Photo by Bryan Ledgard
Q150 Shed Hits the Road & we're on board!
British MP chooses our song on Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4
Join the "Freedom Train" - our new community choir
"Freedom Train" on Track for Funding
Baby Joshua & Our Move to Australia!
Mundy-Turner Support Fairport Convention 2004: Cath's Tour Diary
Roger
Whittaker Sings Jay Turner
Q150 SHED HITS
THE ROAD
Mundy-Turner
are proud to announce our successful audition for the Q150 Shed Tour 2009.
So what's this Q150 mean? Simply put, it means Queensland is celebrating its 150th year of being a separate entity to New South Wales.
So what's the Q150 Shed then? It's a big venue in the guise of a typical 19th century outback Shearing Shed, designed & built especially for this anniversary, funded by the State Department of Premier & Cabinet.
As part of a diverse state-wide program of events, the Shed is a touring Queenslands major towns and cities from the outback t the coast in two tours from June - December 2009.
By day, the Shed will be hosting workshops and displays. In the evenings it will come alive with performances by some of Queensland's best artists.
Mundy-Turner are very honoured to be part of this historic occasion.
Catch our set at the Q150 Shed on the opening weekend of Tour 1 in Mt Isa's Kruschnitt Park, Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 June 2009, then at the close of Tour 1 in Maryborough on Thurs 9 July 2009.
For more details visit: Q150 Shed
LOGAN CARES BUSHFIRE
BENEFIT
Sat 21 February
2009: Logan Entertainment Centre
Local performers donated their services to provide a full night's entertainment. The evening raised an amazing $33,500 for the Bushfire Victims' Red Cross Appeal.
The concert, organised by Logan Chamber of Commerce and the Logan City Council, was huge success and really showed how generous our community is and rallies around our fellow citizens in times of great need. Raffles & silent auctions were held and local multi-cultural services hub, Multilink set up a food stall with profits going to the appeal.
The emotion on the night from both audience and performers was intensely felt. We were amazed at & deeply touched by the demonstration of such community spirit and so proud to be part of it. Well done all involved.
We were all horrified by the devastation of the February 2009 bushfires in Victoria, Australia. Our hearts are with the victims as they pick up the pieces of shattered lives, grieve the loss of loved ones and community members, and begin the process of moving on.
Personally Mundy-Turner has a strong connection with the bushfire areas. It is the home of many friends, family members and colleagues, and a region which we often call home when on tour in Victoria. Cath's family has been directly affected with her first cousin Ian Hocking, his wife Bronwyn and tiny children Eddie & Eloise losing their home in Kinglake, but thankfully escaping with their lives.
It's
was our honour to be part of this heartfelt fundraising event to help out
as we can.
BRITISH MP INFLUENCED
BY OUR SONG "STEALING MY DEMOCRACY"
David Davis MP
chooses Mundy-Turner on DESERT ISLAND DISCS, BBC RADIO 4
When singer-songwriter Jay Turner opened his emails on Sunday 16 November 2008, there were a number from excited fans in the UK congratulating him & his duo Mundy-Turner: "Hey! You guys were on Desert Island Discs today!!!"
One of Jayís more recent compositions "Stealing My Democracy" from Mundy-Turner's album "HaPenny Tweedle", had been one of the eight songs featured, chosen by British MP David Davis. And even more excitingly, Davis chose the song because it has been instrumental ('scuse the pun) in helping him make the controversial move of resigning as a protest from his position as Shadow Home Secretary in June 2008.
For those non-Brits who don't know Desert Island Discs, it's one of BBC Radio's most popular & enduring programmes, having started in 1942 & running continuously ever since. The premise of the show is to invite a prominent celebrity of the day to choose the eight songs he or she would select to take to listen to if they were going to be marooned indefinitely on a desert island.
On Nov 16 2008, the invited guest was David Davis MP, former Tory Shadow Home Secretary (2005-2008) & Chairman of the Conservative Party (2001-2002).
On June 12, 2008 David Davis had resigned his post as Shadow Home Secretary & as MP for his Yorkshire electorate in protest at the passing by the UK Parliament of the Labour Governmentís Counter Terrorism Bill on June 11. This Bill does significant damage to the guarantees of Magna Carta by proposing an extension of the law to allow 42 days of incarceration without trial.
His plan was to run a re-election campaign based solely on the issue of the "erosion & slow strangulation of British civil liberties by the Labour Government". It was a bold, courageous & principled move.
In the event, Davis won a decisive victory, polling 72% of the vote & breaking several voting records along the way.
It is estimated that due to the resulting media coverage, over 10 million people were made significantly more aware of the issues involved. Over 400 articles were written around the subject.
On Desert Island Discs on Nov 16 2008, Davis told the Radio 4 listeners that he had "happened upon a little-known song while driving furniture up to Edinburgh for my daughter at University. While making my decision whether to resign or not, I played it 20 times.... "Stealing My Democracy" by Mundy-Turner".
It was the only song on Davis' Desert Island to be chosen from an independently-released album, ("HaíPenny Tweedle", by duo Mundy-Turner on Gypsy Records ).
The
songs selected by Davis for inclusion in Desert Island Discs were:
1)
Pachelbelís Cannon in D Major (performed by The Academy of St. Martin in
the Field)
2)
Get The Party Started (performed by Pink)
3)
Another Day In Paradise (performed by Phil Collins)
4)
The Ashoken Farewell (performed by Ungar & Mason)
5)
Un Bel Di (performed by Kiri De Kawana)
6)
Stealing My Democracy (performed by Mundy-Turner)
7)
Brothers In Arms (performed by Dire Straits)
8)
Schindlerís List (performed by Itzhak Perlman)
Jay's
reaction to the news about David Davisí selection of Stealing My Democracy
on Desert Island Discs was:
"I
always hoped that my music would somehow make a difference. This validates
my belief that art, music, literature and theatre can, and should, inform
and influence politics at the very highest level."
Although there is no "Listen again" option on the BBC website for this particular programme, it will be repeated on Radio 4 on November 21, 2008.
Mundy-Turnerís song "Stealing
My Democracy" can be heard & purchased on:
Mundy-Turner
on Myspace
Mundy-Turner
HaPenny Tweedle on CD Baby
Mundy-Turner
HaPenny Tweedle on Apple iTunes
David
Davisí resignation speech may be viewed on YouTube:
David
Davis' MP Shock Resignation
FREEDOM TRAIN: OUR NEW COMMUNITY CHOIR
DO YOU LOVE TO
SING?
Live
in the Brisbane-Gold Coast region?
JOIN "FREEDOM
TRAIN" - Our New Community Choir
MONDAYS, 6-8pm
@ Woodlands, Waterford
halfway
between Brisbane & the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
*
Develop your voice * Open to all levels of vocal ability *
*
Fun, relaxed group environment * Wide variety of material *
*
Future performance opportunities *
*
Ability to read music not necessary *
*
Great for mind, body & soul *
*
Enjoy the gentle & inspiring guidance of experienced vocalists and
musicians
Cath
Mundy & Jay Turner *
Choir
membership runs in 6-session blocks
Total
for 6-session membership: $72
FOR
MORE INFO CONTACT: Ph 0424 127 580
email:
cathjay@mundy-turner.com
* * * * * * *
FREEDOM
TRAIN ON TRACK FOR FUNDING
New Community
Choir to receive funding from Logan City Council
Media Release:
14 November 2008
The newly-named Freedom Train community choir who formed in late July 2008 is celebrating being granted funding by Logan Mayor Pam Parker and gearing up for their first performance.
The Waterford-based choir has twenty-five registered members, ranging in age from 9 to 68 years. Under the guidance of local singers/musicians Cath Mundy & Jay Turner, the group meet weekly to develop their vocal skills, enjoy the social interaction and learn harmony parts for a variety of material.
Mayor Pam Parker visited the choir back in August when the choir was only a few weeks old and was so impressed, she offered $2000 funding towards the groupís uniforms & equipment.
"Mayor Parker was struck by the choirís enthusiasm, team-work and sound," said choir co-director and founder Cath Mundy. "She was amazed when we told her that many members were pretty new to singing. Pam thought they must all be experienced singers, they sounded so good together. It gave the group a real boost in confidence to hear her positive comments."
Freedom Train community choir conduct their first-ever performance at 2-3pm, Saturday 6 December, at The Venue at RSL Care "Talbarra" in Old Logan Village Rd, Waterford, performing a fun and uplifting set.
The repertoire will include some Christmas songs on an Aussie theme, as well as songs of peace & freedom from the African-American gospel tradition. The concert is free and is open to Talbarra residents as well as invited family, friends & guests.
The following weekend the group will perform a 30-minute set at Woodlands Community Christmas BBQ, Sunday 14 December, between 4-6pm in Woodlands Park, Woodlands Boulevard, Waterford.
Ms Mundy said, "The choir is honoured & very grateful to receive this Logan City Council funding with the help & support of local community organisation Woodlands Community Inc. We are most appreciative for the Mayorís support and impressed by her commitment to helping arts & cultural activities thrive in Logan."
For
more information or enquiries about joining the choir, please contact Cath
or Jay on 0424 127 580 (Australia).
WELCOME TO JOSHUA
JACKSON MUNDY TURNER
Made
in Australia, produced in the UK! Cath & Jay were blessed with
the birth of a healthy, gorgeous little boy, Joshua Jackson Mundy TURNER
on Thursday 9 November 2006, 2.28pm. Born at Chesterfield Royal Hospital,
Derbyshire, England, Joshua weighed in at 7 pounds 2.5 ounces (3.24 lkgs),
and measured 52cm tall, with lovely long legs like his Dad and just the
right amount of beautiful dark brown hair, like his Mum!
Cath enjoyed a fabulous pregnancy and continued very successfully to tour & perform fulltime (in both Australia & the UK), and also recorded the new album Ha'Penny Tweedle. Cath went into labour on Wednesday night 8 November for a planned home delivery, under the excellent guidance of Community Midwife Sue Vardy. Despite very strong contractions and actively labouring for around 15 hours, problems with lack of dilation meant a transfer to hospital was necessary at 1:30pm the next day. A few complications occurred at the hospital, necessitating that Joshua was born by emergency caesarean. The medical team at Chesterfield Royal were really wonderful and both Mum and Baby (& Dad & Grandma!) received excellent care.
Joshua is in perfect health and Cath has been recovering happily & rapidly from her surgery.
The new parents are absolutely delighted and thrilled with Joshua's arrival in their lives and now can't imagine life without him!
Joshua, 1 hour old with Mum & Dad, day 2, hospital at home, getting in tune!
Any
messages of congratulations are welcome; please email to: cathjay@mundy-turner.com
OUR
MOVE TO AUSTRALIA & BABY JOSHUA UPDATE
Early
January 2007 saw us move with Joshua (then 8 weeks old) back to Australia
to be closer to Cath's family and also to build a new family home on the
block of land we bought near Brisbane in 2006. We loved living in
the UK, particularly in our little corner of North East Derbyshire, and
will miss everybody terribly! But it's equally delightful to be back
Down Under after 4 years based away. The new house is coming along
and should be finished before Joshua's first birthday in November - we
hope!
MUNDY-TURNER is now available for bookings at Australian festivals, acoustic music venues and house concerts, particularly in South-East Queensland.
MUNDY-TURNER's new postal address: PO BOX 574, Waterford, 4133, Queensland, Australia.
JOSHUA
UPDATE: Thank you to so many of you who sent such wonderful messages
of welcome and gifts for Joshua - it's been overwhemling. Joshua
is now over 6 months old & is growing like a sunflower - beautiful,
bright and strong. He has dark hazel eyes like his Mummy, long legs
like his Daddy, and an infectious laugh just his own. He loves going
to infant swimming lessons and spending a good deal of time with his little
first cousin Jayte (born 4 months earlier than him). He rolls, he
sits, he claps, he stands & bounces in our laps. Joshy laughs
often and charms everyone with his smile & outgoing personality.
He enjoys music, trees, bathtime, Daddy carrying him in his "parachute"
harness (see pic below on rainbow beach), and his Mummy's milk. Parenthood
is such a joy! We have been truly blessed with this lil fella.
NEW ALBUM: "HA'PENNY TWEEDLE"
Mundy-Turner
have been recording a new album and we're thrilled with the results.
