Diary
Time stands still - 2010-08-16
A lot of great moments in last few weeks. The new album is completed and its always good to sign off on these few things and begin to enjoy them properly. I think it’s the album I perhaps should have made back in the nineties but I know in some ways I would not have been able to write this way back then. We can only see from where we stand.
A hop across to the USA saw me playing at the Falcon Ridge Festival in New York Sate which was fantastic and I got to play golf at Winged Foot, a US Open course. back in the UK I played the Wickham festival last week and had a wonderful reception there, but I have to say playing Fairport’s Cropredy festival yesterday was very special. I think it was the biggest solo show I have ever played. I remember opening for Chris De Burgh in front of 15,000 at Earls Court once but the 20,000 plus yesterday was quite a challenge. And yet, it was, in some ways just like a small intimate show in an arts centre. In a strange way it wasn’t that hard to play to such a big crowd. We connected straight away, played with the weather, sang to each other and ran the journey of emotions. Business as usual, but undeniably special. My daughter Harriet to the side of stage looking so lovely, watching her Dad doing his thing, and the collective kindness and approval of a vast field of people..sometimes time stands still and its just beautiful.
Well I have arrived at the 50 mark and it’s a little strange, but not as bad as it felt to be approaching it. These are just numbers after all and I know how I feel, but the passing of time cannot be messed with. The fact that it flies is a simple testament to how busy we all are. Too busy I would have thought.
Six of the tracks for the album are complete as we finished mixing them on Wednesday of this week. These are the tunes that Mason Neely has been producing for me and he has given the music a big tasteful twist that I think will surprise some listeners. Lonely Like America will not be the title of the album as I first thought. It wouldn’t reflect the spirit of the rest of the songs. The music has become, in some ways, more melodic and I have sung in a different way. If anything I have under played the vocals with some lower keys and I think the result is to leave the music hanging in the air without some of the heavier angst which I’m perhaps known for. Add that to the great musical landscapes Mason has created and we have a new ball to play with. I think its always good to change things up and this album will certainly do that. I’m excited and have a new album title to be revealed soon!
Hot days in the studio but its all going well. I think this album will surprise a lot of people and I just want to get it finished now. To be honest, if I was working at it non stop I think I would go crazy and there are moments when I think if I never hear another note of my own music that would be fine. I am excited to be nearing the end of the journey with this record though and I’m so looking forward to getting the new music out there and hearing peopl's reaction. It’s all so tentative in my head right now but I have a feeling this record has strong legs. It’s been good to have other distractions such as the Tonypandy project, which is now called Broken Peace Tonypandy 1910-2010. On Friday, after a visit to one of the schools taking part, I spent a few hours walking around the town for research and pleasure and enjoyed very much hearing those rich Welsh accents and the clatter of chatter on market day. I also drove to some very grey and depressed areas in the Rhondda Valleys and it always has a humbling effect on my thoughts and spirit.
A few weeks ago I sang ‘On This Celtic Morning’ at the annual Welsh Sports Hall Of Fame dinner as they were inducting Wales’s most famous golfer Ian Woosnam. Even if the song goes no further, it was a great honor to sing the song in front of the likes of Ian, Gareth Edwards, John Dawes, JJ Williams and other Welsh sporting giants. It went down very well and I added a special verse to the song for Woosie. I grew up playing in tournaments with Ian though I noted his 68 was a little better than my 77 when we came up against each other in the Welsh Boys Championship in around 1976. I then caddied for him in the Welsh Pro championships a few years later and he was good but showing no signs of what was to come. In fact the next week I was trying as an amateur to qualify for a professional tournament and so was he! Anyway, the next time we met was when I was on tour with Chris De Burgh and he came back stage to the NEC Arena in Birmingham around 1992. My life had changed and he had won the European Tour order of merit umpteen times, been World No 1 and won the US Masters! So, it was nice to be able to play the song for him and reflect on the different paths that had led us to a sports dinner in Cardiff. The picture is of Ian and myself and Richard Dixon and his wife. Richard is now Chief Executive of the Welsh Golfing Union and I hadn’t seen him for about twenty years. Good to make all these connections again.
Stuart Cable 1970 -2010 - 2010-06-07
I'm so sad to hear this tragic news. Stuart and I had only recently become friends, having played on his radio show. He was a good and passionate interviewer and had a deep knowledge of music. For instance I was very impressed that he knew who Paul Robeson was and his links with Wales. We got on so well, I felt like i had known him a long time which is a measure of his kindness and empathy. Stuart just made life bigger in every way. Whether you were in his presence or speaking to him on the phone you couldn't help but smile and be inspired by his enthusiasm. I'm missing that big deep voice already. This is such a shock and my thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Big love to you Stuart, you have gone far too soon. X
Martyn Joseph
Canada Because We Can Final Word - 2010-05-26
MJ writing this time..thanks to Stewart for guest blog..priceless.
