  Jo Whiely did a good job asking important questions and getting to the bottom of things.

I found the day very relevant, informative and encouraging.
A BIG thanks to the BBC Introducing team for organising the event, and inviting me!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my first ever blog.  I shall do my best to get up to date, and keep up to date.  Still loads to get through!
Cheers for reading,
Al