Recording & mixing took place in August & September 2006 at Limbo
Creatives studio, Otley, Yorkshire, UK, engineered with flair by the
fab Radio Britfolk siteman
Phil Snell. To visit Phil's website:
http://limbocreatives.co.uk/philsnell/home.aspx
The
whole thing was mastered by Gareth Williams of Sound Recording
Technoloy in St Ives, Cambridgeshire.
WHAT
IS THIS HAPENNY TWEEDLE?
The
rather unusual album title is after our new song-&-tune set about a
fairground ride that Jay's Great-Grandpa John Turner built circa 1900 (pictured).
According to Turner family folk-lore, it was a fore-runner of today's swing
boats - John called it The Tweedle.
Living near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK, John was a coal-miner who was married to a local lass called Annie - they had 3 daughters and later 3 sons. In his spare time, he travelled his home-made attraction around the fairs of the region, charging a ha'penny a ride. Eventually he became so synonymous with his invention that folks called him Ha'Penny Tweedle.
NEW
DIRECTIONS
We're
hugely excited about the material on the album, which takes us in some
interesting new directions and has been going down a storm live.
Tracks include our original musical settings of the classic Australian
Banjo Paterson bush ballads Clancy of the Overflow and the outrageous
A
Bush Christening as well as a haunting setting of Henry Lawson's radical
poem Freedom's on the Wallaby.
The stark acappella arrangement of traditional anti-war song of c.1815, Mrs McGrath, aptly contrasts and links with Jay's new song Stealing My Democracy. The deeply moving We Can Fly to Heaven shows off Cath's voice at its silken and most pure, while her fine fiddle playing on a number of instrumentals has never before been so beautifully showcased; likewise Jay's unique open-tuned acoustic guitar work.
Guest
musicians joining us are Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, (Vicki on
double bass, wooden flute and small pipes; Jonny on accordion, piano &
guitar - see their site http://www.smallpiper.co.uk),
Phil
Snell on mandolin, and Hugh Whitaker on subtle drums/percussion.
We've never had so much fun nor laughed so hard in the studio than with
this mob! And they sound great too.
Release for "Ha'penny Tweedle" is late 2006.
See the Recordings & Reviews page for more info.
To
ORDER your copy click onto our Contact/Order page now.
M-T
SUPPORT FAIRPORT, Jan 29-Feb 29, 2004
MUNDY-TURNER's
tour as support act to legenary folk-rock band FAIRPORT CONVENTION was
a huge success! The duo played major venues around the UK for 30
dates in 32 days (see tour details on the 'gigs' page). Audience
response was glowingly enthusiastic everywhere they appeared and many new
fans signed onto the mailing list and bought M-T albums.
Here
Follows Cath's Tour Diary...
FAIRPORT
CONVENTION WINTER TOUR 2004
with
pics mostly by Cath & Jay and some by Ian Burgess of Friends of Fairport
(Thanks, Ian!)
Thurs
29 Jan
Roses
Theatre, Tewkesbury
The
first day of the tour! Finally after all these months of anticipation the
day has arrived. I am nervous! But very excited too.
Iíve never been on a tour like this before. Jay did it back in 1991,
so heís not feeling quite the same way as I am. It will be different
to the last tour for him. For a start heís not on his own, and we
are not travelling on the crew bus as he did back then. Weíve got
our own transport and are taking care of our own
accommodation, staying with friends all around the country.
The drive to Worcestershire was blessed with gorgeous sunshine and brittle temperatures ? 4 degrees celcius. After the snow-blizzards of yesterday, the countryside looked radiant in white. I love the snow!! But we have to be careful ? there are icy patches on the roads and paths.
First,
to our friends Mike & Sheilaís in nearby Hanley Swan to settle in and
spend some time (itís great to see them), thence to Tewkesbury. We
arrive at the back end of The Roses Theatre, not sure of whether we are
in the right place. Next to a fairly huge truck is a fairly huge
bloke complete with fairly huge beard. Heís friendly though and smiles
when we ask if weíre in the right place. We explain that we are the
support act. He says, "Youíll need to park here. Iíll just
move the bandís bus forward a bit so you can squeeze in behind."
He 
introduces himself as Buff, (pronounced with his Geordie accent as "Boof")
which stands for something quite rude apparently. He is the man who
drives the truck carrying the sound rig and all the instruments and he
is just lovely. Off to a good start!
Simon Nicol greets us next. He asks if Iíve managed to stay on my feet today. It seems that he took a tumble on the ice that morning, landing on one hip. Luckily, no breaks, heís just a bit sore! We find our dressing room, conveniently marked with our name by the Tour Manager Rob Bravinor. Itís good to see everyone ? the rest of the band (Dave Pegg, Ric Sanders, Chris Leslie, and Gerry Conway), and the crew - Geoff Curtis the monitor engineer, and John Gale the guitar roadie, and of course Brav. Theyíre all lovely folks.
Ric
shows me the way to Front of House and he takes me up two flights of stairs,
through the bar then down two more flights of stairs. I later discover
a much more direct route which cuts out all the stairs and takes you straight
to the foyer - Simon says that Ric has an interesting sense of direction.
Well heís very kind to have shown me at all! Itís good to see Christine
Pegg there. She is the Powerhouse behind Woodworm Records and Cropredy
Festival, and is supervising the first night of merch-ing by new team Gareth
and Frances, two more lovely people. I can tell this is gonna be
a good tour.
Sound check next. Geoff on monitors is great ? nothing is a problem, all you do is ask for whatever you need. Rob controls the out-front sound, which is gorgeous and sparkly. Itís a nice theatre and the rig sounds fantastic in there. Weíre going to enjoy playing through this system every night.
Simon helps to calm my nerves by saying that we know our stuff and weíll have no problems going out there and doing it wonderfully. Chris Leslie helps even more by reassuring us that the audience will love our set. He says heís a fan! Well that makes us the Mutual Admiration Society here then!
Ric opens the show with a very flattering introduction harking back to
the time in the previous century, 13 years ago, when ëfresh-faced young
singer-songwriter Jay Turnerí toured with Fairport and enchanted everyone
with his song "My Grandfatherís Eyes". Our set goes very well, no
technical disasters! Do need to ask Geoff to adjust the balances
between our instruments and voices on the monitors a bit ? everything is
going to be settling in during these first few gigs. Iím struck however
with how clearly I can hear my voice. I guess Iíve been used to working
through less clear systems than this. Itís FANTASTIC. Iím wearing
a pair of tall stack-heeled boots bought especially for the tour ? very
stylish, but hell, Iím not used to heels and itís gonna take me time to
get used to performing in them. I feel VERY tall!
Went out front to listen to Fairportís set. Wow ? they sound exquisite. Love the arrangements. Appreciate anew their incredible instrumental talents. Quite a few new numbers too. And they are very funny ? a delightful show. Went on to join the band for their traditional encore "Meet on the Ledge" by Richard Thompson, with me on piano, Jay on guitar, and seeing as weíd only just learned the chords and arrangement, thought it went very well. The audience seemed quiet tonight and were not buying anything much during interval, much to the Merch crewís dismay. Apparently even the bar complained of only selling one tray of drinks! Hopefully this is not the trend for the tour.
Fri
30 Jan
Roses
Theatre, Tewkesbury
We
discovered that British comedian Eric Morecombe did his last performance
in this theatre and died on the floor in OUR dressing room. Ooooohhhhh,
thatís spooky.
A few changes tonight. Peggy & Geoff say bringing the piano on for the encore is too messy so theyíd like us to join them on another number instead, namely their hit song from 1968 "Si Tu Dois Patir" by Bob Dylan. Itís all in French! I canít speak French, let along sing it! We have one run-through, Jay playing guitar and me on cow-bell (more portable than the piano) and trying to keep up with the words of the chorus. Eeek.
Second night audience are a lot more lively, much louder and happier. It was a sell-out. They bought lots of drinks and cds and t-shirts and stuff and wanted us to sign things! Really fantastic! I can do this!
"Si Tu" was a bit rough whilst we learn the words and the shape of the arrangement, but itís new for Fairport too, so at least weíre all in it together. Strangely, theyíve never played their hit. The only current band-member who was in the band at the time of the hit was Simon and he didnít sing back then!
We thought
Peggy meant us to do "Si Tu" instead of "Meet on the Ledge", so we got
changed into our black civvies to load out, and were standing at the side-stage
watching the encore. Peggy started moving his head indicating that he wanted
us to go on and sing along, but by the time we worked out what his head-movements
meant, weíd missed the first chorus. So we tried to sneak on stage
right in time for the second chorus, whilst everyone was looking at Chris
Leslie doing his mandolin solo stage left. Sneaking on didnít work!
The audience very enthusiastically burst into applause at our entrance,
which was so nice of them, but we didnít mean to disrupt Chrisí solo.
It was wonderful singing along, adding our harmonies to the chorus, and
Iím glad we still are involved in the encore. Thanks Peggy!
Sat
31 Jan
Forum
28, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria
Never
been here before and on such a wet day it felt as though we were driving
into the fjord-lands of New Zealand. Roads and fields were flooding.
But itís so beautiful. I love the adventure of going to new places.
Stop in Ulverston to meet our hosts Jack and Vicky, who are fascinating
people and great fun. Vicky is descended from Welsh gypsies.
She showed us photos of her mum and grandmother, both beautiful women.
Her grandmother was a traditional Gypsy fortune-teller. Jack re-constructs
the skeletons of dead animals (usually birds) into striking sculptures.
There is a big skeleton of a turkey looking in the kitchen window, and
the many tiny bones of birdsí feet sorted into specific groups on his desk.
He also sews wedding dresses. Amazing folks.
On to Barrow to the theatre, with our hosts leading the way. Forum
28ís claim to notoriety is that the venue was the site of the outbreak
of Legionnaires disease a couple of yearís back, which killed a number
of people. They are going through a court case at the moment, I think.
It seems a very nice place all the same.
Another fabulous audience, pretty well sold out. They really went crazy for the whole show. Fairport got a standing ovation - wonderful to see. People really liked our set and our songs ? so much positive feedback from audience members at interval and after the show too. "Markham Main" is really making an impact, quite fittingly during the 20th anniversary year of the Minerís Strike. All the enthusiasm for our set bodes well for our return visit to play our own show at the Ulverston Sports and Social Club in May.
Sun
1 Feb
Newcastle
Opera House
A big
cavernous chilly place, but so beautiful. Built in the mid-1800s,
itís classically styled and awesome with multi-levels of towering balconies.
Never been to Newcastle before and itís a handsome looking city, very impressive.
And Iíve never played in an "opera house" before. Felt really cold
on stage with the draught that swept through, and found it difficult to
relax during the set, but it went well, judging from the cd sales and the
amount of people coming up to us with such great comments, and smiles on
their faces. They really are loving what we do, and weíre so happy
for that! The chance to bring joy and emotion to peopleís lives through
music and storytelling is the whole reason I became a performer.
Playing to such lovely crowds in these theatres every night really "feels
like home to me" (to quote a Linda Ronstadt song).
Great to see Bob Fox and his wife Marilyn here tonight. He has been nominated for Best Folk Singer of the year by ëBBC Folk on Two Awardsí, to be announced in a weekís time. His version of Chris Leslieís evocative song "My Love Is In America" has also been nominated for Original Song of the Year. We hope he and Chrisís song get the gong, although being nominated is honour enough! Also nice to see long-term fans, the mostly female Wisker family and their friend 17-year old Mikayla from Birmingham, all squealing with excitement at the fact that two of their fave acts were on in the same bill. We signed a lot of posters!
Stayed overnight with friends on the nearby coast, virtuoso fiddler Stewart Hardy and his lovely German wife Tine. She is a physiotherapist. They are both hilarious. This tour is turning into a great way to catch up with friends. We stayed up later than we meant to yet again, talking, laughing and feasting on very nourishing vegetable soup! All good for the soul.
Mon
2 Feb
City
Varieties Music Hall, Leeds
Itís
the Muppet Show and tonight Kermitís special guests are Mundy-Turner and
Fairport Convention!! Yaaaaaaaay!! What a cool place, and such
a cute little stage. Somehow we managed to fit the piano on there, thanks
to Geoff setting up his mixing desk back a way. The music hall TV
series "The Good Old Days" was filmed here. I do remember it very
vaguely from my childhood - they showed a lot of British TV in Australia.
