Groover Returns gets BBC airplay
A Strange Thing Happened
Janet and John Sessions
There are three songs performed here by Peggy Smith. Peggie has a uniquely mysterious voice, a wonderfully dramatic tone that lends itself to songs with a deeply emotional undercurrent. Years ago I answered a "Guitarist Wanted" advert in the Melody Maker - and after an amazing phone conversation about "ambience" and such - Peggy said she'd call round to my tiny cottage by the river. I played her "Out of the Blue" and got to be in the band along with David Turner, who wrote "darkly brilliant songs." She was free spirited, wonderfully eccentric and sometimes difficult to work with! David in contrast was a taciturn fellow, but the best bassist I've ever worked with. We got Mark, (drums) out of the "Maker" a few weeks later. We used to rehearse in a tiny Hamlet called "Mop End" - the rehearsal room was adjacent to David's parents' house. I'll never forget a rehearsal during a thunder storm when we played "The Song that Janet Wrote for John". We turned the ligts out and played as the lightning flashed across the Chiltern Hundred's. Somehow that moment seemed to inform the original recording of the Janet & John song and its subsequent remix as uploaded here. "Three Streets Dark" and "Salad Days" were recorded in the same session. It was a magical time and I think that they are great songs. PS. The band were called "This One Touch."
The Instrumentals
There's quite a diverse range of work here spanning from female vocal rockers to anthemic long winded "classical" pieces. This experimentation is not really commercial and doesn't make for "familiar" listening ie. intro, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus and outro. I suspect that those that like my music are "left of centre" in their outlook and have a good sense of humour to boot - which leads me to my latest track "The Groover Returns". This piece is a musical collage of ideas "mashed" into something resembling Starsky and Hutch driving on the Autobahn listening to Strauss. Dickie Strauss, as they'd say. I think I'm going to get the guitar out again and actually play something. Stay tuned.
Best
Petermac
Snow Covered Mountains
Went to my aunt's funeral in Norway. Met a lot of family. Spent a day wandering in the Fjord under the misty snow covered mountains. The light is very different there. Melancholia. Back in England the river is swarming with leaves and the trees are black against cold grey skies.
I've put up some great monochrome pix with three fabulous vocalists. They all did a wonderful job of interpreting my songs. Can you spot the same guitar in each?
Warmest Regards...
Late
It's late. I'm on the edge of dreaming again. Everything outside of time. The guitars are here and there. Asleep. Latent melodies surely abound. But there's only the whir of the hard drive, my finger's picking their way over the keyboard, the wind roaring around the roof. As March reaches towards April. No songs stopping here tonight.
HiberNation
Winter. Grey, wet miserable, dark, sad and lonely be gone! So good to see the sun at last. The sound of Skylarks soaring high above. Renewal. Walks on the meadow. Life indeed.
Starlight and Frost
Once upon a time around this time of year I remember that it was cold. Very cold. Wake up in the morning and scratch your name on the window pane with your nails. And Jack Frost, where has he gone? ...Perhaps lurking in all those refrigerators? The Lion, the Witch and the... Refrigerator! Now there's a thought.