NE1-FM 102.5 Update….

Soooo……. Yesterday was my visit to the NE1FM Radio Station in Newcastle as part of an interview and some live tracks. I managed to talk T-shirt Terry into coming through and doing some photos with me in the studio too which you can see below!

Me 'n' Mark @ NE1FM 102.5

After driving around looking for the place we finally give in to phoning the studio and sounding like eejiots and the nice fellas from NE1 walked around the corner to meet us at the garage. Which was about 10 steps in walking distance from the place… DOH!!!

We met Mark who was going to be doing the interview, had a tab and then dived into the studio..

MAM MAM ... AM ON THE RADIO!!!

All was going well and I managed to squeeze in 3 live tracks.,. “All inside”, “ Judy let go” which is a new track which is going to be released on my 3rd album which will be available later this year. I then attempted a cover of a Wacko Jacko track and started in the completely wrong place and made a right bollocks of it..  hahah..  It was all good though .. and I played the “that’s the thing about live music” card!!

Marc was a great bloke and introduced me to some new great music too which I look forward to checking out online about the net.

ONE OH TWO POINT FIVEEEE!!!

WHERES THE  KEYS??? … At the beginning of the night mark gave the keys to Terry to go and grab a CD out the car for me and after the show was finished … Mark came out of the studio to let us out … “Wheres the keys??” ..  No-one had the keys on them and we were locked in for another 30mins after that .. looking around for them in the studio and other rooms while Mark kept running back in and out to cue a track up in between spoaching about like a mad man..   Terry finally found them near the doors on the floor  and we finally got out and got our trophy for finding them… A KFC ON THE WAY HOME!! Finger licking good!!

WAKEY WAKEY!!!

Once again.. it was a great night and I finally got to meet up with the guys n gals from NE1 FM..  Unfortunately there was a bit of a problem with the stream and online listeners couldnt log in from the website so my phone was reeeeeeeeeeeed hot with texts..lol…. apart from that I had a cracking night.

Mark doing his thang!!

THANKS TO THE NE1FM STAFF , ESPECIALLY MARK FOR MAKING THE NIGHT AN ADVENTURE BY HIDING THE KEYS ! HAHHAHAH  AND THANKS TO ACOUSTIC MAGIC FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE!!!

Gigs Gone Forever….

I was trying to recall all the gigs that have dissapeared allready this year and couldnt think of hardly any… so….. I decided to have a look about and make a list of the gigs gone by this year already!! I havent included the online stuff .. apart from one which was the Clear Blue Skies special!! Not bad for it only been the beginning of June huh??

GIGS GONE BY SO FAR ….. 2009

JANUARY

7TH JAN    –    HOKO 10 ( STOLEN TOM )
10TH JAN    –    THE QUAY (STOLEN TOM )
16TH JAN    –    THE STEAMBOAT  (STOLEN TOM )
24TH JAN    –    THE BRICK CLUB
25TH JAN    –    BUBBLES
31ST JAN    –    BUBBLES  (STOLEN TOM )

FEBRUARY

7TH FEB    –    DOG & PARROT  (STOLEN TOM )
13TH FEB    –    ONLINE SPECIAL WITH CBS
20TH FEB    –    HAIRY LEMON
21ST FEB    –    SNOOTY FOX, WAKEFIELD
21ST FEB    –    SNOOTY FOX, WAKEFIELD  (STOLEN TOM )
22ND FEB    –    BUBBLES
26TH FEB    –    TRILLIANS  (STOLEN TOM )
28TH FEB    –    THE FARRIERS

MARCH

4TH MAR    –    STEAMBOAT
22ND MAR    –    BEBSIDE INN  (STOLEN TOM )
29TH MAR    –    BUBBLES WITH ROD CLEMENTS OF LINDISFARNE

APRIL

3RD APRIL    –    TROJAN ROOMS  (STOLEN TOM )
5TH APRIL    –    BLUEBELL,AMBLE
5TH APRIL    –    ASHINGTON CENTRAL  (STOLEN TOM )
10TH APRIL    –    THE ISABELLA
11TH APRIL    –    BERESFORD ARMS
13TH APRIL    –    THE SMUGGLERS
13TH APRIL    –    WASHINGTON ART CENTRE
23RD APRIL    –    THE QUAY  (STOLEN TOM )
25TH APRIL    –    THE CLAYTON  (STOLEN TOM )

MAY

1ST MAY    –    THE SUN INN, MORPETH
2ND MAY    –    ROCK THE BARN  (STOLEN TOM )
4TH MAY    –    BUBBLES  (STOLEN TOM )
10TH MAY    –    THE SCHOONER, SEAHOUSES
15TH MAY    –    THE ISABELLA
17TH MAY    –    BUBBLES WITH GREG GRIFFINS OF PROUD MARY
23RD MAY    –    THE QUAY  (STOLEN TOM )
29TH MAY    –    THE STEAMBOAT  (STOLEN TOM )
30TH MAY    –    HE NEW INN, LONG FRAMLINGTON

Lionheart Radio Interview and Live Session.