The auditorium and stage really do remind me of the Muppets theatre.
I could just imagine those two old geezers heckling from the boxes.
Built in 1860ís, itís of similar vintage to last nightís Opera House but
possesses a very different energy. More grungy and "theatrical".
An absolutely packed out, sold out, standing room only show. Very
sweaty, and a great deal of fun.
Apparently the City Varieties is being threatened with closure as it doesnít conform to present-day safety and disabled access standards. They are asking people to write to the council in protest. Itís part of Leeds heritage. Surely the council should be investing in it, to help revamp it to modern-day standards, not pulling it down. So here's my bit - KEEP THE CITY VARIETIES ALIVE!
Staying two nights with very good Yorkshire friends Bill and Judy now. Tíwill be great to spend two nights in one bed and to spend some MORE time with friends. Hotel rooms are cool, but the chance to see people and enjoy home-hospitality whilst on the road is quite a blessing.
Tues
3 Feb
Burnley
Mechanics, Lancashire
Bloody
great show here, and what a marvellous venue too. We came out on
stage and asked the audience how they were. "All the better for seeing
you!" came the shouted reply, and we looked down to see a whole table of
some of our most loyal fans right in front ? Tim and Denise and The Birtwhistles.
Felt wonderful. They are also big Fairport fans so they were enjoying
the night immensely. CD sales went exceptionally well here, the best
night of the tour so far, so itís all feeling rather fantastic. "Get
There From Here" with the band went off, and we are getting the hang of
"Si Tu" now. I drove Jay mad practising it in the car all the way
up to Barrow last Friday.
The
band and Rob are enjoying rather sumptuous lunches on this tour.
Every evening at
sound-check they have a story of yet another fantastic gastronomic experience,
today at Kashmirís in Bradford, one of the best curry houses in the country.
After all the years of doing the Winter Tour, they have sussed out the
places to go and plan their journeys accordingly. We on the other
hand, have no idea where all these marvellous places are, and dined at
Little Chef this afternoon! Hahaha.
The
Birtwistles wrote to us:
"Hi
- Loved Burnley's show, and you have to get a version of Get There From
Here down on tape sometime during the tour. Get it out as a single,
or on your new CD as a bonus track, truly awesome. Philip, Celia
and Ruth "
Wed
4 Feb
Southport
Arts Centre, Lancashire
Rainy day, roads flooding. A very damp ride down from the Moors of
Yorkshire to the coast. What a gorgeous Victorian seaside town Southport
is. Wish we had more time to look around, but as usual we arrive
in time to go straight into the venue. Jay went out to a cd shop
before the sound-check to buy a copy of Roger Whittakerís new compilation
album. Itís got Jayís song "Feather on the Wind" on it as a bonus
track, and we had a quick listen through the FOH system, courtesy of Rob.
Sounds good. "FeatherÖ" and another of Jayís will be coming out on
the new RW album later in the year. . Well done Jay ? I hope he gets
lots of royalties!
The theatre here is rather marvellous, the sound is splendid and we played a good set. Sold lots of cds and heaps of people came up to give us their thanks and compliments on our performance. It feels wonderful being on this tour, playing in great venues to such responsive audiences who appreciate original music, and supporting such an excellent band of people and musicians. I reckon we could do his forever.
Starting
to get some fan email - wow!
"Saw
you at Southport last wednesday. Really enjoyed your set. Paul"
"What a fantastic discovery! I had never heard of you before - but saw you last night with Fairport Convention in Southport - you are absolutely fantastic! I am totally hooked! Just been looking to see where else you are playing this year so i can see you again - luckily there are a few possibilities! Meanwhile, i am just going to have to buy some more of your cds as it seems i cant get enough of you! Wow! What a find! Just read your profiles also and it seems you have been around for some time - so where have i been? Must have been going around with eyes and ears closed! I shall gush no more... Thank you for last night - i enjoyed you just as much as Fairport, if not more so because you were such an unexpected find. Now - how many cds is it i have to buy?.....Many thanks, Jean."
Thurs
5 Feb
Assembly
Rooms, Derby
Ouch,
this was a hard night. Itís the first night with the Dylan Project, and
therefore our set was cut to 20 minutes. We thought, "Right!
Cut 2 songs from a 6-song 30 minute set and we should be apples."
Nup! It turns out we still managed to overrun by 5 minutes, but not
intentionally of course. This combined with not starting on time
because the theatre didnít give clearance at 7.30, time was tight for the
rest of the show. This is a lesson in being much more attentive to
timings and making sure we understand the whole picture when a show is
different in any way.
A funny thing happened with Little Johnny Gale on stage tonight.
He took my piano off stage after "William Jolly" and I'd left my fiddle
bow on top of it. I came to do "Separation Street" and I had no bow!
Somehow I managed to get the message across to John and he came on stage
to hand-deliver the bow much to the audience's delight. He's fab.
Tonight, despite the difficulties, I am struck with the incredible kindness we have received from everyone on this tour. The crew (John, Buff & Geoff, pictured left to right) are just so great. Rob the Tour Manager is also great. Every member of the band is so sensitive and supportive and lovely. They are all working under stressful conditions and have to get out there each day and do their utmost best. Itís awesome to watch and to be a part of it. I feel a huge sense of gratitude to Fairport and their TeamÖand a lot of love too. Awwww. Warm fizzies, oops fuzzies.
Fri
6 Feb
Assembly
Hall, Tunbridge Wells
Lovely
room, great sound, fab audience ? who could ask for anything more?
Went down a storm!
Great
show tonight from all players. Everything was feeling a lot calmer
after the tumult of last night. The crew and band members came up before
the show to check we were well. They are such caring people.
Everyone on the Fairport bus is a family, and such a loving one.
Feel very blessed by that. Thank you guys. Youíre true heroes.
Steve
& Terri ? great friends and Fairport-supporters from the very early
days ? came as our
guests tonight. Steve gave us good feedback about how well the set is working.
Said it was perfectly balanced and exactly what he would suggest we play.
But Rob timed us and it looks like even with the chat culled right down
to the bare minimum it is still the same 5 minutes over. Damn!
We didnít realise that. The only thing to do is to cut another song,
and that way we can relax with the audience, still do some of the story
telling, and not over run.
The Fairports gave the most hilarious extra encore tonight, before "Meet on the Ledge". Simon came on and sat at the drums and started playing the solo from "Wipe Out", so Gerry grabbed his guitar and was doing all the rock and roll moves with it, although he could only play one note. Most funny was that he hadnít turned the tuner off, so no sound was coming through at all, until John ran out and switched it through. The audience loved it, and we all fell about. I had no idea Simon could play drums so well.
More
Fan Emails: "Hi Saw you live in Tunbridge Wells last Friday
- thought you were excellent! Please help - I'd like to buy a copy
of Crooked House (should have got it on the night, I know) - does your
on-line order facility ship to the UK or is there a better way of purchasing
your CDs within the UK? Thanks for your help - look forward to seeing
you again some day.
Regards
- Chris"
"Cath/Jay
Just a quick note so say how much I enjoyed your gig with Fairport in Tunbridge
Wells the other night (my 11 year old daughter enjoyed you more than Fairport,
who she has seen before). I purchased ëCrooked Houseí and have managed
to find space to review it in #78, which I am currently completing. It
will also contain a live review (if I get my finger out) and I will send
you a hard copy of the mag when it is finished. I hope you managed to have
a look at the ones I left with you. However, I thought you might
like to see the review of the album (attached)
All
the best, Kev "
Thanks for the very nice album review Kev. We look forward to the live review too!
Sat
7 Feb
Corn
Exchange, Cambridge
Weíd
been told the acoustics in the Corn Exchange were dreadful but we had NO
problems on stage ? fantastic sound as usual. Up front thereís a
huge standing-only area for the audience, then way away thereís a riser
with seats and then up above that in the "gods" is a balcony full of people
as well. So youíve got people hanging over the front barrier right
in your face and a faceless crowd way up there in the black heavens that
you canít see. Weird! Nonetheless we had a great time on stage
? audience were fantastic.
A hilarious moment on stage: Jay had just introduced "Get ThereÖ"
and the band were all on stage behind us (or so we thought), when Peggy
stage-whispered to Jay "Keep talking, keep talking..". Jay turned
around to find out why, and there was no Gerry behind the drums!
Heíd been in his dressing room with his walkman in his ears and the door
shut and hadnít realised everyone had left for the stage. Poor man
looked very sheepish when he finally did rush onto the stage to the kit.
We canít start without him!
Our friend Brian Cleary, host for the night and brilliant guitarist, raved about our set, sweet man. This is a man who doesnít dish out compliments without cause, so we felt chuffed. He loved our sound and what we did with a big stage rig. Said it was exquisite, especially our voices and harmonies. Heís seen us a number of times in intimate folk club situations and thought we translated our act so well to the large venue. Really gratifying to hear this from a man whose musical opinion we respect so much.
The crowd went wild for Fairport tonight. The lovely singer-songwriter annA rydeR was there and sang with the band on her fab song "The Crowd". "Si Tu" went down a blast as did "Meet on the Ledge" especially with young guest cornet-player Edmund adding his brass-magic to the chorus ? totally exhilerating. It did sound fabulous and the crowd were right into it, singing along. God itís a real joy to be on this tour!
Our friends Steve & Jill were there and wrote:
"'Elo darlings! What a great show and how terrific you both looked on the big stage in the super trooper spotlights, absolutely loved your set and also the mixing in with F.C. Your wonderful voices added an extra dimension to the band. Good luck with the rest of the tour. See you soon, love & cuddles, Steve & Jill "
"Thanks
for a great gig at Cambridge. Luckily we brought binoculars!
Good
to see Fairport returning to the Huw Williams catalogue. Hopefully they'll
soon turn to the Mundy-Turner songbook. On which subject, should
you ever require a studio band, or even stage backing musicians, don't
forget us if you can't afford Fairport.
All
the best for the rest of the tour. Mark (and Phil & Kim in absentium)"
Sun 8 Feb
Symphony
Hall, Birmingham
Wow!
What a stunning venue. As Jay remarked at the soundcheck, "Itís like
the flight deck of the Starship Enterprise in here." Very impressive.
Acoustics to die for. This is obviously a 6-star gig. The dressing
rooms have not only ensuite bathrooms, but a highly polished upright piano
in each, so you can practise, do warm-up scales, play the blues, whatever
youíd like to do with your own private pre-show piano. Posh.
(Oops, a bit over the top with p-alliteration there.)
This is a Dylan Project night, so our set is a bit short, but 3 songs in the Symphony Hall is better than no songs at all! Itís also a real home turf gig, seeing Peggy, Chris Pegg and Ric are both from Brum. Bit nervous for some reason, specially starting with "Little Birds" which we havenít before performed on the tour.
I feel like Iím coming down with something ? tickly throat. But the audience seemed to love us, and the CD sales were fantastic! Was great to see the wonderful Chris Pegg there. She is the powerhouse behind Woodworm Records and Cropredy Festival. She took me to task for being too tall, wearing high platform heels. She said I would be intimidating men and would be unable to catch one. I said I wasnít looking for a man, Iíve got one already!
The Dylans and Fairport all went down a storm, and we all got on to do
the finale of the Fairport hit "Si Tu Dois Partir", followed by big chorus
line style bows altogether. PJ Wright (awesome guitarist from Dylan
Project and Little Johnny England) & I had fun on the side ëHonky-Tonkyingí
with his electric guitar and my cow-bell.
After
such a brill Fairport performance, of course the audience were baying for
an encore, so all were on for the emotive "Meet on the Ledge", including
a much-applauded appearance by the brilliant ex-Fairport multi-instrumentalist
Maart Allcock. The audience sang a beautiful solo on the chorus.
I took the camera on stage and got some lovely shots. Great night
altogether. Woke up this morning with a tickly throat so hope Iím
not getting anything nasty. Sleeping at home tonight ? canít wait
for me own bed.
"Dear
Cath and Jay,
...what
a revelation seeing you at the Birmingham Symphony hall on the 8/2/04.I
thought you were absolutely incredible! ...thank you very much for an enjoyable
evening , your singing, playing and very tight close harmonies were edge
of the seat stuff and we would both love to come and see you play for longer
next time. Good luck and have a great future. Lots of love
Martyn"
Mon
9 Feb
Opera
House, Buxton, Derbyshire
You'd
think going home after being away on tour will be nice and relaxing.
