I am pleased to announce a UK tour in September supporting Iain Matthews:

September 2010

7th – Robin 2, Wolverhampton. With the wonderful Red Shoes
8th – Hebden Bridge. Trades Club With Circus Envy
9th – Newcastle Upon Tyne. The Cluny
10th – 100 Club, London With Circus Envy
14th – Worcester. Marrs Bar

Each show is £12 in advance, and Iain will be playing a selection of classics, hits, and songs from the new Matthews Southern Comfort album ‘Kind Of New’

October 9th – Supporting The Miserable Rich at Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton.

Tickets are £7.50 on the door, but you can order in advance here for £6 each. Click link below to purchase 2 tickets for £12, including postage:

Iain has released a total of 74 albums and was in the original Fairport Convention line up. Very few singer songwriters can match his commitment to his art and consistent quality and passion. These gigs co-oincide with the first release from his band ‘Matthews Southern Comfort” in 40 years. He has written many beautiful songs, my favourite is called ‘God’s Eye View’

I met Iain at a gig in Exeter a few weeks ago and one couldn’t wish to meet a warmer person. Within minutes of plugging in something clicked and we played a few songs together at the end of the night, so I am looking forward to our gigs together.

For full details on the shows please go to my live page

Bye for now

Dan

I am pleased to announce that the Shed has been ordered, will soon be decorated by Elena Thomas, (her plans include a denim clad interior!) and it’s debut gig has been booked.

If you are as curious as I am about how this will work out, please come along on July 31st

I will be playing inside said Shed at 2pm, July 31st at The Coach House Rectory Road, Oldswinford, West Midlands.

Bye for now,

Dan

Life an Other Art Information

Life and Other Art – The 2010 annual exhibition is presented by the Coach House Life Drawing Group in conjunction with Rebellious Quilters on Saturday 31^st July from 10.00am until 5.00pm at The Coach House, Rectory Road, Oldswinford.

The work on show includes life, still life and landscape painting in oils and watercolours, drawings, ceramics, sculpture and textiles, photography, collage, quilts and the shed installation.

Entrance is free and refreshments will be available. The artists will be on hand to talk about their work, some of which will be for sale. The artists are David Crellin, Ralph Evans, Linda Hisgett, Mike Kedian, Briony Lewis, Moira McNulty, Niky Rathbone, Elena Thomas, Freda Wade, Bernard Walter, Kath Watson, Roy Wilson, Tom Newell & Julie Hall 

For further information on the exhibition, the drawing group or Rebellious Quilters, please contact Elena Thomas  

I thoughtthe studio room at the Glee Club served both musician and audience well last night, The Miserable Rich sounded brilliant in this intimate setting.

The band and I really enjoyed playing the new songs too (Landscape in particular) and we are talking/thinking about recording the new album, with a working title of Forest.

Special thanks must go out to Elena Thomas who produced some really fantastic recycled shed bags and badges, which are as unique and loveable as they sound.

Next gig is at Jamhouse

August 31st, i think it is free admission so may be a good chance to invite a friend for a ‘free trial’.

Stay in touch.

Dan x

ps – photo by Focused from Saturday:

Thursday June 10th 2010 @ Glee Club Birmingham

Buy Tickets Here

Hello there,

The Miserable Rich have a wonderful new album ‘Of Flight and Fury’ and they have kindly invited the band and I to perform at the launch show in Birmingham.

NME described their music as “ …so heartbreakingly beautiful, it reduces anyone who hears it to a weeping mess.” and the studio room at The Glee Club is the perfect, intimate place to watch them live.

I will be playing with a four piece band and doing some new material in addition to songs from the Balloon, the Bubble & the Box (have you claimed your free downloads yet?! – if not get clicking!)

If you live up North, I am also playing a solo support show to TMR at Band On The Wall, Manchester on June 8th.

And finally, Elena Thomas is currently hard at work sewing some very limited CD bags which will be available exclusively at these shows – hope to see you x

Click to hear Where Is The Love? on BBC Radio 2

I have to confess to being a little starstruck upon meeting Jeremy in a car park yesterday. I reguarly tune in and enjoy his mix of pop & pundits and his quick thinking intelligent delivery makes for a real good chewy listen (what I mean is the guests on the phone in often provoke a wide range of reactions and I find myself nodding in a greement or screaming and banging on the steering wheel in despair)  

So I was really pleased Jeremy played Where Is The Love? and would like to thank him for taking the bold step of playing an unsigned artist on daytime national radio. Co – written with Eric Barlow, the song features the wonderful sound of BJ Cole on pedal steel and Carina Round on vocals. Read more about the recording process here

Click Here to watch me on BBC TV

This project was a real pleasure from beginning to end. The research part of it was fun as I had a valid reason to sit and watch hours of Ray Goslings wonderful films, and the filming day was great as Ray is a true gent and shared a lot of wisdom.

Next week I will be featured on a great website called Tunatheday

Click here for information on forthcoming gigs

Bye for now

Dan

I went to the bank this morning and was surprised to find it has been turned into a betting shop!

A similar business model though I guess…

Very happy to announce I have two gigs confirmed supporting The Miserable Rich, a solo show at Band On The Wall in Manchester and with the band at Glee Club Birmingham. Get details on my live page

On Monday I supported Ian Siegal at Robin 2 Wolves, and for his encore he covered a Guy Clark song called The Cape…it’s a wonderful lyric and I am grateful to Ian for introducing me to it and for his powerful big bad blues set that night. You can hear it on this video though I havent watched the footage so have no idea what that is all about.

Tuesday was spent in the company of a whole host of wonderful folk, filming for the ‘Somebody Loves You’ video. Not sure when it will be complete, but will certainly let you know on this blog.

