Monday 15-1-07

Its the land of blogs.
Cletis my webmaster has introduced me to writing and posting my own stuff which he'll post onto my website. Watch out; I'm cut loose now.
Still have so many things I want to get up and get going with but not being particularly web or IT savvy is difficult at times.
This week is Lime Spiders week. I drive down to Sydney tomorrow for rehearsals Tues/Wed and we play the Cambridge Tavern in Newcastle on Friday and then the Annandale on Saturday. The mythical Live CD we recorded at the Esplanade, St. Kilda in 1998 is being mixed by Jason Blackwell [Megaphon Studio] and Shock Records are set to release it.
Last week was a bit of an epiphany for me as I learnt/wrote about 6 new songs, all firmly entrenched in "Roots" music. Fiona from Blue Valentine has been into that stuff all the time I've known and played with her but I seem to have resisted for some reason. Might be that as a rule I hated country music. The more swing/skiffle/fast blues styles have always sucked me in and everything from Robert Johnson/Leadbelly thru to Django Reinhardt has always excited me.
It started with hearing a Leadbelly track on the latest free CD from the great people at MOJO magazine. "Ella Speed" is a dirty-get down-in the swamp-knuckle dusting-mother of a song and seemed to link to a song that Fiona had just discovered [The ballad of Frankie and Johnny] which Beth Orton does on the Harry Smith Songbook DVD. Both are about murder.
I took to playing that fast style of rolling country blues and before I knew it I was playing some Robert Johnson, Hank Williams songs and had written another 2 [Blown away, From the cradle to the grave] to go with the 2 I had written over Christmas.
Will be looking for a Mandolin whilst in Sydney. Ged's going to help out. I have an old musical friend Andrew Pringle who is a pretty mean Guitarist/Bassist coming over for a Jam this morning and Fi's boyfriend Andy is going to start helping out on Lead Guitar.
The Blue Valentine CD was discussed and it might take more of a Roots music direction with some of the pop songs coming under the Figtree Renaissance tag. Also I think both CD'S should come out at once. That way it will be easier to publicise both at the same time.
Ciao for now.