Anyhow, this season is shaping up well kicking off next Friday with a solo set at The Village as part of the Leith Festival, headlined by Burnsong winning songsmith Andy Tucker and The Scattered Family.

Following weekend I’m back in Glasgow for the West End Festival and I have a string of gigs during the Edinburgh Festival’s Free Fringe.  Check my Gigs Page for details.

I fully expect to finally have some release worthy recordings together in time for the August gigs in the form of my debut EP! This will be a taster release in advance of my album for launch this Autumn.

In other festival news I’ll be playing the following gigs on double-bass:

Sat June 19th – Insider Festival (with Gecko 3)

Sat July 3rd – Cornbury Festival (with Alex Cornish)

Sun July 4th – Kelburn Garden Party (with Alex Cornish)

Fri July 23rd – Wickerman Fesitval (with Andi Neate)

Tue Aug 24th – Acoustic Edinburgh Festival (with Alex Cornish)

Hope to see you at The Village on Friday!

Update on the album coming soon and hopefully some exciting news but meanwhile, Summer is here and if you’re fancying a day by the sea with some incredible music come down to the 3 Harbours Seafood Festival in Prestonpans on Saturday May 29th at lunchtime!

Line up as follows:

THE LIST LIVE MUSIC TENT : 12 noon to 8pm

• 12noon- Hoochie Fig
• 1pm – Paul Gilbody
• 2pm – The Elements
• 3pm – Ten Storeys High
• 4pm – Martin McGuighan
• 5-8pm – The GT’s

I’ve also been beavering away on some new songs and next week I will finally get to return to my secret retreat in the Scottish borders to complete work on my debut album!  Can’t wait.

Meanwhile, I’m doing a lovely wee gig this Friday in Maggie’s Chamber (above the Three Sisters, Edinburgh) with some fine acts including my very talented pal Kat Healy. Hope to see some of you there!

In Sept it was straight off to France for  a mini tour with Gecko 3 where we had an amazing weekend at the incredible Le Brevedent Chateau Campsite.  We played their end of season music festival which embodied all that I love about France – great food, wine, (cider), a ferocious passion for music and not least a camaraderie, friendship and hospitality that is second to none.

October saw me join Andi Neate at a weekend music festival in Ullapool which was 2 gigs a night, then to the Arch Inn for an evening of live music, then back to the house where we were staying which was full of fine musicians jamming into the morning.

During all this I’ve been helping Douglas Kay to mix his long awaited 2nd album which is finally launched tomorrow night at The Voodoo Rooms (see gig listings).  I do some double bass and vocals on the album and I’ll be doing a solo support set and then sitting with the DKB.  This event is as significant to the Edinburgh music scene as a visible passing comet so don’t miss it!

Tonight I play with Andi Neate at The Lot and on Saturday I’m performing solo at the last ever Fondoo – the finest music showcase in the Scottish Borders which will be sadly missed.  I’m also very excited to be sitting in with the incredible Hoochie Fig on their long awaited return to the live circuit.  If you can make the journey another event not to pass up.

A couple of gigs in December and then I’m getting stuck into my album in earnest.

Catch you soon!

Paul

Now the Fringe is in full swing and I’ve got 4 solo dates this month (see gig diary) including tomorrow night as part of this years Acoustic Edinburgh Festival 2009 where I’m very excited to be playing on the bill with the incredible Polly Paulusma.

Last week’s event with Gecko 3 was a gorgeous atmosphere and I’m doing a bit of a Jools Holland this year by also sitting in on double bass with our remaining two headliners – the stunning Rosie Brown and the amazing Andi Neate.

The line up this year as absolutely stunning so if you can get along to one of our Tuesday night’s you’ll have a smile on your face for a long time after.

Last night was the first of my slots at the Underbelly Coo Cafe “A-coo-stic Night” Moonlight Sessions and it was a lovely atmosphere.  I was treated to a set by the incredible Chris Gorman – great songs and amazing voice.  Well worth checking out.  Thanks to all you guys who came to see me : )

I’m back there on the 23rd and a return to The Aragon Acoustic Sunday on the 30th.  Meanwhile, see tomorrow when I open up at Acoustic Edinburgh!

