NEWS 2011

Hi,

Well, that was a hectic week. I'm pleased everything that I needed to do is now complete: three stories finished and reviewed and entered into the Bridport Prize; two songs entered into the UK Song -Writing Competition and of course, the priority of the week, my performance at The Big Arts Picnic in Reading.

Thanks to those of you that came to The Big Arts Picnic on Wednesday. For most, mid-afternoon wasn't a convenient time to come and see me play and I very much appreciated the efforts of those that did manage to make it. It's always great to be heckled by familar voices! (:-) Once again, a BIG THANK YOU!

Reading Arts Week have already put some pictures up here (pics 11, 12, 26, 34, 35). There is also video footage of my performance here.

As I said on Tuesday and at the gig, I think Wednesday marks the end of the "At The Water's Edge" phase for me. When I set off on this adventure, I guess I only had a vague idea what I was trying to do. It seems to be the way I do things. I sense there is "something out there" and then I try and find it. It's true of the songs and stories I write and I can now see that it's true of the visual artwork and indeed the whole of this project. (And dare I say, finding that bl**dy loose connection on that motherboard!) Nothing is planned from the outset. Hence when I started I only knew that I had some songs that I wanted to bring to some sort of manifestation and an incomplete essay / story that had haunted me for twenty-odd years. I had no idea that it would all converge in the way that it has.

As such, I'm quite proud. The "At The Water's Edge" project feels unique. Sure, there are shortcomings. Let's face it, I'm never going to be called the "world's greatest singer" or " musician " but that's okay, I didn't ever expect or want to be. To be honest, many of the world's "supposed" greatest singers and musician s leave me cold. Obviously, it's a question of taste. I seem to respond more to the artists who are "outsiders" and follow their own path. (Let's ignore the fact they all seem to be suicidal.) There was also a trade-off between getting a "high-quality sound" by going into a studio with a band and working with my modest setup and trying to get the "feel" I wanted. The former would have been costly, reduced the available time on the project and quite possibly (if past experience is anything to go by) resulted in not getting what I wanted. Considering the limitations of the equipment used, I think the album is pretty damn fine.

So where to go from here? Well, guess what? I feel there's "something" out there. I don't know what but it feels good. I know I now have to change my focus a little as I'm not making enough money to survive but I also feel that perhaps the past three years I've been "building the boat" which will take me to the next place where I need to be. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Don't forget next weekend, Bruce Leslie, is doing the UK Mountain Marathon (Ben Nevis, Scafell and Snowdon in under 24 hours ) to help raise money for Help For Heroes. I can see that some of you have been extremely generous, so on behalf of Bruce I would like to thank you. I think he and his team have almost reached their sponsorship target now. The website, detailing their endeavour, can be found here.

Have a great weekend, and once again, those that came to see me Wednesday, THANKS!

With Best Wishes,

Andrew