I’m getting ready to fly to Europe for WOMAD and other gigs, plus taking the summer school in Bath which was amazing last year. The new album is nearly ready – it’s called ‘Songwriter’ and will be released this coming September in Europe. I thought I’d start this diary page and see what happens. Brush up my grammar and try to start using capital letters. I’ll write about the album, put up songs on my website, and keep some kind of tour diary. And try to reply if you write in – I’m keeping up the myspace site, but after saying ‘yes’ to a Christian wolf in sheep’s clothing I’ve spent a lot of time saying ‘no’ to his 98700 friends.
I just put up ‘Gordon Brown’ from the ‘Troubadour’ mini album here (you can guess why), and a song I wrote when a friend (Stu Spence who took the ‘Boy 40’ and ‘a million miles’ CD photos) asked me for a song for his current art exhibition here in Melbourne. Stu asked me to look at the works and react with a song, and here’s how it came together:
“When I looked through the photos it felt like I’d missed the train — I’d been to the Sydney exhibition and had other interpretations in my head, so I didn’t know how to choose one. Then I put up the page with all the photographs, and stared into the middle distance for a while. Some time later, I started playing, and a rather amazing song/soundscape emerged. It tries to express what I took to be the mood of the collection, incorporating the exhibition title, a line from a Bob Dylan song, and six of the photos in particular — but only briefly, and only maybe only in my head. All of this mixed in with something personal I’ve been thinking about lately. I mixed the song and sent it off to Stu, feeling a strange mix of anxious and relieved. The song is long but worth it, I hope. I’d imagine maybe taking a wander round the gallery listening to it.”
Have fun and a great summer – or a beautiful warm winter. Quite a few friends of mine are no longer with us. News is not always good. It makes me think that we have to treasure every moment.
The above all reads a little bit like new year’s resolutions, but I promise it’ll get better. And not facebook -mood twitterish.
andy white : songwriter 