Expect new songs : )

]]> http://www.paulgilbody.com/2009/08/edinburgh-fringe/feed/ 2 http://www.paulgilbody.com/2009/05/sprung/ http://www.paulgilbody.com/2009/05/sprung/#comments Tue, 05 May 2009 18:32:54 +0000 paul http://www.paulgilbody.com/?p=151 [...]]]> Where did Winter go? : )  I’m not a fan, so I headed to the Southern Hemisphere for 5 weeks which is why it’s been so long since I posted.  Since getting back I’ve been a busy bee rehearsing and gigging with Gecko 3, Andi Neate, The Gospel Truth Choir and Dajo.  I’ve also been helping my mate Douglas Kay with a bit of mixing for his new album which is a nice follow on from us doing a bit of touring together in Western Australia.

More on the tour in another post but I have to tell you about my next solo gig which is this Friday in The Tron basement (Hunter’s Square, Edinburgh).  Headlining is the incredible Susanna MacDonald and there is support from Bag of Bags (who’s tech spec includes a cello, clarinet, and musical saw, amongst other instruments)!

Hopefully you can make it along!

This Friday May 8th 8pm!

Hear my train a comin' - photo by Jem Garthwaite (www.jebaloo.com)

I always get really optimistic at New Year and I’ve got big plans for 2009 that have been brewing for a while (hopefully to be revealed soon).  I have a great feeling about this year, not least about the launch of my debut album which I’ve been talking about for far too long.  Last year I finally did something about it and have 10 days of recording in the bag.  A lot of work still to be done and unfortunately my time seems to be always over-committed but steady progress is being made and I hope to update you soon!

Here are some of my highlights from 2008!

Memorable gigs in Glasgow’s Classic Grand, The Jazz Bar (Edinburgh), Hollow Heart Parlour, Peebles Eastgate Centre and Te Pooka

I was a featured artist at The Listening Room, voted best act of Fondoo and invited to play at the August and December best-of Fondoo events.

Opening the Acoustic Edinburgh festival, featured artist St Andrews Uni freshers week acoustic night, finalist for “Face Off” battle of the bands (acoustic genre).

I also had the pleasure of supporting Ten Stories High at their Voodoo Rooms single launch.

With Gecko 3…

Gigs all over Scotland and in Newcastle, Brussels and Paris including the Brussels Jazz Festival, supporting Nizlopi, The Five Corners Quintet, Cibelle and Nell Bryden, launching 2009 at Departure Lounge Hogmanay Party.

I’ve been on TV twice with The Gospel Truth choir including performing the Scotland Children in Need single (We Have a Dream) which reached No.1 in the Scottish Singles Chart.

Along with Simon Kirby, I’ve organised and promoted another year of amazing music at Acoustic Edinburgh including a sell-out series of events at the Edinburgh Fringe.

I’ve also done session work on forthcoming studio albums for Andi Neate, The Douglas Kay Band, Vicky Gray and The Graeme Mearns Band.

I also cook.

I’m very honoured to have been invited to be featured artist at Edinburgh’s finest and longest-running Open-Mic night (Out of the Bedroom) on Jan 15th at the Canon’s Gait!

See you there & have an amazing 2009!

Rumour has it were on around 8.20pm so tune in and buy the single – it’s for charity (and I can say I’m in the charts!).

The Graffiti Tower

I also did the warm up slot at this month’s Acoustic Edinburgh and unveiled a new song and dabbled a bit more with the looper.  Here’s a rough recording of “Quicksand” with the loop pedal – hope you enjoy!

Quicksand

The Gecko 3 gig with Nizlopi was amazing – thanks to all the G3 fans for turning out and a big thanks to Nizlopi for having us. Such an amazing duo, beautiful and jaw dropping music and such lovely down to earth blokes too.  Hats off to them blazing a trail and inspiring independent artists in the UK and beyond.

A couple of gigs for me on the near horizon too:

HALLOWEEN with Ten Storeys High.