But sometimes it's not. Like today! We woke up late as usual
and pretty tired after having driven up from Birmingham post-gig the night
before, only to find that a water pipe has burst across our driveway and
the ridge tiles had blown off our roof in the high winds over the weekend.
Yikes. Let's go back on the road please.
Temperature has dropped again ? itís freezing today. A lovely drive from home, just 50 minutes across the dramatic and beautiful Peak District, brings us to the old Buxton Opera House. Itís absolutely gorgeous, from its art nouveau stained glass frontage, to its classical interior of elaborately gilted balconies. Thereís even cherubs and angels painted on the domed ceiling high above the auditorium. Very celestial.
I wish I felt better. Definitely coming down with something rotten and cold/flu-like. Damn! I was so determined to stay cold-free. Had my first sleepless night of the tour last night. Fairport melodies, riffs and arrangements were rehearsing themselves incessantly in my head. At least the music was enjoyable. Could have done with the sleep instead though. I told Simon about this and he looked genuinely concerned. "Oh you poor thing!" he said sympathetically. He told me that he couldnít get to sleep either after last nightís because they hadnít done "Matty Groves". To get any rest, he had to get out of bed, go downstairs and play through the whole thing!
Uncle Reg Turner (Jayís oldest surviving uncle) and his first cousin Nigel Turner were in the audience tonight. He dedicated "Markham Main" to them, as they are all descended from Jayís Grand-Dad Turner who was a Derbyshire coal miner. My voice was not working very well due to whatever is going on with this sore throat. I wanted to opt out of doing the Kookaburra impersonation (that's an Ozzie native bird with a wild call that I do in our set, in case you didn't notice it or didn't see the show) 'cause I was feeling so yuck. Very kindly the House Manager brought me a hot whisky during interval. Purely medicinal of course!
Tues
10 Feb
Pontypridd,
South Wales
Jay
& I have just come off stage after an exhilarating set warming up for
the fab Fairporters. Iím struck by the realisation that dressing
rooms are great things ? even when they are a bit cold (sorry Muni Arts
Centre). But I should have no complaints. Even a chilly dressing
room gives you somewhere to stretch out the kinks of the journey, put on
lippy in private, and make funny noises with your voice. You can
even set up the laptop and type your diary entries. You donít get this
luxury at folk clubs. Itís bloody nice.
So, here we are in Ponty! This is our first and only night in a Welsh town and apart from the rather difficult get-in and the painfully crawling traffic through the town centre, itís great! The audience are bonzer. I like the Welsh, their sense of humour, and I like the Welsh place names. Where else in the world do you come across the musical lyricism (albeit unpronounceable lyricism for those not in the know) of places called "Maes-y-coed"?
Itís that point in the tour when health is a little run-down ? both Chris
Leslie and I have colds and Geoff (our fantastic on-stage sound engineer)
has been a bit poorly. Chris is so thoughtful ? he came to our dressing
room before the show bearing a hot mug of Lemsip for me. I attribute
the success of our set to lovely Mr Leslie, the Sudafed I took earlier,
and Lemsip. (Is one supposed to take Sudafed and Lemsip together?
I dunno but Iím on a high now so it must be good. Think Iíll get
another hot whisky from the bar tonight too.)
Fan
Email: "Dear Both, saw the gig at Pontypridd thought you were
brill. What album is Markham Main on and the first song you did about Australia?
You both looked as though you were enjoying yourselves especially on the
stage with Fairport. Thanks for a great night. Hope you come to South Wales
again especially Swansea... will deffo be coming. Thanks again. Terry"
Wed
11 Feb
The
Phoenix, Exeter, Devon
There
was an interesting art exhibition at the Phoenix (see me there with Raven
installation, right). There's a bird theme happening here - phoenix,
raven, kookaburra... Cool place!
I asked
Jay what he enjoyed most about tonightís gig. "It felt like a real
gritty rock n roll gig. The crowd had a real restless energy which
inspired me lot." Yep I agree wholeheartedly ? it was great fun out
there tonight. A stand-up gig ? for the audience I mean. Having
a mosh pit of folk-rockers on their feet jammed in front of you creates
a great atmosphere. The audience were really up for itÖliterally.
Donít know what happened with Fairport getting on stage ? we introduced
them and Ric and Chris came on, but no one else. Eventually Simon,
Dave and 
Gez followed, Simon zipping up his trousers - it was very funny.
Jayís new-found half-brother Martin and his girlfriend Sharon were in the audience tonight. Martin is also a musician, and it was so nice to have him there being so supportive and relaxed. Having a brother is something new for Jay and he is enjoying it. So am I.
Jay
is great. Touring with him 24 hours a day, working with him on stage,
driving thousands of miles in the car, navigating our way through endless,
confusing one-way systems in a different town every day, AND being married
to him, youíd think weíd be getting on each otherís nerves. But no
itís wonderful. I canít help but think how bloody lucky we are.
Rob asked me last night whether we were all right, were we enjoying being on the tour? He said the fact that he hadnít asked very often isnít because he or the crew donít care, but more because of everything going on. I told him the truth ? we love every minute of it. The crew are so great to us, the band are too. Weíve no complaints - weíre being treated so respectfully and kindly, and feel really appreciated. Rob very kindly said that we are a joy to have on the tour and doing a great job. I canít say how pleased I am to hear that from him. As the Tour Manager (TM) and Sound Engineer (SE), Rob has a tough role, running the tour, making sure everything works smoothly as possible with the venues, band, crew, the support act, hotels, etc, etcÖ and he gets out front and gives us all brilliant soaring sound every night as well. The tour is full of heroes actually, and Rob is right up there.
Went out front to listen to part of the second half of the show.
Simonís performance of "Rosemaryís Sister" by Huw Williams is a real high
point for me - so poignant, complimented by the delicate and sparkling
guitar-work and the sweet violins of Chris & Ric. It gave me
goosebumps. I must remember to tell him.
Thurs
12 Feb
Queens
Theatre, Barnstaple, Nth Devon
Arrived
in Barnstaple mid-afternoon in convoy in the misty rain with our Taunton
hosts The Carters (Gwyn, Kevin the Saint and daughter Vicky) for a relaxed
lunch together at the pub opposite the theatre. They are putting
us up for all our gigs in the West Country (quite a few). Wonderful
folks. Gwyn has been a fan of Jayís since he toured as support on
the Fairport Winter Tour of 1991 and owns all four of his solo albums on
cassette - rare things.
It is Day 15 of the tour ? half way through. Rob told us that when he was in Australia he earned the nickname "Crocodile Geor-die". Bloody hilarious! Thatís it ? Iím calling him "Croc" for the rest of the tour.
Jay reckons there is a really clear energy in all the performances tonight. The audience seemed a little quiet at first but were soon responding wholeheartedly to our intros and songs. They almost didnít stop clapping to several numbers. The band entered to prolonged applause. They are giving it welly tonight and sounding great. I still feel bunged up with the lurgy, but managing to sing through it. This bug makes you so dry you have to swig water in between every song.
Last night at Exeter, we did our set without the piano - lack of space.
So I played "Get There From Here" on fiddle instead of piano.
It felt so great to be up on my feet in the middle of the band rather than
being stuck out at the side seated behind the keys, so we decided to stick
with the fiddle. Now Iím getting much more of a kick from that number
and it ends our set on a better note for me. Simon also gets more
of a chance to add to the arrangement on electric guitar, which is a bonus
cause I really love his playing. And I double up the brass-line with
Ric on fiddle, which gives it a bit more of a big "chorus" effect, and
let him and Chris on mandolin do the hystrionics. It works well and
itís a happy high note with which to finish our set. I like the way
the support act dovetails with the main act ? it works nicely and is fun.
Found
a ësecretí message from Peggy scribbled inside the book Jay is reading
each night in the dressing rooms. Message reads
"Hey
? well done U2. Youíre great! Love Peggy xx PS not being
nosey - just wanted to thank you!" Awww. Thatís so
sweet of him. God Bless Peggy. Wonder when he wrote that?
Fri
13 Feb
Royal
Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Great
show tonight although people are a little road-weary. Poor Ric is not feeling
well tonight ? stomach upset. The band drove all the way back to
their home-base in Banbury from Barnstaple last night. Thatís quite
a way after a gig, and they didnít get home until 4-5am. We slept
over at Taunton, so didnít have such a long drive today but it still took
4 hours. Tesco meal for dinner in Warwick ? not bad. Where
else can you get a hot meal for such a good price at 4 in the afternoon
thatís not McDonalds?
This is boring I know but this cold is STILL lingering. Itís making a bit grumpy. Iíve really had enough of it, thanks very much! Tonight on stage I breathed out through my nose during our final number with the band and what came out wasnít pleasant. I couldnít do anything about it with the fiddle in my hands and you can hardly wipe your schnoz with the back of your hand in front of all those people, can you? I hope no one noticed. Poor Jay seems to be getting the sore throat now. Bummer. But still we did a great set and the audience went crazy for it.
Met Robís wife Barbara and his two very pretty daughters Jessica and Milly. Some good friends in the audience tonight ? Karen Dove our super-hero friend from Coventry, and Australian singer-songwriter-bassist Liz Frencham who goes back to Australia this weekend. (Liz played bass on Chris While and Julie Matthews' new album last year and we hope sheíll be returning to the UK in the summer to gig and play bass on our album too!)
Before the show, the marvellous Chris Leslie showed us his special Native American flutes that he brought in from home. Just a gorgeous sound, and he is such a natural on the instrument. Itís sold us on acquiring one of the River Reed flutes. They are made completely by hand by the traditional Cherokee makers, using no machinery.
Interval was a blast ? selling cds big time and signing everything pushed
before us! Itís lovely to be able to have a chat to people as they
come up with their albums. Most have connections with Australia,
either having been there or relatives there. All have such lovely
compliments to give us too, which make me feel very humble indeed.
We are soooooo lucky to be here singing to these fantastic people.
For the second half, Jay has taken our friend Karen backstage so she can watch Gerry Conwayís drumming up close. She has just started learning drums, and thinks Gerry is incredible. He is ? we agree completely.
Sat
14 Feb
Wycombe
Swan, High Wycombe
Valentines
Day, kisses and hugs and more of those warm fizzies! Got a lovely
card from my love and a huge Toblerone. Yum. Weather not fab, very drizzly
and dreary. Itís lucky I carry the sunshine in my heartÖ
Now, why is it so hard to get in to these venues? Sometimes it seems as if every door is locked, every passage not the right one, and your hands are always full so that opening the endless range of fire-doors is impossible. But once youíre in, everything is great! Atop our gear tonight sat a big red Valentines card and a bunch of beautiful tulips from the crew to me. The card read: "Hot stuff! ÖHi there you little devil ? to our Valentine with love from the crew. x" Wow! Very unexpected and such a thoughtful gesture. I thanked Geoff, our marvellous monitor engineer, and he said "Well we have to look after you, seeing as youíre the only girl backstage amongst all these blokes." They are so very sweet.
We got a large container of Quality Street chocolates for the band, and another for the crew, just to show them we care. The band has tucked into their box admirably, but I donít think the crew have even visited the green room to know of their existence!
The crew definitely work the hardest of us all, for the longest hours, sometimes doing 17 hour days with very little break, and in this case for 17 consecutive days without a day off. They are never grumpy or mean, always professional, always go out of their way to assist you, and all have an excellent sense of humour. Thatís essential. You donít have to be mad to be on this tour, but it helps.
Great
crowd here at the Swan theatre. Chris Bates taking pictures as he
did last night. Set went really well but poor Jay, heís now suffering
the cold I had, whilst mine is getting better by the day. Still he
sang beautifully and "Naked" was just sublime. Sold lots of "Wholly
Road" live albums at interval. Maybe because people seemed to really
like the Kookaburra tonight and thatís the only album itís on. Fancy
selling albums because of a bird impersonation! 
After the show we drove up to our friend's place Pam & Oliver. Oliver cooked us a fresh trout meal with gorgey veges at 1 o clock in the morning. Another tour hero. (See Oliver cooking in the piccy!)
