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Andy's News
09.09.05 Hello again after far to long. I've been very busy playing various festivals this summer and Only just returned from a tour with John McCusker. Next I'm off to teach and play a dance with Blowzabella. Should be good fun, then it's a concert with June Tabor and then a month and a half with Kate Rusby. Quite a busy autumn for me. All the best Andy xx 26.04.05 It's been a while and I've been busy as usual. March saw Me on tour with Kate Rusby in England and rehearsing with June Tabor for some concerts later in the year and for her new record which we will be starting next month. I also had a great weekend rehearsing and playing an informal dance with the new Blowzabella line up. Recording wise I had a great time going to record a song with Barry Coope for the next Coope Boys and Simpson album. He's such anamazing singer. I also went up and played on the next Chumbawamba record. Shock horror, I've got a gig with Chris Wood tomorrow in Faversham! 19.01.05 Well, Happy new year. All the christmas and new year stuff was great fun. I even got to play for a dance. It was great playing loads of old english tunes with some great friends. Last week I was in Glasgow playing at Celtic Connections with John McCusker (in the Arches) and June Tabor at the royal Concert Halls. I'm back off up there at the end of the month to play on Late Junction. Then it's more work on my slowly progressing Record! 7.11.04 Well I’m just back from a month’s touring with Kate Rusby. It’s been great fun and certainly put in a few miles visiting England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The food in Ireland was particularly good but the weather and resulant cancelled ferry meant a lot more driving and a cancelled concert. Sorry Colwyn Bay. However it was great if not tiring. On Friday I played the first of three dances with Blowzabella. The next is in Mansfield and we will be Joined by the band’s new Hurdy Gurdy player as Nigel Eaton will be leaving at the end of this run of gig’s. It’s sad that Nigel’s leaving but very exciting to work with a new member of the band. Meanwhile it’s the land of Admin and accounts for me! 25.09.04 Well all I can say is computers have minds of there own. I've been having great problems with the website well the Dates page really. I've re written it twice now but as I cannot see the problem that has been reported to me by several of you( Thank you) it has been very difficult to correct. Hmm. Please mail me if there is still a problem and I'll try and sort it out. Anyway. Just off to do the last two gig's with Chris and then next Thursday it's the start of Kate Rusby's Band tour. 01.09.04 Hello again. Well it’s been a mad couple of months. Not the best on the weather front (will it ever stop raining?). But had a very busy time gigging and recording. I went and played with Chris for the Optical Society of America at Imperial Collage in London. Then it was a tour with John McCusker and his band. A real High mileage tour from Nettlebed in the south and right up to Inverness and Skye. Beautiful driving but the Midges can bog off. Then In July I went driving at Silverstone. What a great day that was. Auto testing in a Cateram 7, a tour round the Jordan factory and then driving a track prepared Lotus Elise. I’m totally hooked now and will defiantly be doing it again. In August I played some gigs with Kate at Sidmouth (which was filmed for BBC4 and then at the open-air theatre in Regents Park. On what looked like the set for the Telly Tubbies. I also managed to go away for a few days holiday to Wasdale in the Lake District. God is doesn’t half know how to rain there! Then it was off to camp at Towersy. Again, not the best of weather but so lovely to Just enjoy a folk festival and not have to work. I did however manage to slip off to Stourbridge to play a dance with Chris for the International Glass Blowing conference. Dave Hunt called and was quite amazing. He had the whole room totally in his hands. Well next I’m off top Germany for the weekend and then it’s back to finish building a climbing frame that I started a fortnight ago but rain stopped play. Many times. And then it’s rehearsal land for Blowzabella and The Kate Rusby band tour.
