If you go to one boutique festival this year – this one’s my absolute favourite.

This’ll be my third year performing in one guise or another but first time with my own music so really excited!  My MaGoodBody compadres are also doing their own sets so who knows what may happen under the influence of a 3 days of music and fine ale…

The theme this year is Around the World so I’m working on my costume.  Here’s me with some friends at the 2011 Victorian themed Insider!

Flight’s leave very soon so make sure you have your tickets!

..and if you aren’t sure how to get there, this video may inspire:

Good weekends all!

Paul

The final matches are this Saturday and I thought we should mark the event with a very special gig in Edinburgh on Sunday with performances by musicians from 3 of those 6 nations (all 6 would have taken too long) at the beautiful Caves venue!

BUY ADVANCE TICKETS HERE

I’ll be doing a set with my 4-piece band and I’ll be joined on the bill by two incredible talents – Donna Maciocia and Emily Baker.

Donna needs no introduction for those of you in Edinburgh but if you haven’t heard her incredible music, look her up HERE!  We’ve done quite a bit of collaboration over the years, (including THIS VIDEO) so it’s going to be a lot of fun sharing the bill with her again.

Emily is another brilliant songstress who’s on a UK tour promoting her brand new album “All at Sea”.  She came and played the acoustic night I co-organise (Acoustic Edinburgh) during the Edinburgh Festival a few years back and blew us away.  I saw her on her Edinburgh tour date last year too and I’m so chuffed she’s completing the line-up along with her amazing side-man Fiddes Smith.  If you like your music real and raw, you’ll be swept away by All At Sea!

I’ll also be officially launching my latest record on the night – a 3-track single of Ricochet.

There are only 150 of these strictly limited edition disks and the iTunes release is just one song – so snap it up on the night!

So hopefully you’ll be enticed by this musical feast & come and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with us at The Caves – cheap advance tickets are only available until midnight on Saturday (£6)  after that it’s a tenner on the door.

GET CHEAP TICKETS HERE 

Currently on tour with Alex Cornish – lovely gigs in Glasgow, Edinburgh & Newcastle with Cambridge tonight!

In other news, I’ve finally finished my single ‘Ricochet’.

Track listing:

1. Ricochet
2. Love Train
3. Magnets Have Souls (live)

There will only be 150 copies of this and if the postman gets busy then I should have them in time for the Brighton gig.

Better late than never!

Hopefully see you on tour – tickets available HERE.

After the tour, it’s full steam ahead on the album work.

The recordings are sounding great and I have a lot of production ideas for each of the songs.  I’ve even roped in the assistance of Alex Cornish to do some string arranging, Italy-based keys maestro Paolo Apollo Negri to put some incredible Hammond and Rhodes parts down and a number of very special guest backing vocalists.  My incredibly talented cousin Tom Jennings will be doing the album art as well!

Some of these songs are more than a few years old and so this album has been a long time coming.  I want it to be as good as it can be so I’m not fixing a release date until the mixes are just right.  It will be sometime in the Spring of 2013 however.

Meanwhile, I’m working on a 3-track single featuring one track from the album and 2 ‘bonus’ tracks.  More on that soon!

In gig news, I’m very excited to be supporting Alex Cornish again on his November UK tour – dates on http://www.alexcornish.com

Also, tomorrow evening I’m looking forward to a lovely gig hosted by Lamp House Music in Haddington which has created a really special music hub and community there.  Find them on Facebook too!

Tickets are still available if you’re in the area.  Preview here on page 8 of Music News Scotland.

It also means being bombarded with flyers as frequently as if you were walking through Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakech being offered the opportunity to have your photo taken with a reluctant macaque monkey.

That said, here’s my flyer!  For the first time I’m bringing my music to the Fringe where I’m doing 3 one-hour shows with my 4-piece band.

Expect to hear songs from the forthcoming debut album which is nearing completion. I’m very excited about the album which will be available on pre-release exclusively during the November UK tour when I’m again supporting Alex Cornish.