Fan email time! "Fabulous night last night and very much enjoyed your contribution. Please could you place us on your mailing list... Hope to be able to see you live again somewhere soon!"
"Hello, Saw you last night with Fairport, really really good. How about a gig at Nettlebed folk Club or Tudor folk Club ? Thank you, will see you again. "
Sun
15 Feb
Octagon
Theatre, Yeovil
There
are people here tonight whoíve come all the way from Leicester to see us
play again, after seeing us at the Derby show. How cool is that!
They loved our set, and have been playing the cd non-stop since and just
wanted to hear us again. Iím blown away by that. Just so glad
people are enjoying the music we create.
Well poor Jayís got my cold for sure. I WAS getting better but woke up this morning feeling like shite and the drive from Banbury to Yeovil didnít improve me. Could the cold-fairy come and take it way now please? Iíve overdosed on Vitamin C and sucked enough Antiseptic Soothers to last the year.
After the difficult get-in at Pontypridd, we took up the original offer from the crew to have our gear carried by them, apart from the violin. So now we arrive to find our gear already in the venue and only have to cart the personal stuff and fiddle. What a luxury that is. These guys are just fantastic.
The Merch crew, Gareth and Frances, are doing a wonderful job selling everyoneís stuff. It is very reassuring to know your product is in such efficient hands and they are so nice too. Frances has helped us several times to find our way into obscure backstage entrances. The guys sold heaps of cds for us at Leamington Spa, the best night for our sales so far, with Burnley Mechanics coming a close second.
Iím listening to Portmerrion over the dressing-room speakers and it is sublime. Ric makes his violin sing. Iím totally in awe of his playing ? he can tackle any style and make it his own, a true virtuoso. Chris Leslie is also awesome, what a multi-instrumentalist, AND heís a great songwriter. I love his fiddle playing but his mandolin work is also exquisite. Time to go now to get ready for "Si Tu"Ö
Mon
16 Feb
The
Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare
Sunshiney
afternoon, very pretty seaside town, complete with a pier. Had no
idea Weston was such a nice little place. Buff was our guardian angel
again this afternoon, out with the truck, telling us the code to get in
by the stage-door. Another great show tonight ? our set went down
big time. CD sales and signing of programmes and posters was full-on
at half-time and interval. Lots of kids here as itís half-term. Itís
wonderful that parents are bringing their children to see live music of
this genre, ensuring that the interest lives on into another generation.
Jay met up with an old acquaintance, Richard, and long-time supporters Paul & Angie Richards from Bath were there as our guests. Lovely to see them, but thereís not much time for catching up with friends during interval - thereís so much to do with signing cds and chatting to fans!
The funniest thing about the venue is that you can't get to front of house without going through the auditorium. So Jay and I went from the stage door and ran around the block to the front of the theatre! By the end of the show it was raining as we 'arrived' spattered with rain to ask the audience passing us on their way out, "Oh did we miss it? Was it good?"
Simon had a monumental time with the lyrics of "Matty Groves" tonight ? the song stopped twice, as he found his place in the narrative. Such a long song, so many verses, itís not a wonder. But itís not the sort of song that works when the sequence of events is not in chronological order! "Oh, no, they havenít gone to bed together yet!" he cried. We all cracked up (backstage and front), but the audience donít seem to mind their heroes showing fallibility. Theyíre only human and very charming ones at that.
Day off tomorrow, the first in 19 consecutive shows. Canít wait, my body needs a breather to get rid of this cold-bug completely. The band will be driving home after the gig, while we are hot-footing it across the country to Dawn & Grahamís in Broadstairs, Kent. Shouldnít take us more than about 3 hours. It will be better to do it at night whilst the traffic is non-existent, than spending our day off crawling through peak-hour road-works on the M25.
Day
Off, Tues 17 Feb
Broadstairs,
Kent
Got
here at 3am and sunk thankfully into a warm feather-doona-ed bed after
being let in by our wonderful host Dawn, just before dawn! Awoke
at 11.30am, which is when we normally do on this tour anyway. It
will be great to be here for the next three days, two of which are days
off, interrupted only by a relaxed sortie into nearby Canterbury for the
gig. Yay! Such a lovely seaside town. We do love Broadstairs,
and itís great catch up with our mates Dawn & Graham, do some laundry
and tonight, ooooh we might just watch a movie. Weíve almost forgotten
what a quiet night at home watching a movie is like.
Wed 18 Feb
Marlowe
Theatre, Canterbury, Kent
Final
night with the Dylan Project, which means again a 3-song set. The
piano couldnít go on tonight, firstly due to lack of space once PJís pedal
steel is set up. Secondly, the pianoís sound module got dropped last
night by accident and itís buggered up in some way. Jay tried taking it
apart and fixing it to no avail. Must find an electrical repair-type
person tomorrow and get it back on track. It was prettty difficult
choosing what to do tonight, but finally settled on "Separation Street",
"Naked" preceded by the kookaburra of course, and "Markham Main".
It means only one song with the fiddle, but somethingís always got to give
and whatís most important is the dynamics of the set.
It was nice opening with Separation Street anyway as we havenít done it for a while now. And everyone loves the gorgeous "Naked" and the powerfully emotive "Markham Main". There was a worrying moment when Jay repeated the entire third Verse of Markham! Itís the first time heís done that, but he continued through and recovered well. Hopefully no one noticed.
The kookaburra has been going well. Iíve had so many comments about it, and children particularly think it's cool. It's nice but also funny when someone says "I really liked your kookaburra." I sometimes think, "But what about the songs? Didn't you like them too?" But hell as long as weíre bringing joy to folks, I donít care really.
Interval was a blast ? didnít stop signing albums, and the Dylan Project also went brilliantly. Another Day Off tomorrow. We won't know ourselves!
From
newly discovered relatives of mine that I met at the gig (first time!):
"Hi
Cath & Jay, Thoroughly enjoyed your performance in Canterbury,
and also the rest of the evening with Dylan Project and Freeport Convention.
It was nice to meet you, however brieflyÖ
Good
luck and rock on - Is there a CD of your Kookaburra impersonation!!
Bob & Jenny"
Thursday
19 Feb
Day
Off
Spent
taking the pianoís sound-module to be repaired by qualified electricians
in Ramsgate. They couldnít fix it. But at least they confirmed
nothing was wrong with the circuitry. So Jay took it apart again
and fiddled with this bit and that and got it going. Yippee-yi-yay.
Jay is pretty bloody clever. Phew. In between trips to Ramsgate we
vegged out and watched movies. First time Iíd seen "Close Encounters
of the Third Kind" ? very cool. Those diatonic-melody-loving aliens
are so cute.
Friday
20 Feb
Fairfield
Halls, Croydon
After a leisurely morning in Broadstairs (mostly sleeping) and a relaxed
lunch with Dawn & Graham, we set off to Croydon. Weather: freezing
with a chill wind. Fairfield Halls is somewhere Iíd been looking
forward to playing, because Iíd read about the Beatles playing there in
1964. A lot of very famous acts have played here. It is big
and beautiful, with a blond timber floor on stage and gorgeous acoustics.
It was good to arrive early, as we needed to check the piano module out with the keyboard. The crew and the venueís lighting team were all there busy setting up, and everyone was jovial and joking around with each other. Our crew amaze me, as they are always so happy and positive. They must be exhausted, but their sense of humour never fails them. Itís a joy to work with these guys. Onya Buff, John and Geoff!
Well unfortunately the auditorium is not full, but the Fairports are playing fabulously tonight. They are hot. Peggyís impro-intro to "The Crowd" was inspired. Our set went well, but the best thing about tonight is that my lovely youngest sister Rachel is here. She lives not far away in Streatham, and works in the centre of London. We havenít seen her since New Year - have been missing her lots. I saw her in the audience close to the front, wearing a huge grin during "Get there From Here".
Interval: nice to meet some folks weíve seen at other shows. Fairportís fans are such that many of them come to multiple shows on the tour, so we are getting to know a few of them by sight, some by name as well.
We got
Rachel backstage after interval to hang out and watch the show. Sheís
not seen Fairport before and really enjoyed the music. She told us
she was enjoying it so much she wore a grin the whole time and Peggy was
smiling back at her. Well how could you miss that gorgeous smiling
face? Rachelís I mean, although Peggy has a nice smile too.
But Rach is a stunner. 
Iím so glad a member of my family was able to see us play on this tour. My wonderful Mum and very supportive Dad are in Australia, not here. That means they canít see us. But Iíve sent a copy of the programme to each of them. The programme is very posh and glossy and has a beautiful page with our photo, biog, Spring Tour Dates and website and stuff. Apparently both my parents have been taking it round to work and to show their friends, ëcause itís so posh.
Jayís parents couldnít really come either. They are quite a lot older than mine and not very well. But we have so many friends and other Turner rellies, that we donít feel like orphans. Plus we have each other and that is fantastic.
Post-show: back to friendís Steve & Terriís in South Norwood for a delicious take-away gourmet curry from The Banana Leaf, with another Fairport fan called Mark but who wasnít at the gig, accompanied by some very nice champers and white wine. Jay ate too much and went to bed with a grumbly belly, but what a great night!
Sat 21 Feb
South
Parade Pier, Southsea, Portsmouth
This
is not my first time playing on a pier (Cromer in 2002 was) but this place
is different, quite grungy, and not like the other posh theatres on the
tour. Rob said itís more like a working menís club but he was really
glad that the promoter Barking Spider put the gig on, after the gig on
the Isle of Wight fell through. This sometimes happens. Well done
John Roberts and all of Barking Spider!
It is very cold and windy on the seafront. Met up with our dear friends Karen and Craig (whoíve driven down from Coventry) for a spot of lunch then to load in across the pebbly beach up onto the pier. Could hear the sound of the waves and wind under the floorboards in our dressing room, which is cold, cramped and pretty dirty, full of empty glasses and mess from the last people who were in here. Show-biz is all about these sorts of contrasts. There is no point in ever getting up yerself. Dan, one of organising team, was very kind in bringing us a heater for the room. Now I can get undressed.
The crowd are totally going for Fairport tonight. Thereís a dance floor and those in the mood for dancing got up for Matty Groves. The band also got long-term fan Griff up on stage to sing an impromptu "Wild Rover" backed by the band ëcause it was Griffís birthday. Quite a laugh and Griff was delighted!
Karen got her drum-sticks signed by Gerry after the show. She is doing so well at drums. After only having learned for 6 weeks her drum teacher has suggested she do Grade 2 Exam! She absolutely loves watching Gerry play, and got talking with him about stick-weights. Drummer-speak is a bit above our heads. Jayís first-cousin Nigel who lives not far away in Emsworth is also here. Nige remembers seeing Chris Leslie and his squeeze-boxing brother John play as a duo in a village hall in Oxfordshire in 1974 or í75, when they were all in their mid-teens. Tonight he managed to catch up with Chris to work out where and when it must have been. Chris says heís got a re-release on cd of the album he and John did back then, which heíll give to us for Nigel. Very kind!
Sun
22 Feb
Palace
Theatre, Westcliff, Southend-on-Sea
Gorgeous
gig tonight ? lovely old theatre with balconies right up in the Gods, the
audience are just fantastic people, the sound is sizzlingly good (thanks
Rob & Geoff) and we were right on form. I made an embarrassing
"faux pas" at the off when I described the weather as cold and "a bit nipply"
before singing "William Jolly". Luckily the audience were fun people
and had a laugh. Iím sure I went bright red. Itís not
what I meant to say to a group of 600 people who Iíd only just met!
The crew were cracking up. I looked over at John and he was making
circles on his chest in the nipple area. Argh! I had to blank
him out because it was just going to crack me up again. It came after a
sound check full of unintentional ëdouble entendresí. Simon and Rob
were misinterpreting everything I said and putting an certain type of innuendo
on it, so I couldnít believe I said what I said on stage.
Then just before doing the Kookaburra I had a snotty moment. Yes the dregs of that damned cold are still hanging around my nasal-passages. So I thought Iíd turn my back to the audience briefly and clear a blockage with a careful outward sniff before attempting said Kookaburra. Unfortunately it was a bit closer to the surface than anticipated and... Well I had no tissues on stage, so with my back still to the audience I had to wipe up with my hands ? yeach! But Johnny Gale the very excellent young roadie came to my rescue with toilet paper. I tell you ? what a crew. They will do anything to help you out of a (literally) sticky moment on stage.
