The Yule Blog

Let’s take care of the urgent stuff first, shall we?

Tomorrow - Friday 9th December – I shall be playing my final gig of the year online. I thought it would be a nice way to tie up what has been very busy 2022 with a session open to any and all who wish to come along. It all takes place via Zoom and starts at 7:30pm (virtual doors: 7:15pm) and all you need to do is click the link here to join us. It’s free to join and to view, though contributions are most welcome via PayPal (there’s a handy link here) for any who are willing and able to make one. Thank you either way and, above all, I hope that many of you will be able to be there

(Incidentally, almost as soon as 2023 gets underway, I’m out ‘n’ about again! If you can make The Great British Folk Festival at Butlins, Skegness, on 7th January, I’ll be on the Acoustic/Introducing Stage from 2:15pm. I’m very excited to be playing this fantastic festival! Then, on 9th January, I’m playing Boston Folk Club, also in Lincolnshire. Just click on the event names for full details.)

Secondly, if you think that a SP CD might make for an appropriate Christmas gift for somebody you know, might I respectfully encourage you to place your orders by 12th December at the latest. The deadline is a little earlier this year, of course, due to the necessary postal strikes taking place. As you’re probably aware, What Tomorrow Knows is out now and available to order online as either a CD or digital download. If you’ve not yet got your copy, you can find it, and a good deal more, over at the shop here. Thanks to all who’ve already purchased and also for the amazing feedback it’s been receiving. I could not be happier… x

So then, those are the particularly pertinent things to mention. Other than that, I guess it’s time to put a bow on another year.

I hope 2022 has not been too unkind to you. I know some have faced particular challenges, naturally, and I truly hope that those are being overcome and that the year ahead will treat you better. With a couple of bouts of Covid and a dose of the Shingles to accompany me through the recording process this year, it’s been a bit of a ride here as well. I’ve never worked as hard at anything as I’ve worked this year on the new record. But additionally, I’ve never been as pleased with anything before either.

On a wider scale though, we all continue to grapple with various difficulties, and I can’t pretend that the arbitrary boundary between the old and the new year is cause for thinking that things are likely to change significantly any time soon. I do, however, maintain that the best chance for overcoming these problems lies in our own hands: they will neither solve themselves nor be righted by those with a vested interest in maintaining or ignoring them. As somebody recently sang:

“Let’s suppose what tomorrow knows and shake these chains once more!”

I sometimes struggle to hope for the future. And yet we must. But such hope will only be manifested and be of any true worth if we also recognise that it is next to useless if left only as a feeling or wishful thought. Hope is not and can not be treated as a passive thing. In terms of outcomes, hope that is neither fought for nor realised and hopelessness itself are indistinguishable from one another.

“If just a little hope still burns in our hearts then we must understand… hope is in our hands.”

In the more immediate sense, I hope that I may see you tomorrow at the online gig. As I say, you’d be incredibly welcome! There’ll be new songs and old, and doubtless a few surprises too. There’ll also be a small live physical audience here and a generally jolly* feel to proceedings.  (*I may have overstated things!)

Have a wonderful holiday season, and be kind to yourselves. (I don’t doubt for a moment that you’re all kind to others, just don’t forget yourselves as well.) 😊

With thanks, love, and the hope for something better down the road…

Steve xx