New York City can be so pretty......

A few of my favourite snaps from my birthday trip.... lots more at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=140222&id=584741155&l=991f433b1f

I found it on a cold and November day...

Still recovering from a wonderful fortnight to celebrate, or maybe distract myself from, hitting the ‘30’ milestone, that started with a lovely family gathering (celebrating my Dad’s 60th), lead to Dublin and finally to New York City.

In short, 2 weeks filled with my favourite places, my favourite music and my favourite people. Lots of photos on their way.

Life in a Stereo World

Have rather neglected the blogging lately. Lots of exciting gigs over the summer: Tori Amos, Okkervil River, Josh Ritter (twice), Ray LaMontagne, Bruce Springsteen & The GasLight Anthem. What fun!

I really enjoy rambling here when I get into it, but my time management seems to have gone to pot lately. How do people manage to work full time, take regular exercise, keep a house clean & tidy, have a social life and fulfil their own interests? Do these people exist? Are they magic?

I keep promising myself that at least once a week I will sit down and do something that means something to me, something creative, something that will make me feel more fulfilled and more at peace with myself. It's not that I never have time to stop - some nights & even weekends do go by in a blur of pilates/running/bouncing on my trampoline, plus a combination of shopping/cleaning/ paying bills /phoning relative type duties - but there are those nights when I choose to slump in front of the TV instead of getting my paints out, writing something here, attempting to compose a poem....My excuse is I am too tired, and sometimes that is true. I read a blog somewhere that suggested there may be something more deep seated stopping me from taking the plunge, but to believe that would be self indulgent. I just need a good kick up the arse!

Kick up the arse number 1 - my new camera arrived today. It's a present for my 30th birthday from my lovely boyfriend Hugh, with contributions from Mum & Dad too. It's a bridge camera, a step up from my old point and shoot. I'll start experimenting with it on my hols and hopefully have some nice art for our bare wall in the lounge when I get back!

Kick number 2 - Leah from Blue Tree Art Gallery (who produces fantastic paint & collage creations, I will buy a print from her when I have a few more rooms to decorate!) runs the Art Every Day Month every November. I am about to sign up! My goal is to get the cherry blossom paintings done that I promised Hugh I would do for our living room. And have some fun with my new camera. I may add more, but I don't want to scare myself away with a to do list!

Back over the canal, we've all had a long day and we're going home....

At the weekend Hugh and I ventured to Middlewich, a small canal town in Cheshire which every year hosts the Folk & Boat Festival. We successfully navigated ourselves to a sports field outside the centre which was acting as the weekend’s official campsite. It wasn’t exactly a sea of tents aka Glastonbury, but we had a clean shower block, plus in the morning the local scout troop on hand to fuel us with enormous cups of tea and bacon butties.Saturday night was spent sampling the various delights of the fringe festival. Watching ‘James and the Giant’ perform in a tiny marquee separated from the audience by a canal was slightly surreal. However the added action of narrowboats navigating the lock in front us made for a more memorable hour, JATG’s music being perfectly pleasant and including some singalong opportunities with a few well known covers (Tom Petty, REM) but they were ultimately unremarkable.

Further into town, in the White Horse, was a charming scene straight out of one of favourite movies, ‘Once’. A group of jolly, grizzled out souls belting out traditional melodies on fiddle, accordion, guitar and mandolin, with vocals randomly contributed from various family & friends sitting around them. I wish I’d know the words, the only one I could join in with was ‘Green Green Grass of Home’.

We finished the evening at the Kings Lock, in the company of Cold Flame, who played their way with panache through a bizarre combination of Celtic instrumentals that Kangaroo Moon would be proud of, and 70’s and 80’s rock covers ranging from The Animals, Bob Dylan, The Band and Del Amitri.

We whiled away Sunday morning strolling along the canal and checking out the vintage boats. Then it was time to head to the British Legion for the main event that we travelled down for….

After one of the festival organisers did a turn with her band, we were introduced to Rachel Harrington & Zac Borden who gave us a taste of southern gothic bluegrass. I was captivated, though I know very little about this sort of music except for being a big Gillian Welch fan. One review says that she is "connecting with the ghosts of American folk music" and I can’t really think of a better description. Her songs reminded me of much of the music that features in Jim White's fantastic documentary film, 'Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus'. We picked up her live album “In the Woods” as a souvenir, and I’ll certainly be exploring more of her music.

Andrea Glass gave us a more gentle hour of acoustic songs, her gorgeous melodies and intricate lyrics beguilingly mixed with a down to earth Bolton humour! She did a great cover of Dancing in the Dark and brought a cup of tea on stage with her – brilliant!

Then it was Thea Gilmore’s turn, opening with a captivating solo ‘Old Soul’. This girl needs zero post-production, her distinctive voice crystal clear and resonant. Then Nige & Fluff (on violin) joined her for a surprising cover – Pink’s ‘Get the Party Started’. The rest of the set went by in a whirl, including lush renditions of ‘The Lower Road’, ‘Icarus Wind’ and ‘You and Frank Sinatra’ and a biting, shiver inducing ‘This girl is taking bets’. There was a stomping ‘If you miss me at the back of the bus’ and a stirring ‘Are you Ready?’, a song about fighting for what you believe in, inspired by her friend on the eve of Obama’s victory, where all three leapt off the stage to rehearse the audience beforehand so we could then join in with the refrain ‘We will ride, are you ready?’. And we sang very beautifully, even if I do say so myself ;o)

It was a joyful and memorable afternoon. So much fun we’ve already booked to see Thea again in Chester in December, and I'm sure we'll be back at MFAB next year too!

Happiness Is.....

..... Chasing rainbows through the sunshine and showers, to the tunes of Tori's fabulous new album.

It's the heart that matters more

"They don't know how it feels to love some band, or some silly song, so much it hurts" - Sapphire, Almost Famous

I saw Counting Crows on Monday night, for about the eighth time. It was the first time I'd ever seen them do a full acoustic set, and it was.....incredible, transcendent, beautiful. Songs that I know like my oldest friends took on new personalities. Melodies twisted and meandered and exploded into kaleidoscopes of emotions. Adam was a storyteller, sitting at the edge of the stage or wandering across like a lost soul gesturing into a sky of stars. Spinning out tales of bittersweetness, of loving and losing, of memories and of dreams.

It was a perfect evening where time stood still and I was lost in the moment, the rest of the world ceased to exist. There was only me & a few thousand others with our senses captivated and our emotions overwhelmed.

Winter's over, be my darling

Spring is here. Emerged from my Shingles induced cocoon long enough to venture to the park, and found that one of my favourite things is happening - the blossoms are opening.



Also, a carpet of daffodils in the Spring Haze. Lovely.

So I've been forced to do virtually nothing for a week thanks to this virus. I'm sure resting has done me the world of good, but at the moment, I feel weak and lacklustre. Time to shake those feelings off, tomorrow we leave for the event of the year, the Big Three-Oh, our 30th birthday girls' holiday extravaganza in Hong Kong. Yippee. Better go and pack.....