2013 UK Tour Blog

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The tour ended last night under a mirrorball in Edinburgh. 27 dates in 6 weeks around the UK and I can honestly say it’s been one of the best experiences of my life.

Sorry I’ve not blogged more – I’ve been totally solo this tour, and managing myself is a full time job!

But playing solo has really rejuvenated me, made me feel musically free in a very important way, and I feel grounded as I go into a new phase of recording and playing with the band again next year.

A good handful of the gigs officially sold out and a load more were full or proper choc-a-blok-man, but even the odd quiet gigs were ones to cherish and had a great atmosphere. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO A GIG.

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Although the venues were generally small, it still amounts to a good couple of thousand people who … Read the rest

23/05/13 The Moon Club, Cardiff

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Where should my personal life end and my music begin? The best music draws upon our experiences, and I often love music precisely because it is so personal.

Some artists like Daft Punk play down their humanity, enabling them to transcend it and become post-human pop mega-beings. They present us with a vision equally unfamiliar to us all, so we all feel equal before it which can be an epic unifying experience. Good old Daft Punk you’ve smashed it again. Their gig in Hyde Park a few years back is in my top 5 gigs ever. It was like aliens had come to earth to show us how to do music properly, and I wasn’t even on drugs. Lots of people were, what must it have been like for them?!

In contrast, ‘personal’ things tend to divide everyone into two groups: ‘people who feel like me’ and ‘people who don’t … Read the rest

Important Tour News

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With a very heavy heart it looks as though there are some gigs I’m not going to be able to play this month and I wanted to explain why.

A few of the dates we booked were in quite big venues, and in places I’ve not played in much before. We were aiming high and looking forward to growing into them this year.

And it has been an awesome year. There’s an album in the shops, new EPs released, songs on the radio and all sorts. But I’ve not managed to play as many smaller dates around the country as I’d have liked so far, and without that kind of promotion some venues start to look a little big for us.

After all it takes a lot of hard yards to get 350 people into a room in Leeds. You have to build up and earn it. I’ve got some … Read the rest

House Concert Tour

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House concerts are intimate, unplugged acoustic gigs in a place just like yours. Whether pin-drop quiet or a little more raucous they’re always a great excuse to bring a great bunch of people together and listen to music.

This summer, I’m looking to play 5 house concerts around the UK hosted by people who help support the May tour. You’ve been thinking about having a bit of a thing round your place right? Maybe this is it? It’s set up like a competition. Here are the ways to enter.

Buy a ticket to a gig using the links below. This gets you two entries into the competition and you’ll get a free download of a track called Ghostess which we recorded live in the studio recently. If you’ve already bought a ticket, just ask the venue when you get there and they’ll give you a redemption code which does the … Read the rest

Ghostess EP Stores

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I’ve put together a list of all the shops that are stocking the Ghostess Live Studio Sessions EP. I hope they all end up in happy hands.

If you can’t grab one from a shop, we’ll be selling them on tour. If you can’t make it to a gig, I’m afraid they may well go elsewhere :-( sorry.

If you’d like me to make a special exception send me an email and it’s possible I might be able to help.

Big love :-)
Jake

Sound Knowledge
101 Collectors
Rise (chain)
Music’s Not Dead
Derricks
Davids
The Concorde
Gatefield Sounds
Octave RMS
Reflex Records
Acorn Records
Record Corner
ST Records
Spun Out Sounds
Union Music Store
Townsend
O’Neills Record Store
Jumbo Records
Malcolms Musicland
Record Collector
Vinyl Tap
Fives
Crash Records
JG Windows
Reflex
Sound Cellar (Chain)
Tower records… Read the rest

#29 Greystones, Sheffield

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Everyone comes to a gig via their own route. You might have just broken up with someone, maybe you had a great day at work, maybe you miss someone, maybe you want to party, maybe you want to talk to no one and be miserable.

As well as that everyone has their own relationship with the music. Is this song uplifting or depressing? Is that song about relationships with others or our relationship with ourselves? What does it all mean? Your favourite song may be someone else’s least favourite.… Read the rest

#28 CB2, Cambridge

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Should all artists be good raconteurs? Just because you’re comfortable communicating using music doesn’t mean you’re comfortable communicating using words in general. In fact maybe you started to communicate using music exactly because you struggled to communicate like everyone else does and you felt isolated.

That’s what sort of happened with me. Then one day I find myself in front of a radio voice asking me to pick my ‘weirdest story’ on live radio. I’ve heard other people do this well, but my mind is blank, the question is too generic to fire any particular weird story synapse. Why can’t this question just piss off? I’m a songwriter, not a clever story slash witty comment conjurer.… Read the rest

#26 Mama Stones, Exeter

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I must admit I wasn’t totally convinced it should be me who hands her the ring. What if she gets confused as to who was asking the question?

I do love how there are just no two days alike on tour. That’s partly because if you’re gigging at this level you don’t control very much – you get what you’re given – which is different every time.

Here in Exeter we had to wait until 10:30pm for the diners to finish before the fans who had come to the gig could get in. Some had been waiting outside for ages, one was heavily pregnant, some sacked it off and went home. Everyone was apologising to each other.… Read the rest