Lionheart Radio is a community run radio station that broadcasts from Alnwick in Northumberland and I landed an interview and also to play some live tracks of mine on there on the 2nd June via Derek from Acoustic Magic.

I turned up around 6:30pm on the Tuesday night with guitar in hand not really knowing what to expect as far as radio interviews go. After trailing up 3 or 4 flights of stairs I finally found my way to the reception of Lionheart Radio.. only to be told by the lovely gal on reception “you look out of breath .. didn’t you see the lift?” .. good job I had a little time before Paul turned up for his show to catch my breath back ..hahaha .. The receptionist also gave me a look at there stats and stuff on there computer which was cool and told me a bit of info about the station ….

Then Paul turned up … Paul Shucksmith has a show on there every Tuesday at 7:00pm and has been featuring the players from Acoustic magic on a monthly basis and theres been some great live music involved.. he’s definitely worth listening in for and I cant wait to hear the upcoming shows..

Paul went into the studio after splashing out the cups of Tea and I followed him in not long after with guitar in hand and a handful of CD’s. That’s when the nerves kicked in slightly .. we didn’t really have any preperation before hand and in between the song he told me that he doesn’t really plan out the show and likes it to just go along unplanned.. which I thought was a bit strange at first but the guy obviously knows what he is doing and once we got on air together he instantly makes you feel as if you’ve known him your whole life… and the show just all dropped into place from my point of view.. Paul instantly makes you feel relaxed and does a hell of a job at Lionheart. Top Fella!!!!!

Before I knew it the show had passed over 2 Hours of been on air .. I managed to play quite a few live tracks on air and also some tracks off the cd’s I took along. We had a heap of people emailing in and asking questions and asking for requests which really made the night that extra bit special.

So from shaggy the radio star!! Thanks for all the support from all who listened in and the show is repeated this Monday coming at 10pm incase you missed it…. And for those of you who did miss it , without a good excuse…. SHAMMMMMME ON YOU!!!

Don’t forget to check out Paul’s upcoming shows and drop in at the website to say hi….

www.lionheartradio.com

Thanks again!! Shaggy!

Follow up to the big 3 ohhh!!! part deux!!

What a Weekend.

YOHOOOOO!! What a weekend its been and its took me till Tuesday to feel even remotely normal!!

To kick it off we were at the Isabella as part of the Bellacoustic night and the party for my 30th Birthday (although it wasn’t till Sunday). The night kicked off with Ickle Daryl Burns opening up with his set and went on till closing time through out all the players.

First of all thanks to all the players who gave there time to play … Daryl Burns, Clear Blue Skies, Micky Oliver, Hague, William West and the rest of Stolen Tom, which includes Sav playing the drums on Harrys Hat miced up… Hahha what a belta! We also had a SPECIAL GUEST appearance from Milinda doing her thing to La Bamba hahahhaha!! No Microphone Needed!!

Also thanks for everyone who came down for a beer and wished me happy birthday for Sunday… The missus and everyone else who helped organise it all as well… Paul & Kay from the Isabella for letting us take over the bar for the night…. all the people that bought me pressies!! (WEHEYY!!.. finally got an Acoustic Magic Clock!!) and anyone else who was hanging about listening to the music!! I Had a great night and it was a hell of a turnout. CHEEERS!!!

ME.. Blowin my cake across the pub!!!

After That we all piled back to my house for a party till the daylight started popping through in the morning.. and all the drink was gone.. The birds were singing away when half the people left and I  couldn’t move and was crashed out on the floor!!

Saturday daytime was a dead day literally and I felt like Sav was still playing that helmet as a drum .. apart from it was on my head this time .. OWWW!!!

On the night time we went over to Sunderland , The Independent to see the Stephen Fretwell gig ive been waiting on for months… and it was another cracking night although I struggled to face a drink. Got some cracking photos though for the Nocturnal Images website and had a canny chinese meal while we waited on the doors opening…

Then it was Sunday and I am now officially 30 ..  hahhaha … good thing or bad thing?? Well have to wait and see I guess … I was gigging at Bubbles in Ashington with The Acoustic Magic Team supporting Greg Griffins of the band Proud Mary who has been on tour with Neil Young. Canny eh??

Again another cracking night and it ended with Greg taking to the stage. What a voice on the guy .. and a brilliant set .. look forward to catching him again some time and I’m gona pester him to take his part in the All Acoustic page too.. so il let you know how that goes!!

