Dear all,
Well New Zealand got off to a pretty spectacular start! Auckland folk festival is one of the finest festival gigs I have ever done. I got a lovely response from the crowd and better still, I met some wonderful musicians with whom I had some great jams including one on stage in the final concert. Special mention to 10 string symphony, a mighty fiddletastic American duo, Mark Mazengarb who is an astounding New Zealand guitarist, Emily Roughton Continue reading “Auckland Folk Festival”
Dear all,
Yes I’m finally here after that lovely long flight…I’m missing that already but it is fantastic to be here. I’m not long out of bed after that mammoth journey which involved precious little sleep so thought I’d blog a while until I head out. Auckland Folk Festival starts today and my main set is tomorrow afternoon before I have a little break and then two and a half weeks of gigs. I am very excited indeed about the whole thing and very pleased indeed that I can finally see my old school friend Tom Swain in New Zealand which has
Continue reading “The banjo case issue (and hi from New Zealand!)”
Dear all,
Time to reflect on the year gone by before I really launch into the new one. It was a pretty monumental year by all accounts! The end of 2012 was very difficult, in fact the year as a whole was pretty forgettable on many counts. Walsh and Pound was finished, which in truth was the right decision all round but there was of course the burning question about what on earth to do instead.
But what seemed like it might be a quieter year has been by busiest yet. I’ve played hundreds of gigs, played in four countries I’d never played in before, joined a new band, collaborated with two new musicians, done more amazing work for Live Music Now and generally had a bloody fantastic time. The mojo that I’d lost a tad returned and then some and I feel fantastic about work at the moment. So very positive (makes a change on this blog I know…).
The year began with a trip to India which was quite literally a dream come true! Four Brits and six musicians from South Asia (India, Bangladesh and Pakistan) Continue reading “2013 Review”
As many of you will know, and readers of this blog certainly will I am very proud alongside my regular touring and recording to do some work for the charity Live Music Now. The scheme enriches the lives of people through live music in care homes, hospices, hospitals, special needs schools, homeless shelters and even prisons. It has been some of the most rewarding work I have ever done for a few years now, but one particular residency has changed my life forever.
Recently, my partner in crime Nic Zuppardi (outstanding mandolinist) and I were asked to play a series of eight concerts at a care home in Surbiton for elderly people with dementia. We have always enjoyed our live music now work but I guess we were quite nervous about this one thinking about how to make the residency work. The first concert was really a session of sussing out the audience and what they enjoyed.
They were very receptive to our own material and nearly all seemed generally enthusiastic about us being there but there was a definite increase in reaction, understandably, when they knew the material already.
There were quite a few requests in the first couple of concerts, some of which we didn’t know. So we went away and learned those songs and they became real favourites in the concerts. On a purely personal note, I had an absolute wail of a time playing some old jazz stuff which I’d always wanted to do but never really had the reason to since leaving the university jazz orchestra six years ago! Fly Me To The Moon, Beyond The Sea, Autumn Leaves, St Louis Blues and Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off are songs that were a genuine joy to play and I’ve even played a couple of them at some solo gigs now.
It struck me throughout the whole residency how powerful music really is. Many of the residents were incoherent, didn’t know where they were sometimes, couldn’t hold much of a conversation and, painfully, some struggled to recognise their own family when they were present. But sing a song they knew and they sang it word perfect from start to finish. One lady particularly seemed to know the words to just about any song ever written and it became a lovely running joke/truth that she knew all the words when I didn’t!
As the residency happened, I came to realise that it went beyond the fact that the residents could remember song lyrics more than many other things. It gave them so much on an emotional level. I’m particularly thinking of Marjory, a generally quiet lady who struggled to know quite what was going on and seemed quite nervous. But when she sang, with a voice that was still utterly beautiful, she became a different person. Certain songs triggered it for her, particuarly When Irish Eyes Are Smiling which was not a song I was ever overly fond of but it was requested by one of the other residents so we learned it and I am so glad we did. The moment the song started Marjory would not only sing but a huge smile would come over her face and her arms would uncontrollably move with her singing. I find it so hard to describe watching Marjory in full flow – it was breathtaking and clearly gave her immense satisfaction and purpose.
The residency never stopped surprising me either. Certain residents who had seemed disinterested or unaware would suddenly show how much the music and the frequency of our visits had meant to them. One resident seemed very passive and then one week she couldn’t stop dancing in flamboyant fashion! Another appeared to be asleep most of the time yet Nic went up to talk to her and she asked him how Norwich was (where he lives) and how much she enjoys his mandolin playing! And most unexpectedly of all, a resident who seemed to really really not like us being there told us at the last session she always looked forward to us coming and would miss us. Extraordinary!
But most moving of all was the impact on the legendary Glen Mason. Glen was a singer and actor in the 50’s and 60’s and quite a big star in his day and is one of the residents in the care home. The residency was supported in fact by the Musicians Benevolent Fund who look after Glen. He is always full of smiles and warmth but sadly he is not always overly coherent and isn’t always aware quite what’s going on. After the first week we went away and learned an old hit of his called What’s Cooking Baby (see Glen singing it in a film in 1960 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3xk3Gkyuo) which we played at the second concert. Glen recognised it and by repeating the same line a few times we got him to sing along and he enjoyed that though it made him very emotional afterwards and us too for that matter. We learned a couple more of his songs through the residency, the real hit being Glendora which was his biggest hit back then and his favourite. He sang along very enthusiastically with this one and as the weeks went by needed less and less prompting. He seemed so happy and joyful at singing again as it was obviously still such a big part of him as was being a showman. He loved the attention as his songs were played and enjoyed it when I stopped singing and left a verse to him which the residents also really enjoyed. At the very end of the residency, we sang Molly Malone which had also been very popular with the residents through the concerts and Glen sang his heart out. I went and sat next to him on the last chorus and sang with him and I’m not ashamed to say there was a tear in my eye.
