goodtimes goodtimes

free shipping for ugg boots 2011

2011-12-02T00:17:00.001Z

Fortune Teller Song

2010-08-19T14:37:00.005+01:00

Here's the video for Fortune Teller Song; directed by Goodtimes Goodtimes' guitarist & entrepreneur Mr Ivor Sims. !! We went to the Peli Rocco Hotel in Brighton last weekend to shoot this at their Doris Day room; was alot of fun, hope you enjoy it!

Sunday

2010-08-08T15:31:00.000+01:00

http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Hello

2010-08-04T18:28:00.001+01:00

I promised myself I wouldn't erase any of these posts no matter what state I was in when I wrote them but I had to take down my last ramblings cause I couldn't make much sense of them myself. Not that it matters much I suppose but still, you know, "stand up straight beside the fireplace" and all that, good impressions is good impressions!
It's great that more and more people are clicking on the site and listening to the songs from the album and sending me very lovely messages saying how much they're enjoying the songs; I couldn't ask for anything more and it feels great to know the music I wrote for you lovely people is already being enjoyed so much.
I did a photo shoot with Jim Naughten www.jimaughten.com yesterday for the record sleeve; taking pictures is usually about as comfortable an experience for me as being kicked in the eye with a 4 inch stiletto heal but Jim was kind and gracious and made me feel comfortable; he took some great great photos which we're going to use for the record. I'll show you the print soon as it's ready. And we're shooting a video this weekend in Brighton - same stiletto heal thing applies - will let you know how that goes.
Shows next week in london and cambridge, details up on the site
http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk

Chin up
X
http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

July 26

2010-07-26T14:33:00.003+01:00

ugghh..monday. tried to work on some new songs this weekend but with little joy as i've probably been listening to too much "old country" lately so it's all sounds, well, like i wish i was merle haggard which in all honesty, yes i do but that's not really what songwriting is about. it's about finding your own little space and digging in till it sounds like you and no one else; you're own stories in your own way. alright, that's songwriting 101 over for the day.

busy week ahead, back in the studio for a few days with Drew whose helping out with some engineering and mixing up at Battery Studios is Willeseden. It's all sounding mega and less than two months to go now before the album is available. I'm playing two shows on friday - at the kings arms in fulham and then later at the fiddlers elbow in camden, should be good fun.

We're shooting a video for fortune teller song, if all goes to plan (no tempting of fate here - Ivor) this weekend, should be on your screens very soon!

alright; love, life , beautiful, everybody's welcome!

july 22

2010-07-22T14:50:00.002+01:00

alright? warm regards from a hot & sticky london summer. things are all moving along here, just been getting the first couple of songs from the record out to people and the response so far is pretty good, which i'm pleased about although i've heard from a few people that were big fans of "glue" who are somewhat suprised with the new - musical direction - and miss the lazy americana sound of old. i'm not really sure what to say that, apart from , i dont miss it at all :)

I was back in the studio this week putting the finishing touches to two songs for the album, they were sounding good but just sitting back and enjoying the ride a bit too much, you know what i mean? well, i prodded them both with a big metal rod and threw some burning coals on them , and they've come out as some bastard sons of springsteen's darkness of the edge of town and mahalia jackson slugging it out with the dead weather after a bottle of Gran Patron. Deliverance indeed.

Been playing gigs most nights of the night around London. I love this the most; if only my amps would stop blowing up, it's a little difficult to make money this way. Bigger amps; that's probably the answer, yeah, to most things i suppose.

alright, i'll check back with you soon.

June 28th. let it begin.

2010-06-28T14:39:00.003+01:00

Happy days. The record is finished and I'm very excited for people to get stuck into it. It's all sounding better than i could've wished for and without doubt the best songs I've recorded.There's a pretty new site up now for all your gtgt needs... http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk

If you're on the mailing list you've already received a link to download the first single from the record, "Fortune Teller Song", for free..if you're not on the list...sign up and you'll be sent the download link.

Making this record was alot of fun; Danton Supple produced the record and helped me create a brand new world for me to work & play; we didnt go into record knowing exactly what kind of record we were going to make but we knew for sure what we did not want ! and that was a comfortable Americana sounding record that nodded and winked towards my record collection. No no no, that would 've been very wrong and very lazy. So there's lots of meshed up guitar sounds and flickers of electronica that put the songs into a very different time & space..hopefully you'll be into it as much as i am. For those of you that heard "Glue"..this is quite different, it's not grime or anything so dont worry, but it is pretty special and the closest i've gotten to putting what's in my head on tape. Hope you will dig , my friends.

I'm out playing shows again from next week, starting at the Underbelly in Hoxton Square supporting Lauren Pritchard next Thursday, 8th July at 8pm. Tickets for this show are advance purchase only, you can get them from the site. Hope to see you then!

2010-06-08T17:42:00.002+01:00

The record is very nearly done. Exciting times. Very much looking forward to getting out there and hearing what people think. We've got it down to 12 songs , there might be a few less on the record but we'll see. Back soon..be good x

Alternate Root Summer Sampler

2010-05-19T10:54:00.003+01:00

Vote for "summer" to go on Aternateroot.com's summer sampler cd; click and scroll down to the right..the song is from the album "glue".

Resuming Transmission.

2010-05-15T17:30:00.003+01:00

hello music fans. how the devil are you? Since we last spoke....been busy making this record which is going swimmingly; a few more weeks work on it and then we'll be putting all the wheels in motion. In the meantime, I'm coming out of hiding next week to play a show at the Luminaire in London on Friday with "Two Fingers of Firewater".
looking forward to seeing you there and getting your first reactions on the new tunes.

Marvellous.

Friday 21st May 8.30pm

The Luminaire

311 Kilburn High Road
London NW6 7JR

Marvellous.

2010-04-15T16:16:00.000+01:00

back soon..

March 24th Googies Lounge NYC

2010-03-16T19:43:00.002Z

The record is quickly taking on a heart of its own now and i'm getting quite excited about it all. It's all a huge learning curve for me as well and i'm loving every second. Cant wait to play you some tunes. Think you'll be best pleased.
Making a quick dash over the pond next week to take care of a few loose ends and shoot the cover for the cover..I'll also be playing a little show at Googie's Lounge, upstairs from the Living Room on Ludlow Street so do stop by if your sails are that way bound next Wednesday evening.
be good.
franc
xx

Wednesday March 24th 9.30pm
Googie's Lounge (Upstairs at The Living Room)
154 Ludlow (btwn Stanton & Rivington)
NYC 10001

Facebook Event

March 9th. TONITE!!! RONI ROCKER"S FABULOUS FUNTIME HOOTENANNY!!!

2010-03-09T13:01:00.004Z

BY APPOINTMENT TO HER ROYAL MAJESTY, QUEEN ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO

RONI ROCKER'S FABULOUS FUNTIME HOOTENANNY!

A NIGHT OF MUSIC, MAGIC, MARVEL & MAYHEM TO SATISFY YOUR EVERY NEED!!

JOIN THE BONANZA!!

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JOIN US EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT AT THE WORLD FAMOUS

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ALL ARE WELCOME!!

LIFE! LOVE! BEAUTIFUL!!!

The Redan

1 Westbourne Grove , LONDON. W2 4UA.

Bayswater Tube.

MAP

March 5th Recording

2010-03-05T15:14:00.002Z

Back in the studio with Danton this week at Battery Studios in Willesden Green working away on the record..we're in here for the next few weeks so if all goes to plan there'll be a few songs to play you very soon. Other than that, my old friend No Sleep has come back to pay me a visit so i'm just walking 'round with perma jet lagged which yes, is about as fun as it sounds. speak of jetlag i'm going over the pond in a few weeks to play some shows and do a shoot for the cover of the record which should be goodtimes. alright , time to lay down some bass guitar. speak to you soon. fx

MARCH 1st THE LUMINAIRE

2010-02-25T17:43:00.002Z

Big show on the 1st at The Luminaire in North London. Tickets are selling out so get in.. see you then!
franc
xx

Facebook Event

Tickets & Info

Goodtimes Goodtimes @
The Luminaire
March 1st 8pm
311 Kilburn High Road
London NW6 7JR

2010-02-22T22:48:00.000Z

Played at the lighthouse in battersea tonight. Beautiful.

Feb 16 it is what it is

2010-02-16T21:19:00.000Z

http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Feb 10 The shortlist

2010-02-10T16:31:00.000Z

http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Feb 9th checkin in

2010-02-10T13:08:00.000Z

Hello music fans, just checking in with you. It's been over a week since my last post, hope all is going swimmingly with your good selves. Work is proceeding well with the album, re-writes & take ..after take...after take, along with some magic studio trickery are making way for a special record. Reckon it should be with you by spring time...early summer. Excited? yeah, nice.
What else? Hmm, well there's not much else right now, building a new site for you which to be honest is a complete pain in the ass and I'd much rather be writing tunes then messing about with that stuff but it's almost done, ooh new tshirts..they're n.I.c.e! You know those lovely american apparel tshirts? Yep, like those ones and they'll be ready with the new site next week.
Apart from all that I've really been enjoying staying as far away as possible from all the daylight robbery promoters and just playing my own gigs at pubs all round south (saaf) london. It's a lot more fun for me and I scrape together a few bob as well. Nice. I should list these and get you lovely folks to come down but I'm just enjoying travelling about playing random gigs by myself right now to unsuspecting people. I'm trying out some new tunes and playing all my favourite elvis tunes as well. I'm having fun. Oh, but I do have a gig at the luminaire on the 1st of march - I'll get into trouble if I don't plug that one! - it'll be a grand night of music and carnival freaks of all sorts really hope you can be there, facebook thingy later today.
Righto, almost at kensal green now - a well behaved bakerloo line today, how'd of believed it eh?! Yeah, exactly I'm kidding, been on this flipping train for over an hour. Sort it out boris.
Anyway almost at the studio now and time to make some more sweet soul music.

