Summer, the sunny bits...

Traditionally we start a blog with apologies for not having blogged for ages so…oh, you know… The formalities dealt with, here we go. Returning to London and to rude health we had the suits nicely pressed and packed lemon squash and sandwiches enough for a whole weekend under canvas. With the Hope Festival site at Biggin Hill as base camp, we’d planned to range as far afield as Hay on Wye for a couple of other events. We were thwarted in this on three attempts. Firstly, our aging Hewlett Packard had a nervous breakdown: I had to sit with it the whole of Thursday as it moaned on and on about the pressures of work, being under appreciated, its feelings of inferiority toward our Mac and finally how we never take it anywhere! Second, we spent all day Friday on the M4. After seven and half hours in the car we finally abandoned all hope of reaching the Hay Literary festival in time for our slot and all because, completely out of the blue, the Queen had a Diamond Jubilee and in celebration they’d boarded up Wiltshire. We got as far as Severn View services (home of our favourite Travelodge) bought coffee and headed back. Our Hope Festival appearance. Saturday night on the main stage. Great crowd, great sound and it didn’t start raining til we were driving Bob to the station. Result! Sunday afternoon found us at The Old Neptune, Whitstable – brilliant! Nothing can go wrong here. Convinced that our crowd would all be at Hope or with family raising arms to the Queen we expected a fairly quiet session, but not a bit. The rain was sheeting sideways up the beach aand gradually the pub filled up with wet hair, wet coats and wet dogs. All the windows steamed up and it felt fantastic to be part of such a warm happy atmosphere. Three glorious sets and much smiling occurred. The rain continued and put paid to any idea we may have had to pitch our tent that night – strike three! Wednesday, June 6th. The Transit of Venus. To celebrate, and as part of Brockley Max, we curated a gig at The Wickham Arms. Mr. Rock Loves Mrs. Roll – three bands consisting of married couples. Dune Lake (soothingly downbeat and sparse), We Ghosts (like sunshine in your ear) and Bruise (ahhhh). An uplifting night of music made of love and nothing like as cloyingly sickening as this makes it sound (ha ha). Thank you Jim, for your remembrances of gigs long gone. A nostalgic trip into the past when Summer was young and behaving like winter. Isobel here and it’s my turn now… 7th June we were down at Belushi’s on Greenwich High St, though sparsely attended Jim and I had a really lovely time, Julie and Rupe were two friendly faces in the ‘crowd’ and we played for them and we played for ourselves in the back room of a pub that used to be a theatre. No pressure, just beautiful acoustics and a distracting wall of spirits. When our friends Steve and Val invited us to play ”Someone Else’s Garden” Party we jumped at the chance. It was Steve’s birthday and just to prove that the sun does shine on the righteous, the sun did shine for the first time in ages. We played 3 sets, I had a couple of beers which gave a giddy glow to the whole event, and we finally stumbled into a cab in the company of Pychwood and Clamp in the wee small hours after a long and possibly genius jamming session in the conservatory, I’m not sure, I was a bit worse for wear. Hurray! 14th June we were at The Chambers in Folkestone, they had tempted us down there with the offer of money, food and by calling us phenomenally talented. Frankly they had us after the fee but all other perks were appreciated. On top of that, what a scene! Glorious audience who danced and roared, and laughed and body-popped, yes you heard me right. Any time you like Chambers because we had a great night. Still in Kent, a welcome return to The White Horse in Chilham. Imagine an idyllic village square, with an imposing country manor at one end, a church opposite and a proper country pub on the corner, then make it a Saturday night and put us in there, with the drum kit, the sampler, the works. Sounds a bit unlikely doesn’t it? Well let me tell you, odd as it is, these nights work really well. We love them, they love us. Deep in the heart of the bucolic Kent landscape lies a bohemian enclave well worth a vist. The Summer Solstice! The sense of anticipation for this gig was huge and the night itself was no disappointment, a free flowing, graceful evening of traditional folk in a beautiful church, with a pause in the middle for wine and sandwiches: what’s wrong with that? Nothing, that’s what! It was an utter pleasure to sing this midsummer repertoire in such great company. Gush. Gush. Cathy Lesurf and her partner were extremely complementary about our reworking of Derwent Water’s Lament, and I’m still proud to remember their words when they said I was “writing perfectly within the idiom.” I am Folk, hear me roar! Thank you, Isobel, for your impressions of recent triumphs. The Windmill is a funky, funky bar and venue practically keeping itself a secret in an uninteresting residential street off Brixton Hill. An outfit called, aptly enough perhaps, Group Therapy invited us to play but forgot to invite an audience. We entertained the sound man (Paul of Sound – great name!) and Tim who runs the place and they showed their appreciation generously. Watch this space for more gigs at the Windmill. It’s very funky. The Brasenose Arms in Cropredy, Oxfordshire. A wonderful country pub run by the very wonderful Karen and Alan. Music is properly important to these two and they book Bruise regularly even though they’re under tremendous pressure by major agents to fill their dates with famous people. We love playing a couple of sets here and on this occasion Africa Link was running an afternoon mini-fest in the garden so we warmed them up with a short acoustic set. Excellent! OK, now we’re really on the road – The Channel Islands! Major thanks to Andie Fuller for putting us up while on Guernsey. We couldn’t have made this trip without her help. Thanks, Andie. Thanks also to Mark Windsor for sharing his contacts. First up, an acoustic gig at The Captain’s in St Martins. As we loaded the gear in the locals were riffing on us in a “you’re not from round here” kinda way and very funny they were too. As the gig progressed we gave as good as we got but I have to say, they really were funny (one of them fell asleep standing up at the bar. Superb!). However, this gig goes down in history for the astounding dedication to the cause shown by Steve and Val Taylor who made the trip to Guernsey especially to see us play. We were just hanging out waiting for showtime and there they were. BRILLIANT! We were very moved. The following night, an electric gig at The Cock n Bull in St. Peter Port (the big city, eh?). A young groovy crowd and much appreciation from the young groovy bar staff. All good. The next day the weather was beautiful and we took the boat to Sark for the Folk Festival – quite a bouncy crossing but no disasters, if you know what I mean. Leaving the other passengers to be dragged up the hill behind a tractor (no cars on Sark) we walked up the scenic winding path to the village and found our billet. We were to stay with a cabinet minister and his wife in their gorgeous house ten minutes from the festival site. We were on at 2pm Saturday ish electric set and the grand folkies were open armed about the odd folk influenced prock…rop… we dished out. Next day we basked in the sunshine outside a café with our acoustic guitars, singing like angels, cracking jokes and developing lopsided tans, it was paradise, Paradise! Thank you Jim and all I have to say before I post this is, I didn’t get sea sick on the ferry home YES! And thank you and thank you and thank you!

