I am currently building bits of spaceships at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center. It is my life's ambition to go into space and to travel the world with my guitar.
Session-tastic "The Easy Club" & "Myra's Jig" - 26/07/10
I've had an exciting few weeks or so getting settled back into the whole "Scientist" thing, but I still had time to play music with one of my new Washington DC friends, Catherine Chapman, a fiddle player and all-round folkie. The two tunes above are from our session, one called "The Easy Club", and the other "Myra's Jig".
From the sound of it, there's been lots of excitement and folk-tasticness back home. Rowena's uploaded this video of Jennifer and I playing The Prickly Bush... Be sure to watch in HD!
And she went to see everybody's favourite over-talented multi-instrumentalist singer-singwriter-fiddler - Seth Lakeman. Here's what she had to say about him at Guildfest...
"He was amazing, as always. Sign of a good musician - he held the stage even when it was just him doing a solo on fiddle ! He did a lot of new stuff, off his new album (due out today in fact), which was good but meant I didn't recognise a lot of what he played. I especially liked a song called the mariners (or something like that) from his new album [Hearts and Minds] tho. He also played a few off Poor Man's Heaven, but tended to go for the more upbeat stuff, and so did neither Solomon Browne or King and Country :( Oh, and Benji Kirkpatrick was there too - twiddling around on the zuke or harmonica - he's one busy man: playing with Seth, solo stuff, Faustus AND Bellowhead!
I've uploaded a recording of Jennifer Cutting and I playing our version of John Spiers and John Boden's arrangement of the traditional song "Prickly Bush" live at a house concert in Takoma Park. It's a number that we've played at the Southern Maryland Celtic Festival. To be honest with you, the main reaction that we've gotten from Americans can best be described as "bewilderment".
"Gee, huh? A what-kinda bush?"
At any rate, I really have to hand it to Jennifer, there's very few accordian players I know who could play such a complex part, which is great, because she really carries this song in both arms.
In other news, much to my suprise, at the Peter Mayer gig I totally sold out of my stock of hand-made Waterfront albums. All I could do was to get people's email addresses and promise them that somehow I'd make them a copy and work out how they could buy it later. So, I called up S&J in Florida and requested, in my bumbling way that they make me "oh, a hundred?". I hadn't quite appreciated what a hundred CD's looks like. I think I can safely say, that I'll never shift them all.
So, I guess I'll be setting up a shop soon, watch this space. A forray into that darkest of beasts - Internet Sales - may follow.
June was awesome - 08/07/10
There's been a noticable *cough* gap since I last updated, mostly because I've been so busy the last month. It started off with our East Coast Tour, which was notable because for the first time we didn't have to use "fingerquotes" when describing a tour as such. One evening during, we were compelled by our hosts to record a cover of the epic "Ladybug's Picnic" from "Sesame Street". In an even worse lapse in judgement, we decided to post the video of it on You Tube so that it can be "enjoyed" for all eternity (see below)
I also played a wonderful gig opening for Minnesota Singer Songwriter Peter Mayer. His excellent audience was roughly 200 strong, but also included my boss, my new girlfriend, and my Mummy, who had flown over to do a bit of travelling with me for the end of the month. If there was ever a need to play well, it was then. I must have been doing something right, since after the gig, I sold plain out of Waterfront's Album, and I've actually had to go for a somewhat more serious second printing. I'm hoping to get things set up so that I can sell copies online at some point. Watch this space.
If you look through the records of the British Admiralty, you'll find a reference to a Captain Richard Collinson, who in the year of our lord 1850 set sail to search for the Northwest Passage. Now, the expedition was successful, although it wasn't Captain Collinson who made the discovery. Now I don't know if I'm related to this chap or not (probably the latter) , but I sort of hope so for two reasons
1.) His ship was none other than the H.M.S. Enterprise
2.) We'd have the same job, separated by 150 years, that of exploration... sort of.
At any rate, here's a song all about this from our house concert, where the American audience is in fine voice...