Fifty Two children was our final sponsorship total..thanks so much to everyone who came to the shows and especially those are going to make such a difference for those fifty two lives.
Thanks to Stewart, Nikki, Brandon and World Vision for a great journey across Ontario..again soon please
Live from Moosejaw.....sort of - 2010-05-17
Start of the journey - 2010-04-20
Officially started recording the new album yesterday. Tracked two songs, Lonely Like America and Seahorse at Bridgerow Studios. Good to be working with owner and bass extraordinaire Wal (Andy Coughlan). He has introduced me to an amazing multi instrumentalist called Mason Neely. Mason finished a tour with Cerys Matthews on Sunday and came straight down to Wales to work with us, mainly on drums, but he plays everything! We had a great day yesterday and I’m hoping for the same today. Hard to be in the studio while the sun shines but the vibe is good.
To Twitter or not? - 2010-04-13
I knew it had been a while since I last wrote a diary entry but I was surprised at quite how long! Sorry. I hit the road hard after I got back from America and its all been a blur. Thanks to all of you who made the shows and as ever for your fantastic support. I loved the tour and we had some great nights. It was also good to be trying out a bunch of new material that I’m now going to start recording before heading back to Canada at the beginning of May. As well as recording in my studio I have booked a few days with a small band set up next week to see how that feels with tracks like Lonely Like America and You’re the Moment. This last week saw me recording a song called ‘On This Celtic Morning’ which is my attempt to write a song for the Ryder Cup that takes place for the first time on Welsh soil in October. It will be sent off to the powers that be and I’m hoping I might have created something that will capture the passion and magic of what is going to be an amazing week at the Celtic Manor.
Tonight I’m near London where tomorrow I will play golf with my dad in a tournament we have been playing in now for thirty-five years. The Fathers and Sons tournament was first played at West Hill Golf Club in 1931 and is a wonderful event. We play in the first round tomorrow afternoon, though it’s a knock out event so once we lose a match we head home. The results are usually reported in the Telegraph but I will be honest enough to let you know how we get on in the next epistle.
A bunch of people have been trying to persuade me start twittering, including Mr Simon Mayo, but I remain unconvinced. I mean look how long it takes me between these diary entries let alone every half hour. We shall see but I do promise not to leave quite so long before the next update.
From Memphis to Manchester from Pontypridd to Oxford - 2010-03-02
A rather difficult journey home from Memphis saw me missing my international connection due to storms through Chicago where I was connecting to Toronto. This also affected a number of other musicians who were flying to various locations across N America. So as we gathered in Memphis at the gate of the delayed flight, I started up some chords on the Tenor guitar, which I carry on as hand luggage. Other very skilled musicians such as Ken Whiteley and Chris Mckhool joined in on Mandolin, Harmonica, Violin and voice and we came up with a song called the ‘United Blues’. Everyone gathered around including curious passengers and soon we had a mini festival going on..very cool.
Anyway got home eventually and a few days later went to see Elvis in Manchester! The large band of musicians that toured and played with him in Vegas in the seventies are on stage and they play live to his singing on a huge screen. I know it sounds tacky but it works and is in fact a very clever undertaking. That music was some of the first I ever listened to as a boy and it was something I had to go and see. In some ways I enjoyed it very much and it was a nostalgic evening for me, though a little spoiled by the fact that the crowd sang along with all the songs which, whilst being understandable, was not what I wanted. I had come to hear Elvis, not the guy behind me.
Then on Saturday night I played at Taffy Fest in Pontypridd, which was great and as a complete contrast spoke and sang at Christchurch College in Oxford on Sunday! Nothing but varied is this job. This Friday we hit the road for an eighteen-date tour around the UK so there is little respite at the moment. It’s all good though, and a chance to try out new material which I will start recording in April.
I flew out of La Guardia last week on what was just about the only flight out of the airport that day and I was amazed we got out. The airport was almost deserted as most flights were cancelled due to the snowstorm. I have flown on well over 50 Air Canada flights in the last five years but this was the only one where some of my luggage didn’t arrive! Maybe it was a token loss as it was the lone plane to get away and someone had to lose something. This past week has seen me driving through Ontario playing in Toronto, Cobourg, Peterborough and Merrickville near Ottawa. Watched the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver from a Welsh pub in Cobourg!
