I've had some very positive experiences playing music this last month that I would like to share with you. First of all I'm just back from a successful blockade at the Aldermaston weapons factory in the south of England. This is where the government is investing billions of pounds to build new nuclear warheads for the replacement of Trident - the UK's WMD. On Monday morning hundreds of us descended upon the site to engage is some peaceful civil disobedience. I was singing with Seize The Day and Frankie Armstong, often directly to the blockaders as they were being dragged away by the cops! It was a successful day, as we managed to blockade entrances to the site for a good few hours, and there was lots of media coverage.
Just before Aldermaston I was singing at a community retreat centre called Newbold House, which is part of the Findhorn Foundation. It was lovely to get a taste of community life with everyone contributing to the running of the house and the wellbeing of its members. Every morning we would read an uplifting quotation from Eileen Caddy, one of the founders of the Findhorn Foundation, which was a bright and thoughtful way of starting the day.
After Newbold I played with Mairi Campbell and Ewan Macpherson at the beautiful City Halls in Glasgow. This was my first time playing with these very talented musicians and I hope we'll be able to collaborate some more in the future. Then I went down to Sheffield to play at my friend and mentor, Roy Bailey's 50th anniversary concert. Roy was in his element, surrounded by fellow musicians, friends, family, and fans. Needless to say the event was sold out. Roy sang two of my songs, Take Me Out Waltzing Tonight, and Visions Of Our Youth, and then I played Hills Of Virginia with two of the finest accompanists a singer-songwriter could wish for: Martin Simpson and Donald Grant. I'll be putting up photos from the concert on this site sometime soon.
Just before Aldermaston I was singing at a community retreat centre called Newbold House, which is part of the Findhorn Foundation. It was lovely to get a taste of community life with everyone contributing to the running of the house and the wellbeing of its members. Every morning we would read an uplifting quotation from Eileen Caddy, one of the founders of the Findhorn Foundation, which was a bright and thoughtful way of starting the day.
After Newbold I played with Mairi Campbell and Ewan Macpherson at the beautiful City Halls in Glasgow. This was my first time playing with these very talented musicians and I hope we'll be able to collaborate some more in the future. Then I went down to Sheffield to play at my friend and mentor, Roy Bailey's 50th anniversary concert. Roy was in his element, surrounded by fellow musicians, friends, family, and fans. Needless to say the event was sold out. Roy sang two of my songs, Take Me Out Waltzing Tonight, and Visions Of Our Youth, and then I played Hills Of Virginia with two of the finest accompanists a singer-songwriter could wish for: Martin Simpson and Donald Grant. I'll be putting up photos from the concert on this site sometime soon.