Upcoming Gigs & Washington Folk Festival - 14/06/10
First of all, I've got a new solo gig coming up very shortly. I'm going to be opening for Peter Mayer at a local Annapolis folk club. I'll play three songs or so, and then the rest of the evening should be pretty splendid :)
Friday, June 18th, 2010
333 Opening for Peter Mayer (Blue Boat Home)
Unitarian Universalist Churt of Annapolis
333 Dubois Ave, Annapolis, MD, 21401
8pm
We had an utterly epic time playing the Washington Folk Festival. It was a balmy day, as in boiling 90+ temperatures and high humidity. The thing that made Washington Folk Festival so epic was that it is an entirly Voluntier run organisation. Yet, everything was so proffesional, from the artists, to the sound engineers, to the stage management, to the catering. We played three songs, sharing a stage with some other stunning local musicans. Rowena flew over from Britain so she could join us, and we were joined by Donna Smith on fiddle. We played three rocking tunes, a new song called "Stars in the Sky" and our old favourite, Shifting Sands. It was definitely the highlight of our mini "tour". See the photos below for more.
Click for pictures from the day...
Sketches for "Just as the Tide"- 11/06/10
I just got back from the airport dropping Ro on an airplane back to Britain. Here's the final results from our tour:
Number of gigs: 7
Number of strings broken: 10
I'll be uploading a whole bunch of stuff in the future, but for now, here's a couple of amusing photos from the week. The first is of myself onstage with the Ocean Orchestra at the Washington Folk Festival, the second is of Waterfront rehearsing in Takoma Park.
Two quick pictures from the tour...
We also did a whole bunch of jam sessions whilst Ro was over. Something that I quite liked was her version of the traditional "Just as the Tide". Bear in mind, this is the first time we'd ever played this, so it's hardly a polished performance! This is really just an early sketch of what we hope someday to be a tighter perfromance. For a start, I'll not sing so terribly at the end!
So, Ro here today with an update for you all (Glyn has let me loose on his website...mwahaha)...the past few days have been busy ones !! (One certainly can't complain of ever being bored when one is part of a transatlantic folk band !) I touched down into DC on Tuesday night and was met by a very excited Glyn at the airport. Wednesday was a day of settling into new surroundings and playing LOTS of music :) I joked that the day could be summed up by: "number of wild terrapins seen - 2, number of bouzouki strings broken - 2, number of hours playing music - too many to count" :)
Glyn and I bashed through some stuff during the day and we were then joined by Donna, our fiddle player, in the evening in order to join all these various parts of Waterfront together. It was awesome to finally get to all play together, and we're all very much looking forward to more music over the next few days. So, all in all, sore fingers aside, it was an amazingly fun and productive day ! Tonight we add a couple more musicians into the mix and then roll on the first gig on Friday (check out the gigs page for a full list of our activities over the next week).
~Ro
WMUC Radio Interview & "Hanes Rhys a Meinir" - 25/05/10
Here's a snipped from my spot on my friend Leila's WMUC radio show "This, Which Makes me Sing". It's a new song based on a very, very old Welsh Folk Tale.
The shows are then archived for an additional month or two also, and
they can be downloaded or streamed directly from here
Leila also took a few photos whilst I was at it, so you can see exactly how squashed things were in there! Right, that's it from me for today, I'm off to San Francisco for my Birthday. Next week will be a busy one with the start of our tour!
Our ever swelling East Coast Tour schedule -21/5/2010
I have absolutely no idea how we've managed to wangle this, but our single slot at the Washington Folk Festival has blossomed into a full-on hardcore 5-gig minitour. Ro and I were joking that we should have gotten T-shirts printed with our tour dates on it, as keepsakes for us (since I think we'd be the only buyers :) However, with the rate that we're adding dates, we might as well use a magic marker.
So yes, here's our latest addition. Check out the gigs page for our full schedule.
Friday, June 4th, 2010
Beans in the Belfry
122 West Potomac St, Brunswick, MD, 21716
7pm - 9pm
$5 Admission Glyn Collinson, Rowena Gee, with special guest Donna Smith
"This, Which Makes Me Sing" - 17/5/2010
Fellow NASA Goddard postdoc Leila Mays has very kindly invited me onto her radio show "This, Which Makes Me Sing".
