Down at the Sandbar

Posted on February 2, 2012 by

Last night, I embraced the cold, to see if the hype I’d heard surrounding The Sandbar‘s open mic night was true. The bar itself is right on the beach in Praa Sands and on arriving it seemed to be a relatively quiet affair but the evening, hosted by Graham Baumbach from local duo The B.T. Experience, soon gained momentum.

First up was Charlotte Killgallon (left), you can watch her videos on YouTube here. I LOVED her. Such a soft, breathy voice, deep and rounded. When we chatted she was delightfully sweet and blessed with humility. Currently living in Marazion you can catch her performing at Marazion’s Monday night Jam session in The Godolphin Arms.

The other act that couldn’t go unnoticed were two young lads, Mickey Ponsford and Liam Fitzharris (below). As half of Flats and Sharps, a bluegrass band from Penzance, they delivered a welcomed package of comedy and fast-paced-flat-pickin-mandolin! Mickey, who’s stage antics were surely influenced by the phenomenal Chris Thile, shared with me that they’re currently writing and recording an album. The recording is taking place, not in some swanky studio, but in Mickey’s family living room with the assistance of his father, who by all accounts is particularly enthusiastic regarding the boys musical endeavours. One thing that most interested me is how they are experimenting with a variety of different types of microphones to find ‘that’ sound. Talk of ribbon, condenser and dynamic mics sent my head spinning with excitement and I can’t wait to hear the music they’ve created.

Breaking into a music circuit so defined as bluegrass may be quite a difficult task for a foursome of teenagers you might think, but these youngsters are clearly paving the way and quickly becoming a recognised name in these parts and beyond. Paul Brewer of The New Essex Bluegrass Band once said to them “If you’re the future of bluegrass, we’re happy handing it down to you”.

And I’ll leave you with the following quote which tickled all of us who heard..

Liam – “What’s the tempo?” Mickey – “How fast can you play?”

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White horses and waves

Posted on January 31, 2012 by

White horses and high winds are what have been distracting me for most of the day. It’s wonderful to witness the sea whipping up it’s waters and revealing it’s power.

Having lived by the sea for the last 21 years of my life, I couldn’t imagine being away from it. The scene of it forever in motion, the sound, the smell and when I emerge from it’s coolness I feel cleansed and renewed. Many of my most vivid memories take place on the shore or playing in waters around the coast of South West England. Growing up in North Devon, whilst living through my ‘angst’ teenage years, I would often retreat to a favourite spot, a bench that looked across Croyde Beach, and would watch the surfers getting barreled at low tide.

So, the sun is going down and thus my view is disappearing into the darkness.. perhaps I will now get some work done :-) . Having recently set up my (very basic) home studio, I’ve been practicing with a few different recording techniques and trying out the Pro Tools Software. Tomorrow will be day 1 of creating my first arrangement. Will let you know how it goes.

Jenny xx

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Singer-Songwriters in Cornwall at ‘The Unplugged Chameleon’

Posted on December 14, 2011 by

Chameleon -  a lizard characterized by it’s ability to change colour.

Unplugged – of, relating to, or being a musical instrument, arrangement, or performance that does not feature electronic amplification or modification; acoustic.

The Unplugged Chameleon was recently introduced to me and I LOVE the name, catchy and memorable. What is it? If you’ve not worked it out already The Unplugged Chameleon  is a monthly evening at St. Ives Arts Club which provides a totally unplugged performance space for musicians, singers, songwriters, poets, etc. to entertain an audience with their totally original compositions. Their facebook page also states “The Unplugged Chameleon is totally dedicated to bringing the very best original talent from our beautiful world to the eyes and ears of everyone in it!”.
This beautifully intimate gathering of original performers is organised and run by fellow singer-songwriter, guitarist Lindsey James Cook. He performs regularly at the evening.. and amongst fine company too. The Unplugged Chameleon is riddled with super talented Cornish female singer songwriters (go girls!) such as young, up and coming songstress Polly Money, Caroline Dexter who has it all.. the voice, the lyrics and guitar skills (I love her!) and my absolute favourite local lass (well, local enough.. Devon!) Pippa Williams who I first saw at Truro Acoustic Cafe where her haunting voice and songs blew me away. That was years ago now, but still to this day I love it when one of her songs pops up on my itunes shuffle and I’m instantly transported to another world.

This Saturday 17th December the Unplugged Chameleon plays host to it’s Christmas Special which looks to be just that, special, with performances from Rob Norrington, Duncan Yeates, Aston Drees, Christy ‘Dads Daughter’ Adams, Tom Browning, Logan Anderton, Tom Elliot, Fred Jones, Pippa Williams, Polly Money and Lindsey James Cook himself. What a line up! :-)

Lindsey has a YouTube channel where you can see videos of some of these great artists in action.. right here.