Dry PO and other adventures

May was massive for us but started really tiny, about as quiet as it gets with a solo performance from me (Isobel) at the Greenwich Yacht Club Poetry night. A few songs without a PA and a ton of poetry, very cultured. Hope Fest Benefit gig is always a blast. It’s the people, great people create a great atmosphere. Held at The Hob in Forest Hill and boasting some of the finest acts booked to appear at Hope festival, we had a top time performing as the electric three piece with Bob Kelly on bass, a proper indication of the joy that Hope held in store. Then our first trip to Folkestone, The Royal George, right on the harbour. Thanks to Richard for the photos and mp3’s from that night. Not quite our kinda place but an interesting evening. Sunday the 13th May we teamed up with the Apache John Band for a double header at The Foots Cray Social Club, a honey sweet night of music and collaboration. We loved sharing the stage with these gentle folk revivalists and the finale of ‘Alright’ (a Bruise song) and ‘Buy Me Some Boots’ (an Apache John song) got everybody smiling. Up to Liverpool for the IPO. Ah but sickness, agew and lurgy brought a blight upon our usually merry group. There were three musicians with six gigs to play under various guises but it became clear pretty early on that powerful forces had other plans for us. I won’t go into details. Suffice to say, we all lost weight, gave the beer a rest (Bob the bass christened it DRY PO) and did actually play a gig or two. Straight back down the motorway to play a private party on the outskirts of London. Happy Birthday Stefan. 20th May we were at The Green Door Store in Brighton. It was our first time at this venue and we really liked it. Some of the funniest graffiti in the ladies that I have read. Directly underneath the station, set in old brick arches, a TOP sound from the engineer and a really great audience. Thank you to Roy Weard at the Real Music Club! Up to Edinburgh for a surprisingly short, but brilliant, set at Whistlebinkies. We had a room full of people really digging it and as soon as we stopped playing the venue emptied. We were astonished to see 3 friends from London had swung by all casual and cool to catch the gig and delighted to see Nifi from Honeybug had made the 1 hour drive to get there. Gawd bless ya! Glasgow was a special treat, to support Graham Skinner (Hipsway, Witness and a long time ago Bruise!). The Sounds in the Suburbs organization had taken over a sports venue and turned it into the coolest, it just was cool. A full room and an up-for-it audience who loved our set and sat spell bound as Skinner sang a blinding acoustic set accompanied by Douglas McIntyre. I found myself behind the merchandise table at the end of the night and we sold tons of CD’s Skinner sold tons of CD’s, everybody happy! Check out Skinner at http://www.grahameskinner.com . Up to Fort William and the Grog and Gruel, rowdy blighters who showed their appreciation (for the most part) by shouting over our set. However when we stopped for a break we were smothered by praise and bright eyed greetings, clawed at for CD’s, requests, odd but fantastic as it turns out. The only blot on this night were the midges, OMG the midges, they drove us mad! Thank you to Mark for opening for us, top stuff! Over a few mountains, along a loch or two and we were at The George, Inveraray for the Bluebell festival. On a stunningly sunny day, all day music. we played at 4 for a little short of an hour and caught some great local acts, folk and covers and generally a great atmosphere. It’s a wonderful place, I’d recommend it to anyone, rain or shine. On the way home we slotted in a rehearsal for the Celebration of Midsummer with a Murder of Rooks and Cathy Lesurf (Fairport Convention, Albion Band, Oyster Band). Though I was a bit fried after 1200 miles & 4 gigs in 4 days I am getting very excited about this gig. If you can make it to Hough on the Hill just outside Grantham on midsummer’s eve, I think it’s going to be magical.