Wednesday and Thursday have been real world working days, (albeit with a bit of a hazy head and vague dreamy thoughts about writing a song for dear friend who passed recently) and rudely interrupted by my car insurance company requesting vast some sums, immediately

Looking forward to a few days off now, hope you can get a break too:)

Cheers,

Dan x

M5 Closure meant I took the scenic route home from Bath to Birmingham at 3am last night, thanks should go to BBC World Service for keeping me sane (and awake!).

I can happily say it was worth it though, Bath is a beautiful city and Peter Green’s crowd made me feel very welcome indeed (good singers too!).

If you haven’t done so, please sign up for my mailing list, you will be rewarded with free downloads of songs and email updates on my gigs etc. (not too often I promise!)

It has been a busy start to 2010, full of lots of new happenings that I welcome with open arms.

My collaboration in concert with The Brewood Singers was a rip roaring success: many thanks to all involved for making that such a wonderful night….watch this space for video footage from the night, here is a photo:

I would also like to introduce my new friend Elena Thomas, a captivating artist who does some very interesting things with sheds.  Please check out the photos on her website to see how uses old clothes and discarded household textiles as motifs, reminding us of the people who used them, the evidence that they existed. We have been talking and drinking tea together and are planning an interesting event.

Over the coming months I will be playing several acoustic gigs and preparing the box ep for it’s digital release (itunes et al) on June 7th.

Finally, a kind gentleman approached me after the show in Bath last night and thanked me for playing ’Somebody Loves You’ . I want to thank everyone who sang along last night and include the lyric here for the kind gentleman and his son:

Bye for now,

Dan x

Somebody Loves You – The Bubble EP

Is this what it’s for? All that work.
Is this what it’s for? All those words.
Is this what it’s for? Just to beat me down here on the floor.
I’m fed up of thinking I exist for some other reason, I insist.
This is all you get, this is life. Good morning.
This is it.

So get out of bed, and go to work.
Those thoughts in your head, they’ll only make you hurt.
This is daytime, dreaming’s for nightime. This is life.

Born a little boy, you became a man.
It didn’t happen fast, it didn’t go as planned.
But you are in one piece and you have the rest of your life at your feet.

Everybody else has been down here too,
Yeah they might not show it – but they have felt like you.
So pull yourself together, wash your face, dry your eyes. This is life.

Tomorrow you’ll be fine, (well maybe not!) but in a week or so’s time…
Someone will say something, and you will realise you are smiling – you are having a good time.

Yes you will look around and see the flowers, all the colours under the sun,
you could stare for hours, well maybe not, but for a minute there you realised what you’ve got…
Not merely a bag of bones, beautiful skin.
And inside your little head, there’s that thing that makes you think.
Well you can tell it not to worry, but you wont be coming home – follow your heart.

Somebody loves you, you know that.
They really really need you, and you need them back.

March 13th: Joint Concert with The Brewood Singers at Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

Allow yourself to be guided by voices at this unique musical collaboration, a ‘must see’ event for all devotees of passionate singing. The Brewood Singers are directed by David S Brookes, and Dan will be accompanied by John Large on Percussion and Tom Bounford on Violin. Both acts will perform separate sets before joining forces for a finale.

The Brewood Singers are a popular, forward looking choral group who were formed in 1973. The Singers are known for their wide repertoire of classic pop songs, show and film music, traditional and religious music. The variety of repertoire has enabled them to perform many different types of concerts throughout the Midlands and have seen them collaborate with several orchestras and ensembles.

We will perform separate sets before joining forces for a finale (which is the really exciting part!) Please book your tickets to guarantee a seat and don’t miss this ‘one-off’ event.

This is the first time I have ever collaborated with a choir and whilst I am sure there’ll be some nerves I am very excited and honoured that David Brookes accepted my request to be involved.

Buy Tickets Here

If you missed the song I wrote for Ray Gosling that was featured in BBC Inside Out Programme, you can watch it here

Take care,

Dan

Were you at Huntingdon Hall last Tuesday? If so – THANK YOU!

Tom and I had a brilliant night supporting Peter Green and Friends. The venue is a converted church which has been lovingly restored, the staff were lovely and cooked us a chilli con carni, and the audience shocked us with their warm response to our music. 

I am now looking forward to supporting The Miserable Rich this Thursday at Birmingham Glee Club:

March 4th: Supporting The Miserable Rich @ Glee Club Birmingham

They are a breathtaking band from Brighton who have received wide spread critical acclaim and appeared on Radio 4s Loose Ends last weekend. I am honoured to have been invited to open up for them at what will be a special night.

Buy tickets here

March 13th: Joint Concert with The Brewood Singers at Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

We will perform separate sets before joining forces for a finale (which is the really exciting part!) Please book your tickets to guarantee a seat and don’t miss this ‘one-off’ event.

This is the first time I have ever collaborated with a choir and whilst I am sure there’ll be some nerves I am very excited and honoured that David Brookes accepted my request to be involved.

Buy Tickets Here

If you missed the song I wrote for Ray Gosling that was featured in BBC Inside Out Programme, you can watch it here

Take care,

Dan

“Death is something that makes men weep, yet a third of life is passed in sleep.”

A Lord Byron quote used in Ray Gosling’s documentary about death and dying broadcast on BBC East Midlands Inside Out last night.

This 10 minute short film discusses different types of burial and assisted suicide and includes a very personal admission from Ray that made headline news this morning.

I appear in a scene filmed at Ray’s house, where he hears for the first time the song I was requested to write for his funeral.

View on the BBC iPlayer

Whilst certain to cause heated and varied reactions, I think Ray has made a poignant and valid input into this ongoing public debate on death.

All the best,
Dan

Next Live Show: March 4th Supporting The Miserable Rich