Nic and I had such a great time and felt such affection for the residents of the care home and indeed for the staff who deserve a special mention for being lovely and welcoming. We miss them and hope to go back there in the new year in some way. We made the residents very happy with our concerts. It also gave them a really exciting thing to look forward to every week and for many the benefits went beyond that. Glen, Marjory and others were able to express themselves again and to grow in confidence and stability. Not only did Glen sing again, but his conversation with us and apparently with staff when we weren’t there noticeably seemed easier for him once we started doing our concerts at the home. Nic and I really changed some lives during the residency and I hope the residents know on some level that they changed ours too.
Despite my previous protestations over frivilous time spent trawling the news feed of facebook, it has made undeniably interesting reading seeing what everyone made of the recent ‘Folk Revival’ documentary on channel 4. It’s fair to say it got a fair amount of folk musicians and fans a little hot under the collar as to the programme’s definition of folk. But then what is a folk musician? And, that age old and arguably unneccessary question: what is folk music anyway?
I don’t say unneccessary to offend – it’s a very interesting topic to discuss and one that I wrote about many times at university studying a folk music degree course which one might argue is another interesting strand to the debate! Perhaps more than any other genre it means very different things to different people Continue reading “What is folk? I wouldn’t worry about it.”
So the Plebgate row tediously rumbles on. Did Andrew Mitchell use the word pleb? Did the policeman in question lie? Did the police federation intentionally try to get Mitchell out of his job in revenge for previous arguments? Much more importantly, does anyone still care?
Even if the police did lie, the portrayal of Mitchell as the hard-done-by politican forced out of a job by lies and untruths is wrong. Whether he used the word pleb or not and whether the story can be questioned, Andrew Mitchell, an elected politician shouted and swore at police for not letting him ride his bike through a gate. They were perfectly entitled to do this and were doing their job. One can debate whether this alone would deserve losing a job and for what its worth this writer feels that it was an example of a self important Continue reading “Whoever lied…it’s still tedious.”
Dear all,
Well that was a hectic old couple of weeks! My tour with Suhail Yusuf Khan, a truly extraordinary Indian sarangi player has come to and end and it’s fair to say it exceeded our expectations. People left it late to get their tickets but thankfully the gigs were nearly all packed out people seemed very enthusiastic about our very unorthodox collaboration. I am excited to say that I’ve been asked to write a full piece about the tour for Rolling Stone India among other magazines so cannot put too much on here yet, but I do need to tell you a bit about it. A Dan tour wouldn’t be a Dan tour without a blog now would it?!
So we kicked off in Birmingham where played the Kitchen Garden Cafe which was a good first show. Feeling Continue reading “Banjo and sarangi – a good idea?”
Dear all,
More thorough bloggage to come but just to remind you all my tour with the sensational Indian sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan begins on Monday. Would be wonderful to see you at a gig. A reminder of the dates:
11/11 – Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
12/11 – Green Note, London
13/11 – Bicycle Shop, Norwich
14/11 – Anchor Arts, Wingham, Kent
15/11 – County Staff Club, Stafford (tickets from Guitar and Son)
16/11 – Petit Delight, Cleethorpes
17/11 – Smailholm Village Hall, Kelso, Scotland
18/
And a reminder of what we sound like together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHF0-PKa5eI
Best wishes folks,
Danjo
Dear all,
Sorry it’s been a couple of weeks since my last outing. Plenty of work this month but a relatively quiet gigging month before the mayhem of November! Anyway lots to tell you about. First up after my last blog was an appearance on BBC Radio Stoke which was good if a tad stormy in places! Hope you enjoyed it those who listened.
The main gig to tell you about was my final festival appearance of the year at Musicport in Whitby. I had a great slot in the main theatre at about 8 and it was wonderfully packed out. The audience were very nice and I had a bloody great time and it was a terrific festival too with so much diversity. Thanks to all those who came out to see me and put themselves on the mailing list. I’ll be pestering you shortly…
So coming up in November, I’ll be touring with the amazing Suhail Yusuf Khan. We’re heading up Continue reading “Buy some sodding headphones!”
Dear all,
It’s been a busy old week since coming back from Canada so I’ll bring you up to date with the gigs. After a brief trip home (i.e. a day) to wash clothes and other similarly thrilling tasks it was off for two gigs in Surrey with a gig in…er…Northumberland in between. Logical. Anyway Dorking was first as I played with the legendary Alistair Anderson at Dorking Folk Club. It was a joy as was Guildford two days later. It is scarcely possible to exaggerate what a thrill it is to play with Alistair. He radiates such astonishing renewed passion and quality even as he gets further and further into his sixties, Continue reading “A phone call, a fire alarm and a disgusting newspaper”