19.05.04 I'm back at home now having done the little splurge of gig's with Chris. So that means I have to catch up with all the admin. Gould, It never stops. But very happy with the weather. Just to add The June Tabor BBC4 concert will be shown on June the 4th. 11.05.04 Well hello again. It's been a busy couple of months and now I'm playing a few gig's with my old pal, Chris wood. Lovely it is too. The other week I played a concert with June Tabor which was filmed for BBC4. I'll keep you posted when it is due for broadcast. I also played on the new CD of a blues guy, John Dickinson. In between all that I've done some gig's with Kate Rusby and worked on the soundtrack for Billy Connolly's new TV series. Next I'm off to Blackpool with Chris! 31.03.04 What an amazing few days I've had. Had a lovely gig in Blackheath on my birthday then the next day I was taken to stay at the Covent Garden Hotel. Just the nicest and most relaxing hotel I've ever stayed in. I'm not a great one for being waited on but the experience was wonderful. In the evening we all went to the lovely Chang Mai Thai restaurant in Frith Street , Soho. I've been a few times and it was as good as ever. It's quite a scruffy place but I think it adds to it's charm. After the meal we wandered back to the hotel. Made use of it's honesty bar and played Scrabble. John was raging when, Having scored 51 in one go I then scored 108 by just adding one letter. The next morning it was eggs benadict in bed. I'm not great at breakfast but It was well worth it. Then it was back to the real world of touring for a few days until Sunday, When I was treated to Lunch at Heston Blumenthal's Incredible Restaurant The Fat Duck, in Bray. I say lunch, well, we sat down at 1.20pm and left at 5.07pm having eaten something like 16 courses. It was the most amazing eating experience I have ever had. If your interested in Food I urge you to look at his website, or even better. Book well in advance (the Fat Duck is only the third restaurant in Britain to have three Michelin stars. The third one being awarded in January this year) and with a very open mind and deep pocket go and be amazed. We had the Taster (Degustation) menu. I loved it and will go again. Anyway we Just finished Kate's tour and now I have a few days to recover at home. Then I'm doing some more work on my solo album!!!! Till the next bit. 18.03.04 Well It's my birthday and I'm off to London to play with Kate, John and Kris Drever. Then it's a day off in London. Might be party time. I got a cake as well! Bye. 24.02.04 Well Happy new year! Yes I'm back on track with the re written website. It has been such a faff and quite expensive to boot! anyway it's here now and I'm going to keep on fiddling with it until............ Well it's very flash really. All the festive thing was a good laugh and January saw me up in Glasgow for Celtic Connections with John McCusker and Kate Rusby. Saw the amazing Riccardo Tesi there as well as the great Hurdy Gurdy player and composer Gilles Chabenat. Then in February I went to the BBC Folk Awards. Failed to win the two awards I was up for, but had a great night. In March I'm off on tour with Kate and John so may see you at a gig? Till my next offering. 29.09.03 Well all I can say is that Decorating and then moving house whilst on tour is rather hard work! However just home from tour with Kate. It's been great and fantastic audiences. Including filming a dvd with Kate at Leeds City Varieties. What a laugh that was. I'm not sure when it will be out but I'll keep you informed. Next I have a few gig's with John McCusker and his band. Then it's the last few gig's of the tour with Kate and the band. Phew. All good fun tho! 27.08.03 What a month or so it's been! Well St Chartier was Incredible. Exceedingly hot and lovely to go back. The gig was Amazing. We played for just over three hours to an audience of well over 6000. To me it was one of my most memorable gigs so far. Here's some photos. Then I was teaching at the Folkworks Youth summer school in Durham for a week. Once again I had a lovely time and the standard of playing just gets better and better. After that I made it down to Sidmouth for a couple of days and got recruited into judging the Melodeon competition. What a laugh. Since then I've been working with Kate and John and the rest of the band for her tour which started last Wednesday in Edinburgh with a mad evening in which we played a gig with Kate followed immediately by a gig with John and a huge drive back south to be in Snape (Suffolk) the next afternoon! Quite tiring. The next part of Kate's tour starts next Thursday. I'm having a snooze now. Night! 