Special ops

Here are a few things I do that are off-shoots of my main songwriting and performing.

Quiet loner under surveillance

This hour long show mixes songs, a slide show and commentary to explore what it feels like to live a life constantly under surveillance. Using photos of CCTV cameras and specially written songs the show is an entertaining and thought provoking critque of the Orwellian state.  The show was performed as part of the CCTV Caberet a Mancehster show put on by the Loiterers Resistance Movement. Then in summer 2009 I was invited to perform the show at the amazing Shambala festival.

I am currently working on updating the show to reflect the changes that have taken place since the General Election 2010.

Songwriting Collaboratation

I am involved in an ongoing collaboration Hannam-Dobson-Hill and have been involved in writing a James Bond song which you can hear extracts of at  www.thepropertyofalady.com I have co-written a few other songs including  Sparks are flying and The death of a popular hairdresser, with lyricist Sean Hannam which you can hear at his myspace site.

Quiet loner’s journey to the netherworld

Journey to the Netherworld is part acoustic night / part variety show where serious songs meet the bizarre and silly.  It’s my attempt to play around with the usual gig format with varied results! Regular features have include the much loved Snaffle Raffle, the tombola of song, melancholic folk bingo and raising the spirit of a dead rock star.  Games have included “Painting the Townes” where a member of the audience attempts to draw and crayon and bring to life the lyrics of a Townes Van zandt song which I perform and “Sacrificing a Virgin” where I am forced to play a song of my own composition that has never been played in public before, usually with painful and difficult consequences.

From April 2009 to July 2010 I had a residency on London’s bankside at the Gladstone (home of the fabulous Moon Music Orchestra).  Each month a special guest performer played and these included Dan Raza, Liam Dullaghan, Benjamin Foke Thomas, Trent Miller, Case Hardin, Oliver MacDonald,  Roseville Grand, Greg Rees and Ghost Town Showdown.

Journey to the Netherworld is currently cryogentically frozen and will be reanimated at some future date.