Welsh rabbit- again!
Oct 01 '08
Hurst House is nestled away on the Welsh coast, its where Dylan Thomas was born, he lived and died here and the church has his grave on its hillside. In the hotel there are 19 writers all busy working on new songs, the sun is shining and the inspiration is flowing. Laughter and piano’s can be heard as lunch is being prepared. The food of gods. There are some really great people here, the week is going well, but more than ever laptops are the branches of communication. Over the years laptops have become more and more the third arm of writers on my workshops, being used more so this week for emailing rather than recording. And now i phones are the wear of the day. How trendy we have all become. The songs are turning out great, we have had three nights of performances now and each night I have been amazed by the quality of what has been written. Each day we write in groups of three and in the evening we perform what we have written to each other, its nerve racking and fun. The rooms here are wonderful and the food is good, the countryside is green and wild, Hurst House is working out really well as a writers retreat. Just like Italy, where we normally go, everyone is finding happiness and inspiration for their week. A break from Pasta for the spuds of the cold, cold ground.
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2 Cool for School
Sep 25 '08
Going back to school, mama packed me off with a bag full of goodies, I walked lonely around the corner to my new address. I spent the day in my class with 15 other students all learning how to jump through hoops, hoops that will make us teachers. I'm going to be teaching songwriting, something I never knew you could teach, I thought you just woke up one day and you were one, but no. We learnt all about group dynamics, and after five weeks on tour I think I had had enough already. We learnt about boundaries. At first I wanted to bolt, but jet lag aside I embraced the good teaching of our leader Neil. He is well trained in teaching people how to cope with the class room, and he made me feel very comfortable with it all, I even took notes and wore my glasses on the end of my nose. The room was highly male dominated, skills ranging from tour manager teacher to guitar and bass teacher, and a small collection of songwriter teachers, of which I am one. Tea in plastic cups and biscuit’s, wall charts, slides, books to read and homework to be excited about. It’s a new beginning one I'm not sure about but I like the journey so far. But at home I was on the phone and busy talking to world, Glenn called from LA all excited about his album which is great news, and Matt about what else is on the menu for the returning cowboy with time on his hands and a loaded pistol!
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Wrap
Sep 22 '08
The flight home at 7 am after three hours napping was delayed, they had to re boot the computer, how scary. I soon settled into my nest with my relaxation tape and nodded off. I woke up and we were above Dublin. A smooth flight. Thank god. Back at home I tried to unpack but everything seemed too surreal, being home, being there as it were. Emma was at a party but soon raced across town to see me. The next morning I gathered myself and looked through all the pictures in my I photo library and felt sad, there I saw the summer in all of its glory passing before me, the tour the festivals the holiday with the girls. I sat with my melancholy and embraced the wonderful time that had now gone into park. The tour has lifted the spirits and shaken up the nostalgia bottle for another year, all those songs floating around like flakes of snow falling on the shoulders of grown men and woman. Hundreds of albums signed, ticket stubs and posters. Hundreds of miles traveled, thousands even. All now past into the back pocket of time itself. Its so sad to see such great memories there on the screen yet so joyful too, the reality of home brushes my shadow as I sit here at my desk. Its so quite compared to being on the road, even the traffic seems quieter here than on tour. Its time to plan for the future and the months ahead, its time to be floating on a sea of jet lag that calmly washes in and out of my day. Its great to see my girls and its lovely to see Em. That’s a wrap.
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New York
Sep 22 '08
Back in new York, the circle completed and back at the Tribecca my home from home these days. My day off was full of radio and more sleep, followed by a full afternoon of TV in the studio on A&E playing four songs from our repertoire and one song each from out solo worlds. At first it seemed very odd to be doing this, swapping hats from Squeeze man to solo acoustic chap and back again without passing go. Glenn rose to the bait and with the Fluffers, almost squeeze, he plowed through a new song from his album. It sounded great, lively and very Tilbrook. I played Fats as a Fiddle, nervously and alone. The Squeeze songs sounded good and in the tiny studio we seemed to make it all seem like magic. To be aired sometime soon I guess. And then the main coarse. Radio City Music Hall is legendary, from the outside it looks like a neon castle and from inside it looks like a cathedral, 7,000 seats of pure awe-inspiring beauty. Back stage time flew by. The vastness of it all engulfed us all I think and the show was a little tired again, which it had been recently anyway. We did our best and I hope we delivered a good show, it was hard to tell the audience were so far away from the stage. It was sad, this was the end of another tour. I crept back to the hotel for three hours sleep and then the early bird home. I was too tired to be excited, I was too excited to be tired, I was neither but both. It was good to see people back stage and to say hi to America again, I love it more than I ever did, I want to come back and I hope it all works out for the future, but the future looks a long way away from the corner of my hotel room filled with room service empty bags a cram packed case and my laptop. Its time to be at home and acknowledge the wonderful life I have, both away from home and at home itself. Its all about balance, its all about the journey.
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Seattle
Sep 22 '08
The day begun with a radio show, Glenn and I played for some 20 or so guests in a studio live on air, a rare thing these days. It was fun and I'm sure it helped the ticket sales for the show in town. I was dog tired and went back to bed for the rest of the day arriving at the gig in time for the show. The place was busy, not sure if I was in the room or not but it seemed to go well. After the meet and greet I went back to bed for an early rise, four hours later for my flight to New York. Sleep had become like napping rather than anything deep, just a slight snore here and there in the airport hotel. I said goodbye to my van that had carried me almost 6,000 miles on the tour, I said goodbye to the West Coast. I was on the home run and it felt like it in so many ways.
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Portland
Sep 18 '08
During the day i walked around town looking for life, all I found was construction men and office workers, I did however find a post office, a rare thing in this country. The show was in a part of town not in the centre, the hall was club like, another town hall sort of experience. I thought nothing of it, and then we went on stage and the roof came off it was so amazing. The place was packed and everyone seemed up for the show including us, which was so good. John and I sat in the dressing room after the show like two men in a sauna, it was so hot on stage, hotter than the hottest day of the hottest year. Once I had sobered up from the atmosphere Matt Ed and I set sail for Seattle just up the coast, just 150 miles away, just. After about 1 hour on the road the road became blocked. A bull Elk had set foot onto the freeway and struck a small car, there were flashing lights for days, we fell asleep in the van as the police sorted out a detour for everyone, we arrived in Seattle at 4am. I was half man and half doughnut by the time I went to my bed. My room was the size of a small shed, but I was not in the mood for moving rooms I hung my jeans behind the door and snored my way into the future. I think im Go-Go....
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