On Monday I drove down a road to Toronto called the ‘Highway of Heroes’. Folk gather on the bridges across the freeway to pay their respects to the soldiers who have lost their lives and are brought home down this route via an air base. It was moving to drive beneath all these gathered fire trucks, police cars and people braving the cold with Canadian flags in their hands.
Am now in Memphis for the final leg of this five-week tour. I played a show here on Tuesday and, after some early morning TV, am now encamped downtown at the Marriott hotel where the North American Folk Alliance is taking place. I play about 4 times a day here and it’s a meeting place for performers, promoters, festival bookers, industry etc. I can’t sleep because I can hear accordions and I get woken up by banjos! It’s tough at the end of such a long trip not to have my eyes on home but this is something I have to do to open up the market, not so much in Canada, but in the USA. Managed to escape last night to watch some tennis as a friend had tickets. The pro tour is in town and I saw Andy Roddick play and after him Maria Sharapova which was a welcome distraction. Outside all this it is Elvis who still dominates this great music town. Having read two huge volumes on the man this past year, the ghost is even more real for me here. Last night on the way back to the hotel I found the South Coliseum where he recorded a live album back in the seventies. It’s a great album (called Live In Memphis with pictures of Graceland on the front and back) and something I played so many times as a kid. The huge venue is now in mothballs and surrounded by high wire fences and it was sad to see. But I can still hear him singing the song.
Counting the cars..if you can find them - 2010-02-10
So much road behind me right now. Flew to Prince George and played the ‘Cold Snap’ festival, two flights to Kelowna the next day to play there, then right across to the Eastern seaboard to play three shows in Nova Scotia including one in Halifax. So deceiving in some ways to the mind that these places just arrive at my feet after stepping on long thin steel tunnels with engines attached. Familiar enough with many of these towns now to drive around and know where the rest rooms are in restaurants, as if they are in the suburbs of Cardiff and not on the other side of the world. Onwards down into the USA to play in Long Island, Sudbury Massachusetts, the Bronx and then down to Washington DC. Strange to be counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike after crossing the Brooklyn Bridge with Manhattan shining like the grand star it is by my side. So many memories of exciting days spent in that city in a time of big promise; but I’m still here.
In Washington they have had the worst snow for 80 years and its crazy. The last twenty miles into the city were crazy on a road like a skating rink. Thoughts of last years twist in Nova Scotia were at the forefront of my thinking. Forty eight hours later I head out early, after a show with a wonderful musician from Boston called Vance Gilbert, to avoid another storm front on its way, and now wait in a hotel near La Guardia Airport for a flight to Toronto tomorrow that has already been rescheduled because of snow that’s coming New York’s way.
I’m in Canada and about a week into a five-week trek across N America. It’s been a great first week, catching up with friends, being fortunate enough to get to go to Vancouver Canuck’s NHL hockey games, and oh yeh, playing gigs. Have played shows in Victoria, Vancouver, Bowen Island and Courtenay so far and have already been on six ferries to do so. The weather in this lower part of British Columbia is so mild compared to what I left behind in the UK. Not what you expect from Canada in the winter, though that will change substantially when I fly to Prince George tomorrow. Debuted a new song called ‘Seahorse’ at Vancouver show. Highlight so far was getting spotted at the Canuck’s game..fame at last! Hockey is of course a national institution here and the atmosphere in the arenas is amazing and they put on such a great show with it all. Of course it doesn’t compare to watching the Cardiff Devils!
Songs are waiting - 2010-01-15
Have had a creative start to 2010. Have been writing a lot and walking through snow, putting together the next PQ free CD etc. Some days I sit and wrestle with words for hours and nothing much comes, another time I can be filling the car with fuel and a couple of insightful lines will appear from nowhere; there are no rules.
I can’t believe I head off for Canada on Wednesday. It seems like only a few days ago that I caressed the final chord at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff and felt like I had crossed a finishing line. Now it’s all ready to start again. That’s good and I’m looking forward to the five-week stretch across N. America and the UK tour that follows but it all looks a little daunting sometimes. All good though.
The situation in Haiti is desperate and leaves me fumbling for any words. Such deep heartache and despair and who can ever explain these things? Not I. I take my thoughts with me as I trundle through a local forest, looking beautiful in a strangling January mist. The world is simply an unfair and cruel place and most of our days are spent trying to make sense of it in one way or another. The walk helps to do that a little as does art. Songs are waiting.