The Bizniz!

OK. It’s been a little while since a blog arose from this wandering, mendicant existence so read on as I pick out the peaches and throw away the stones, alright? March definitely had some highlights. We opened up for two-tone heroes The Beat at East Quay, a great music and comedy venue in Whitstable. A full house to play to and top backstage hanging with a genuinely nice bunch of guys. Off to Stroud for an atmospheric acoustic set at The Prince Albert. Then into Kent and the White Horse Chilham. A small but very appreciative crowd including a radio 2 folk award winner (He’d come along specially, you know? For our music. Not the beer!) and Spy Genius – clandestine popsters from Canterbury (way cool). We filled a last minute cancellation at The Morden Arms in Greenwich on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon. Convinced that everyone would be in the park, we expected an empty pub so hadn’t exactly planned a show. But a guitar here, a shruti box there, some stamping and clapping: it went great. A really matey bunch gradually filled the place and we finished up just as they cleared the cheese board. Excellent. April, eh? I understand that it’s been the wettest in living memory, or something, but it’s been showery hasn’t? Proper. We have seen the sun, a bit. Gigs were mostly inside the M25 this month. The Hob, Forest Hill is always good but we’ve just started to notice that it really does get better each time we go back. At Ron’s request (He’s the boss. He gets what he wants) we opened with an acoustic set and finished all electric (with Mr. Bob Kelly on bass) which gives a tremendous dynamic range to the music. We made out like bandits on the merch table which is very gratifying. The following night it’s The British Oak, Blackheath – another of our fave venues. Fully acoustic and folk tinged as this evening was always going to be, we took the opportunity to try out some brand new songs. It all went so well that we picked up a manager, an agent and tours of Germany, Australia and The US before we’d finished packing up the PA, though we did think that maybe the beer was talking by that stage of the night – and we thought right. Our one trip to the country this month was a dash down to Glastonbury, a slightly odd gig (just as one wants in Hippy Heaven), and straight back in the car to be home in time to get up and play again the following lunchtime. No narcotics, no booze, a tank of gas, a bottle of pop and a single pork product. That’s the way we roll here. Ron’s Speakeasy at The Duke, right on the Greenwich/Deptford border, is becoming fabulous. The pub has a real musical history but, until a few months ago, it had gone quite. Now, with a stylish new backdrop, glitter curtains, lights and a new PA the place looks and sounds The Bizniz! We played an arty mix of electric and acoustic. Cool. Ever spent a wet week in Wales, drinking martinis, eating beef and feeding a log burner - in a yurt? Then back to The Morden. A return date and very much the same relaxed behaviour as before. Many thanks to Dave Sutherland for the booking, Luke for the drinks and Alice for taking the jug round.

chiming, singing, ringing and roaring

Ah February: Valentine’s day, Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, all the highlights of the calendar packed into one of nature’s showiest months…. No? Not going for that? Well you’re no fools. Bruise, however, made a concerted effort to brighten up this dark, flu ridden, month with shows all over the place, only a couple of which were cancelled due to snow! Sorry Kent, sorry Skeggy. We were game but we took advice from venues and promoters and these pleasures have been postponed until later dates.

So, unbowed by a flake or two of slush, The Duke in Deptford is a little legend in South East London. Back in the day, greats such as Squeeze, Jools, Dire Straits and you-bloomin-name-it electrified audiences on a weekly basis and now it hosts Ron’s Speak Easy on a Sunday night. We’ve played there a few times now and we do love it. Ron and Rankin create a top atmosphere and the audiences are a stylish, lively bunch. We played some tracks from ‘Little Victories’ that have never been aired live before and even stuck our necks out on a brand new, as yet un-recorded track. It went…er…well, we think. You shoulda been there. I swore like a pit-worker and can only blame the smallest of malfunctions with my guitar. Pretty much every one laughed at my petulance, and another top night was had.

