Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Monday, June 30, 2008

Aussie Men Back Again!

Having seen the glorious Australian Spooky Men's Chorale last summer, I can't resist posting this YouTube video put together by Freya Littlewood and Stephen Lee and the beautiful hairy men of Nimbin Australia with the sound of the Spooky Men.

This video is no longer embedded in the post but can be seen on:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nNu2AZcr6Ws

Monday, June 9, 2008

Eric Bibb

We went to see the wonderful Eric Bibb at the Theatre Royal, Bath last night. What a treat to see and hear him again. He is such a delightful elegant man and a talented singer/songwriter and guitar player. He played 2 of my favourite songs “Diamond Days” and “The Cape”and introduced his daughter Yana - it is amazing to think of so much talent in one family, handed down no doubt by Eric's father Leon, an American Folk singer and friend of Paul Robeson.

I was introduced to Eric's music by my special friend,
Mrs Dooberydonks (another anonymity ploy!). I just loved his music the first time I heard it. We first saw him a few years' ago at The Cheese and Grain in Frome where, like a groupie, I queued to have my CD signed. I felt I just HAD to say what a wonderful concert it had been and could I shake his hand? “No ...” he said in his deep velvety voice. “Oh no” I thought “I must have offended him in some way”. He stood up, turned to me and gave me a huge bear hug “I just wanna give you a H-U-U-G”.

Unfortunately no photography was allowed last night, but I took this rather blurry photo of him last summer.



Last night he was supported by a lovely singer called Emily Maguire with a beautiful voice. I’ve been Googling to find out more about her:

“In her mid-twenties, she gave up her London flat and moved to a ‘Tin, Wood and Potato Sack Shack’ in the Australian bush, where she has been living and working ever since. The shack, which cost just under AS$1,000 to construct and furnish, is built on nine tree trunks, with walls made from wood, potato sacks and 100-year-old corrugated iron recycled from the local village post office. The furniture is either hand-made or recycled: the fireplace is made from a 44-gallon oil drum while the spiral staircase is hand carved from 200-year-old timber.” Lots more about her music on her website: http://www.emilymaguire.com/index.html

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Starting the day with Radio 2 ....

..... meant that, this morning, I was able to listen to the delightful Eric Bibb being interviewed and to hear him singing "Connected"

... AND to discover that he lives in Wiltshire!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a little video clip I made of him performing that song last year at the Village Pump Festival ...

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Wiltshire Wailers


Last weekend was the Festival of Song at Stourhead. Clive has been practising the songs for weeks and it was lovely to hear all the doo doos and random lyrics (that I have heard) come to life in the actual songs. His sister arrived back from France the night before so she was roped in to attending the event. He went on ahead and we (aforementioned sister and I) were due to arrive promptly for the performance at 11am.

Of course it didn’t work out that way as, due to the pressures of serious chatting, we missed the correct exit from one of a succession of very confusing roundabouts (okay so I am meant to know the route fairly well). We got there AT 11am, with tickets to buy and loos to visit – after which it takes about 10 minutes to get to the Palladian Bridge from the top car park - we hurtled down at breakneck speed and got there flushed and breathless, but in time to enjoy most of the first performance.

My favourite song was a Croation love song with a title sounding suspiciously like Blobby Barcode. The 3 of us met up later with 2 sons, 2 fiances, another sister, brother-in-law and 2 nieces and nephew and a grand time was had by all with a picnic in front of the Pantheon.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Very First Post

Well, here I am, ho hum - what to say? This is my very first Blog post!

Why Dancing on a Blade of Grass ?

The words are from a song I love - called "September Grass" written by John Sheldon, sung by James Taylor and played at our wedding - sadly not by JT himself!

Do you see those ants dancing on a blade of grass?
Do you know what I know?

That's you and me, baby. We're so small and the world's so vast"

I like to think that the ants represent us - tiny beings in a great big world.

According to John Sheldon:-

Sandie, Thank you for your message. In my version of "September Grass", those ants were merely "crawling" on that blade. James made them "dance". They're still crawling in my version...oh well. The main thing is, I'm glad you noticed those ants...I think they are the heroes of the song. Cheers, and thanks again...JIS

Not sure now whether this is clear, but no doubt you will tell me!

I took the photo at West Woods near Marlborough last week - not certain if you will be able to see a blade of grass - but - one thing IS for sure - the scent of the bluebells was intoxicating.