Watcha.
X
http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Jan 30th. Will play for sleep

2010-01-30T20:53:00.000Z

Currently going about my daily activities deprived of shut eye as sleep has become a long forgotten dream to me. For the sixth time this week (today being saturday) I'm awake since 2am and feel like a zombie. I'm using my sleepless nights to learn elvis songs and am building up quite a repertoire. Not sleeping, playing elvis tunes and I've got elvis presley ingraved on the neck of my guitar. I may be going mad music fans; just a heads up there. Carry on.
http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Jan 20th Murphy's Law

2010-01-19T20:31:00.000Z

So my day was one of those great ones. I may even look back on this day and think "Crikey! Thank goodness for that!!"
I was very lucky to be at a song writing seminar hosted by Ralph Murphy, a great great songwriter with an unbelievable list of writing and production credits to his name. It was a real eye opener and a chance to learn some lessons in song crafting, and by an accomplished master as well. I learnt so much and I'm mega keen to put things into practice; I really don't want to share the things I've learnt with you but, however, as Ralph himself said...I want you to know everything I know so that we're on an even playing field because then, and only then can I really kick your ass!! Haha!! Too cool :) (still not gonna tell you though!!)

http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Jan 18th Blue Monday

2010-01-18T20:53:00.000Z

Apparently today, the last Monday of January is meant to be the saddest day of the year. The miserable blues are at the height of their strengths today. or so they say anway. I dont mind cold january too much; its that feeling of everything and anything is just around the corner. Well that's me anyway.
Today for me wasnt so much blue monday as pain in the ass monday as i spent most of the day recording vocal and guitar parts for two songs for the record only to be find out that i hadnt set the tracks up right and so had to do the whole lot again. How very very dull. Anyway, its done now and i'm back on track.
I know there hasnt been a cover for you to download for a few days; sorry music fans, there's more of the way soon. In the meantime catch up on the "A Song A Day" link on the site.
Alright, be good.
Franc
X
http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Jan 15th 'buca blues

2010-01-15T12:41:00.000Z

I'd like to express my gratitude to the gentleman at my show last night who kept on putting shots of sambuca on the stage for me between songs. If this was a measure of how much you enjoyed my playing then thank you kindly. I am at present in a world of pain; we call this the 'buca blues.
I dont think there'll be a free cover for you to download today music fans (see above).
X
http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Jan12th choon!

2010-01-12T21:02:00.002Z

Alrighty. super excited about thursday; not played one of my gigs in a while and it's going to be splendid. I say one of "my" gigs as i've been playing a bunch of gigs around pubs , doing mostly covers to pay the rent and stay out of trouble before the new record is finished. I was meant to play at two different places on sunday (not at the same time of course, that would be silly and quite unlikely) but I managed to blow my PA and on top of that my guitar pick up has just decided it doesnt want to work anymore so i had the dubious pleasure of going to the PA centre on denmark street and now not having a penny..again...yawn!! anyway, no bother, not fussed, come down on thursday, it'll be special. oh and keep up with my covers will you! Our journey into song storytelling and folklore continues with one of the best of the best; strawberry fields. it's perfect. everything about it wants me to be so much better than i can be. enjoy my take on it. see you thursday.
xx

Jan 10th Burning Love

2010-01-10T13:30:00.003Z

Greetings from COLD london. My fingers are missing their gloves very much. I've got a good one for you today; from the King's very own songbook; "Burning Love", one of the all time greats which i couldnt ignore for my series of song exploration! I've tried to make this a little my own; hope you enjoy; as ever you're feedback is welcomed (as long as you say i'm amazing, if not, straight to the gallows you go! tar & feathered along the way.) Have a day of playing today, a few local pubs round where live, it's fun and it pays the rent. happy days. Alright, need to try and get some sort of set together for today's marathon run, check in with you soon. Download today's tune at the usual link along with any of others you may have missed:

http://goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk/A_Song_A_Day/

be good.

Jan 8 Slide Away

2010-01-08T16:11:00.000Z

Alright. Hope you saw the invite for the london show next thursday; it's the first show of the year; a little acoustic hootenanny to break in the new year so if you're in town would be lovely to see you there; it's at fiddlers elbow in kentish town on the 14th and i'm on at 10.
Ok so i got a song done for you lovely people today; it's by one of my favourite song writers who also made me want to pick up a guitar in the first place; i've added a bit of Gram Parsons country flavour to this Noel Gallagher penned gem of a song. Go to the "A Song A Day" link on the site and download from there.
Be good
Xx
http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Jan 7. 2-4-6-8 Motorway

2010-01-07T21:14:00.000Z

Stuck on the motorway trying to get to where i need to be this evening so no song for you to download today music fans, sorry. But do catch up on any you might have missed from link on my site
Got the go ahead to start recording next week which i'm super happy about but it'll probably mean "A Song A Day" might not be EVERY day as i have a mountain ahead of me to climb. Stay well. X

http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

Jan 6th let it snow!

2010-01-06T20:57:00.004Z

Ah london snow! pretty as a picture. alas my adidas sambas are not designed for this particular weather so i'm somewhat wet & bruised right now. Anyway, it's good to be back and i'm raring to go, will keep you posted on proceedings for the new record and hope to have some tracks to play yo very soon indeed! I'm playing an acoustic show on the 14th so come down, details on the site. Did you get yesterday's "A Song A Day" ? Ooh La La was written by (THE GREAT!) Mr Ronnie Lane when he was in The Faces, a super group of sorts that make a couple of cracking little records back in the day. I highly recommend a cheeky google search to kill the time at work tomorrow if you've not heard of them..(why on earth not?!) you know, when they'd tour, instead of paying to have a support band on the road with them they'd spend the money on buying a bunch of booze and handing it out free to the crowd before they went on stage so everyone (including the band of course) would be suitably plastered by the time the curtain dropped and so ready for a good time. What good sports they were; no myspace numbers or blog posts for them; get hammered, play rock 'n roll & have a good old knees up. happy days! I could go on taking about Ronnie Lane and the Faces for a while but i'm sure you've all got better things to do then listen to me harp on about rock 'n roll's golden age.
So in keeping with this moody winter weather, i thought a slice of something dark would do the trick for today's "A Song A Day" , now those at you that know me know i'm somewhat of an "avid" Bruce Springsteen fan so you should expect a few more of the Boss's tunes on this series of song exploration! I started it off, on the 26th of December with my own little rendition of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" (still available for you to download if you haven't already by the way!) and today's tune is also a title track from one his records "Nebraska". He recorded the whole album on a 4-track tape machine in his home and it still stands tall as one of the (greatest) most important "story teller" records according to this budding music journo! It' on the "A Song A Day" page and if you're reading this on facebook visit the site when you get a chance...

Jan 4th Labi the Great

2010-01-04T20:59:00.004Z

Welcome back music fans. Hope you've been enjoying our little song exhibition so far. Many thanks to all of you who have let me know they're enjoying the tunes and for your suggestions of new songs to do. Leave it to me and I'm sure there'll be a few more surprises in store before you know it. I'm enjoying posting a different song each day but i think i'll be sticking to interpreting other songwriters (that's a nice way of saying i'm laying down some covers!) rather than stick up demos of my own songs. I'd rather you listened to mine in all their finished "glory". ha! speaking of which , I'm heading back to london tomorrow , my Italian soggiorno is over and i'm looking forward to heading back to the Blighty and get cracking on finishing the new record. We're spending all of this month recording in various rooms / studios / fields / motorways and the month after tidying it all up and applying some studio trickery when and where necessary. I'll keep you posted as ever, i'll get some visuals to you as well.
So, back to "A Song A Day", today's tune is called "It Must Be Love"; written by Labi Siffre, an English singer-songwriter in the early 70s, i dont know how much success he had it with it but most of us know the Madness version of it. It's a great song; as far as songwriting goes, i think its very Beatlesy; short & sweet with really tight little section changes and brilliant jazzy chords throughout to keep it really interesting. I think it's beautiful..hope you dig! Download here or catch up on all the other songs here.

Jan 2nd fortune teller's song

2010-01-02T21:28:00.003Z

Moonriver. Tune! That'll have to be added to my "A Song A Day" series very soon. Hey, if you think of any songs you'd like to hear on "A Song A Day" just let me know and as long as it's not grime, or terrible, i'll see what i can do. Listened to a bit of Django Reinhardt today; it's the kind of music that just floors you on first listen. He only had two fingers and was a better guitarist then i'll ever dream to be. practice, sunbeam..practice! Anyway, today's tune is up on the page, you can listen here or click from the site . It's called Fortune Teller's Song , hope you enjoy it; let me know what you think.
be good
franc
x

01/01/10

2010-01-01T17:22:00.003Z

Ok, well to start this year off.... I think you'll like this. Don't miss out on today's "A Song A Day" free download. What A Wonderful World, indeed.
If you've missed any you can catch up here

Dec 31st. 2010: The Year We Make Contact

2009-12-31T19:50:00.005Z

Ladies & Gentlemen we are floating in space. A new decade is exciting news for all concerned. Here on Planet GTGT we wish your dreams the best of luck of may your wishes all be granted.