The band is staying locally tonight. We parked at our friends Bron and Ernieís house just around the corner from the theatre and WALKED to the gig ? very civilised. Gerry is travelling independently from home at the moment with his partner Jacqui McShee in tow. She is a famous singer in the legendary folk-jazz band Pentangle. Jay says the very first folk album he bought (a long time ago) was Pentangleís "Basket of Light". Jacqui and I had a lovely talk in the Green Room before the sound check ? I like her lots.
Gerry joined us and we talked about the confusions of his religious upbringing.
His surname was Cohen but his parents changed it. This was because
of difficulties with the orthadox synagogue about his Dad marrying a non-Jew.
Amazing! (This happened in my family too, the Jews marrying non-Jews
bit, not the changing name bit). Gerry was both Christened and Barmitzvah-ed,
so doesnít know what to say when asked what he is religion-wise.
Gerry subscribes to what Bob Hope replied when asked to what religion he
belonged: "I belong to them all. I donít want to miss out on heaven
on a technicality."
He also revealed that he wears special drumming shoes. This is something I didnít realise. In the 60ís he wore Cuban heeled boots, but now he goes for functionality, over style. Fair enough. Iíve done the opposite on this tour, wearing these 3-inch heeled boots, suffering for style every night. But his drumming shoes are actually quite fashionable. Gerry & Jacqui are both nice. Canít wait to see them in Pentangle on their April tour.
Met David Hughes at interval. David did the support slot on this tour a few years ago now, I think in 1998. He wrote an internet diary, later published as a very successful book. Lovely chap whom previously Iíd only admired from afar at Cropredy. We got talking about how musicians can have (and keep) babies. Not easy we imagine, but weíd like to try it. He ended up being the house-husband looking after the kids by day and being a muso by night, while his wife went out bread-winning. We are trying to work out how both of us could be musos AND look after the kids. He could offer no solutions, just said to try it. Hmmm ? easy for him to say.
A wonderful
night. The crowd went off for "Get There From Here" and gave a standing
ovation after 
"Meet on the Ledge". Bonzer all round! Simon was kind enough
to say that weíd done an excellent job of getting the people going. I feel
proud and humble.
Not looking forward to the end which is coming up rather quickly now. It will be sad when itís over. David said it was real downer for him. We must remember to do some very cheerful and enjoyable treat-type things in the days immediately following the tour to counteract the depression. Jay is really very tired. I probably am too, but the adrenaline keeps me going, so I havenít noticed the tiredness. I just love getting on that stage and singing my heart out, and getting applauded for it. Itís great. I could keep on going for another month I reckon. Maybe forever.
Our friends/hosts Bron and Ern loved the show, particularly Peggy and Gerryís playing. They asked whether we were enjoying ourselves on stage as much as we appear to be. The answer to that is a big huge YES!
From
friends in Australia:
"Hi
Cath and Jay, Guess what we just had an email from English friends of ours
saying they saw you performing with Fairport Convention and were very impressed!
So we were suitably surprised especially as they thought you live in Chesterfield
now - is this right? I am from Chesterfield - well Unstone and my
mum still lives there! Let us know how you are getting on - we are
fine - Tommy recently finished making a CD of his own songs which he is
pleased with and I am training as a counsellor. Love Ruth and Tommy"
Mon 23 Feb
Queen
Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London
Another
big day. I canít remember the last time I had a little one.
First stop ? lunch at the Bell Inn in Horndon on the Hill, Essex, at the
very kind invitation of Rob and the band. Have discovered Fairportís
secret to finding their way around the country via the best nosheries ?
itís the Good Pub Guide. Rob and Simon say itís a must. Itís
only let them down twice in 20 years. Not bad.
If it yields places like the Bell Inn for lunch then I and my stomach are all for it. Tastiest top class gourmet tucker. The company was first class too. Had a good laugh, enjoyed the loveliest wine, the yummiest food. How can we ever go back to Little Chef? Everyone shared their desserts ëcause they were so scrumpti-licious and it felt like a family. The red wine went a bit to my head and I got very red cheeks and was very merry. I donít know how these guys drink so much at lunch time. Chris had a smell of the wine but of course never drinks it. Very wise man.
Received
thanks and "ripples" (not nipples) from everyone for being on the tour
and doing a good job. I think the thanks should go to Fairport, as
itís been such a brilliant time, and that is all down to them, and their
wonderful audiences. I apologised to the band for them having to
go through the noisy Kookaburra sound every night. Everyone said
it was not a problem, as it actually provides the band with a very effective
5-minute call. Glad to be of service.
We followed the band into Old London Town. I am always filled with a sense of awe when I drive into this famous city. We come here so infrequently, the incredible architecture never fails to inspire. Beautiful sunny day but stillÖREAL COLD. Queen Elizabeth Hall is part of the Royal Festival Hall complex on the South Bank. There are three venues, the RFH where Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys) is playing tonight, the QEH where we are, and the smallest venue the Purcell Room where there is a classical piano competition. The QEH is a nice auditorium but to be honest, not as impressive as the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. Maybe itís just the interior colour scheme (see dull black vinyl chairs and Buff in foreground on drums).
But who can complain ? not everyone can say theyíve played the QEH.
We can! There were even groupies waiting at the stage door for Fairportís
autograph and they asked for ours too. I donít know if they were
just being polite.
Got the sound check out of the way early cos weíd been given free tickets to go on the London Eye by a nice man called Simon (another Simon)! YAY! YIPPEE! Very exciting! I was hopping up and down with excitement last night when Rob (the TM from heaven) told me about it. What a way to prepare for a show! Went a-way up in our own little pod with Gareth, Frances and Buff. A spectacular sunset. It was gorgeous. Felt really unreal ? the movement of the pod is so slow you hardly notice it. Youíre out there gliding through the air looking out on this amazing view. I love my job!
Buff went very quiet, which is unlike him. He is scared of heights, poor bloke. He is normally very outgoing. I think I forgot to write about the time at the Corn Exchange when he was bored. He lay face-down on one of the backstage-trollies (a flat board on wheels) and went careering around the dance-floor. He looked like a beached whale sliding around on his stomach on ice. Hilarious! Buff is not a man who sits around quiet and demure. So it was weird seeing him go silent and pale.
Jay
doesnít like heights much either. The two sat on the bench in the
middle with Jay gently
keeping up a dialogue with Buff during the ëflightí, to calm both himself
and Buff. Jay is a lovely man. Got some great pics. Buffís
wife Maria called during the flight and advised him to "hold onto yer bollocks".
"Her words," said Buff. Wise woman.
Walked back to the theatre to get ready, do our usual warm-up exercises. Time is really tight tonight as the venue charge a big fee if the show finishes any later than 10.30pm, and then apparently another bigger fee if the bump-out goes beyond midnight! This is the only place on this tour that does this (to my knowledge) and itís pretty bloody serious.
The other strange thing here is the venue wonít let our merch crew sell CDs or books or programmes, only T-Shirts. So our albums are not on sale tonight. It feels not nice. Not nice for Fairport either because CD sales make up a huge part of the equation when engaged in the expensive business of taking a show out on the road. But ce la vie, ya learn to take the rough with the smooth.
The audience here are really fantastic ? very happy and responsive and we had a brilliant time on stage. I LOVE playing with Jay ? itís the biz! He did something very weird in "Markham Main" on the line "he hung himself one night" and I got thrown off the beat. I thought he was doing something different on the guitar for extra dramatic effect, and was unsure what might be happening, but we managed to keep on going. The crowd always go for that song, I think because it tells a story of times not forgotten in this country.
I love it when the band come on for "Get There" ? these blokes rock. I wouldnít mind playing with a band more often. I do enjoy the rockiness of the band. And playing cow-bell on "Si Tu" is just so rocky ? clonk-clonk-clonk-clonk-4-on-the-floor-baby! Sometimes Simon forgets the words in the verses and it is very funny. No one knows what he is singing anyway, unless they are good at French or actually French - and maybe not even then.
Everyone at interval was asking why our albums were not available. We had to explain and hand out mail-order forms instead. Loads of folks signed onto the mailing list so that is a good thing indeed. Met friends of Ricís Paul and Judy, who made a DVD about the life and music of Stephane Grappelli, the late great Hot Club de France jazz fiddler. They wanted one of our CDs and we were keen to have a copy of their DVD, so we did a swap! Very cool. Looking forward to getting home to watch it.
My sister Rach came to see us again tonight, at interval this time, after her belly-dancing class. She was backstage and Ric invited her to come to sing "Meet on the Ledge"! Hehe! She didnít do it though. "Si Tu" was fun, especially when Simon stopped the song a few bars in, and demanded a re-start! I spoke to a man called John in the foyer who has been to see the show a heap of times during the tour. He must be a very serious Fairport fan. I said "You must be getting sick of us all, the amount of times youíve seen the show." He explained, "No, I never get bored. Itís different every night, especially with Fairport. Something different goes wrong every time!"
Quote of the night came from a punter who spoke to Gareth. "Have Fairport Convention got any hits?" he asked, "You see, I thought Iíd booked to see Fleetwood Mac."
The bind moggles.
Tues 24 Feb
Pavilion
Theatre, Worthing, Sussex
Back
to the sea-side ? oh I do love to be beside the sea. Weíve played
at so many different sea-sides on the tour. It brings the fact home
? the UK really is an island. A small one.
Arrived just as the crew were loading in. Geoff yelled out to us "Go away, weíre not ready!" So off we toddled into the town centre to do some errands (Post Office, Dixons for blank cds, Holland & Barrat for a munchies stop ? love their dried figs on those long journeys) and to have a spot of lunch. Worthing has so many cafes from which to choose but why do people smoke in them all? Resisted the temptation to have fish and chips. I was planning to take Jay on a romantic stroll out on the Pier, but by the time weíd got back from lunch it was pouring with rain and bitter cold, so we had a romantic snooze in the car instead.
The venue is another "On the Pier" type place, but unlike Portsmouth itís a real theatre and stage. The stage has a big curving arch with plaster muses all around it ? Calliope, Terpsichore, Melpomene, etcÖ. Donít ask me to name them all. The sound in here is top-notch. Band were a bit late coming down from Banbury, having been stuck in hideous traffic. That is par for the course on the roads in the afternoon in England. Rob was feeling the stress, but all was well when they got in. Sound-check just goes so smoothly now so thereís no need to panic.
Gerry was there before the rest of the band ? he is still travelling from home with Jacqui, as he lives in the South. We had a D&M whilst he was setting up his drums - not a DM (thatís the previous FC drummer) - but a D&M about life and death. We gave him a copy of our album ëCrooked Houseí. It has our version of "Banks of the Nile" on it, inspired by Fotheringayís version way back in the 60ís. He had said he wanted to hear our version. Gerry was the drummer for Fotheringay and Sandy Denny was in it too ? just for anyone who didnít know. This was all before I was born.
Peggy gave me a pressie ? the book of annA rydeRís internet tour diary. Fabola! Simon said they didnít want me to read it before the tour. Why not? Her comics are just so hilarious. I love the "Many More Faces of Rob Bravinor" and Ric and Chris in their jostick and herbal tea dressing room.
Enjoyed playing our set immensely tonight. The sound is just so great, itís sheer joy. Geez, we are gonna miss Rob and Geoff big-time. I want them on tour with us all the time! Who knows? One day we may be as rich and famous as Fairport (Ha!). Though the audience seemed a little quiet at first, they soon warmed up and gave us a fantastic cheer at the end, then came up with lots of smiling faces and happy comments in the interval, and lotsa albums for us to sign! Yaya! The FC boys are sounding as great as ever, and the crowd just adore them.
The finale is always "Matty Groves", followed by a set of rockiní tunes under the title "Dirty Linen". My fave part of the Linen medley is the tune done over a grooving reggae beat. It always makes me dance in the wings, itís such an ëarse-shakingí rhythm! I asked Ric what the name of the tune was, but he wasnít sure and said to ask Chris. Chris said itís ëPaddy on the Turnpikeí. Think Iíd like to learn it. Chris knows all about these folk tunes. Chris said the reggae beat was Simonís idea ? he just started doing it during a jam one day.
Fairly big drive tomorrow up to Preston in Lancashire. The crew are
travelling there overnight and wonít arrive until 6 or 7 in the morning.
