OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
At the far end of the street, beyond the bottle tree and the overgrown alley, is where I learned of Tornado Smith, the first Wall of Death rider in the UK, which, in turn, is how I came to write the song. Off the beaten track, as they say. It's also where Aaron Catlow and I came across Hendrix the Cat. It was the statue of Hendrix, along the seafront, that caught our attention and what later led Aaron to look into it. The beautiful tune he wrote as a result is fast becoming an audience favourite in our concerts. Down the other end of the street, beyond the bottle tree and the overgrown alley is where there are lots of stories. The ones that stop you in your tracks. Tug at your heart strings. Warm the cockles of your heart. Go round and round in your head until you turn it into a song that, in turn, you love to play. Sometime you find a song fully formed down there too. Some are new and some are older than dirt and break like the waves at Malibu. That's where I found Shaw-nee-town, an old River Chanty from god knows when. There's an inner banjo zen-ness that rolls like 18-wheels in that song that I want to lean into. It's a mystery train that's 16-coaches long. Just when you think you've heard ‘em all - surprise, surprise - there’s more. The other week, at my concert in Pasadena in Southern California, I was delighted to meet someone who had seen me in concert way back in 1992. In those days, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, people sometimes went to gigs with small recording units stashed in a pocket or in their backpack and they recorded concerts. They were known then as boot-leggers, but now we know better and they are referred to as archivists. An under appreciated lot, this guy and his friend had done just that in those days before we saw the light. A few hours after the concert, as promised, he sent an email with a link to download that old concert. I opened the link with fear and trepidation and found a bona fide artefact. Fully-formed, in the upstairs room of an energetic bar in Connecticut USA is yours truly, warts and all, as they say. In the light of ‘now’ everything on the recording sounds a bit fast to my ears, like I was intermittently sucking on helium. I wasn't, so either it was recorded at a slightly higher speed or I was nervous. A few days later another email from someone else comes my way with a link to a recording. This time it is of my most recent concert in Pasadena. Another bona fide artefact, newly-born, only a couple days old, that sounds exactly like I imagine I sound. Both recordings are of me, but the most recent one sounds more like me. Like I'm further off that beaten track.
BROOKS AND AARON: CONCERTS AND VIDEOS
18 Jul Isbourne Arts, Winchcombe, Cheltenham
13 Aug Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead
3 Sep BAA Fest 2026 Assembly Hall, Bellingham, Northumberland
4 Sep Tin Shed, Flintshire, North Wales
5 Sep Didmarten Bluegrass Festival, Kemble Airfield, Gloucestershire
10 Sep Old Riverport Jazz & Blues Festival 2026, St Ives, Cambridge
11 Sep Blues On The Bay, Eaglescliffe, Stockton On Tees
VIDEOS GALORE!
Whatcha Gonna Do About It
Sleeping with the Dogs
The Ballad of Hendrix the Cat
Rising
AND ON TOUR IN OCTOBER 2026!
Photo by Barry Palfrey
ALL SUMMER CONCERTS
18 Jul Isbourne Arts, Winchcombe, Cheltenham
25 Jul Folk Day, Museum of Technology, Cambridge
1 Aug Cambridge Folk Festival, Cambridge
7 Aug Milkmaid Folk Club, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
13 Aug Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead
16 Aug Music on the Waits (aft), St Ives, Cambridgeshire
29 Aug Guitar Workshop, West Kirby, Wirral SOLD OUT
3 Sep BAA Fest 2026 Assembly Hall, Bellingham, Northumberland
4 Sep Tin Shed, Flintshire, North Wales
5 Sep Didmarten Bluegrass Festival, Kemble Airfield, Gloucestershire
6 Sep Whitstable Sessions, Whitstable, Kent (w Vera van Heeringen)
10 Sep Old Riverport Jazz & Blues Festival 2026, St Ives, Cambridge
11 Sep Blues On The Bay, Eaglescliffe, Stockton On Tees
27 Sep Laurel Canyon Acoustic, Nettleham Live!, Lincoln
Photo from New Forest Folk Festival 2026
COMING OCTOBER 2026 - SOLO ACOUSTIC USA
COMING NOVEMBER 2026 - SOLO ACOUSTIC UK
Photo Jo Hurwitz Williams
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