I Finished off the night by necking as many test tubes as I could get my hands on , which michelle at that point decided to stick them on her hands and do her edward scissor hands impression and I managed to stroll in at 3:30am blotto!! … and then I spent the whole day lying around on Monday!! Pleased I put in the holiday from work … as there was no chance I could have made it!! Like someone else from work who didn’t manage to get there…hahahha.. *cough * shelly *cough * ..

Once again thanks again to all who made the weekend what it was!!

Cheers Big Ears!! Shaggy!!!

Update!! The Big 3 OOOHHHHH!!!

Well the 2nd album “Easy To Read” has being going well .. and im now working on a few tracks to kick off the 3rd.. I have one recorded and a few i’ve been playing around with so hopefully that should be here in the middle of the year sometime! Ive also added the new mailing list which is managed by Fanbridge for regular email updates about happenings in the world of Shagpile. You can find this on the contact page of http://www.shagpile.org.

Ive also added a Giglistings page for my Online Gigs in the world of Secondlife to the homepage as well so you can now check for upcoming secondlife gigs .. for all you SL peeps!! Ive also added them to my giglistings on the myspace page aswell.

Ive got some great gigs coming up too as part of the Acoustic Magic Team this year supporting some great artists.. The first being Greg Griffin of the band “Proud Mary” on the 17th May , another is Chris Helme who was the voice of “The seahorses & The Yards” and a great one which I cant wait for is Mark Morris of “The Bluetones” which is gona be fantastic! The Marc Morris one will be @ The Steamboat in Blyth.. If anyone is wanting tickets for any of the gigs just contact me by email… These are all happening this year.

Also il be having my 30th Birthday bash at the Isabella on the 15th of may and theres gona be loadsa live music for the Bellacoustic night Special.. including Hague, Daryl Burns, Snatchbag , Clear Blue Skies, William West, Micky Oliver and myself… so drag ya butts down and sing Happy Birthday TO SHAGGY!!!!

WEHEEYYY!!!!!!!!! Well they reckon life starts at 30.. il tell you my verdict after the weekend.hahahhaa

Cya for now .. Shaggy!

Rod Clements @ Bubbles

Another great new gig to get under my belt this week. Rod Clements was one of the original members from the band Lindisfarne and for those of you who dont know who they are then youre probably either too young or youve been locked in the basement by your dodgy father who only feeds you on a sunday!!

Me and my beard!!

Anyways.. Derek from Acoustic Magic managed to sort this out for me and got us the gig supporting Rod Clements at Bubbles in Ashington…what a belta and it was amazing to share the stage with such a Legend!!!!

The running order was Clear Blue Skies, Hague, Myself and then the Fabulous Rod Clements who blew me away with his fingerstyle and slide guitar playing. Having already had a listen on his myspace I didnt really no what to expect from him playing solo but was pleasently surprised .. Damn he can play!!!!!!!

Hague

The night went great and Hague pulled a new song out the bag especially..  and also his Tightrope Walking song ,which was the last one he wrote I believe, is slowly becoming my favourite of his set!!

Clear Blue Skies had there usual mental banter about them while standing on one leg…. and Derek gave me a shot glass with a straw in it while I was on stage which…. turned out to be lager??? hahahha…  oh and it was also Hairys birthday so he got the dedication of Land Down Under on the night..

We also got the chance to get our photos taking at the end of the show with Rod and thanks to Terry T-Shirt for doing all the photography on the night once again!!

Hahaha Check out the finger!!

Hairy with his belly out!!

All in all another great gig for Acoustic Magic which keeps on going from strength to strength..

So to all the Acoustic Magic team , Rod Clements and Hairy for his birthday!!!

WEYHEEEEEEEY!!!!!

…. Yellow Submawha??

Just received some great news in about a gig on Febuary 25th 2010. 

Ill be playing at the “CAVERN CLUB” Liverpool as part of the Acoustic Magic Team and itll be £5.00 a ticket for those wanting to travel down…

For those of you who have been locked away since you were born in a shed..  and havent heard of the place..

The Cavern Club is one if the most famous Music Venues in the world.. and heres a little snippit about the place!!

The Cavern Club is a live music club at 10 Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. Opened on Wednesday 16 January 1957, the club is where Brian Epstein was introduced to The Beatles on 9 November 1961.

Heres a photo from outside the venue .. and the sculpture of john lennon!

..and a link to the homepage!

THE CAVERN CLUB – HOMEPAGE

So here’s to the night of sharing the stage with some of the best musicians in the world along side some great freinds from Acoustic Magic!!