Bluch. Buff has the day off, so Andy Salmon the owner of the rig
is doing the driving for the Preston gig. We will miss Buff, even if he
does disgusting things like blowfish on the windows. He always sings
the opening Bah-Baars of "Monday Monday" by the Mamas and Papas whenever
I come into earshot. The band is going home for the night, which
makes sense. We are staying nearby in Emsworth at Nigel and Sarahís
again.
Fan Email: "Hi both! I thought I just had to mail you to say how fantastic I thought you were last night in Worthing. I was slap bang in the middle of the front row and was treated to some of the best new music I have heard in a very long time.
I think the thing that shone through the most (even more than the passion you feel for your music - as shown by your excellent rendition of "Markham Main" - I used to live in North Nottinghamshire, nr. Chesterfield and my family were miners, so I know how hard the miners strike hit the area) was the love you two have for each other - it really showed in the way you performed, and it made the evening that much more special. I think Fairport made the right decision, giving you the chance to take your show on the road. I think you will gain a lot more fans in the coming few weeks!
I will definitely be at your gig in Arundel in a few weeks time, so I look forward to meeting you then, and buying you a beer! Oh, and it was great hearing someone say "Ayup, me duck!" again - it fair takes me back! All the very best for the rest of the tour. Kevin"
And
Some More:
"Hi
cathy,and jay,
Hi
its martin a fairport convention fan and now you are a new group that i
will try and come to the arundel concert in april 2004.
Iv
e been a fan of fairports for about 5-6 yrs now and they are always a pleasure
to see and it was nice to see a new folk band as surport at their concert
and i wish you well and im sure ill like your cd the one that i brought
last evening.
I
thought the howling call of that bird the cooker bourghs was very good
and so loud.
best
wishes and good luck with your tour with fairport and your own tour
as well.
regards
from martin."
Wed
25 Feb
Charter
Theatre, Preston, Lancashire
"Whereís
Johnny Gale?" Poor John ? heís always in demand for running about
doing all sorts of jobs, plus heís responsible for tuning and restringing
instruments, etc. He works really hard and is such a pleasant chap.
But itís uncanny the knack he has for disappearing. Heíll be hanging
about for ages on stage, and no one asks for him. As soon as heís
gone off to do something else, Rob calls out from his usual post at the
front-of-house mixing desk "Whereís Johnny Gale?" And Johnny Gale
is no where to be found. Rob says "That lad has a cloaking device
the Klingons would envy."
I feel a little flat tonight ? Jay says I look tired and my eyes look sad. I reckon itís because weíre now nearing The End. Itís been such a fantastic time. Itís like facing the end of a run of a musical. The cast and crew become like a family for that short and rather intense time working together. Then it finishes, and the family dissipates. The band have the next album to look forward to recording in March, but what will I do to get my daily fix of Fairport now Iím addicted?
Driving home last night we got flashed by a speed camera. Drat and dammit! It was a dual carriage way with no houses so assumed 40 would be alright, but it must have been 30 cause the camera definitely flashed us. Could see no sign stating the speed limit after the camera. And it was deserted dual carriageway ring road around the edge of town. How could 40 mph be an offence?
We heard on the radio about someone blowing up these speed cameras in the West Country using dynamite. Not a bad idea.
It was a long drive up here today. Jay and I got a bit hysterical in the car, laughing at very silly jokes. This is always a sign of having gone over the edge of mere tiredness into near madness. Jay was singing to the tune of the old standard "All the Way" but he sang "If ya go to Preston, ya have to go to PrestonÖ aaaall the waaaaaaaay. You cannae go to Cannock ? ya have to go to Preston, aaaaall the waaaaaaaaaay." The Cannock bit fair cracked me up.
Good show, and nice to meet some of the Scottish fans whoíd travelled such a long way to be there. A camera crew were filming "Si Tu Dois" tonight for the next Fairport DVD, so they couldnít have us singing it tonight. They said this was for Continuity, but I think itís really because weíre not good-looking enough for cameras. We try, but not everyone has the natural charisma of Fairport. Instead of singing and playing, our sole contribution tonight was to shuffle on sideways like a pantomime act holding the big sheet of lyrics, stick them on the front of the stage, bow and shuffle off across to the other side.
At least I could give my poor cowbell-stick a rest. It is shedding
every time I hit with it, showering splintery bits of wood all over Ricís
effects pedals. Sorry Ric.
Fan Email. I like getting fan email! "Hello Cath and Jay, Attended Fairport Tour with my husband last night at Preston. Enjoyed your set. Please add me to your mailing list. Also enjoyed the song about Miners strike in Derbyshire. Please advise if this is available on CD. I understand you will take time to answer as your are still travelling with Fairport. Regards, Wilma"
Thurs
26 Feb
Winding
Wheel, Chesterfield
As
we drove home from Preston last night, we noticed snow on the sides of
the road. Tíwas really cold ? minus 3. But ever since Barnstaple,
weíve noticed the signs of an early Spring ? daffodils and bulbs coming
into bloom, lambs being born, fruit trees in blossom. Will all this
growth cease now there is this cold snap? I dunno ? this is my first
winter here.
Aaah, but it was good to sleep in our own bed again, after 16 or so nights away. We slept in (BLISS), awoke to a crisp sunny day, then ran around like headless chooks doing the errands that build up when youíre away ? laundry, emails, banking, posting mail-ordersÖ. Oh the glamourous life we lead!
Iíve
driven past the Winding Wheel a heap of times, but never been inside before
? itís real nice. 
Used to be the Odeon Cinema I believe. Kaz turned up and surprised
us ? she was not due till Lowestoft! What a darling. She was video-ing
us tonight, which made me feel a bit nervous. And our other special
guests are Jayís cousin Brian Turner who lives not far from our place and
his friends. They are musos too. Jay dedicated "Markham Main"
to Brian. Jay & Brian both are descended from the coal-mining
Turners of Hepthorn Lane, not far from here.
Great to play to a "home" crowd ? we only live 8 miles away. The organisers from Belper Folk Club are in the audience - theyíve been very supportive of us during the last year. The sound was excellent as usual but I couldnít see the audience at all. The follow-spots were blinding! And they kept following our every move. Thatís what follow-spots are supposed to do I know, but this chap took it too far. Surely one does not need to be followed by a big light every time one bends down for a subtle sip of water? I felt like a rabbit trapped in the glare of the headlamps.
Rob had a very good day yesterday, apart from losing his hat. You can see him in his hat pictured in the programme. It kept his ears warm, so I hope he finds another one. I asked what size he was, thinking we might see one for him in the shops, and he asked if Iím always so forward. Hmph.
Buff was back today and said that he spent some time last night reading my internet tour diary. He said he thought the crew didnít feature enough. But I thought Iíd given him a starring role! Well it goes to show, you can never please everybody. Hope he likes the picture of him blow-fishing the glass door at Worthing. Rob, the big TM, said I was going to get in trouble about something in the diary. I bloody hope not!
Saw annA rydeR again tonight, and chatted about her internet diary. She said she worked really hard on it, doing a comic strip every day as well. How did she manage the comics AND the writing? I find itís hard enough keeping up with the written stuff! Becasue we're driving ourselves etc, the only time I get is during Fairportís second set before "Si Tu", which means I miss out on some of the music. We do hear it through the tinny dressing room speakers, but thatís not the same.
Simon had a joke on me when I came on for "Si Tu" tonight. I think he was getting me back for standing there facing HIM (instead of the audience) with the big sheet of lyrics a coupla nights ago. So tonight, I went out with the sheet and Simon asked me, on mic ,"Have you got it up the right way this time?" Touche. Gave the audience a chuckle. Had to smack him on the bum with my cowbell stick as I went past.
I got some lovely pics of Gerry in full flight on the Winding Wheel stage.
He gets so deeply involved that basically, he IS the drums. Itís
amazing to watch. Some people have said to me they think heís like
the character Animal from the Muppets. Animal is cool but Gerry is
Animal minus the aggro.
From the Belper Folk Club folks: "I don't know when you'll get to read this with all the touring etc but we just wanted to say how much we enjoyed your set last night!!!! As I said at the time, it passed too quickly - something that doesn't happen with other support acts we've seen (and I don't mean Jay in 1991 'cos we weren't at that concert)! We'll certainly be along to the Arts Centre next month when you are on there. All the best - CU soon, Kath and Geoff."
Fri
27 Feb
The
Anvil, Basingstoke
Woke
up to another sunny day. Our backyard was covered in 3 inches of
the lovely white stuff, which must have fallen overnight. (You canít
hear snow fall, itís really magical.) Jay says "As long as it doesnít
stop us driving to Basingstoke!" Well it didnít ? we are here in
Basingstoke. Jay doesnít feel well again ? sore throat and pretty
tired. Bummer.
Called my Dad before we left the house to let him know we are alright. Heíd left 3 messages on the home phone while we were away touring. Heís like that! Dad said heíd been reading my Tour Diary on the web-site and found it very interesting. Good to hear. I was worried it might be boring for people outside the tour.
The Anvil is big, swish and modern inside ? a really lovely auditorium with a huge open stage, no proscenium. At the soundcheck, Peggy said it was here that he played his last gig with Jethro Tull and that the previous Fairport drummer Dave Mattacks played his last FC gig here too. Then Peggy said "I wonder whoís last gig it will be tonight?" Shivers, I donít think he should ask those type of questions aloud. Too much like tempting fate.
Martin is here again tonight, a very kind FC fan who has been backstage at lots of the shows on tour. He really likes my song "William Jolly". He introduced us to a lady called Gabbi (spelling?) from the BBC. She is a producer for Radio 4 and is going to do a special feature on Fairportís fans. Ric told her, "We think of them as more friends than fans." That is the nice thing about Fairportís relationship with their audience. You donít get that with pop-stars. Gabbi said sheíd read lots of good things about us on the Fairport chat page on the net ? "Everyone is saying how fantastic Mundy-Turner are," she said. Wow. How do we get into this chat-room?
There was a review in a national paper about Fairportís performance at QE Hall. It didnít mention much about the actual music or the support-act AT ALL, so it just shows what a stupid reporter he was. Perhaps his interest was more fashion than music. He said that Fairport looked like a country pub darts team, which Rob said was a compliment. Tonight, for a joke, John Gale has put a dartboard on Gerryís drums, the type with magnetic darts. Seeing there was no table-tennis on this tour, I thought it was a shame we hadnít had the dartboard all the way along. It made for lots of fun at soundcheck.
We changed our set tonight because we have effectively sold out of our album "Crooked Houses". Yay! It is a good thing to have sold so many. But we didnít realise till this morning when we went to the stock cupboard at home and the cupboard was bare. So instead of "Rainmakers" and "Markham Main", we sang "Dreamtime" and "Little Birds" from the "High Life" album. Wonderful to revisit these songs after such a time away from them and the audience loved them just as much I think.
My turn for a stuff-up on stage this time! I ruined the entire third line, 2nd verse in "William Jolly" which normally goes ëLet the twilight thread stars one by oneí. Instead of real words I opted for mushy sounds disguised (not very successfully) as words. Drat! The audience seemed very friendly about it though. John, the man who made the comment "I like coming to multiple shows ëcause something different goes wrong every night" was in the front row. He must have enjoyed himself tonight.
Interval was such a blast! Bloody fabulous audience! Non-stop signing cds and handing out the mailing list to so many eager new recruits. Most nights are great at the Merch stand for us, but this was really fantastic. Run off our feet. Everyone saying wonderful things to us. Yep, I love it here. So do the Merch crew. Gareth said "Can we play here every night?" It was nice to see more Turners here tonight ? Nigel again with his wife Sarah and their fab Emsworth friends. They really loved the show, and thought Fairport were wonderful.
Quote of the night: Goes to a male punter who came up and asked me "What happened to Sandy Denny?" When I explained about her untimely demise some 25 years ago, he looked shocked. Obviously heíd been following her career with close attention to detail!
Sat
28 Feb
Marina
Theatre, Lowestoft
Iíve been given the Yellow Card. Oh dear and oops. It was an
innocent comment that did it, but Iíll not argue, as Rob told me that any
arguing with the Ref gets you a second yellow card. Then itís the
slippery slope to a Red Card. Rob is the Ref. He says he never
gets carded, he only gives them. Someone said, "But didnít you get
the Red Card in annA rydeRís diary?" Rob said "So sheíd like to think!"