To see out this year there's a little treat for you today in your "A Song A Day" section. This is one of my favourite tunes; it's a folk song of Scottish origin originally published in the 1500s. That's a long time ago but the same rules still applied in magic and story telling. I first heard this song on His Royal Bobness's "Good As I Been To You" record and loved it's sincere childish charm and evoked loving memories of being a wee lad scrapping my knees and putting snails in marmalade jars. I hope you enjoy this, make sure you download it interwebly this instant. And speaking of downloading interwebly this instant, I can see how many people are downloading "A Song A Day" but not who they are. I'm happy that there's quite a few of you that are taking these little pockets home with you but let me know who you are. I'm enjoying giving out a song a day, we've only scrathed the surface in this first week, we're going on a journey of song through the ages this coming year; it's going to be fun & I can tell that we are gonna be friends.

Happy festivities this evening. Have a good one and see you all soon
fx

Dec 29th Diamonds In the Sky

2009-12-29T18:09:00.004Z

And so. Onwards we go on this journey of song, sun, sea & chips. This one I wrote on my recent travels over the pond somewhere between Austin, Texas & Nashville Tennesse. It's called Diamonds In the Sky; download here

Dec 28th. A Good Friend (Is Hard To Find)

2009-12-28T19:58:00.003Z

Sometimes the blank page that you set out to fill refuses to play along and remains terrifiyngly blank. No questions answered, nothings is fulfilledd. Tomorrow could be better.

Today's "Song A Day" is called Wasteland. Click here to download it or go to the" A Song A Day" link for all the daily additions.

I scoured the world wide web just now to find something to keep me amused; this is what i found:

"Jack Rosebud left Penetanguishine prison for the criminally insane and called his younger brother Creeping Charlie. Charlie was working as a guitar teacher at an all girls prep school in Dryden ON but needed to leave due to inappropriate behaviour. Charlie and Jack began robbing Gas stations and convienience stores throughout Northern Ontario. It was at one of these robberies that they met Foxtail Lily Lilyopolous, she was the attendant at a station in Ear Falls. Jack and Lily were married 2 days later in a ceremony officiated by the mayor of Beardmore(at gunpoint). They are currently holed up somewhere in Toronto, ejaculating songs from god knows where and working as gardeners for the city elite."

carry on
x

Dec 27th. A Song A Day

2009-12-27T20:21:00.004Z

A Song A Day. For a year. That's the plan. I'm going to put on here a tune I've recorded for all yous to have for nowt and add to your collection. Hope you enjoy these songs; lemme know your thoughts if you're lucky enough to have any. This is music Iove and I just thought I'd like to share it with you. Yesterday we started with a Springsteen tune, this evening there's one of mine called "sparks". I wrote it a little while ago and it's been gathering dust in the gallows of my hard drive. Here you go.

Dec 26.

2009-12-26T18:58:00.003Z

Happy Festivities. Hope you're having a grand old time. In Tuscany there's been snow, wine and song. I learnt myself to play "spirit on the water" today; perhaps His Royal Bobness in his finest form. Lying low now until the new year brings more numbers for me to chase and trying to finalize the track listing for the record along with learning to play as many songs as i can fit into my day. Son House is currently on the turn table ; the perfect companion to a winter's tale and a broken heart. Here's a download for you; what happens is you click the link and as if by magic I get transported via DTA (digtalised transportation abilities) into your computer and into your house to sing for you whenever you should require me to. I hope you enjoy this new modern feature we have pioneered (beta) here at gtgt HQ; we think it has a good chance of catching on. This song is called Darkness on the Edge of Town; it's my terrible take on one of my favourite Boss songs... "Some folks are born into a good life, other folks get it anyway, anyhow,
I lost my money and I lost my wife, them things don't seem to matter much to me now."

Click here to download

Dec 16. jingle bells

2009-12-16T13:52:00.005Z

right on. it's almost christmas. stick a tree in your front room, eat & drink enough in two days to keep the average family afloat for a week. nice. my havent we come a long way. hamumbug indeed. ah no, it's not all work work work ; crimbo does bring good things to everyone...if you live in England for example your reminded yearly of the absolute genius and second to none songwriting caliber that is Noddy Holder and his band of elves SLADE! Merry Christmas. (chooon!) I went to the duke of cambridge, my new favourite local in battersea and played some tunes on sunday after noon and seeing that we're so close to xmas i had to play it. if you play it just on acoustic it sounds like something George Harrison would write, seriously (chooon!) . Anyway I digress from the point of this blog entry, ummm... not sure there is one really but just wanted to say hello and let you know that the record is coming along; from 50+ songs that I've short listed we're meant to do 10. How this will happen, as yet, I'm not exactly sure. Choosing is tough. Losing is rough. I dont want to see any of them go. 5 disc box set anyone? No no, a 10 tune humdinger 0f a record is always the way forward. It'll be done soon enough..hold tight kids, hold tight. In the meantime, as a small way to say thank you to all you lovlies for dropping by from time to time and show your support; here's a free download for you to enjoy; it's a cover I play at gigs every so often; hope you dig.
x

Nov 25 last show of the year

2009-11-25T11:32:00.004Z

So far it's been a very eventful 12 months; making a new EP, playing Glastonbury, touring the states and now we're recording a new album which will see the light of day early/mid next year; it's full steam ahead here on planet gtgt. So as we're spending alot of the time in the studio making this record I thought we'd do just one final stand for this year and play our last show of 2009 here in London. It's going to happen next Friday , 4th December at the Underbelly in Hoxton Square; we're on at 8pm and apart from being our last show of the year it will also be our last, for the forseeable future, with our bass player extrodinaire Matt "Rooter" Webster who will be leaving our shores in January for a five month solo trip to India and beyond; it's been a pleasure having sailed the seas with you my friend & i hope you find what you're looking for on your travels.

Drop us a line if you want to come to the show next friday and we'll get you in on the cheap "I'm with the band" list. Hope to see you all then.
Friday 4th December. 8pm
Underbelly
11 Hoxton Sq. EC1

Click here for the Facebook Event

franc
x

Nov 19th. Recording

2009-11-19T15:22:00.002Z

Back in London now; my first week back can be described as somewhat "bumpy" with a trip to the hospital that I could've done without but all is good and after some much needed r'n'r I'm match fit again so it wont be so long till the next post now. Good news to report on the new record; producer Danton Supple is at the helm and we're well on the way to making a great record. We took a trip down to our friends Lucky Soul's studio in Camberwell , South London last weekend to make a start on tracking some more songs.. we got through five in the end which I was pretty pleased with for the two days we were there. I've nothing to play you yet and I wont be sharing any demos or work in progress stuff so you'll just have to keep the faith and rest assured they're all sounding mega and you're gonna love them. Here's a clip from the studio; (if you cant see it go here)

Nov 6 going back

2009-11-06T16:42:00.003Z

Alright. time to go home. my body feels like it's been run over by a truck but rest assured, it was worth it. Sadly this tour/expedition is coming to an end today and i'm flying back to london this evening. it's been amazing travelling to all these places that i've only known about through my record collection. being there and playing shows which were all so well received was a very special experience and one that i'll not forget.
We'll be making the new record soon as i get back; rehearsals this weekend and we're in the studio next week. looking forward to getting it done at long last and getting back out on the road soon as i can. Alright, will check back with you soon. need to pack and not miss my plane!

Oct 28th Nashville Skyline

2009-10-28T15:08:00.003Z

I think of all the places that I've been lucky enough to see thanks to my guitar this has to be one of the most special. Nashville is a haven for songwriters both successful and "budding" all competing for a shot at the title trying to capture life and all its pretenses in or under three and a half minutes. Guitar bands and troubadours alike start playing in bars and venues here in the early afternoon and they'll go on to the wee hours; we like this, we like this a lot. My shows went down really well - it can be a little daunting playing tunes in a new tune - especially this one - where not a lot of people have heard of you before. At the same time though, it's the best acid test for a song so the audience's response in usually an honest and instinctive reaction to that song they've just heard perform for the very first time. Luckily for me both my sets where very well received and two new tunes that i wrote this week on the road got the best response so the challenge was a fun one and , if i may, i've earned myself a little merit badge : ) Should be going to see the Gibson factory here in Nashville today; think Augustus getting into Willy Wonkas chocolate factory and you'll get an idea of where my head is at right now. Back to New York tomorrow for some more shows. More shows; always more shows.

Oct 26th Texas

2009-10-27T15:19:00.007Z

Another week and the miles keep rolling here on planet gtgt. Made my way down to Texas for the first time, had a few shows in Houston and Austin which all went down a storm. It's a pretty special feeling playing my songs a million miles from home and having people in the audience singing the songs back to me. It's a trip being "on the road", I love it so much it's the whole point of writing tunes in the first place, well maybe not quite but i do like it :)

Highways. There's lots of highways in Texas. Big six lane intimidating creatures inhabited by monster trucks that I dont think would even fit in London streets. It's fun though and i'm soaking it all up and the tunes keep coming. Nashville this week. I'll keep you posted.

