Italy

Note to self: avoid 11 hour night trains wherever possible! The trip from Konstanz in Germany to Modena Italy via Zurich and Bologna was a very forgettable one!! but i arrived in one piece on sunday at 7 a.m - feeling positively mullered.
the show last night, in Parma was my first ever on home soil and was alot of fun - although i think i made the audience a little nervous when i said this was my first ever show in italy - as i was speaking to them in italian, and oddly enough , found it quite easy, and they knew nothing about me, they were a bit confused with the whole affair. as in , what's your story & what rock have you all of a sudden come out of hiding from. but they dug the show - the two "how good the show was" indicators were both positive - no one heading to the bar and (almost) no one talking through the set. and in keeping with the theme of all things new, i threw in a couple of brand new tunes i'd never played before. to my ears, it seemed like they were enjoyed the most. The promoter bringing out a tray of lasagne and wine after the gig was, although extremely kind and a heartfelt warm gesture; a moment of such italian-ness that it made me giggle a little. genius ;) A brief "pilgrimage" to Correggio this morning and then glorious sleep..that i've missed for a while now. No show tonight, more tomorrow.
ciao
xx

tour blog

nothing quite like a week of shows to get you smiling again. played the beautiful bush hall venue in london with the whole band on monday - there were nerves and speculations before the gig, we were trying out a few new things and it all came together nicely. the gig was being filmed as well, first time that´s happened , thought it might put me off but it felt like we were on stars in their eyes which was pretty cool. that was also the last gig in which we´re only going to play songs from the record, i´ve played them so much now. so it was really fitting to say goodbye to some old friends in such a beautiful place. next day at the abbey tavern in kentish town, we tried something different - Phil wasnt playing the whole kit, just a snare and a tambourine with brushes and doing his best Johnny Cash drums for me - and then just me on acoustic and alex playing cello. it somehow felt more at home with this smaller arrangement so we´ll give that a try when i get back. When do I get back? right now i´ve no idea. my head is a little frazzled right now. I flew in to frankfurt on wednesday to play three shows with Get Well Soon http://www.myspace.com/youwillgetwellsoon which has been one of the most enjoyable tours i´ve done. it´s pretty cool that our paths managed to cross and i got to know their music quite well in a short space of time. they were all super nice to me and i´ve had a blast. there were i think about 300 people at each , which does make for a welcomed change to dragging my mates down to the 12 bar club on a random tuesday night. it´s a pretty hard gig to play..and especially listen to when it´s just voice and acoustic..and harp. you have to give it all your attention and listen to the stories..there´s no drums to nod your head to and no interaction between musicians like when there´s a whole band pushing each other to their best..when it´s just a solo gig..that´s all there is so it´s not always easy to win people over - but all in all, the Germans dug goodtimes goodtimes! they lent me their ears and i gave them my best. another good thing about playing shows here..there always jeager in the rider. good shout boys! UK promoters..please, if you wouldnt mind, thanks!
So now i ´m cathing a train from Konstranz, Germany to Parma in Italy where I´ll play my first ever shows in my home country. to say i´m excited about this is somewhat of an understatement. parma tomorrow, then two shows in bologna and then two in Roma!
i´m using as much of my "waiting around time" at the gigs to write new tunes. so expect some new stuff from me really soon.

i took the photo on stage at the show in biberach two days ago. goodtimes ;)
alright, cant miss this train or i will be truly screwed .

fxx

tunes

Alright? Couple of weeks now , been deliriously writing tunes, scrapping them, writing some more , scrapping those and now some keepers have decided to show up which is a relief as i was almost at that point of opening up the beatles chord book for some...cough..cough..inspiration. nah, it's not been like that but spending ALOT of time trying to stick chords together can make you go a little loopy after a while. there's tunes i'm looking for, i can hear, but i cant find. they're there. it's just a case of looking in the right place! i think it's half written, the new record that is, we've had a couple of rehearsals jamming some new stuff and i'm pleased to say we're about 2 and a half records away from being a southern jam band. No, not at all, but the thought is quite a nice one though. This week..and next..is all about the gigs, a couple of great ones lined up with the band this friday and monday..bush hall..beautiful venue..(sounds like a vaccum when you're on stage ;) ) and next week off to germany for a few dates with Get Well Soon, which will be fun. not lease 'cause i've never been to the country before. it's always fun to have a poke around where you've never been. And all things going to plan, Italy in a few weeks..anyway.

Here's your tune for the day,

DESIRE
F/// Am/// A#/// Gm///

that's it. have fun

xx

Ligabue

been writing lots for a new record , so very pleased to playing some shows next week and conversing with people again.

I just found out Ligabue is playing two nights at koko in camden next month. First time i saw him play was in some field a few hours outside rome when i was 15. my cousin drove us there...and almost all the way back..on her trusted little vespa. happy days.