Hmmm.
I didnít know the rules (not being a football fan), so asked Rob to explain. Apparently a Red Card means you have to buy drinks for the entire band and crew for the next day. Eeek! I better shut up my face, as tomorrowís the last night and I bet they will want to drink more than usual. The usual is pretty impressive.
At interval it started! Beautiful huge big snow-flakes! Wonderful! I ran outside in my stage-clobber and soaked it up for a while, until it got TOO nipply. Gareth followed me out and got some great shots on his digi-camera. I love the snow. Jay says "Wait till you have to drive home in it!"
Never been to Lowestoft before ? another seaside place. Couldnít find the theatre when we arrived. There were signs saying "Marina Theatre", then they petered out. We seemed destined to drive around and around the one-way system forever. In desperation we pulled up and asked a local, but his accent was so weird I couldnít understand a damned thing he saidÖsomething about "rude-works" and "roondaboots". Then we found Wayne who hopped in the car ? he knew about the Fairport gig - and accompanied us to the theatre. He asked what it was like being musicians, and we said it was hard, probably because we were tired of going around the one-way system. I gave him our Spring Tour postcard in return! Nice man.
Lowestoft has a lovely crowd who were willing to have a laugh. They went crazy for the Kookaburra. Astounds me still. But funniest thing for me during the set was being afflicted with a severe case of Drooping Mic-stand Syndrome during the opening number "Dreamtime". By the instrumental, it had dropped considerably, and by the end of the song the mic was pointing in the vicinity of my belly-button. I couldnít do a damned thing about it with my hands full of violin plus the added need to be playing said violin. So I just kept bending my knees lower and lower and sang more loudly. John came out and fixed it all up before "Little Birds" ? bless him. Heís always there when I need him.
Karen and Craig came tonight, Kaz bearing gifts of chocs and champers for the band and us as a "thank you". She is sooooooo generous. Chris Leslie went straight for the chocs and they had to hide the champagne from Peggy. She is too much! Love ya Kaz.
Sun
29 Feb
Alban
Arena, St Albans, Hertfordshire
Driving back to our friendís place last night was a bit hairy with thick
snow falling. Iíve never really driven in heavy snow before.
Fascinating! It looks so weird in the headlights coming towards you
out of the dark - a spiralling tunnel effect. Mesmerising.
We are so lucky to have a fabulous place to stay with our friends Steve & Jill. They live in a gorgeous thatched cottage in the countryside and are the loveliest couple. Steve is sort of related to me ? a special cousin of a special cousin. Last year they put on a brilliant house concert for us. As with all our friends/hosts, itís great to be able to see them during the tour. BIG THANKS GOT TO ALL THESE PEOPLE! You made the tour possible for us.
Woke up to a beautiful sunny morning with an empty realisation in the pit of my belly ? "itís the last show tonight". Youch.
Itís strange how it feels like it went so fast, but, as Ric says, Tewkesbury feels as age away. I feel like a different person than then. My hair has grown for a start. It takes more and more hair-goob to get it into shape every night now. I like my hair sticking up on top. The longer it gets the higher and wilder it looks when I goob it up to go on stage. Simon says I should try sticking my tongue into an electrical socket. Hmmm. Dangerous and painful, but it would save money on goob.
The Alban Arena auditorium is dank and dim when we walk in - the lampies are checking out the lighting plot. There were cakes on the front of the stage and Geoff and Buff were eating them. Typical. Geoff says that the cakes are from James, a melodeon-playing boy who looks like Harry Potter who has come to help out the crew at some gigs. My hands are full of gear, so I donít eat them until later. As I eat, it is suggested that there may be something adverse in the cakes. "You do know that Fairport always play a trick on their support act on the last night of the tour?!" But surely theyíve not had time to bake cakes with funny stuff in them, not with their gruelling schedule?
Gerry came to our dressing room before the show with a bottle of Moet as a gift! How very wonderful and kind and too-much of him. He said "thanks for the company". Gez - you are a koala. He, like the rest of the band, doesnít take compliments very well and gets all sheepish (or koala-ish). We are really touched by his kind and generous gesture.
Ric
did an extra special intro for us tonight, saying what a success weíd made
of the tour. Thanks Ric! Our set was OK but a bit funny, I
think because it was the last night. I didnít feel settled at all.
But the best unsettling thing was yet to come ? THE NAKED GEOFF. Nothing
prepared me for the sight of Geoff the monitor engineer walking on
at the end of our set to clear our stuff, COMPLETELY IN THE NUDE, except
for a piece of cardboard on a string dangling uselessly from his neck.
(I better be careful where I use the phrase ëdangling uselesslyí..!)
This card was supposed to cover his parts, but it (the card) was swinging
from side to side as he walked and failed dismally in its mission.
I squealed in shock and surprise. Peggy was speechless. It
takes a lot to do that to Peggy. What a prank for the last night!!!
Then I realised Geoff was acting out the opening line from "Naked", his favourite song in our set. "Youíre the only one who sees me naked, though many more have seen me undressed." Heís either crazy or brave, or both.
I ran downstairs to the dressing room to get my camera, but by the time I got back to the stage Geoff was already sitting at the mixing desk with his jocks and a t-shirt on. Chris Bates, official photographer of the night, was spitting chips because his camera battery had gone down and he missed the whole event. Bummer. Why was his battery down only 30 minutes into the show? He missed the best bit!
Exhilarated by his nude onstage experience, Geoff was egging us all on to go on naked for "Meet on the Ledge". Then he got fixated on me and was begging me to go au naturale for "Si Tu" using the lyrics-sheet to cover my bits. No Chance Geoff! Iíve got to play the cow-bell.
Peggy said more nice things about us to the audience - how we were wonderful people and musicians. It was hard not to get teary! During "Meat & Two Veg" the crew came on and sang too. It was great (although no one was naked much to Geoffís disappointment and probably the audienceís relief). Then it was over all too soon.
After the show, there was merching in the foyer and then merriment in the dressing room. Chris Pegg, the Powerhouse of Woodworm, was there tonight, looking gorgeous in bright luscious outfit. Peggy said she was dressed so brightly tonight that she outbrighted even me. We opened Kazís champagne and ate the rider sandwiches that had gone a bit dry by this time. I got everyone to sign me programme ? my turn to be a groupie. I love these guys.
Jay made sure that everyone had received the cards and chocs that weíd left for them in the dressing room. The crew were given theirs during the show, because after the show they are too busy working. Mr. Leslie loved his card, which was decorated with all sorts of tea-cups. We inscribed it with "Youíre our cup of tea!" Because he is. Simon said he liked the card but he didnít eat the chocs. He said he is more of a savoury type man when it comes to food. Yes, I could tell that by the way he tucked into those desserts at The Bell last Monday.
Ric said that at 7.30 tomorrow night he will be introducing us to whoever he is with at the time. I understand what he means. It will be hard to let go of the routine. Will I need counselling to get me through this transition? Itís been the most fantastic time EVER and I hope that we get to work together again soon. REAL SOON!
Everyone
had bought a big bunch of gorgeous flowers for me. I was most touched.
The card read:
Well
done! All the best Chris Pegg x
Much
Love TM Rob B
It
was great working with yo,u Love Gerry Conway
Always,
Simon xx
Thanks
- you were and are fab ? love Peggy xx
Youíre
fab!!! With love and thanks, Ric
Love
is Geoff Jeff
Two
lovely people!!! With lovely music!!!! With my love and thanks to you!
Chris
A
picture of an electric guitar. Buff
Zoomed up the motorway to Banbury, the Fairport boysí bus going very fast indeed and overtaking us. We went to stay with the lovely Pam & Oliver and drank G&Ts till really late and really tired and really tipsy. Fell asleep while visions of Fairport danced in my head.
Monday
1 March
Oxfordshire
countryside, Somewhere near Banbury
Oops,
we slept in! Had to rush to Woodworm for 1pm. Missed Rob and
Geoff and the truck which came at 12.45 to drop off all the instruments.
Pooh. Missed Simon too. Pooh. But luckily did not miss
Gareth, Frances, Christine and also Tracey who works in the Woodworm office.
Tracey wasnít there last night, so we gave her a card of Thanks for all
the hard work. She is fab. Collected our instruments whilst
Gareth and Frances counted our remaining stock. Weíd kept topping them
up with stock throughout the tour but happily there wasnít a lot left.
Our albums sold soooooo well, especially when you realise that there was
one night when we couldnít sell cds at all (thanks QEHall). Yippee!
It is a great feeling.
Home via Birmingham to visit our two of our Admin-Angels, Martin and Irene. With their wonderful and so clever daughter Naomi, they are helping us with our mailing-list. Martin and Irene do the stamping and sending, while Naomi enters the data into the computer and prints off the address labels. This helps us incredibly much. We are very grateful to them. Throughout the tour, we had so many people sign onto our mailing list. I sent pages and pages and pages to Naomi and sheís done a great job with them, typing them all in and deciphering all the funny handwriting. Not easy! Through our mailing list we can stay in touch and hopefully see these lovely folks again at our own concerts.
When we finally arrive home we check the odometer on the car to see how many miles we've done on the tour - 5380 total miles! Ohmigod! There are cd mail-orders coming through the door and cd orders coming from our website and itís all very good. I think we will be kept busy with trips to the Post Office. Fan mail is still coming in tooÖ
"Cath and Jay, Came to see you with Fairport in sunny(!) Weston last month and was blown away. Your music is wonderful, got to come and see you again soon. Your songs cover so many different emotions, and touch so many different aspects of life, and it's a treat and a priviledge to listen to youÖ Once again, thanks for your music, it's beautiful. Hope to see you soon. Cheers, Jack"
"Hi, We saw you in Southsea with Fairport Convention, for someone we have never heard of before, we thought your music, writing, & performance was magical. We have looked up your gigs, & note you will be in Arundel on April 21st 04, we are looking forward to seeing you again. Is there any possibility that you could include Refugee & Youíre no angel? We already have two of your CD's ( signed by yourselves ) and they are nearly worn out.!! Kind regards"
John
Gale wrote us:
"Hope
you are all well.... have you both recovered yet? I haven't!
Thanks
for the CD... had a listen this morning... it's top! It was great working
with you guys and hope to work with you againÖ. Keep in touch,
and next time you're down my way give us a call and we'll meet for a few
sly drinks. You are both top chaps! Cheers, John"
No we havenít recovered yet, and I wonder if we ever will! Thank you everybody for the Best Tour of our Lives.
HUGS
and HUGE THANKS TO:
Fairport
Confection (you are so sweet), the Crew, Christine Pegg & Tracey at
Woodworm Records, Rob the Great TM, all our Kind and Generous Hosts, every
Venue and their Staff, and not least, every Person in each Audience, especially
those who applauded, cheered, arrived on time to see the opening act, wrote
or said nice things to us, bought our cds and signed to our mailing list!
You are all really BONZER!
ROGER
WHITTAKER SINGS JAY TURNER
Internationally
renowned recording and touring artist, ROGER WHITTAKER is releasing his
first English language album in 7 years and two of the new tracks are Jay
Turner originals.
Back in 1993, Jay sent a copy of his fourth and last solo album Sketchbook to Roger, and forgot all about it. ìI heard he was looking for songs and thought that some of mine would suit his vocal style. I didnít hear anything back and eventually forgot that Iíd sent it.î
Ten years later, in September 2003, Jay was surprised to receive an email from Rogerís manager & wife Natalie telling of their plans to record two songs from Sketchbook, Out of Africa and Feather on the Wind. Recording is now complete and the album is to be released by BMG in early 2004, accompanied by Roger touring Ireland, Europe, Canada and the USA over the next 2 years. Feather on the Wind is also to be featured on a new compilation album by BMG which includes favourites from Roger's past.
Roger has sold almost 50 million albums worldwide in a career spanning 5 decades. For the last 7 years, he has been recording solely in the German language, with 10 million records sold in Germany.
ìItís a real honour that a singer-songwriter of Rogerís calibre has chosen to record my material. A lot of the songs on this new album he has written himself, so itís a great compliment to have mine amongst them.î
Be sure to get your copy of Roger Whittakerís new album Moments in Time when it is released in 2005.
See you at a gig somewhere soon!