09.07.03 Well Last weekend I was in Rudolsdadt Festival in Germany. Playing with Blowzabella. Apart from very little sleep it was great. Lovely to see some old friends and really good playing with the band again. Amazing to think it's been 13 years since we last played as a 7 piece! Yesterday I went and finished playing on Chumbawamba's next album. Now I'm off to St Chartier Festival in France. Now that is going to be good fun. Bye for now. 12.06.03 Well Arran is so beautiful. Great time was had and lovely to see some friends I haven't seen for a long time. Just been mowing the lawn and sneezing a lot as well as recording on Chumbawamba's new album. They wanted to use something real rather than the usual keyboard sounds. All good fun. Tomorrow I'm off to Gower to play with The Waltzer and then on Saturday evening with Karen. Then its two days of rehearsing with Blowzabella. Must learn some music now! Bye! 29.05.03 Hello again. I've been painting again. And recording on Kate Rusby's new record. And eating lots of lovely cheese. It's a hard life. Also started working on a tune book! Off to Arran with Kate and John next week which should be good fun. More soon. 18.05.03 Well. Ended our UK tour with Chris. Seemed to go really well and now people in the UK are realising that were still working the agent's phone is ringing again. Hurra. With the way Chris and I work. If we carry on like this another record might find itself getting recorded. Well we shall see. Anyway I've been up recording with Kate and John on Kate's new record. Always great to spend time with the Rusby's. Sometimes forget were actually working! Oh well it's back to painting my house if the weather improves? BYE! 12.05.03 Hello again, Well Last night was great. Chumbawamba were just the thing to shake Holmfirth folk festival up a bit. Great sound as well! Oh well off to Wales now. BYE! 11.05.03 Hello, Well I'm on tour with Chris Wood at the moment with my cold! It's lovely to play with him again and now with a few gig's of the tour under our belt it's really beginning to feel like the old days but unlike lots of the Folk glitterate who claim they are treading new ground I think as ever we are moving forward? Well who knows but were happy. Well off to see Chumbawamba at Holmfirth tomorrow. Really looking forward to going to a gig and not having to play! Well as ever. Come and say hello at gig. 04.04.03 Hello, Hope all this sunshine finds you well? I've just played a few gig's with Kate Rusby and John McCusker. Really nice to get out a bit and have a play. For the next few weeks I'll be going and recording with Kate on her new album as well as playing with John and Kate at the premier of Heartlands. The film Kate and John did the music for. It's directed by Damien O'Donell who also directed East is East. A lovely man as well. Should be good fun. Thinking of changing my car as well but that's another story. 05.03.03 Hello again. Well I've been painting and managed to paint some curious parts of my body without even noticing. Anyway that aside had a couple of lovely gig's with 1651 and Played with Linda Thompson at the Folk Awards. Another long night but lovely to meet up with loads of people I've not seen for ages. Now I'm off to the land of Blowzabella to sort out the details for this year. Ooo and I have a dance with the Chris Wood and Andy Cutting Band! Should be a laugh. Anyway until next time. Take care 30.01.03 My God. Celtic Connections never gets any more sensible. Played as part of the musical ark with Karen Tweed. This involved fifty odd musicians all in duo's playing in each of four venues in one evening. Then ending up by all travelling to each of the four venues in turn for a finale! Lots of taxis across town. The next day we played opposite the Sharon Shannon Band in the Fruit Market. Not sure the audience knew what to make of us but we enjoyed it. Just tried marmite on toast with a bit of mayonnaise. Quite good. But a must is marmite and honey on toast. Really.........it is good........... honest. 04.01.03 Well its the new year and things are rapidly getting moving again! And seem to have come out of the festivities not feeling too bad. Next I've got Celtic Connections with Karen Tweed and Ian Carr and then two 1651 gig's. But I am working on my tune book and Solo CD. Well we'll see how that progresses. I think you cant beat a good roast potato! Especially with (Helmans!) Mayonnaise and a bit of rock salt! Fantastic. 