Oct 19. NYC

2009-10-19T12:55:00.002+01:00

Always a huge pleasure to be here in new york city. I've been hear many many times trying my luck with one thing or another. It's always very good to me and I'm left with a feeling of overwhelming goodness. And this time round has been no different. The show at the Living Room, was, if I do say so myself, a huge success :) A good oppurtunity to play some brand new tunes that were very well received as well as a few of the better known tracks. good people. good times!! I thought that putting in some more miles while I'm here would be more productive than staying round for CMJ so I'm off to Texas today..Austin, Houston then New Orleans followed by some shows in Nashville and back to New York for a couple more shows.
The songs keep coming and lists are constantly drawn up / scrapped / drawn up.. and so on.. but there's a recording session booked with my band in London soon as I get back there so I need to make my mind up about which songs are going on the record!! I've written two records this past year and scrapped them both. Third time lucky.
Alright, I'll check back with you very soon. be good.
franc
xx

Oct 10. a good week.

2009-10-10T17:48:00.004+01:00

good week. definitely a good week. i'm somewhat spent from playing 7 shows in as many days; one more tonight and then beautiful SLEEP before New York next week. I played my biggest show this week to 1000 people at Koko in London supporting Joshua Radin. As far as "things to do to feel fucking great about yourself" goes; playing your songs to 1000 people that've never heard you before ranks , i'd stay definitely top 3. The other 2 are best not mentioned here I think. Although, me being me..and luck being what it is..what happened when I went on stage..the battery in my guitar dies!! NO! There and then , i felt not so good but luckily Joshua's guitar tech Sean was better at reading the + and - signs on guitar batteries than me :) Thank you Sean and thank you Mr Radin and your band for having me on your tour.
The Water Rats show with the band on Wednesday was great too but they cut the sound off half way through the last sound. What the fuck, I ask you, is that all about!?!? Not good, apologies to the stage manager for my articulate phrasing when we spoke after the show but , well, scrap that, I take back my apologies. fair and square.
Met some lovely folks after the show at Manchester Academy on Thursday; thank you all for forking out your hard earned cash to buy gtgt cds and tshirts; it all goes towards making the new record which will be out in february. your support is hugely appreciate. virtual drinks to you all through cyber space.
Alright, I have another show tonight i need to get ready for ... cannot wait to get to texas the following week after NYC for a week of shows and then up to Nashville. Nashville! I cant wait.
peace and love and all good things to you all
franc
xx

Sept 23rd. GTGT needs YOU!

2009-09-23T13:08:00.002+01:00

Hello music fans! Another week..another bunch of grand tunes which if all goes to plan will see the light of day very soon! Thought I'd give you a little taster of these new tracks that I seem to talk alot about but no one's heard yet, so here's a couple...click to download... Shoot Your Defences...This Dream of You

Going to America next month to play some shows in New York, Nashville, Houston, Austin with more dates to be added..will let you know about it all nearer the time. but before all of that we're doing one HUGE show in London on October 7th at the Water Rats Theater in Kings Cross at 9pm. this is set to be a really big night so PLEASE come down and have a great time with us. Tickets for this show can only be purchased in advance; they're only six quid each and all proceeds go to the Goodtimes Goodtimes Foundation of Rock 'n Roll Misbehavior. Tell your friends and come join us for a great night. This'll be our only London show until November. And if you haven't yet, download our free live ep from here.

Purchase tickets for our show at the London Water Rats, October 7th. 9pm.
here on the right....

x

Sept 13 show on tuesday

2009-09-13T19:48:00.003+01:00

we're playing a show in london on tuesday..this'll be the first band show in a over a month. glad we took a little "performance break" to get this new record under way but it's been far too long now. looking forward to making some beautiful loud noise and getting out of here long enough to see daylight. cabin fever is setting in.

tuesday 15th. flynns. 55 camden high st.

Sept 2nd.

2009-09-02T19:46:00.002+01:00

Writing & recording is going swimmingly. Logic-phobia is subsiding and we're all wearing our best Daniel Lanois hats. There'll be new tunes on the way to very soon, in the meantime go here and help yourself to a free EP.
Our song "Kids" has been picked up for a TV show over the pond called Less Than Kind. This is good news. More to tell you but as you can gather from this staggered terribly written blog my head's not really with it at the moment as I'm wrestling with gating kick drums and making this new tune called Wasteland sound mega right now.
back soon.
love.
x

Aug 17 . A new record.

2009-08-17T16:59:00.003+01:00

I've relocated to a better place to get some perspective. Things currently on the perspective turntable are (but not limited to..)

1. infidels: be gone; the future does not need you.
2. dubstep: what's it all about then.
3. Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" drum sound: tell me how.

The band (Ivor, The Love, Rooter and me) have taken on making a new record intergalactically via the magic of fibre optic cable. We rented out Pluckley Village Hall in Kent the other week and recorded Ben's drum parts over my very unsteady guide tracks to a click and we've got tracks flying about now over everyone's laptops as we're adding parts and mixing (& re mixing & re..re..re mixing) that will make up the record. This in no way beats retreating to The Record Plant in Sausalito for 6months to make a record but I'm using what I've got; tunes (check!), greatest band in the land (check!), Mark Knopfler's red head band circa Alchemy Live period (check!!) Looking forward to getting some new tracks out to you soon as possible..in the meantime, help yourself to a Live EP we recorded not too long ago that I'm making..as of now..FREE! Do pass this on to all your friends & local djs; it's for the best.

Music is like fish. If it's aint fresh; it fucking stinks!

peace & love
franc
xx

Aug 3

2009-08-03T16:55:00.003+01:00

July 14. Underbelly

2009-07-14T15:26:00.002+01:00

WEDNESDAY 22nd JULY @
UNDERBELLY , 8pm
11 Hoxton Square EC1

Facebook event

Tuning-E,A,E,A,C#,e

INTRO:

e -|-/12--/12-/12------------12--------|-
C#-|------/12-/12------10/12----12-----|-
A -|----------/12------------------/12-|-
E -|---------------0-0-----------------|-
A -|---------------0-0-----------------|-
E -|-----------------------------------|-

e -|------------------------------|-
C#-|------------------------------|-
A -|------------------------------|-
E -|-----0--2-2--1-1--0--0-0--0-0-|-
A -|-0-3-----------------7-7--7-7-|-
E -|--------2-2--1-1--0-----------|-

july 3 strummerville

2009-07-02T16:09:00.000+01:00

Strummerville Camp at Glastonbury 2009 Sunday Night

July 1. Made it back in one piece.

2009-07-01T22:07:00.004+01:00

The sunshine was looking over us for most of the long weekend. I soaked up as much of the beautiful festival spirit as i could over the six days spent at the festival. The shows i played were great fun; first one was at the Strummerville Bandstand very late on Friday night; it was pretty surreal to see Neil Young play and then go and play a gig myself...by the time i played; think it was about 2am, there was a big crowd of people dancing round a huge campfire just in front of the stage, my songs got everyone moving ...(those of them who could actually move anyway!) ....i resisted from playing any new tunes and just played the ones i was sure would go down well.. sunshine sunshine, love, let it begin, for all my kingdom , and a few others made way for a very memorable night. There was a huge dance/techno thing next door to Strummerville & evreyone was there..having fun; getting along and sharing the time together, different music and different people all getting down & having fun.

On Saturday I woke up to another one of Matt's fantabulous barbaques and learnt a very valuable festival lesson...come prepared!! My beloved boots..which i bought on Brick Lane a couple of years ago and have been with me on tours throughout the UK, America and all the way round Europe sadly gave way on Saturday morning...tear in my eye in tow, I left them on a field in Glasto in favour of some wellies. It had to be done and from them on I had dry feet and full mud protection that would stop me from falling over , face flat in the mud, like i'd be doing all the night before.
I played a set at the Oxfam tent on Saturday; three days intoitl & i was bearing up pretty well all things considering! The oxfam gig was filmed and is meant to be out there on the magic net so i'll try and track it down and show you. It's a pretty hard task playing a set to people at a festival if they've never heard your tunes before but I think people really dug my tunes and got what my music is all about; a long drive down the coast on a sunday afternoon; top down & raring to go.

After that, the only thing left for Saturday evening was to make my way down to the Pyramid Stage to see The Boss. I'd never seen him play before. The excitment was immense. I think the first time i ever heard one of his songs was when my mum had a tape of one of his live albums playing in our kitchen in Rome when i was maybe 8 or 9 years old and i heard his song "The River" and learned that songwriting wasn't just about "i love you" or whatever, it's about telling a story and putting the listener in a time and place...Bruce Springsteen's specialty is writing songs about getting out of wherever you are and finding something else that's waiting for you..a better place; a new future. I can relate to that very much. Emotions were running wild at about 10 to 10 on Saturday just before he came on..and there he was...The Boss! Starting his set with Joe Strummer's "Coma Girl" was more than enough ...2 hours and 45 minutes of glorious rock n roll followed and I was a very happy man in a big field in the West Country.
I played a bunch more times in peoples's tents and willing passers by..i hope to see them all again very soon as i do all the other amazing bands i saw over the week..far too many to list..Bon Iver takes the crown for my favourite and most memorable Glastonbury moment...getting every single person in the crowd of the Other Stage to sing "what might have been lost" on their closing track Wolves was quite simply...awesome.
My journey home was rather epic...my ride had decided to leave on sunday and there i was on monday afternoon at 4pm without a clue as to how i'd get home..i was in good company though..Vari & Sam and I managed to get ourselves on the last bus out of Glastonbury to Castle Cary train station and get home. That's the thing about the festival..people are happy to be there together and happy to get to know each other and the barriers that The Big City throws between us seem to get lost...everyone's there to have a good time and be together.