I no its a year to wait but … .. f*^k… i cant WAIIIIIT!!

Shaggy!! big thanks to Derek for sorting this!!

Easy To Read.. New album as a FREE DOWNLOAD!!

“Easy To Read” is my new album to be released today .. and is been made available as a FREE DOWNLOAD HERE.. or via my homepage.. www.shagpile.org

The album comes in a .zip file so its a one click download complete with the artwork…

The album was finished on New years eve morning and is only available free for a certain period so grab it while you can..

The Track Listing is as follows :

1. Young

2. You and Your Lies

3. Hold on , Slow Down

4. Passing Through

5. Easy To Read

6. Old

7. Mystery (instrumental)

8. Worth More Than here (Live Bonus Track)

.. the last track was a co-write and the lyrics were written by Fiona Dunne..

Big thanks for the lyrics for fiona , thanks to Terry Mason for the photography work for the cover and also thanks to everyone for the support throughout the year..

all the best for 2009.. shaggy!!

What a Year!! What a Year!!

Its been a great year for me, my music and shagpile.org but now its nearly over….

Its Christmas Eve tomorrow and theres only one Gig left to to play this year at the Three Wheat Heads in Thropton and this is on New Years Eve, so what better way to start next year than downing a load of drink and jamming with the Acoustic Magic team until it hits 2009….

This year has definately been a great one for me and my music…. and heres a little list of the achievments which ive managed to get through .. with a little help of course  …

* First of all .. joining up with Derek & Hairy along side the Acoustic Magic team… all the gigs they’ve gave me the chance to play, the people ive met and played along side and all the venues I would have never have had the chance to Play at. Big thanks to you two nuttas thats helped make the past year what it was…

* My first album “Finding Yourself” completed and released for sale at gigs, Shagpile.org, CDbaby, iTunes, efolk, Payplay and Secondlife and too all of  you who purchased the album and supported my music.. Big Thanx and Hugz from shaggy!!

* Sharing the stage and meeting with some great artists/musicians… including Clear Blue Skies, Steve Daggett(Lindisfarne), Miles Hunt (Wonderstuff) and Erika Nockalls, Hague, Adam Bomb,  Daryl Burns, Snatchbag, Micky Oliver, Simon Todd and one of my personal favourites…. Paul Liddell. Thanks again to the Acoustic Magic lads for making  most of these possible..

* Recording and Artwork ready for the second album “Easy To Read” which is going to be ready for the beginning of 2009..  which features a bonus live track with lyrics which were written by Fiona Dunn… It wont be long I promise!!

* Not really music related but has definately been the biggest thing of the year for me!!!.. little baby Olivia Vare….born 9th October 2008.. the new addition to the household…. and im sure she’s gona give me plenty songs to write about in the future!!

So to everyone ive met this year, played alongside, had a pint with, shook a rattle at, danced with, fell over, borrowed there car, had a lift home, borrowed some cash, took a photo of……. and anything else you can think of..

HAVE A SHAGGY CHRISTMAS AND A GREAT NEW YEAR!!!!!

…and il catch you all after the new year!!!!

Acoustic Magicians!!

Ok … so some of you might already of seen me live or know that ive been doing a lot of acoustic gigs with the ACOUSTIC MAGIC team.. if you havent , I thought id give you all a little heads up on who they are and what the nights are about…..

Acoustic Magic is a great idea that was put into place buy Good Ol’ Derek from CLEAR BLUE SKIES. The plan is to put together the cream of local talented musicians and have them all playing on one night, one after another in every venue possible across the country in order to promote there own material.

The nights consist of anywhere from 4 to 6 acoustic musicians all playing time slots one after another of 30-40 mins or until the night comes to an end.. and the music becomes a wide range of styles and material.

The guys who run the show are Derek and Hairy from the band Clear Blue Skies ,who do a great job scouting for gigs ,running the nights and also doing a set in there somewhere at every gig too….. they also push local musicians to play original material at these gigs which is great for upcoming musicians!!

So far i’ve done at least 8 or 9 gigs with these guys and have played some of the most enjoyable nights ive had gigging because of the humour, great atmosphere, playing in some great venues i would never have played in and meeting some great musicians to share the stage with,including US Rocker Adam Bomb, Steve Daggett, Hague, Simon Todd, Garry featherstone, Daisy Windsor, and Micky Oliver…. not to mention the Clear Blue Skies guys themselves..

So if you’re up for a good night out and you like your live music.. get yourselves along to an Acoustic Magic gig for a night with a difference if you haven’t already been, and if you want to read an independant review about the nights you can check one out here at scooby-snaps.co.uk

Until Next time..and BIG UP FOR THE ACOUSTIC MAGIC GUYS!! …. shaggy!!