Then, for us, a trip West and South West. When we arrived at the Cwmaman Institute it was sadly on the brink of closure and it may in fact actually be closed by now. Bruise feels privileged to be one of their final bookings and we’re hoping it rises, Wickham style, from the ashes of it’s former self (etc) cos it’s a great place to play. The hardy locals who supported the place to the end know us by now so there were requests and encores and everything that lets a band know they are valued or FABULOUS, as they put it. On to The Globe at Hay, a proper arty art centre where there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. My amp was having a sick day but I dug deep and performed without the full range of tones and we pulled it off . Thank you to the dancers, thank you to those who came from as far afield as Sussex to see us, and for all the support under difficult circumstances. Next to The Britannia, Crickhowell, a favorite of ours and this gig was a real stormer. We had done a temporary fix on my amp so it was back on form; chiming, singing, ringing and roaring (as required) and we were sublime (Oh yes). Heading for Bristol, we stopped off at Maplins for parts and Severn View Travelodge for soldering then “ho” for The Horseshoe, Downend for the final gig of the trip, yeah? It was an odd one for us. We only got to play Excuse Me once (usually it’s three times at least).

Thanks on this trip to Huw and Marion in Cwmaman and Ashley and Pedro at The Dragon, Crickhowell, for accommodating us in such fine style. Back home now and gearing up for the treats that March has in store. Gig details are available at www.bruiseuk.com. Come ON!

Photo curtesy of Gary Davies www.dpiction.co.uk

Folk, more Folk then Rock. Marvelous!

it’s been a magical week for Bruise. 3 gigs, the first at Eltham Folk Mob which was a RARE traditional folk set. These songs normally get sung in the privacy of our own living room, for our own pleasure, but very occasionally we get together with Gary Southwell to perform a traditional folk set and this is where Jim and I show our roots. Unfortunately Gary was unable to make this short tour at the last minute so Jim and I fulfilled the bookings with our hearts in our mouths, and what a reception we got. The crowd roared their appreciation as we sang songs of sailors and ramblers and maidens in distress. I played the ukulele primarily but picked up my guitar to accompany Jim as he sang lead. (Yes, that’s a surprise isn’t it! I’m sure you can imagine he has a beautiful manly voice and delivered ‘The Fair Flower of Northumberland’ admirably.) Also my new toy a ‘shruti box’ made it’s first appearance. I loved singing ‘The Humpback Whale’ along to it’s strong throaty drone. We were blown away by the reception and truly touched when for an encore the crowd demanded ‘Silvertown’ an original tune. It was a privilege to perform one of Bruise’s songs in the company of such historical material and I was moved to hear the Folkmob crowd singing along.
The next day we drove down to Burnham on Sea’s Ritz Acoustic Club. They had booked A Murder of Rooks (our traditional folk spin-off) on the strength of last years appearance at The Brunham on Sea Folk Festival. We were all loved up after Folkmob and a beautiful drive, where even the Stroud/Reading stretch of the M4 lifted our hearts with bare black trees full to bursting with mistletoe in the fading winter sun. Sound check in the refurbished art deco cinema was a breeze courtesy of Graham and his solid sound set up, and when Jim and I arrived all duded up for the performance we were greeted by a full room and quality floor spots. A generous reception from this room, we were grateful for the memory of the night before and we performed many of the same songs. I felt a genuine rapport between us and the audience, and my favorites from the night were, again, ‘The Humpback Whale’, our encore ‘Jock Stewart’ but particularly the last few songs ‘Cam-Ye-Oer Frae France’, Erin-Go-Bragh’ and ‘Hal and Tow’ which raised rapturous applause. Thank You Burnham on Sea! We’ll see you in September :o)
We concluded our weeks travels with a trip down to Whitstable and despite being 4 hours early for our appearance and the ensuing confusion we were itching to get on. A fairly full room quickly filled to bursting as we played our first set. It was glorious to be behind my Stratocaster again and to be standing tall next to Jim and his drum kit. We had crammed in a rehearsal the day before so we were crisp and sharp, feeling great, sounding great. Some folks had made the trip from London to catch this set (thank you Keith and Jacqui) and we were warmly welcomed by the Whitstable posse. It was bliss, it was sublime. The bloody joy of Jim’s drumming and my rhythm guitar, the utter pleasure of singing, with the notes of gentle folk concerts in the back of my mind, we tore the place apart. Couples agog at the sounds we were creating, individuals dancing unfettered. The songs reigned supreme and I glowed with joy and perspiration. 6 encores, count them SIX. This was glorious, for all the appreciation, for all the applause I bow my head. Whitstable you rock and it is our pleasure to Rock You! X