Sunday over Cardiff Bay - 2009-12-22
Time for a few wind up thoughts for the year. The tour ploughed on through the country and ended in my hometown on the 13th Dec. I don’t know how many tours of the UK I have done in the last twenty nine years, in many ways its been one long never ending tour, but I think this one really has been the most creative and uplifting experience I have known. It may be a question of taste but for me these shows have reached a level of journey, fun, commitment, passion and joy not reached before. Also the commitment from the listener, the audience is at a new high and I think that is a huge part of the picture. We have had many new folk taking a risk and coming out for the first time and leaving raving about the experience and looking forward to the next time. It really feels like a lot of hard graft by the whole team here is beginning to bear fruit. Thanks to all of you who dragged new friends along; that really helped big time.
I have had a week or so now to catch up with myself and look back on 2009. It’s been, as most are, incredibly busy (117 shows) but always enjoyable and with enough big moments and meaning to propel into 2010 with an eager heart and willing fingers. No set list has stayed the same for over two years now, each concert will find an unexpected twist and turn and Elvis is always in the building. Three trips across the ocean to America and Canada brought far more blessing than jet lag and I will return to start the 2010 schedule there in mid January. I played a lot more festivals in the UK this year, which is something we have been working on for some time, and next year is looking good in that regard. We have launched a new bootleg CD series with the first volume doing very well and a whole bunch of new material has been introduced across the shows, which brings me onto next year.
2010 will see the release of a new studio album. I’m not sure how it will be recorded yet, as that is always something of a journey in itself, but I do have in mind, as mentioned occasionally on this last tour, the thought of doing a few shows with a band line up next year. I have been commissioned to write a collection of songs to be used by schools in Wales in two special concerts to commemorate the Tonypandy riots of 1910, so I will be doing plenty of research on that topic. There will be more UK dates in March followed by a return to Canada in May with Stewart Henderson as I felt it was time we unleashed the wise little poet amongst them! From then on it will be a question of completing the new album, playing festival dates here and abroad and planning the new album UK tour for the end of the year. And that’s without all the stuff that arrives that can’t be planned for yet. As you can see there is no slowing down on my part.
Next year will be my thirtieth year in the ‘business’. It has been an incredible journey with so many amazing moments, but it’s hard to match the pride I felt when introducing my fifteen year old daughter Harriet on stage in Cardiff. She played beautiful violin on what was in fact a Sunday Over Cardiff Bay and it made me reflect on a lot of things. I don’t know where time goe, but it goes and I’m a blessed man to still be doing something I love so much in front of folk who seem to feel a connection in it all themselves. Who knows where it all leads, I have ideas upon ideas but not always enough time to see them through, but I can’t help but feel that so much is yet to come. Thanks so much to all of you who are part of this great circle. Here’s to a great Christmas for all and the hope that 2010 is a peaceful and productive way forward for this planet of ours.
Roadwork has continued since returning from Belgium. Played at an event in Cardiff to for UNISON who were launching a series of films of a political nature starting with ‘Bound For Glory’ the story of Woody Guthrie. Then I hit the road on a UK tour that will bring me back to Cardiff on Dec 13. The gigs are going great and venues are selling out which is a good feeling. Plenty of new songs and old surprises keep the set list fresh each night, which keeps me on my toes.
Saw the film ‘Up’. Just beautiful. First ten minutes were amazing and the rest followed suit. Go and see it if you can.
It hasn’t all been work though as I managed to take my daughter Harriet to see her favourite band Muse in Liverpool and work on my golf game. In fact before the second show in Scotland on Sunday I took a pilgrimage to St Andrews and walked around the golf museum for at least the fourth time. Add to this Friday’s round at Royal Lytham and you might be forgiven for thinking I’m actually having a lot of fun out here. I have to say I was gently proud of my performance there in what was a tight game with my good buddy, and Lytham member Paul Dobie, The last six holes at Lytham are known as the toughest finishing holes in Open Championship golf, but I somehow managed to play them in level par which was enough to see off my dear friend and put a skip in my step that I carried to the Lowry show in Manchester that evening. Hard times for an honest man, or at very least, a blessed one x
Belgium and crowds that wont stop singing - 2009-10-20
Have been a busy boy on the road and in the studio. We started the first leg of the UK Autumn tour a few weeks ago and I have really been enjoying the gigs. I have also been in the studio recording an acoustic version of Lonely Like America which is now up as a free download and putting together the first of a new Live Bootleg album series, with the first volume covering selected live moments from the past eighteen years. I’m really pleased with it and it will be released to coincide with the upcoming UK shows that will commence when I return from gigging here on mainland Europe.