I look forward very much to being back at Glasto next year. No tent next year though. A great big fuck off tour bus sounds like much more fun. You're all welcome; free balloons for everyone!
see you soon

love & all good things
xx

Strummerville Campfire Glastonbury 2009

Going to glasto

2009-06-23T21:58:00.000+01:00

Dear Blog. How the devil are you? It's been a while I know. It's that I've been avoiding you or anything like that it's just I've had a lot on my plate of late. Life is good. Life is healthy.

I've written a dozen or so more songs since we last spoke. Part of me wants to play you the demos right now and see what you think but I know you should really hear the finished product .... What's in head, or as close enough ..... instead. It'll be worth the wait.

Running is the new rock n roll. I made that official by running my first race on Sunday. It was the !
Weald of Kent 10 mile race that I did in one hour thirty one. Needless to say i'm pretty pleased with this given what I've put my body through in the past. Hopefully a full marathon will follow soon enough. We'll see how that goes, maybe another 10 mile or a half marathon or two first.

Anyway, back to those sweet sounds of rock n roll music. I'm going to the glastonbury festival tomorrow and will be playing all weekend starting on Friday at midnight at the strummerville tent. It's gonna be a memorable weekend I've no doubt and I'll keep you posted as I go along.

Love
Fx
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

June 2nd. Strummerville City

2009-06-02T21:24:00.002+01:00

See more photos HERE.
Thank you Strummerville for having us down. We had a blast.

May twenty something. Let there be sleep.

2009-05-27T13:48:00.000+01:00

Easy. Just back from a whirlwind expedition to play a couple of shows in Rome. Far too many planes trains buses and cabs and lack of sleep for three days. I dream net jets. I live easy jet.

Rehearsals tonight where we'll be putting the finishing touches on a couple of little beauties we'll be releasing into the wild this Saturday at the strummerville festival.

Stay occupied.
X
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

May 21. Newbury Rock City

2009-05-21T19:52:00.001+01:00

On my way to play a show in Newbury. Set times seem to get longer soon as you leave the
M25 which is good news for your hero the story teller. It's kind of difficult to show people what you're about in a 25 minute set. I'm not a fan of just playing the hits and getting off stage. "These are the radio tunes and the rest doesn't really matter." That's just rude and a little shallow if you ask me. it takes a lot of hard work to impress an audience with your tunes and a couple of catchy hooks won't cut it. You can't just have icing; you need a big fat cake as well. Anyway.....

Apparently I was in music week magazine this week. No news agent in London sells this magazine. I have a pair of broken shoes to prove this.

Four shows this week which keeps me busy and busy me means happy me. London songwriter week gig tomorrow and Rome next week to play just the one show and strummerville festival next Saturday with the boys. That's going to be huge.

Someone now very close to gtgt inadvertently got it into my head yesterday that burning drum kits on stage is a good idea. In fact... it's fucking genius!! outdoor gigs now seem to be an open invitation for mentalism at it's up most. I'm a fan of this . It's a big look.

Staying on the topic of the drumming trade, my drummer Ben has somehow convinced me that running a 10 mile race in Kent four weeks from now is good idea. How did this happen? 'Sall good though. Don't worry kids. I bought myself a cracking pair of mizuno running shoes yesterday and i'm completely ready. 10 miles easy. Bring it on. Believe. Achieve. Simple.
XX
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

May 20. photos from the abbey

2009-05-21T16:40:00.002+01:00

Peter Weddell the Great took some photos at our show the other night - thank you all for coming down. See more photos here.
x

May 19. On the northen line...

2009-05-19T19:30:00.001+01:00

Busy busy living the dream up here in my own little world. It's been great to get out there and play after a few weeks of tedious normal life. Our show this Saturday at 333 in shoreditch was nothing short of outstanding if I do say so myself. New set opener "on the long road" is as immense a song as I've ever dreamed.
Fingers crossed tonight will be more of the same at the abbey in kentish town.... It's fast becoming our second home for the amount of times we play here. the people that run the venue are more than good to us and we love them for it. Always a pleasure to be back.

I've wanted to for ages but tonight will be my first show wearing my much loved red head band. I'll call this my very small and humble tribute to The Boss with whom i'm sharing the bill with next month. See that? Seamless. Yes. I'm playing glastonbury festival next month. i'm completely over the moon about it. Fiesta in my tent. Make your way over.

Speaking of gigs... This Friday should be mega as well so if you're in London make your way down to the fly on new Oxford street playing a show for the London songwriter festival with the very exceedingly talented Murray James and Iain Archer.

Last note before this tube gets to kentish town..... I fear I may have pissed off a few people with my incessant texts about goodtimes GOODTIMES shows this week. Not apologising. I love you.
X
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

May 13. brief

2009-05-13T12:16:00.005+01:00

May 11.

2009-05-11T15:25:00.002+01:00

I'm back from my week long writing excursion. Good things to follow ladies & gentlemen; good things indeed. I've dusted off the TASCAM and will be bringing these new tunes to you very soon courtesy of some old school home recording.

We're also rehearsing this week; there's been a few weeks' (stinky south london reherasal room) break and i think we're all the better for it. Raring to go now. Sun's out; get the tunes on. happy days.

May 4th. Songwriting. TCB

2009-05-04T20:18:00.007+01:00

I'm thinking. Where does a good song come from? Elvis and his cohorts would pick tunes with a proven track record and add appropriately "slick" lyrics that would work for that time. That's pretty clever if you ask me. "Love Me Tender" was originally entitled "Aura Lee" & written in the 1860s by an English composer called George Poulton. That same melody with different words was a huge success back then and the words changed continuously up until Elvis recorded the version I'm most familiar with (but you might be more familiar with the original "Aura Lee"or even "Army Blue" as it was sung in the American Civil War) for his first ever film role. It was a SMASH!! No gambles taken whatsoever. When you know it works; you know it works. Many other of The King's most famous songs are different lyrics put to great melodies with that all important track record.."cant help falling love" was a re-write of a French song called "Plaisir d' Amour", "It's Now or Never" was originally the Italian "O Sole Mio".... and the list goes on. Anyway..I digress talking to you about my great love of Elvis Presley. My point was..what makes a great song .."great"? When we listen to songs our brains capture the melody first. The lyrics are almost an after thought. You've decided you like a piece of music by the way in which the melody makes you feel...that tune you can humm along to without knowing what the words really are or that favourite song you've been singing along to for years with the wrong words. Time for a litte sermon..if I may...What could we ever have to say to each other in words that we couldnt say better through music? There, I've answered my own question. Right, I'm off to pilfer the record collection. Be good. xx

May 3.

2009-05-03T11:04:00.001+01:00

May 1. waiting for the sun

2009-05-01T18:16:00.003+01:00

i think i've picked up my guitar twice in the last three weeks. i played a show last week in shoreditch with no set list and no idea what i was going to play till i got to "good evening ladies & gentlemen" and i had a little tinker at home the other day. that's it. not to worry music fans. this has happened before and it usually signifies the calm before the storm. so i've gotten myself out of london for a week ( already this is a good thing; it's a beautiful place to be in most of the time but fuck me does it get you down some times ) in prep for the new tunes. i'm expecting them any day now. I'll introduce you to them soon as they arrive.

free download

2009-04-27T11:55:00.001+01:00

The lovely people at Strummerville showing their support...

You can download a tune from the new EP on their site.

Apr 23. last nite

2009-04-23T20:39:00.003+01:00

never played strongrooms before; lovely little thing they have going on there. played a couple of new tunes that no one's heard before which seemed to go down well; there's one called voices. i think you might like it.

twittertastic

2009-04-23T13:15:00.001+01:00

I resisted for as long as I could.

http://www.twitter.com/lovegtgt

April 19. Let It Begin

2009-04-19T17:45:00.000+01:00

April 7th. hello again..

2009-04-07T16:17:00.002+01:00

hello music fans. how the devil are you? seems like ages since we last spoke. sun drunched afternoons lying in a field listening to your favorite band are just around the corner so hang in there wont you now. i'm pleased to let you know that my band and I have just finished making an ep which should be making it's way to your local torrent very soon. We went to the Dairy in Brixton two weeks ago with producer Danton Supple and spent a couple of days recording everything live. Apart from the odd tambourine hit it was all recorded live; no over dubs just a great band playing, if I may, some very great songs.
you can hear two of the seven tracks we recorded on the myspace page . The rest will follow shortly. Drop me a line and lemme know what you think; there's a mountain of video footage i'm getting through so should be posting some clips this week.
We're doing a show at the water rats this thursday at 8pm; hope to see you there, drop me a line and i'll get you in. other than that, today is day 9 on the patches and apart from the odd piece of broken furniture; i'm doing alright.
franc
x

Feb 19. Next tuesday..

2009-02-19T11:57:00.001Z

Show next tuesday... add yourself to the facebook event and get a free tune in your inbox!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=69054421976

Tuesday 24th Feb, 9pm
Half Moon, Putney
93 Lower Richmond Road, London,

xx

Feb19. The Boss

2009-02-19T11:47:00.000Z

i've been a little slack

2009-02-07T16:04:00.003Z

hello music fans. so i've been a little slack lately in keeping up with these blogs. Wheels are turning here at gtgt hq and i'm spending days writing the best i can or whatever it is i think understand. It's there now so i'll be back on with getting some tours in the diary and hope to have a new record out to you soon. Just posted a new track up on the myspace page so please go have a listen and lemme know what you think.
The snow here in London has sadly departed , it's gone from being Charles Dickens to Mad Max all in one week. we want more snow.

