New Song, 'Doing Well'... & More

As ever, my hope is that this little update on things finds you well. There are a couple of bits of news to impart regarding the imminent and beyond... plus a thought or two on the present and the recent past.

Firstly, there is a new video on the Video page of a brand-new song called 'Doing Well' and you can check it out at the bottom of said page here. It's a tongue-in-cheek little number from the point of view of a penitent Disability Allowance claimant who has seen the error of their ways. Jaunty but dark... I hope you like it! :o)

All the upcoming dates can be found on the Events page and they include the shows I'll be doing with Ange Hardy in support of her amazing new album 'Esteesee' along with Lukas Drinkwater. Before and between that though, are a couple of dates I'm doing with another incredibly talented artist and friend, the miraculous Willy Porter. I'll be opening for him at America Hall in Exeter on 2nd October and also at Milverton Music Club in Somerset on 9th October.

A scattering of solo gigs, folks! Tithe Barn, Dunster - 11th October.... Big Comfy Bookshop, Coventry -(w. Gemma Leahy & Adam Wedd)  23rd October... Hope hall, Exeter - 28th November... Blazing Stump Folk Club, Carhampton, Somerset - 19th December.

I shall also be introducing some new songs at many of these gigs which I'm really looking forward to! Plus exciting plans are fast coming together for a run of dates in the Spring, news of which I shall gladly share with you soon.

All that leaves for me to say is this: there is so much material out there right now for songs that it's sometimes hard to know where to start. I rarely find making decisions about such things to be helpful anyway... some things just find their way into song and others don't. I've learned to accept that I often need time to process stuff before I can best express it though music; not always but often. The fact is, right now I find myself torn between despairing at the state of things - and at ourselves as a species - and feeling giddy with hope. I hardly need list the reasons for feeling less than optimistic as they have, largely, been documented well enough across the media. I want to live on a planet inhabited by humans that recognise their inter-dependency and live and interact in the light of it. I know that many do but the graphic examples of what happens when too many do not are enough to challenge the most optimistic and committed of progressives. The shocking rhetoric and policy-making decisions of our leaders seem at times to be born of little less than contempt for whole sections of our society and truly beggar belief. Where then is hope?

I write following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party. And I cannot lie, I find this cause for great optimism for Britain's future. It is true that he is not the messiah (no, don't go there...) and he will make mistakes and all the rest of it. But I see and hear someone with a heart for the people; with integrity and dignity rarely seen in modern politics. The feeling of discontent with the status quo and the longing for something better that has been bubbling away in many for a few years now has something tangible to look to: a Labour Party that given a little time may - and should - be able to reform itself into a viable socialist alternative to the establishment-friendly, right-of-centre politics that have overseen things in this country for far too long. I remain very attracted to the Greens and watch with great interest how everything moves on, but the inescapable fact is that at last we have a choice... those of us of a socialist persuasion have representation... we have, I would argue, cause to hope that something better may yet come to be.

Consequently, songs are coming... more will follow...

Thanks as always to everyone for the support and encouragement. And I include in that the many radio stations and presenters that have played - and continue to play - my songs and for all their kind words. It's been an amazing year and isn't over yet. Hope to see many of you before it's done. SP x