JULY UPON REFLECTION
July was like a coat of many musical colours for me. Reconnecting with my friend and pianist Phil Richardson (the audience loved his playing!) for a show in York; a solo show in Doncaster the night after the UK election and the night of a couple EURO football matches in Germany; re-learning the songs from our album to do a show with banjo-wizard Dan Walsh; co-organising and playing at the Ely Folk Festival Patron's Concert with Vera van Heeringen, Boo Hewerdine and Findlay Napier; three amazing gigs with Aaron Catlow and Jon Short (our first as a trio - hopefully not the last?); my annual week-long Folk Band workshop at Marlborough College Summer School (so very cool!) and a week-long guitar workshop in Cambridge. I've set aside most of August for the family, plus there's always Jo's Honey-Do List. I'll also be hoping to spend a little time sitting under the Ballad Tree, where a new song or two might make itself known to me. See you after all that!
Photo: sent to me by Jo from social media
SEPTEMBER (AND A LITTLE MORE) CONCERTS
August
31st Didmarton Bluegrass Festival, Didmarton, Gloucestershire (Brooks & Aaron Catlow)
September
1st Whitstable Sessions Music Club, Whitstable, Kent (Brooks & Aaron Catlow)
6th Bristol Folk House, Bristol, Avon (Brooks & Aaron Catlow)
12th Old Riverport Jazz & Blues Festival, Golden Lion Hotel, St Ives, Cambridgeshire (Brooks & Aaron Catlow)
13th Old Riverport Jazz & Blues Festival, Slepe Hall Hotel, St Ives, Cambridgeshire (Brooks & Dan Walsh)
19th Kirkcaldy Folk Club, Kirkcaldy, Scotland (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
20th Wylam Village Institute, Wylam, Northumberland (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
21st Charlie’s Loft, Milngavie, East Dumbartonshire, Scotland (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
22nd The Cat Club, The Pigeon Loft at the Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
24th Cafe No. 9, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
25th Rhydycroesau Village Hall, Rhydycroesau, Oswestry (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
26th Chapel Arts, Bath, Somerset (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
27th The Soundbox Presents, St Mary's Creative Space, Chester, Cheshire (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
28th Aberhafesp Community Centre, Newtown, Powys, Wales (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
29th Folk On The Moor, Wooter, Devon (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
October
1st The Green Note, Camden, London (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
3rd Pembs Old Time, venue tba, Pembrokeshire, Wales (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
5th Naseby Village Hall, Naseby, West Northamptonshire (Brooks & Vera van Heeringen)
photo by Jock Tyldesley
SONG ROOTS TOUR
I'm on tour with Vera van Heeringen in September doing a show called SONG ROOTS. We'll be playing songs together as well as on our own and I'm very much looking forward to it. Here's a few videos we filmed in June in a field next to Vera and Jock's house. Jock did a lot of the tech heavy lifting. Can you spot the drone footage? We're so down with the kids! This'll give you a good idea what the shows are going to be like, minus the field of course. READ MORE
MY BABY’S GONE
NORA LI
PALOMINO GOLD
BROOKS & AARON WRAP UP 2024
As the Greens & Blues Tour sadly nears its end, we head into our final shows (but one in December). Big, big, big thank you to everyone who came to see us and who made this the best tour ever. Catch us at Didmarton Bluegrass Festival, Whitstable in Kent, Bristol Folk House or St Ives in Cambridge. On the last night of the tour everybody's invited into our tour bus so come on down! READ MORE
Photo: by an unsuspecting tourist, press-ganged into being our photographer
THE LITTLE DRUMMER
It has been nearly two years to the day since I first noticed the ‘little drummer’ in my chest decided to play his own rhythm. He has grown in confidence and become more outrageous gradually over the last couple years and required a good talking to, among other things. It has taken a long, long time to get a proper diagnosis. The waiting was scary, but after a few ‘urgent’ rhythms, I finally got the full attention and focus of the ‘drum’ doctor, who told me that this has been passed down to me by my ancestors. It's an inheritance I would gladly return, by the way. Shortly, in a one-day session, the doc will bring that little drummer to task and restore order to the chaos. Thankfully, over the last couple years, my boom-chick-a-chunk-chunk groove has been here when I've needed it. Still, I will be glad to see the back of this rogue little drummer and welcome back the one I've known and loved for nearly a lifetime!
photo: Jo Hurwitz Williams