Mr Chris Lopez took this photo at a recent show at Bush Hall...

see you at the troubadour on tuesday
fxx

Jan 9. this just in..

2009-01-09T16:58:00.005Z

From some lovely folks on the other side of the pond.. click on the link below and you can get a free gtgt download from their site..

MEDIA GUIDE ARTIST OF THE WEEK

Goodtimes Goodtimes

The music on Goodtimes Goodtimes (www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk) debut, ‘Glue”, could easily have been brought to you by the waitress in a 1970’s Greenwich Village coffeehouse. The audio compliment to the espresso you ordered. Goodtimes Goodtimes is a solo project of Italian-born, London resident Franc Cinelli. The resulting album is a folk stew mixed with a healthy dollop of blues. The voice bends, breaks, rejoices and offers advice as needed. As Franc states in the bio, his songs draw on “the usual suspects; girls, that night when I couldn’t bite my lip and it got me into trouble, my mates, Johnny Cash, dance halls and love." These songs come alive. The vocals have the ability to bring in an honesty that delivers each track with its story fully intact and understood.
Perky strums and shuffles open ‘Kids’ and the words immediately describe all those sitting at the feet of the storyteller, “All you kids that go rushing to the dance hall in your shiny shoes to hear your favorite records”. The kids moniker could apply to ages eight to eighty. The full story comes through as those same kids exit “sweaty and smiling like the sun”. where they land “forever changed”, “hit by a loaded gun”. The track is made for lovers of music and no one who has ever been glued to speakers, stayed in the car to let the song finish or kept the iPod on repeat cannot relate to this tale. The mood slows but the emotion stays intact on ‘Summer’. The haunting and hushed voice spreads the news of “summer starting early this year”. The track plays like an open letter to the left at home affection of the traveling troubadour.
‘Glue” is the work of a one man band upping the ante for the songs. Recorded on a Yamaha eight track that has left this world, the promise heard in the sunny texture of “Sunshine Sunshine”, the wandering of “Sea Shanty” and the rock solid punch of “For All My Kingdom” will be fleshed out into a formal outfit for future releases. The growing band/sound has been informed by years of traveling and playing the East US coast and the UK. Look to the future to provide more tales of life, love, losing and winning from Goodtimes Goodtimes.

http://www.adcmediaguide.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191:media-guide-artist-of-the-week&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

Dec 28th, 2008 Best Albums of 2008

2008-12-28T18:24:00.004Z

Some very nice people have put GLUE amongst the ranks of the hit makers of today..

5 - Goodtimes Goodtimes, Glue

Technically, this came out in 2008, but I really got their album in January, so this makes the list. Goodtimes Goodtimes blew me away when I first heard their first track, Kids, with it's bright and optimistic beat that still gets me moving fifty listens later. The rest of the album is just as good too. Each song here sounds fantastic, with some excellent guitar work and lyrics. Every time I pop this into my car's CD player, I sing along, and feel good afterwards.

http://carryyouaway.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-albums-of-year.html

Dec 20th 2008, ttfn

2008-12-20T11:39:00.004Z

another round is over. thanks to all of you coming to the shows this week; we had a blast & hope you did too. off to the country till next year for a mental regroup and new song blitz. things are looking up for 09..note to self; dont look down, there's plenty more to come.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Dec 2, 2008 MEI Festival

2008-12-02T12:48:00.003Z

Always a treat to get to go home for a show. Fun was had at the mei festival in faenza this weekend. Apart from the usual talks of whether CDs now belong in the Natural History or the Science Museum , was a good hear different ways that people are making things happen on starship music biz. it seems the old girl isnt nearly as dead in the water as some might have you believe. the showcase itself was in a church..never had a the pleasure to play my music in God's house but it was a joyous affair. the vino kindly laid on by the good folks there didnt go unappreciated either. I shared the bill with three truly great artists and i urge you to go and visit their homes..

www.myspace.com/gatss
www.myspace.com/wendymcneill
www.myspace.com/davidhope

just a couple of days left before the big smoke beckons again..rest assured time is being used wisely. new songs on the way to you very soon.

24th Nov, 2008. end of an era

2008-11-24T20:37:00.009Z

Sad today today. my beloved recording machine drew it's last breath. i've had this machine for years and it's always been good to me. "glue" was recorded on it...every little tune i've dreamed up in a the last few years has been laid down on the "aw2816" and today, no more. i've spent the last four days recording parts pretty much non stop only to wake this morning to find all six of my new songs have been replaced by a fantastic sheet of white noise. this, my friends, truly sucks. will i remember what i did these last four days? chances are, no. i'll dream up new ones but that's not what's rattling me right now; from now i'll now resort to laying down demos before the studio like everyone else...on a magic lantern without a big red button record and an over sized fader for "very loud". i'll manage. not to worry , gtgt by name, gtgt by nature so onwards we trot, and thank goodness for the boss (forever my favorite lesson in songwriting) having a new song i can lend an ear too today.
new dates up on the site very soon,
be good kids.
fx

Nov 16 2008 - Cameras

2008-11-16T19:14:00.004Z

I was hoping to show you some footage from our show at the Cobden Club the other week but the cameras are m.i.a so for the time being you'll have to put your imagination to work and dream up the wondrous event that was :) New tunes are coming out of all sockets these days and i'm doing my best not to forget them; some of them i've put up on the site - the new "downsized" gtgt page that hopefully should give you a quick snapshot of everything that's going on. Demo recordings for the new record are coming along and some things are bubbling away in the back room; it's all very exciting and i'll report back when i can tell you more.
Home to Italy next week to play the MEI Festival which , as i understand, is a shindig that brings together labels and music types. we'll see how it goes; i'll try not to misplace the camera this time so i can show you what went down. that's it for now kids. it's sunday night and last night's thunderous clapham review with your favourite drummer seems not such a great idea. cheers phil .
x

26 Oct 2008 - New Shop

2008-10-26T19:48:00.001Z

We have some new goodies; let me know what you think of the designs in the new SHOP

If you're in London this week come and see us play on Wednesday...
Entry is guest list only so reply to this if you'd like to come..

GOODTIMES GOODTIMES
WEDNESDAY 29TH OCTOBER
THE COBDEN CLUB
170 Kensal Rd
London W10

Nearest Tube: Westbourne Park
Map Link:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=170+Kensal+Rd,+Kensington,+London,+United+Kingdom&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=14.776252,29.443359&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FZU2EgMddtr8_w&ll=51.52295,-0.201573&spn=0.007583,0.014377&z=16

http://www.myspace.com/thisisgoodtimesgoodtimes
http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk

FREE DOWNLOADS:
http://www.musicglue.com/goodtimesgoodtimes

LINK TO BUY THE ALBUM:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=507572

And We Moved!

2008-10-21T10:22:00.000+01:00

here's a new song .. And We Moved!

2008-10-17T13:08:00.000+01:00

the 19 hour "slow boat to china" round trip to play a show in bath last week was nothing short of unncessary...thank goodness for the fleet foxes and "on the road" to keep me company.

We've lost a member of our gtgt travelling family band this week; not to worry , all is good and things are sounding better than ever...we're getting ready for the show at cobden club at the end of this month..it'll be a new troupe and most importantly, new songs from this new record that yes, i know, i've been going on about for a while now but it'll be worth the wait.

this wednesday..

2008-09-29T09:45:00.001+01:00

A GREAT LINEUP!! Hope to see you there..i'm on at 9pm.

Choir of Young Believers
Choir of Young Believers’ songs sound as if they’re coming straight from the heart of the two song writing brothers Jannis and Noya Makrigiannis; the music itself sounds equally heartfelt and thoughtful. The songs build up slowly, constantly adding one brilliantly clear element after another to end in intense (often loud) climaxes. Choir of Young Believers are an example of the singer song writer genre taken far above the coffee house chain friendly level, to become grander, more unorthodox and much more insisting.

http://www.myspace.com/choirofyoungbelievers

Good Times Good Times
Is the moniker used by a darkly handsome man simply known by the name Franc. He writes the lyrics and tunes for the bluesy/ folky songs Good Times Good Times play at times in the shape of a 4-5 man band and other times acoustically.

http://www.myspace.com/thisisgoodtimesgoodtimes

I Got You On Tape
Imagine you’re sitting in a luxury car, insulated from the city out side by that particular quietness.. I Got You On Tape are a bit like this; their dark, smooth sound insulates the listener from the outside.The melodies are strong and shift between hard guitar driven and more trippy organ based. Lead singer Jacob Bellen’s voice is deep and warm, and the inner city poetic songs slide softly in the most beautiful manner. This is rock in the vein of Interpol, but with a distinctive introspective Danish touch.

http://www.myspace.com/igotyouontape

The Lofty Heights
The brainchild of a Californian transplanted in to worn down Dalston, Greg Griffin's London project The Lofty Heights revolves around the genius idea of combining the laid back sounds of his native state with the traditional folk song of the East End. The results are rather spectacular; wistful surf dirges that talk about lost loves, home sickness and the ancient people of France, that all have a cockney sing-a-long quality about them. A bit like the Shins deciding to cover Chas and Dave songs.

http://www.myspace.com/theloftyheights

8.40pm Choir of Young Believers
9.25pm Good Times Good Times
10.10pm I Got You On Tape
11.00pm The Lofty Heigths

get ready

2008-09-09T10:03:00.000+01:00

i've just posted three new demos on the myspace page; have a listen and lemme know what you think! i'll be putting up some more at the end of this week.

