This is just to tell you....

The weekend before last, whilst in London, I managed to do two things that I've wanted to for a while.

The first was to visit the Natural History Museum, to see the very first complete Ichthysaur, that was discovered by Mary Anning in Lyme Regis when she was a young girl. Mary Anning has been a hero of mine since I read about her when I was a girl of 10 or 11. At roughly the same age as me at the time she was supporting her family by discovering and selling fossil specimens, or 'curiosities', and during her life made some of the most important discoveries that contributed to knowledge of what life on earth was like millions of years ago.

She was a woman before her time; nowadays she would have become a renowned professor in her field. In the 1800's she was regarded by the published 'experts' around her as just a woman, and one from a poor, uneducated background - Even though they relied on her knowledge to find them new specimens, published her detailed drawings in their papers, and used her ideas to propose new theories, she received little or no recognition for her talent until long after her death. Her story sparked my interest in palaeontology, and whilst it is only a leisurely interest for me now, rather than an academic one as it almost was, it was still an incredible thrill to see with my own eyes the monsters from the deep that she uncovered.

The other thing was to finally hear Anais Mitchell play live, a singer of unique, beautiful, thought provoking songs, well stories really. She has been touring with Erin McKeown, who happens to be another of my favourite kick-ass girl singer songwriters! What an amazing evening!Anais & Erin treated a packed Luminaire to wonderful solo performances plus played a number together, their voices blending and complementing each others gorgeously. We heard some of Erin's new ones from 'Hundreds of Lions' (awesome album) plus a taster of what's to come from Anais & Co's 'Hadestown' recording ('Co' being Ani Di Franco, Greg Brown, Bon Iver - I cannot wait to hear this record!) After telling us how their ideas for a suitable cover version were lost on each other (Erin wanted a hip hop number, Anais some 80's classic) they gave us a rousing rendition of a gospel song to finish up a fabulous and fun evening.
One of my favourite of Anais' songs is 'I wear your dress', a song written for her grandmother about a dress she made that was passed down to her.

'This is just to tell you that I wear your dress sometimes'

It is a song that has been in my head a lot lately, in fact since I was given a ring that I can remember my Gran wearing. I've been wearing it every day and thinking of her, trying to remember her with smiles and laughter as she would want me to. It's difficult at the moment, there are so many emotions still swirling around and the happy memories are still wrestling with the bad ones. The topmost feeling is still just, I miss her, and I wish I could have said goodbye properly. I hope that wherever she is now she is happy, and at peace, I hope that she knows that we did our best, I hope that she forgives us. I hope that there is somewhere where we'll be able to meet again one day.

'With the liberty you've given,
Like the clothing you've outgrown,
To your granddaughter'


My gran was a sergeant in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's branch of the British Army during World War II. She contributed to a cause bigger than women my age have needed to. Anais' song is also a story about the changing roles of women, and how much opportunity and freedom we now have thanks to the efforts of generations before us. We shouldn't waste this, nor forget the women before us who got us here. There are still collective things to fight for, causes that put our tiny, individual lives into perspective. I may only be one person making small steps and contributing a tiny amount, but if everyone got behind a cause that really mattered to them, whether it be conservation, raising money for cancer research or for those struggling in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, well maybe it could be 'like the falling of small stones that start an avalanche', maybe we could make some change happen, and in 40, 50 years, our generation will be remembered for the good that it did.

Sol Invictus

"Rise up, rise up,

Ever victorious,
Low the tide, Low the light,
Comes the sun again"
~ Thea Gilmore, Sol Invictus

I heard this song for the first time on Tuesday, when Thea and the Sense of Sound choir performed it on stage in Manchester. It was beautiful - magical and spine tingling. A hymn for the sun, a call of longing, a promise that Spring will come. It brought back the same sensations as when I visited Newgrange, a monument that was built 5,000 years ago in the Boyne Valley in Ireland. Sol Invictus took me back to standing in the chamber looking up at the stones that had been placed there, the designs that had been lovingly carved, by the hands of people now thousands of years gone. It was filled with an atmosphere of mystery, a place of magic and spirituality, calm but overwhelmingly exhilarating and moving.

I was deeply touched by the idea that people would devote themselves to such a monumental task, that those who began to build would not have lived to see its completion. They invested so much, and were inspired to create something that would long outlive them. Not a legacy for themselves so that their names would be remembered, but a monument for the ages.



The next time I will see Thea Gilmore play will be December 21st - the Winter Solstice, the shortest day, after which the hours of darkness gradually shorten and the days lengthen. There are still months of cold, frost but we we can start to look forward again.

To picnics in the park. To days spent shivering on the beach because the weather forecast said temperatures would get above 20 degrees. Even now, we worship the sun - Maybe some things haven't changed that much in 5,000 years. Of course we'll never know why several generations of people devoted their lives to building Newgrange, but legend says the mound was dedicated to Dagha, the sun god of pre-Christian Ireland.

Built by hand using 200,000 tonnes of rock, a long sloping passage leading into a vast chamber, beautiful and cathedral-like, the walls narrowing up to a single slab 20 feet above. Alcoves with flat stones were the final resting places for the remains of the dead.

The people of the Boyne valley must have known by heart the Sun's journey across the sky. Newgrange tomb is precisely astronomically aligned, so that at sunrise on the winter solstice each year, something magical can occur. On this day, a shaft of sunlight enters through a large opening above the entrance (the roof box) and pierces the inner passageway. The passage is perfectly aligned and angled to allow the beam of light to travel slowly upwards and into the chamber, illuminating the strange stone basin and spiral carvings at the back of the chamber. A handful of observers get to see the real event (and only if the weather conditions are right), but visitors are allowed a reconstruction with the aid of electricity! Not quite as good as the real thing, but still it manages to convey what a strange simple wonder it must be to witness.No one can tell us why Newgrange was built to welcome the dawn of the solstice each year. But one theory is that the spirals are symbols of the journey to the next world - maybe they believed the light would bless the remains of the dead, and transport their souls to the afterlife. Maybe they believed it was a signal that they would not be damned to eternal winter, they had been blessed with a promise that long days would return, the light and warmth bringing with them a blooming of lush greeness and a season of plenty.

We can imagine them, the leaders and elders of the Boyne valley, ascending the hill. It is early, eerily silent, and still dark as night although morning is approaching. The vast mound of the tomb is just a faint sillouette, barely visible in the gloom. Solomnly, they approach the entrance, rest their hands on the threshold stone, elaborately carved with spirals, concentric circles and diamond shapes, then step up and over into the entrance of the tomb. No tell tale scorch marks remain to tell us that fire lit their steps, they feel their way down the passage to the main chamber of the tomb. In the darkness they circle around the walls of the chamber, then sit down & wait in silence, hardly daring to breathe. Waiting for the dawn. Will the sun rise?

Slowly, slowly, a lighter spot begins to emerge on the floor, far up the passageway. It deepens gradually, spreads into a beam of pure gold that creeps up the passage to flood the chamber with light. Dawn. The Sun God has risen again, he has heard our call. He has come to take away the souls of our departed, who have waited so patiently here in the dark. The bringer of light, of warmth, of new beginnings, of hope.

http://www.knowth.com/winter-solstice.htm

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.