Finally, I’m delighted to say that I’m going to take part in an Unplugged Chameleon on Saturday 18th February 2012 and I am particularly excited about it! :D

xx

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Adele Sucess At American Music Awards 2001

Posted on December 10, 2011 by

Just been catching up on this years American Music Awards which took place in LA, this November. Absolutely delighted to see how successful London born singer-songwriter Adele was. She won three of the four categories she was nominated for.. Favourite Pop/Rock Female Artist, Favourite Pop/Rock Album with her beautifully touching album 21 and Favourite Adult Contemporary Artist. Get in Adele!

She was the only British artist to win any categories, with Mumford & Sons (the other British act) lost to the almighty Foo Fighters who won Favourite Alternative Artist.

There was only one other artist to win 3 awards who was the gorgeous Taylor Swift, she won all three of her categories… Artist Of The Year, Favourite Country Female Artist and Favourite Country Album (with ‘Speak Now’).

My personal highlight was to discover that Jennifer Lopez won Favourite Latin Artist. I’m not a huge Jo-Lo fan or anything, just pleased that someone else got a shot at it after Enrique Inglesias held the title for 5 years running! Really!?

Jen xx

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‘Likes Food Too Much’ To Look Like Jennifer Aniston..

Posted on December 9, 2011 by

Katherine Heigl ‘Likes Food Too Much’ To Look Like Jennifer Aniston Or Jessica Alba – Celebrity Gossip, News & Photos, Movie Reviews, Competitions – Entertainmentwise.

Ok, let me first point out that I am not one for celebrity gossip… at all.. but when logging in this morning, this one caught my eye. Having never heard of Katherine Heigl my mental image when reading the headline was of someone who would be totally overweight. Then the image loads up, and no, apparently not.. she is beautiful and slim with an amazing figure. She goes on to talk about how hard girls like Jennifer Aniston work for their bodies. This led me to learn more about Jen’s exercise regime. From what I can find it consists mainly of yoga and interval training; superb basics of fitness.

As legendary combat fitness instructor Mike Lee Kanarek says “Looking good is a by product not a destination”. I agree with that entirely. I WANT to work out, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE, even ADORE food quite probably as much as Katherine, but exercise on a daily basis gives me strength, confidence, longevity, health and energy. Don’t get muddled up that exercise is about looking good, exercise to help you live longer, exercise to stimulate new brain cells and improve memory, exercise to strengthen your heart, exercise to feel happy and reduce stress, exercise to lower your blood pressure, exercise to increase your muscle strength, exercise to strengthen your immune system and exercise to have better quality sleep… all these reason and so many more! Then after all those most important benefits.. you get the added bonus of improving the way you look.

When JB Glossinger, founder or Morning Coach.com, gave me the idea to exercise for all the reasons above with the exception of for the way I look.. it changed my attitude to my fitness schedule dramatically. Exercise is great. Love it, embrace it, do it… you’ll never regret it.

One love,

Jen xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Each tiny piece of me…

Posted on September 14, 2011 by

Just watched Giuliana & Bill, Season 4, Episode “Picking Up The Pieces”.

It’s an American ‘reality’ show that follows the lives of Giuliana Rancic, a journalist, entertainment news anchor, author, television producer, mentor and philanthropist and her husband Bill Rancic who was Donald Trump‘s original Apprentice.

This episode focuses on the story detailing Giuliana’s recent miscarriage which occurred after the couple’s successful IVF treatment.

A  very short clip of my song ‘Completely’ is featured in the show. Was really lovely to hear it and witness how it was used. Plus, the whole episode (and series) is full of really amazing music from other artists licensed by Prelude Publishing.

You can watch the whole episode here. :-)

xxx

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Hoorah!

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

Hi everyone, so I did it, a website, chuffed :-)

The last few months have been full of gigging around Cornwall on a weekly basis and I’ve loved every moment of it. Not a great deal of song writing has gone on and sadly I also had to cancel a date with the one and only Ray Davis for his Arvon Foundation songwriting course which I was meant to be attending next week.. but I’m holding out that I may be accepted on the course again next year.

Now the web site is done and all my current music is available on itunes, my plan of action is to write more music, keep gigging and meeting wonderful like-minded people doing so. I find it so inspiring to be around fellow, local musicians such as Dom Youngman, Kaj Skjervik, Tony Haven, Abee Hague and Tracy Mack. Hopefully one day my dream of collaborating with said musicians will manifest.

I’ve been toying with an idea for a while to purchase myself a big fat Mac Pro with which to home record a full album. This is quite a major decision.. obviously due to the financial implications that buying a Mac involves, but more due to the time I would need to invest to produce an album of industry quality. Time will tell and we’ll see if my Pro Tools music software tuition DVD’s get thrown out of the window!

If you’re in Cornwall on Monday (19th September 2011) I’ll be playing a chilled out acoustic set at Vertigo Bar in Truro, but have a look at my Live page for more gig dates.

So, bye for now and thank you for taking the time to read my first ever blog post!

Love Jenny xx

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