http://www.myspace.com/thisisgoodtimesgoodtimes

x

new tunes

2008-08-02T11:42:00.001+01:00

the first six songs for the new record are now set in stone. it's taken a couple of months of writing alot of tunes, around 30 i think from which i've taken these first six and have endless lists and little bits recorded here and there for the 2nd half of the record. when i made my little "glue" last year, most of those songs i'd been playing at shows for ages so it was really easy to decide which songs i wanted to lay down, apart from a couple that came at the very end. but this time i round it felt like i had something to prove...only to myself that i could string together a bunch of songs that work together as a unit. something you can listen to from start to finish for 40 minutes or so and get taken to different places .. a little trip of observation, nothing more. so i wiped the slate completely clean and decided i wasnt going to work on any tunes that i'd written before this summer. it's almost there. thank goodness. spending days..and days on end working on new stuff trying to kick start creativity and then you kind of forget what sunlight looks like. it's not the easiest thing in the world trying to make something that's going to make others enjoy it hopefully as much as you do and not be too self indulgent in the songs. especially the lyrics. me me me. no one wants to hear it little man. i do have stuff i can post already but i'm going to wait till all the arrangements are finished and then you can listen to the end result. which i know you're gonna love ;) also this time round i have a band so arrangements and getting parts down takes more time. i dont like just arranging new songs in the practice room 'cause what usually happens is songs get arranged "from A to B' so if the drummer plays something everyone's going to play around that , likewise for the guitar part or whatever. so i'm working with everyone individually first and getting them to play what comes natural and see how they each interpret the part..then, left to my own devices i mix and edit everything and what comes out at the end should hopefully be what no one expected in the first place. that's the plan anyway. so just thought i'd give you a little update on what i've been up to as i dont really "blog" as much as i should. there's a reason for that though, people that enjoy talking about themselves are usually wankers so it's best left to others to do the talking.
havent got many shows lined up in the next month or so, i'm playing the edinburgh fringe festival next week and a couple of random shows in oxford and the midlands..i think. touring should start again in october, there's a week of shows in november in italy that i should be doing with the whole band and then i'm sure a few months of random train journeys and sleeping on strangers' floors to get my music out to all you good good people.
stay well
xx

Download our music free

2008-07-28T14:05:00.001+01:00

some very clever people at MusicGlue.com have devised this very cool little gadget the lets you download our music for completely free...all we kindly ask in return is for your email address. That way we can keep in touch with the people that dig the tunes and let you know when we're playing near you.

We've set up these five tracks for your FREE downloading pleasure..just click on any of the links...

KIDS

SEA SHANTY

DESIRE

SUNSHINE SUNSHINE

GLUE

if you're magically inclined to BUY the music you listen to then go to http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk to download indvidual tracks or the whole record or get the cd.

In other news, the new record is coming along nicely and we'll have some brand new tracks for you within a couple of weeks..

stay well & thanks for tuning in
gtgt
x

WIP

2008-07-14T16:41:00.001+01:00

this is the first blog in quite a while so just in case you'r ewondering; am still very much here. been working on a new record, the songs are all set, just laying them down now and then we'll see. i'll post some new stuff up soon enough. it's been work in progress for a couple of months.
playing a show tomorrow night with the band in london..
The Good Ship, 289 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR

alright. back soon
x

onwards

2008-05-28T13:24:00.000+01:00

hiya,

FREE show in Shoreditch, London tonight...going to Italy on Friday for another little tour, more dates to be added for next week. Radio session this saturday night from Rome which you can listen to on your computer thingy.

stay well
franc
xx

May 28th The Shebeen Sessions @ Three Blind Mice 8pmLegion 8pm
5 Ravey Street (off Great Eastern Street)
Shoreditch, EC2

May 30th Casa 139 10pm
Via Via Ripamonti 13, Milano

May 31st Radio Uno, Roma. Live Session 12pm-2am
Listen : http://www.radio.rai.it/player/player.cfm?Q_CANALE=1

June 1st Circolo degli Artisti 8pm
Via Casilina Vecchia 41, Roma.

June 14th 12 Bar Club 8.30pm
Denmark Street, London WC1

http://www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/thisisgoodtimesgoodtimes

London...next week

2008-05-08T15:45:00.000+01:00

so back from my travels now..almost...playing some acoustic shows in London next week, the band is away so i'll be flying solo on these ones..will be a good chance to play some new tunes i've been working on during my travels..and throw in a brucie bonus or two! hope to see you there! I've a few places for each on the list..but only a few..so just let me know.Tickets for the Replay Festival at The Barfly have almost sold out so get in there quick !! Ticketweb link at the bottom. rock steadyxx

Monday 12th May 8.30pm
Curious Generation @ Source Below
78 Brewer Street, London, W1F 9TY

Wednesday 14th May 8.30pmLegion Bar
348 Old Street.Shoreditch EC1

Friday 16th May 9pmPanda~Power! Vs Kooba Radio @ The New Cross Inn
323 New Cross Road, SE14 6AS

Saturday 17th May 9pmReplay Festival @ The Barfly
49 Chalk Farm Road NW1
http://www. ticketweb. co. uk/user/?region=gb_london&query=detail&event=265071*

:::::::ALBUM AVAILABLE FROM THE SITE:::::::::
http://www. goodtimesgoodtimes. co. uk

10 shows. 11 days.

2008-05-02T19:18:00.000+01:00

Alright. so the first gtgt "european tour" has come to an end. 10 gigs in 11 days. it was only meant to be three dates away, but as with most of the best things..this tour just happened and i'm really glad it did. playing my hometown, rome last night, was a grand way to the end the tour. A few hundred people all graciously lending me their ears for 40 minutes or so. i've now taken refuge in the tuscan hills to sleep and finish making a new record...and letting normality sink in again ;(
Try this..if Gram Parsons was from Palermo.. and lovely chaps to be on the road with too!
http://www.myspace.com/thesecondgrace

Italy

2008-04-28T17:56:00.000+01:00

Note to self: avoid 11 hour night trains wherever possible! The trip from Konstanz in Germany to Modena Italy via Zurich and Bologna was a very forgettable one!! but i arrived in one piece on sunday at 7 a.m - feeling positively mullered.
the show last night, in Parma was my first ever on home soil and was alot of fun - although i think i made the audience a little nervous when i said this was my first ever show in italy - as i was speaking to them in italian, and oddly enough , found it quite easy, and they knew nothing about me, they were a bit confused with the whole affair. as in , what's your story & what rock have you all of a sudden come out of hiding from. but they dug the show - the two "how good the show was" indicators were both positive - no one heading to the bar and (almost) no one talking through the set. and in keeping with the theme of all things new, i threw in a couple of brand new tunes i'd never played before. to my ears, it seemed like they were enjoyed the most. The promoter bringing out a tray of lasagne and wine after the gig was, although extremely kind and a heartfelt warm gesture; a moment of such italian-ness that it made me giggle a little. genius ;) A brief "pilgrimage" to Correggio this morning and then glorious sleep..that i've missed for a while now. No show tonight, more tomorrow.
ciao
xx

tour blog

2008-04-26T15:35:00.000+01:00

nothing quite like a week of shows to get you smiling again. played the beautiful bush hall venue in london with the whole band on monday - there were nerves and speculations before the gig, we were trying out a few new things and it all came together nicely. the gig was being filmed as well, first time that´s happened , thought it might put me off but it felt like we were on stars in their eyes which was pretty cool. that was also the last gig in which we´re only going to play songs from the record, i´ve played them so much now. so it was really fitting to say goodbye to some old friends in such a beautiful place. next day at the abbey tavern in kentish town, we tried something different - Phil wasnt playing the whole kit, just a snare and a tambourine with brushes and doing his best Johnny Cash drums for me - and then just me on acoustic and alex playing cello. it somehow felt more at home with this smaller arrangement so we´ll give that a try when i get back. When do I get back? right now i´ve no idea. my head is a little frazzled right now. I flew in to frankfurt on wednesday to play three shows with Get Well Soon http://www.myspace.com/youwillgetwellsoon which has been one of the most enjoyable tours i´ve done. it´s pretty cool that our paths managed to cross and i got to know their music quite well in a short space of time. they were all super nice to me and i´ve had a blast. there were i think about 300 people at each , which does make for a welcomed change to dragging my mates down to the 12 bar club on a random tuesday night. it´s a pretty hard gig to play..and especially listen to when it´s just voice and acoustic..and harp. you have to give it all your attention and listen to the stories..there´s no drums to nod your head to and no interaction between musicians like when there´s a whole band pushing each other to their best..when it´s just a solo gig..that´s all there is so it´s not always easy to win people over - but all in all, the Germans dug goodtimes goodtimes! they lent me their ears and i gave them my best. another good thing about playing shows here..there always jeager in the rider. good shout boys! UK promoters..please, if you wouldnt mind, thanks!
So now i ´m cathing a train from Konstranz, Germany to Parma in Italy where I´ll play my first ever shows in my home country. to say i´m excited about this is somewhat of an understatement. parma tomorrow, then two shows in bologna and then two in Roma!
i´m using as much of my "waiting around time" at the gigs to write new tunes. so expect some new stuff from me really soon.

i took the photo on stage at the show in biberach two days ago. goodtimes ;)
alright, cant miss this train or i will be truly screwed .

fxx

tunes

2008-04-15T10:43:00.000+01:00

Alright? Couple of weeks now , been deliriously writing tunes, scrapping them, writing some more , scrapping those and now some keepers have decided to show up which is a relief as i was almost at that point of opening up the beatles chord book for some...cough..cough..inspiration. nah, it's not been like that but spending ALOT of time trying to stick chords together can make you go a little loopy after a while. there's tunes i'm looking for, i can hear, but i cant find. they're there. it's just a case of looking in the right place! i think it's half written, the new record that is, we've had a couple of rehearsals jamming some new stuff and i'm pleased to say we're about 2 and a half records away from being a southern jam band. No, not at all, but the thought is quite a nice one though. This week..and next..is all about the gigs, a couple of great ones lined up with the band this friday and monday..bush hall..beautiful venue..(sounds like a vaccum when you're on stage ;) ) and next week off to germany for a few dates with Get Well Soon, which will be fun. not lease 'cause i've never been to the country before. it's always fun to have a poke around where you've never been. And all things going to plan, Italy in a few weeks..anyway.