Tickets for the Fringe band shows are available on the door at The Jazz Bar or pre-book at the Fringe Box Office (apart from Friday 24th where tickets are ONLY available on the door).

Edinburgh Fringe Shows – The Jazz Bar (Venue 57) – £7/6

Sunday 12th August 8:30pm
Sunday 19th August 8:30pm
Friday 24th August 8:30pm (Tickets on door ONLY)

 I’m also doing a solo show on Saturday 11th August at (Edinburgh’s best kept secret) the Douglas Robertson house concert headlined by Dean Owens‘ stunning Deer Lake project.

Hopefully see you at one of the gigs! Failing that, here’s a picture of a Moroccan with a monkey:

Allow me to ramble on for a bit…  A subject close to the hearts of most independent musicians is the state of the ‘new’ music industry in these days of software-based studios and direct-to-fan marketing.  The world of Web 2.0 and so-called Music 3.0 (coined by producer, author and new music industry guru Bobby Owsinksi) is very different to my childhood days of secretly listening to my siblings’ vinyl (gatefold sleeves preferred) and taping the Top 40 countdown off Radio 1 on a Sunday evening (and being annoyed when the DJ spoke over the track I was waiting for).  The record buying public devoured the few morsels tossed in their direction by the taste-makers and the mechanics of recording and releasing songs was held firmly in the fist of the major record companies.

A new album release was a huge event for fans and the vinyl or cassette formats forced start-to-finish listening – the singles as well as the “album tracks”.  I got to know every note and beat on most of my collection and the end of a song would trigger a mental expectation of which track came next.  I loved the game of trying to sing the first note of the next track at exactly the right pich and time as it began.

The limitations of that era are alien to the iTunes, Spotify and YouTube generation.  I guess the demise of the relevance of the album format began when you could program track sequences into CD players and no longer had to endure the songs you didn’t immediately like.  The world had changed for ever and possibly rang the death knell for the “grower” song-type.

Change is good though and having a Spotify night where everyone takes turns to pick the next track to play (from pretty much the entire collection of the world’s recorded music) is a luxury I wouldn’t want to give up.

Why am I rambling about this?  Well the concept of releasing an album is still to an extent what is expected from artists because that is what they’ve always done.  As a fan, waiting a year for a collection of songs may build anticipation but may also result in a loss of interest as modern music “consumers” grow accustomed to continuous stimulation, ideally for free (Spotify – case in point).  So the question is:

- do you prefer to wait for an album (specifically a physical CD) or would you be happier hearing new songs as they are created on a much more frequent basis instead?

Music Think Tank have a great blog post on exactly this argument here.

Me?  I still love albums and I still buy CDs (for the physical object as well as the audio quality) but I immediately rip them to MP3 and listen mostly on my phone these days (though I do still listen to albums from start to finish sometimes).  I also love Soundcloud as a kind of audio-only blog for hearing continuous output from musicians I’m interested in.

With studio recording beginning on my own debut album in less than 2 weeks, I’m thinking about release strategies.  There will definitely be a physical CD – but you’ll probably get to hear some of it much earlier than I had originally planned!

I guess change is the only certainty – exciting times…

This Thursday (April 26th), I’ll be playing double-bass for Andi Neate at the launch of her 6th album that we recorded last year.

I’ll also be doing a set of my own songs, joined by singer Jules Philip.

The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh.  Thursday 26th 9pm £6/5

In other news, I’m excited to be supporting ex-Inspiral Carpets’ frontman Tom Hingley on July 5th!

Details on GIGS PAGE.

I’m particularly excited about finally headlining Acoustic Edinburgh (with my new band) after 10 years of running the club on it’s anniversary.  I’m also very honoured to be supporting the legendary Nick Harper!

MARCH 2012 GIGS

Thursday 1st – Acacity, City Cafe, Edinburgh – 7pm,£3 (solo gig)

Tuesday 6th – Acoustic Edinburgh, The Third Door, Edinburgh – 7:30pm, FREE (band headline gig)

Wednesday 7th – Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh – 7:15pm, £6 (solo gig – supporting Adam Holmes)

Friday 9th – Berits & Brown, Coatbridge – 8pm, £10 (solo gig – supporting Nick Harper)

All gig details, as ever on my Gigs Page…

Since it’s a leap year – here’s a photo of a carp, leaping out of the water at Le Brevedent in France taken during a tour with one of my bands Gecko 3.