The show is archived every week, so just after the show you can download it here:
The shows are then archived for an additional month or two also, and
they can be downloaded or streamed directly from here
If anyone wants to call up to the booth (and come on the air) the number is +1-301-314-8800. You can also text to that number.
A new friend I met at Indian Neck Festival asked if we might play at his songwriter's night above a fancy bar in Philadelphia. Thus we have another gig in our busy East Coast Tour schedule!
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
L'Etage
624 South 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
8.30pm - $5 Admission Glyn Collinson, Rowena Gee
"Dear Washington Folk Festival Participant" - 14/5/2010
I just got this in the post today. Thought I'd pass it along to all of you...
"We are delighted that you will be participating in the 30th Washington Folk Festival and are looking foward to your performance in this celebration of the Washington area's diverse musical cultures. The festival will be held on June 5-6, 2010 at Glen Echo Park in Bethesda, MD, from noon until 7pm each day.
YOUR PERFORMANCE: 5pm - Sunday June 6th 2010, Yurt Villiage Stage
FREE ADMISSION!
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Take the Metro Red Line to the Friendship Heights Station, which is located one block from the Feico parking lot at 5260 Western Ave., Chevy Chase, MD. A free shuttle will run frequently between the Geico lot and the Park entrance.
We hope you will plan to come early, stay late, and enjoy the Festival. We are celebrating 30 years of bringing Washinton its own music! Thanks again for joining us. See you at the Festival!
Sincerely,
The 30th Washington Folk Festival Program Committee"
Thoughts on the Indian Neck Folk Festival - 10/5/2010
I just returned from an epic weekend at the Indian Neck Folk Festival in Conneticut. The term "Festival" turns out to be a bit of a misnomer, since it is invitation only (due to very limited numbers), everyone pays, and everyone plays. In any other circle, it'd be called a Conference. The weekend is a big session from start to finish. I dropped my bags in my room, and headed straight out and into my first jam session. I was up playing until it was light on both Friday and Saturday nights with British Ex-Pat John Roberts with whom I also was bunking.
Saturday night was the evening of the big concert, with everyone getting to play exactly *one* song. I set myself a challenge that I would write a song in the 30 minutes that I had before my slot. As you can imagine, it was a bit of a push to get it finished, but god-willing I had it ready. In the end I chickened out and played Shifting Sands instead, mainly because I didn't have time to write out all the new words! The rest of the evening was spent with about ten to twenty others boisterously singing Sacred Harp shape-note songs.
If you were there and have any photos and/or recordings from the weekend, please do drop me a line!
New Gigs - Past Gigs - 03/5/2010
First big news, We've got another gig coming up in Takoma Park We'll be playing a full evening (our first ever such event!) and will be joined by a few friends.
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Waterfront
8011 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park MD, 20912
7pm - $15 Admission Glyn Collinson, Rowena Gee Special guests Donna Smith, Craig Williams, & Jennifer Cutting
Limited Space Avaliable! Ticket Hotline: 443-786-0463
Thanks to everyone who came to the gorgeous town of Washington, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains to see our May Day show. The show was a somewhat eclectic mix of Jennifer Cutting's Ocean and the Washington Revels. I got to lead three songs, including the Whitstable May Day song which I sang every year as a youth. The theatre was glorious, as was the audience. I hadn't seen the Revels before, but their soaring choral harmonies really sealed the evening. As I drove home, all I could say over and over was "that was fun!".
I've stolen some rehersal photos from 'reveller' Helen Fields.
I have absolutely no idea how we've managed to wangle this, but our single slot at the Washington Folk Festival has blossomed into a full-on hardcore 5-gig minitour. Ro and I were joking that we should have gotten T-shirts printed with our tour dates on it, as keepsakes for us (since I think we'd be the only buyers :) However, with the rate that we're adding dates, we might as well use a magic marker.
"We are delighted that you will be participating in the 