Here's your tune for the day,

DESIRE
F/// Am/// A#/// Gm///

that's it. have fun

xx

Ligabue

2008-04-04T11:23:00.001+01:00

been writing lots for a new record , so very pleased to playing some shows next week and conversing with people again.

I just found out Ligabue is playing two nights at koko in camden next month. First time i saw him play was in some field a few hours outside rome when i was 15. my cousin drove us there...and almost all the way back..on her trusted little vespa. happy days.

Indy Awards 2008

2008-03-27T21:15:00.000Z

Some lovely people decided gtgt was worthy of an Indy Music Award nomination. Marvelous! Yes, do vote for us please, that would be grand. Just click the banner to vote and please forward this along to your friends. It means a lot to be nominated and your vote will be a big help...thanks! xx

Hiatus Over

2008-03-25T09:47:00.001Z

Alright. Apologies for this month and half blogging hiatus. Dont be heart broken, it's not you, it's me ;) Needed a little break from computers and all the lack of fresh air & sunlight that they bring. Selling ice to eskimos is all fun & games but once in a while it's good to remind yourself why you wanted to come and live in an igloo in the first place! And i've been doing just that. So, hi! hope you're well & happy. Loads of things to let you know about and share with you all ... to kick things off....here's a dodgy little video i made of my time in new york a few weeks ago... cheap ticket + place to stay = go play some shows in new york!

gtgt-palooza!

2008-02-13T10:54:00.001Z

morning music fans! To celebrate my new york shows next week, i've organized a three day event of sorts here in London, playing three gigs Friday - Sunday, really hope to see you all there. happy days.

Friday night, I'm playing a solo acoustic show supporting Christopher Rees at Powers Acoustic Rooms in Kilburn, entry is 3 pounds & i should be on for 8pm.

Febrauary 15th Powers Acoustic Room 8pm
332 Kilburn High Road, NW6 2QN

Saturday night, we're playing a full band show - that's all 5 gtgt-hootineers at the Barfly in Camden 8pm. If you would like to get on the cheap entry list , just send me an email at franc@goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk . The Barfly is a great band venue to play as it's one of those rare places where you can hear yourself on stage so I'm really looking forward to this.

February 16th Barfly 8pm
49 Chalk Farm Road. London NW1 8AN

Lastly , by by no means least, the last event of the weekend , which will no doubt leave me with a scorching head to board my plane with, we're doing another full band show at The Abbey Tavern on Kentish Town Road. It's a night put on by the lovely people at Soundbites who've invited us to play , it's free entry, get there for 8pm.

February 17th Soundbites @ The Abbey 9pm
The Abbey Tavern, 124 Kentish Town Rd. London

Ok, that's it for the gtgt-palooza! The album "Glue" is avialable from the site
in CD format as well as itunes and DRM free downloads. There's a pretty gtgt tshirt you can show off to all your friends as well ;) www.goodtimesgoodtimes.co.uk

JOIN THE FACEBOOK PAGE:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Goodtimes-Goodtimes/9987666332

Pete Towshend-itis

2008-02-06T19:18:00.000Z

Played the windmill in Brixton last Friday, all good fun and very memorable gig apart from the fact my left ear wasn’t working. Hmmm…yes, not good really. It had been getting worst the last couple of weeks, just hurting more and more and felt like there was a big buzzing fridge floating right behind me. I tried that time-proven problem solver “if I don’t think about it it’ll go away!” but it wasn’t giving in! I eventually dragged myself to the doctor the other day & excuse my French...thank fuck I don’t have tinnitus or pete towshend-itis. Both my ears are fine I just had general illness for a while and general ear unpleasantness, which I wont bore you with as I’m sure it’ll put you off your tea! Antibiotics for the last couple of days…it’s all floaty and lovely now.

So I’ve decided I need to make changes to ensure my ears don’t crap out on me for good. Being a musician, ears are quite important, you know. Every track on my ipod has been given the special +100% volume feature you can get on itunes to make it all, well, REALLY loud so that’s gonna have to come down – which I’m not looking forward to at all. I enjoy listening to music LOUD, and where possible I also like to dance around like a loon when I’m listening; just two little things that give my everyday some “bonus features” . I don’t think I could dance around like a loon if it wasn’t on 11. No dancing would then mean increased boredom; boredom and I aren’t the best of friends so…that’s not gonna happen. Scrap that idea completely. Come on ears, suck it up you can handle it. And when we have band practice I like for us 5 to be in a circle and I stand right in the middle so I get “hit” in all directions but my band. That’s another GREAT brucie bonus of my week I wouldn’t shed for anything. Hmmm. So I didn’t plan that one out too well I guess. Onwards…

KIDS

2008-01-29T21:44:00.000Z

Here's the chords to Kids. have fun. ;)

KIDS
($ = REST)

INTRO:
(acoustic only) C/// C/// Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F $
(drums & bass) C/// C///

VERSE 1 C/// C/// Dm/ F/ C///
C/// C/ Dm/ F/ C/// *
CHORUS Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F/ C///
Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F/ C///

Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F $
(guitar riff) C/// C///

VERSE 2 C/// C/// Dm/ F/ C///
C/// C/// Dm/ F/ C///
CHORUS Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F/ C///
Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F/ C/// C//.r{}*

Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F$ C///

MIDDLE Am/// C/// X2
G/// F/// C/// C/// X2

Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F $
C/// C///

VERSE 3 (quiet) C/// C/// Dm/ F/ C///
C/// C/// Dm/ F/ C///
CHORUS Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F/ C///
Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F/ C///
Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F/ C///

(lift) Dm/ F/ C/// Dm/ F/ C///
Dm / F $

END RIFF: C/// C/// C/// C/// Dm/ F/
C/// Dm/ F/// F/// C.

* On this line the second C is half a bar only – only time this happens in the song. a bit weird, I know!
** Extra bar on C to follow the vocal .

somedays it's different

2008-01-26T14:00:00.000Z

shouldnt be so long between blog posts i know. apologies kids. the last couple of weeks, with gigs , rehearsals and a new found love of garage band have kept me pretty busy. the band show at the troubadour was alot of fun; despite our man with the licks being ill and not being able to play , and the four of us not being able to hear a single note of what each other was playing..it went down really well. the 60-odd turn out surprised me a little bit..i probably shouldnt say that ;) . but for all of them to turn out on a rainy tuesday night for a 10.30 show put a big smile on my face (the rider kindly provided by the promoter also helped in that department). This next week's shows, starting this afternoon on brick lane will be with all five of us - i've yet to do more than two shows in a row with the same line -up. That's a good thing for me, and where possible i'll try and go the same. it just gives it that extra bit of excitement not having a completely sense of how the 45 minutes on stage will turn out. it's probably not the best for "marketing" a band, on a side note i've lost all understanding of what that even means for a songwriter in 2008 - but that's for another time - but that's not why i wrote these songs in the first place. no one writes a piece of music or picks a guitar for the first time thinking it'll lead somewhere. that would be just silly and the music you'd make would no doubt be junk. anyway, i digress..band shows..solo shows..me and Alex on the cello shows..Phili drum solo shows..it's all goodtimes goodtimes!

Photo from the Troubadour Jan 15th.
From left; Alex Beamont, Phil Baer, DJ Yoda, Matt Webster

troubadour jan 15th.

2008-01-09T13:19:00.000Z

rehearsals full steam ahead for next week's show at the troubadour. it's gone from me playing solo shows to a little three piece band to now a fully fledged six headed machine. i'm a little dizzy from going through the tunes so many times this week. thought it'd be good to just get straight into so we'll have a grand total of one rehearsal all six of us before the show; it's best that way..keep everyone on their toes for the show. ha! i have full faith in my boys..and girl. they're amazing musicians and i'm, quite lucky to have found them. cellos guitars pianos drums & bass all swimming together. it's all velvety and it flows like it should. i'm working with everyone individually all week and then all together on sunday at rooz studio in old street. come down..bring a shaker & join in.

because she'll only turn 21 once

2008-01-08T19:31:00.000Z

i only found out about the blog world a few months ago (tut tut tut). when i put my record up on tunecore to go on the download stores , the "how to make noise about your music" page said mp3 blogs is about the most important thing i could do. i know what it is now...blogs will rule the world (if they already dont) . so i've been writing to a bunch and some kind folk have been helping me spread the goodness. I like it, and , i'm hooked...Soccer mom's Tuesday morning school run dilemmas and antipodean garage rock records rediscovered all but a click away. i love it.