Shane Kirk's blogs

[Shane (Skirky)]

The Word magazine closes, and with it goes my fingertip brush with stardom. Older readers may recall that a number of TAWers took a charabanc for the weekend out to The Cornbury Festival in 2006. I already had tickets, and so it was an unusual set of circumstances that meant that when The Waterboys couldn't make it, I was in a position to be asked to be on standby to replace them just in case. Ultimately our services were not required, but the thing is we had serviceable versions of Fisherman's Blues, Medecine Bow, This Is The Sea and On My Way To Heaven already in the bag and could probably have made it on to the stage and off again without too many people at the back of the crown noticing the join. Still, them's the breaks...  
http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-mark-ellen-made-me-rock-dad.html    

[Shane (Skirky)]

Advice for aspiring songwriters, or why the next Songs from The Blue House album is likely to be two songs shorter than it otherwise would have been.
http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/07/no-one-wants-to-hear-about-your-kids.html

[Shane (Skirky)]

In response to yesterday's blog, The Management have very kindly made the songs referred to available for download, including the oft-referenced but rarely heard Judy Dyble collaboration Little No-One. I can recommend the two minute comfort blanket that is When Mama Sings, by the way. There's an honesty box by the door.  

http://songsfromthebluehouse.bandcamp.com/album/tree-out-takes

[Shane (Skirky)]

The lost art of the sleeve note. Once we moved on from LPs they seemed to fizzle out a bit since anything reproduced in a CD case is likely to require industrial-grade reading glasses to decipher. Happily, however, with the introduction of the iPad (other tablets are available) the halcyon days of reading the cover are back - one can examine the erudite etchings of the tortured artist at leisure, pop the cover back, and then use it to skin up on, just like in the old days!

http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/08/so.html  

[Mr Cat (Lewis)]

The lost art of the sleeve note. Once we moved on from LPs they seemed to fizzle out a bit since anything reproduced in a CD case is likely to require industrial-grade reading glasses to decipher. Happily, however, with the introduction of the iPad (other tablets are available) the halcyon days of reading the cover are back - one can examine the erudite etchings of the tortured artist at leisure, pop the cover back, and then use it to skin up on, just like in the old days!

http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/08/so.html  

Another victim of the 0.005 font employed in CD booklets is that long list of obscure dedications that seemed to be compulsory, especially with late 70's/early 80's heavy rock/metal albums, you know like: "Jim would like to thank Roger "Where's The Effin' Beer" Watkins, John "Rolo Daquiri Man" Watts, Mike "The Dog Done It Again" Wilkes" etc etc

[Shane (Skirky)]

Beautiful Days vignette.
http://skirky.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/and-he-is-very-far-away.html
I suspect I had a similar weekend to the old punker in the "I *heart* Chaos" t-shirt who I saw shepherding three under-tens along the path toward the main stage on Friday. "Charlie, put your hat on, the sun's out!"  

[Shane (Skirky)]

This one's a bit meta, in that it is a blog about a radio show which in itself is partially about the blog...

http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/08/why-long-face.html

If you're wondering about the aphorism featured in the picture, by the way, that's an ancient East Anglian curse, most usually levelled agin them who raids museums late at night.

In contrast to all this, I'll actually be on proper BBC Radio Suffolk this Sunday (September 2nd) reviewing the papers between 12 noon and 2. If anyone wants to help out by pointing out some of the more ridiculous stories that appear, do please flag them up here and I'll give out a grateful Cyril Fletcher-like dedication on air.      

[James SftBH]

In contrast to all this, I'll actually be on proper BBC Radio Suffolk this Sunday (September 2nd) reviewing the papers between 12 noon and 2.

Really? How smashing!