OK, so you can’t actually see (Dave) the carp but having stared at the lake for around 3 hours through my camera this was the best I could do…

So I’m working with some talented people:

- Andy Farquhar (drums) who’s a full time drum teacher and has played with some great Edinburgh bands such as Traveler and My Radio.  He’s also a co-collaborator on Alan R Davisons forthcoming White Eagle Lounge album.

Andy likes skiing, cookery, Mexican beer and lumberjack shirts

- John Need (bass) is a professional photographer and a mean bassist having played with the likes of Graeme Mearns Band and Papa Kane.

John likes snowboarding, European lager and beanie hats.  He is not only in the band because I reckon I’ll get free photography and video…

Jules Philip (backing vocals) is a full-time artist and works with me in the Andi Neate band.

Jules likes ice-skating, all kinds of alcohol and rabbits.

So – I have the musicians but there was dissension in the ranks with the feeling that “Paul Gilbody” was too egoistical a band name.  My response is, hey I’ve waited this long to finally have my own band and (let’s face it) it’s all about me so that’s fine in my opinion.

Anyway, as it was coming up to Christmas, I conceded and we did our first gig as The Pee Gees.

Unfortunately, (keen ice-skater) Jules had a nasty fall on the day of the gig and was rushed to hospital so we played as a 3-piece.

The gig went well but it was suggested that The Pee Gees may run in to issues due to it’s similarity to the legendary Bee Gees but it was better than the other suggestions.  i.e. PG and The Tips, Gilbody against the Machine and Paul Gilbody-waddy-waddy.

New year came and went and our first gig as a four piece loomed.  Rehearsals were going well but John announced that he will refuse to go on stage unless the band has a new name.  I’m happy with Paul Gilbody but the guys want a slice of the pie so I came up with: Paul Gilbody and The Gaze.

Bizarrely, John thought this was a good idea and promptly whipped up a flyer (below) – (pictured: drummer Andy)

So there you have it.  Suffice it to say, although it’s good, this is a temporary name for one night only.

I will be having a web-poll on band names soon so please send in any suggestions via the contact form!

There will be a prize if I use your suggestion.

In other news, I’ve almost finished my new solo EP which will be released in the Spring.

It will be released as “Paul Gilbody”…

Happy 2012 everyone!

After a busy summer of gigs & recording I’ve got a couple of amazing dates for your diaries to soften the season’s change…

Monday 3rd October - I’m delighted to be supporting one of Ireland’s most celebrated songwriters Eleanor McEvoy on her UK tour to promote her 9th album “Alone”.  Also billed is Glasgow based gem Maeve O’Boyle.

Venue is Malone’s (Edinburgh) and you can buy tickets here: TICKETS

Doors – 7:30pm – £8

Mon 28th November - I’m supporting (and also playing double-bass for) Alex Cornish in a return to The Bush Hall (London) for a repeat of last year’s stunning full-band with string section gig, only this time there’s a whole new album of songs to from his acclaimed 3rd album No Shore.

Doors 7:30pm – £15 – GET TICKETS HERE

Meanwhile, I’m beavering away on my full length album for planned release early next year.

Hope to see you at a gig soon!

I’ve finally got some of my tunes up on SoundCloud and created a wee player for some of the songs off my debut EP which is released on all digital stores this Thursday!

This’ll be permanently on my MUSIC page but meanwhile – click away and please share on your facebook, twitter etc… if you like.

If any of you fancy a FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL then come down to Peebles in the Scottish Borders this weekend for the inaugural Southern Gatherin’ where I’ll be playing a set at 5pm in The Courthouse.

Over the weekend I’ll also be sitting in on percussion for Ken Barrett (Sat 1pm) and Douglas Kay Band (Sun 7pm)

See you there!