Needs more reverb
Hello! You're hanging out at the Ice Col Water Cooler and I'm Ice Col Beveridge.
What's new?
This last fortnight, I have mostly been singing Madeleine. Here's a clip live at The Boot thanks to host Julia Krzyzanowska.
There was a songwriting circle without an attached open mic on the 29th, where I played Madeleine and Sunrise on the Rhone around the table.
In the Dry Dock on October 2nd, performers were thin on the ground, so I got a long set and a short one:
Madeleine • Isabella • Ciorstaidh's Carol-Ann • Tilda • Morna • Hope • Heidi
followed by
By The Time I Get To Crail • Didi • Attention All Shipping • Sunrise on the Rhone
It was quite nice with a sparse crowd to be able to be conversational and have a bit of back-and-forth – there was a nice running gag about this being my entire fan-base. The rest of you missed out on me playing about three quarters of the planned album.
Then at the Belvedere on October 6th, I played:
By The Time I Get To Crail • Morna • Hope • Heidi
I've been playing Crail because it was the first week of October and usually I forget. This set picked up markedly as it went on – I started quite croaky and only really hit my stride in Hope, which I reckon is a bit of a banger. My highlights otherwise included some Steve Earle deep cuts from Pete and originals from Belv debutant Will Spencer. He's really good!
And finally back in the Dry Dock on October 9th:
Dorothy • Tilda • Hope • Heidi
followed by
Madeleine • Lie Down • War In Your Heart • Tangled Up In Bob
The first set was good. The second was, a blunder in Lie Down aside, amazing; I enjoyed teasing the crowd with my introductions and TUIB had a mid-song round of applause at the Saddam Hussein line.
Meanwhile, I'm making some demos to take into the studio later in the month; did I mention I'm making an album?
Question time
Question: What's this album about?
Answer: That's an excellent question, thank you for asking. I noticed toward the end of last year that I'd written a few songs with women's names as titles, and that they weren't in the usual pattern of "Joanna, I love you" or "Jolene, leave my bloke alone" or "Layla, I'm obsessed with you but let's make it all about me". I thought that a series of songs that had women as central characters but didn't come from a place of lust (or wrath) would be an interesting project. I think some of the songs – Dorothy and Heidi especially – are up there with anything I've ever written.
Where to catch me
I plan to be at open mics over the next week, circumstance permitting:
- Tom Brown's originals, Dorchester on October 12th
- Duke of Cornwall, Weymouth on October 15th
The following week, I think it'll be:
- The Belvedere, Weymouth on October 20th
- Duke of Cornwall, Weymouth on October 22nd
Come along and say hi! As always – show up, sing up, connect.
Until next time,
C
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That's the official license. Unofficially, you have my blessing to play, sing and adapt my songs for your pleasure and others'. Give whoever listens my love. If you're doing something professional with them, please give me a shout first.