[Shane (Skirky)]

More self-agrrandising nonsense, wherein to celebrate the release of the new SftBH single "You're So Vain" (yes, that one) sung largely by the lovely, bubbly, disproportionately talented Canadian Cara Luft, I go on about the other track which comes bundled with it. We first played You're So Vain at our annual Helstock festival a couple of years ago when the theme was '1973', in that every band appearing had to play a cover version from that year. If we'd gone for Monster Mash, things could have turned out so very differently. The artwork that comes with the single download also helps provide compelling evidence that James SftBH of this parish would probably experience no little difficulty making it as a convincing transvestite.  
http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/09/start-one-of-your-own.html
Cara's most recent album, Darlingford, features a version of Mike Scott's Bring 'Em All In, which may also be of interest to some viewers.
http://caraluft.com/darlingford/

[Shane (Skirky)]

The perils of having a gig cancelled from under you. Probably a familiar if unwelcome experience for many musicians on the board, I'd guess?
http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/10/always-last-to-know.html

[Shane (Skirky)]

We have been into a studio to record some protest songs for radio broadcast.  

http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/11/tub-thumping_4689.html

[Shane (Skirky)]

The session Songs from The Blue House did for the BBC a while ago was broadcast on the wireless last week, and JamesSftbh was invited in to talk about it. I was listening at home and thought it was a good interview. Fortunately someone has gathered together all the songs and the chat in one convenient place. Here I reflect on the experience - http://skirky.blogspot.com/2012/12/and-then-shane-went-away-and-wrote.html

[Shane (Skirky)]

One door closes...  

http://skirky.blogspot.com/2013/01/hope-you-like-our-new-direction.html

[Shane (Skirky)]

‎Hello Readers - I know how much we all enjoyed the publication of -and subsequent critical acclaim afforded - my musical memoirs 'Do You Do Any Wings?' and 'All These Little Pieces', but sometimes an actual physical book can be a hindrance - when traveling say, or relaxing in an airport, or even sound checking! With this in mind I have lovingly compiled* the most popular entries over the past couple of years into this snug and handy eBook, which you can furnish to your electronic devices at very, very little cost. Please come this way, and prepare to enjoy the highlights of the past couple of years' bloggery.

*cut & pasted

http://www.lulu.com/shop/shane-kirk/i-didnt-know-i-was-waiting-for-you/ebook/product-20638353.html

[Shane (Skirky)]

In response to some early customer feedback, we have re-formatted the anthology to make it easier to read on an iPhone (mind those Kindles though - I don't think you can load to them due to the ongoing intercenine e-reading technology turf wars. There were always going to be victims). At around 17 pages, it's the length of a hearty New Yorker article, or one of those old-school features in Rolling Stone, and costs 89p.
 
Among the celebrity cameos within are such luminaries as Gretchen Peters, Boo Hewerdine, Peter Buck, Neil Finn, Brooks Williams, Mark Ellen, Rose Cousins, Otis Gibbs and BBC Radio Suffolk's Dave Butcher. He's in it quite a bit.  

http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/i-didnt-know-i-was-waiting-for-you/13579681

[Shane (Skirky)]

I'll be honest, I'm not really expecting us to be picked up this year...
http://skirky.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/following-in-sheerans-footsteps.html

[Shane (Skirky)]

A glimpse inside the songwriter's studio...

http://skirky.blogspot.com/2013/02/es-tan-evidente-como-la-nariz-en-la-cara.html

[Andy]

Amusing, as always.

[Shane (Skirky)]

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, before autotune, and when recordings took much longer to make as you spent an awful lot of time simply waiting for the tape to rewind before you could do another take. Where long nights were spent watching The Blues Brothers on VHS, the vocals got done last, so there was never enough time to redo them and if you couldn't afford fifty quid to buy the master tape, it got wiped a month later and used for another session. Just ask Iron Maiden...

http://skirky.blogspot.com/2013/04/amazing-adventures-in-time-and-spaceward.html

[Shane (Skirky)]

Our Kickstarter project - or how that guitar solo isn't going to cut & paste itself, you know!
http://skirky.blogspot.com/2013/04/spare-talent-for-old-ex-leper.html
Includes link to a short video wherein Jamessftbh and I recreate the magic of those halcyon Alas Smith and Jones years with a short head-to-head discussion on finance.