Have just played lovely shows here in Belgium. One was in Oud Heverlee where the backdrop of artistic nudes only added to the already great vibe and last night at Club Fagot in Ingelmunster. Something happened at both of these shows that I have never experienced before. Having been kindly summoned back for an encore I finished off with what I thought would be the last song ‘On My Way’. However at both concerts the crowd wouldn’t stop singing and summoned me back again not by applause but by refusing to quit the song. Wonderful atmosphere at both shows and I’m looking forward to Holland on the weekend.
It’s been a tour of Universities in the last few weeks. In Toronto I did a gig and question time at the city’s University with students. Then drove down to the USA and played a show in Storres (apparently the safest place to be in N America if there is a natural disaster), the Connecticut folk festival (really enjoyed Amos Lee who I had never heard play before) and then got to play and talk at Yale. Returned to the UK last week for Pipefest, which was held at Lancaster University!
I wasn’t sure what to expect at Yale. It’s not an institution I could ever hope to gain access too in an academic sense. The ‘Masters Tea’ is an informal gathering of students at the residences of a Professor from the University. Meryl Streep, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Dr Ruth are amongst previous guests so that’s quite the cast to follow. The people I met there were very impressive in a number of regards. They were warm and welcoming, kind and very empathetic, though I I’m not sure why I expected anything different. I guess we all have our prejudices, which are of course largely built on fear, but we really should have more faith in each other. I spoke about the journey and sang and took questions. We all seemed to connect and it was a very good experience. I have no doubt that there were some folk present who will take their intellect and run with the great opportunities an establishment like Yale can give to them. They will be amongst the new ‘movers and shakers’ and hopefully the afternoon we spent together might play the smallest of parts in all that. Good, good people and it was an honour to be amongst them.
The second ever Pipefest last weekend was a great day. It really felt like the event had grown since last year, and Stewart Henderson played a huge role in defining the day. We had a lot of fun but tackled some serious stuff too and I particularly enjoyed the Q&A sessions. I want to keep the event ‘issue’ based, as that’s an extension of everything the music is about. I thought the balance was just right and though tired at the end I had a thoroughly good time. Thanks so much to everyone who made long journeys and thanks for all the fantastic feedback. We will definitely be planning a Pipefest number three!
Late Night City Glow - 2009-09-08
Big city in late night glow. Downtown Toronto just has to be walked a while. Warm air that has hung all day has faded and now it’s all so fresh and waiting to start again. I wander through a late night store just people watching and magazine glancing. Drinking in this time of day that I love. There is more peace somehow, for me anyhow. The trams are rattling on their last run but traffic is still running through the centre of this good city by the lake. Seems like some folk never sleep.
3rd September 09
Twenty fours later and I have just dragged a canoe up the shore from Lake Ontario. I’m staying at an isolated B&B on the shores of the lake. It’s absolute heaven but strange to go from such hustle and bustle to a day on my own in such solitude. It’s a huge lake and I paddled out as far as I dared on my own. Probably a mile or so from shore I looked back and was lost in thought when my phone rang which I only took with me to take pictures. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was my accountant calling. You decide if I took the call or not. I will now change some strings and try and write something. Moments, indeed days like these are rare.
Sitting in the lounge at Heathrow - 2009-09-04
2nd September 09
Sitting in lounge at Heathrow waiting for flight to Toronto for what will be my third time to Canada this year. I will be playing the Shelter Valley festival there and some solo shows and then travel down to the USA for the New Haven folk fest, a solo gig and giving a talk at Yale University!
More festivals have been played here in the UK and some solo shows. I have acquired more mud on cars and boots and the hems of jeans. I particularly enjoyed playing up at the Edinburgh Festival and being part of that. Was pleased to be home when U2 played Cardiff and thought it was the best I have seen them and that’s saying something. It really was something to behold. I have been friends with Willie Williams, their lighting and stage designer, since we spent a crazy day together in New York in 92. I saw them back then at the Meadowlands Arena, which is a great memory and a number of times since, but the set and design of the show in Cardiff really was stunning. How Willie is ever going to come up with something to top this latest incarnation I simply cannot imagine.
Played Greenbelt this last weekend in various guises. I host a show there called The Rising that features songwriters and their craft and there were some great moments. Stewart Henderson and I did a gig and, as ever, it was a unique and ever evolving performance. I’m still smiling just thinking about it. Ask him sometime about his answer to a little girls question as to how old God was..priceless. Got to go as my flight is being called so off I go with various and vital reading material for the seven-hour flight, which includes Golf monthly.