23.12.02 Happy Christmas time. Things as ever have been very busy. The rest of the Kate Rusby UK tour was great but unfortunately Kate had to postpone the German Trio tour. So hopefully we'll be able to re schedule it before too long? On another subject Karen Tweed and My duo album One Roof Under has been voted the best album of 2002 by the Irish Times as well as really positive reviews in FRoots and Songlines magazine. Next it's the new year and beginning to work for the 25th Anniversary of Blowzabella! We have a few select gig's organised in Europe so check out Blowzabella.com for the latest information. I am also working on my solo album and tune book. More news as it progresses. Happy imbibing 7.11.02 Ooo well here I am on another tour with Kate and John. It's going really well. Joe (Kate's brother) has a new amazing d&b sound system which we've been using at all the gig's. we've also had Mark Whyles tour managing and selling the merch. He's also been buying lovely nibbles to eat in the dressing rooms! Incredible olives and smoked salmon. Who said touring was hard? 7.11.02 Hello again. Just had a lovely weekend in Darlington. At the Folkworks workout weekend. It's a great thing that Folkworks do. Loads of people all playing whenever they get the chance. Amazingly managed to get time and dash for a curry as well! I'm working at home until next Saturday when I'm off again with The Kate Rusby Trio. All good fun I'm sure. More soon. Gould nearly forgot. Chris Wood and I many years ago when we started to play recorded a cassette which after many years and many many requests have put it onto CD! It sounds amazing. Quite a blast from the past! 22.10.02 Well now. Things have been just great in the last month or so. The rest of the tour with Kate and the band was really good and very memorable (although I can't really remember much of it!) end of tour part! Then three days at home and now I'm on an English tour with Chris. It's funny going from playing big theatres to doing lovely little gig's. Some people don't believe you are the same person! Well maybe I'm not? After this tour I'm off to teach at the Folkworks Darlington weekend workout! Should be good fun but the usual long days that are folk works events! Do say hello If you are at any of the gigs. 28.09.02 | ||||||||||
Here I am in Harrogate. In the interval watching Ian Carr and John McCusker play table tennis on the mixing desk's flight case. Ian is really good and everyone is really getting competitive and trying to beat him! The tour is going really well and the audiences have been great! I had a pizza tonight and burnt my mouth again. I have no patience when I'm hungry and have hot food! Tomorrow were in Sheffield and then we have a break of four days. Then it's off for another lump. The other night my new record with tweed was played on late junction and last week radio 3 played a load of 1651. Great! Must go now Take care. 17.09.02 Well I'm just back from America and playing some concerts in New England with Chris. Had a great time including a couple of great nights in Burlington Vermont. What lovely people. I'm now in the very strange land of jet-lag and trying to get back to GMT in time for rehearsals and the start of the Kate Tour that starts on Friday! Blimey life can be quite tiring. 31.08.02 I read once that it was proven that sleep depravation didn't have a substantial effect on your overall performance. Well I think those oh so wise American scientists are wrong! I had about eight hours sleep between Thursday and Monday and I'm still well pooped and it's only Saturday! Tonder festival in Denmark is so to blame! It is a great festival but to many lovely people and not enough hours in the day. So you just don't go snoozing. Oh well. All I can say is that everyone should go. Then it was back to play at Towersy with Kate and John. The gig was great. And now after many years there are really good PA's! Had a lovely time and even got fed wine outside between the sound check and the gig. Thanks lovely wine people! The next day we played at the Bolton festival. The next day My Duo CD with Tweed "One Roof Under" arrived. Quite happy with it! You can get it off the web site. Well next Friday I'm off to New England with Chris for a week so Should be good fun? 10.08.02 Well last weekend was mad! Great fun but Mad! Now I'm back home recovering and wondering what's going on with the British weather? Just how much rain do you need? Well on Wednesday I'm off to do some more recording with Kate and John and then Edinburgh Fringe next Tues and Wed. With the trio doing a live Andy Kershaw show on Monday. After that it's flying to play and Tonder (Denmark) and on to Towersy. What a mad month?! Andy xx | ||||||||||
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