I’m very chuffed to be asked to be the support act for these guys who are launching the first single “Disfunctional” from their new “The Thrill of the Fall” album.

Lovely venue too:

Where: The Voodoo Rooms

When: Friday 31st Oct 8pm

Tax: £4

Also, I’ve been asked to play a charity gig I did last year though details a bit sketchy – tbc

Where:  Teviot Underground (or may be Medina)

When: Tuesday November 11th

Tax: tbc

Details:  Also playing will be the incredible Rob Howell and the inimitable Banana Sessions.

Album update:  I’ve been so busy that I’ve not even had a chance to listen to what I’ve recorded and start editing for the next stage : (  I have 2 days next week set aside though so hopefully I’ll make some progress.  

Other news: I’ve just bought sleigh bells, in case I feel the need to write and record a Christmas song!

I make a bit of a habit of setting my sights impossibly high and trying my hardest to reach them.  As a result the last two days were a bit of a marathon – no more relaxing mornings to soak up the atmosphere and be inspired before starting work at 11am but straight up and onto my squeaky drum stool to press my aching fingers against the guitar strings while I still had some nerve endings in them!

Day 9 – conscious of the fact that I wanted to get all the acoustic guitar done in the live space with the same mic set-ups I got stuck in early and got 3 songs finished by lunch time.  I saved Vapour Trails for after lunch which ended up taking over 3 hours (the song, not lunch).  I pushed on and I knew that my newest song (which doesn’t have a definite title yet but I’ll call it “Best Friend” for now) which has a really tender vibe to it would work late at night and so I saved that til last that day to try and capture a special feeling.  It ended up being a 2.30am finish but I had guitar for 7 more songs in the bag after about 14 hours of playing.

Day 10 – last day in the studio and I had to be packed and out the door by 5pm.  Woke at 8am after not enough sleep and was back behind the guitar by 9, fingers still hurting from the day before with 3 songs to go before Hugh was due to arrive to lay down some more drums.  Somehow I managed to finish the last take just as Hugh turned up, though this was more like 2pm and I’d actually got an extra song done out of 4 ‘nice-to-have’ tracks that I wanted to get down if I had time.

Desperately mic’d up the drum kit again while Hugh learned the song he’d never heard before (Louder than Words).  I was playing the song myself on drums earlier in the week when I thought “this should be played in Hugh’s style” and no one can do that better than Hugh so after a few run throughs and some discussion we spent an hour getting some good takes down and then covered a couple of things like the intro and ending again.  4pm and we were literally just doing a final re-take of the slow down bit at the end so Hugh could match the timing of the guitar chords when the computer hangs.  I’m a bit of a geek so tried all I knew to avoid killing the program but ultimately that’s all I could do and we lost the whole track!

I know the audio files are on the hard drive but it would be such a pain to go through each one and try and put it in the song arrangement in the right location that we had no option but to start again.

Quicker this time as Hugh had got to know the song but we were finally done by 4.40pm  20 mins to pack up, clean the place and say goodbye.

Hugh Martin

As you might imagine, it took over 2 hours but in the rush I left my jacket (and phone) behind and didn’t realise until I’d got back to Edinburgh.

Having had 10 days of no caffeine and no alcohol, a steak and a bottle of wine was in order so that’s how it all ended.  What an amazing 10 days of music – I can’t wait to get moving on the rest of it but unfortunately my busy calendar means grabbing half days here and there.

I got so much done, but clearly not all the recording done for 16 songs.  The idea was to choose the best 10 from those.  From the 10 days away I’ve got all the drums, all the guitar and 75% of the percussion done for 13 songs.  Now I’ve got an awful lot of editing to do before I can get moving on the bass, vocals and other bits and pieces.

If you’ve read this far(!) you may be up for Acoustic Edinburgh tonight where I’m playing the warm-up slot at 9pm in Medina.  Rags and Feathers are headlining plus sets from Marty Philip, Rob Sproul-Cran and Chris Green so it should be a great night – FREE ENTRY!

Hope to see you there!

Px