Yorkshire Music: News and Updates

Sometimes it just doesn't seem possible to fit a good, satisfying instrumental practise session into your day and, with our lives getting increasingly busy with more and more activities to squeeze into that single day, it really isn't suprising. Many aspiring musicians work full time, have homes and families to organise as well as a hectic social life so finding time to sit down and go through exam pieces or practise scales etc can be very difficult - believe me, I know!

But, thanks to the wonders of evolution and natural selection, the human body is an incredibly flexible tool that can learn in so many different ways. Regular practise sessions of 10 minutes in length can be enough to imprint the necessary calculations and neural routes into our brain, and enough to train our muscles to respond appropriately, and ultimately to make the sometimes arduous task of learning an instrument much easier and more enjoyable than if these short snippets of our day are not dedicated to this pursuit.

Surely, practise can be a frustrating thing : I am learning to play clarinet again at the moment and the grade 5 piece I'm currently trying to get the hang of (Mozart's Divertimento No. 3) has some sections where the fingering pattern feels unnatural to me, possibly as a result of my activities as a pianist / guitar player. But, I feel confident that I will chip away at these physical and mental barriers with sustained, regular rehearsal of the movements required in my fingers. I certainly find it easier after a couple of days uninterrupted practise than when I leave a weekend or so without touching the instrument. It seems that the time it takes to become a better player can be long but any lengthy gaps between practises set me back hugely, increasing this period and making the whole process unnecessarily frustrating.

I'm speaking from experience here : practise regularly (preferably daily), even if just for a short while. It'll make life a lot easier and the experience of playing an instrument much more fun in the long run!

I should admit that when the news broke about Gene Pitney's untimely death on Wednesday April 5th of this year I was surprisingly shocked and upset about the loss. Not that I was close to him personally or, indeed, had ever actually met him (although I did see him singing live in Sheffield some years ago) but it almost felt like losing a distant relative.. a great uncle or 2nd cousin removed perhaps, who'd always just, ya' know, been there... Certainly, the name of Gene Pitney will remain with me for life, if only because my mother has been such a fan since her teens and throughout her own life, passing on to me some part of her enthusiasm for this singer, his songs and his unique voice.



And I'm not alone with my feelings about his death : considering that this is a man whose career peaked 40 years ago, the response from the public was quite remarkable. One of the reasons for this, I think, is because Pitney always tried to give a personal flavour to his show, for example by spending time at his concerts reading out letters and cards from well-wishers and making sure that he stayed around for backstage pass holders after gigs. These are pretty small gestures but ones that stay with people who witnessed them, especially those who contacted or chatted to him personally.

But, when all is said and done, it will be Gene Pitney's musical voice that people remember. He sang with an instantly recognisable timbre - a thin but strong tone that was ornamented with glottal stops at sensuous or dramatic moments in the music. Equally noteable was his songwriting : he penned many well-known melodies for other singers, such as Hello Mary Lou and Rubber Ball, and co-wrote some of the songs that made him famous around the world.

Perhaps the name Gene Pitney will be most associated with his song Something's Gotten Hold of my Heart as it was a hit for him twice, most recently released as a duet in 1989 with Marc Almond (of Soft Cell). But over the years Pitney hit that charts with a number of songs that I feel were more interesting in their arrangements and subject content, not least 24 Hours from Tulsa - about a guy who ditches his wife / lover having fallen for a girl he met on his way home! - and Town Without Pity (also, as it happens, the last song Pitney was ever to sing in his 50 year long musical career).

The official Gene Pitney website - http://www.gene-pitney.com/ - is down at the moment for understandably urgent modifications but promises to be worth a visit in the near future.

Born on 17th February 1941, Gene Pitney died in Cardiff on 5th April 2006, aged 65.

I recently stumbled upon a really handy little tool on the internet : a media player that provides only content by unsigned acts (downloaded as you play).

The programme, called Indy, is a compact piece of software that draws music files from a database of mp3's that have been submitted by musicians from around the world. The idea is that people who have not been signed can get their songs heard by a worldwide community free of charge, the only condition being that they also have a website that offers information about themselves and also free downloadable mp3's of their music.



As for the listener, during each track they are invited to give the tune a rating between 1 & 5, and then the statistics collected from all the other listeners' choices are used to determine which tracks will be sent down next. So, if you rate a track 5/5, the programme will figure out who else also rated the track highly and then what other pieces they also liked, passing these onto you next. So, when you first begin using the programme you're likely to listen to a plethora of different styles and genres that you may or may not be interested in. But as you offer a rating of how much you enjoyed each track as you listen to it, you should find that the programme delivers more and more songs that are to your tastes (assuming these follow a similar pattern to most other people).

So, the listener gets to hear lots of new music, increasingly catering to their individual tastes, while the musician has a free method of getting their stuff heard and distributed worldwide - pretty good idea!

You can download the programme and read T&C's at www.indy.tv

To occupy myself on the journey to and from Ireland last week, as well as during the more painful of my hangovers during the holiday, I read The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green. This is a book based on the ‘Inner Game’ principles set out by W. Timothy Gallwey in his earlier publication The Inner Game of Tennis.

Because of the prose style, the book reads a little too much like a self-help rag from the popular sciences section of your local Waterstones for my liking, but Green does have some interesting ideas to share about how a state of mind affects the ability of musicians to perform when under pressure.

A brief synopsis: the opening of the book attempts to deal with the way we experience consciousness as a series of thoughts and feelings, some of which are invited and controlled, others that are seemingly beyond our power to initiate or terminate. Terminology is introduced (and then used throughout the book) to simplify these mechanisms – Green borrows Gallwey’s idea of there being two conscious ‘selfs’; Self 1 continually mentally verbalises the thoughts, feelings, joys and anxieties of a person whilst Self 2 listens, reflects upon and sometimes responds to these thoughts. The crooks of the theory then is that the instructions and remarks that Self 1 bombards us with when we’re in a difficult or stressful situation (such as during a musical performance), although often reasonable and accurate, often only serve to distract Self 2 from the business of carrying out the necessary calculations etc to get the job done well. So, it stands to reason that focusing your attention away from Self 1 and onto something more constructive and relevant will usually have the effect of increasing concentration and then the level of possible achievement.

Green uses many examples of musicians who find it almost impossible to keep their minds clear enough to play well in concerts because that ‘little voice inside their heads’ that he calls Self 1 is full of doubt and criticism, or at least full of warning of possible scenarios ahead, such as fluffing a particularly difficult passage. Certainly, I can empathise with this testimony because I’ve found it easy at crucial moments in past exams (both written and practical) to let my mind wonder to worries of what will happen if I fail, instead of being confident enough to expend my energy concentrating on making sure that I don’t – this, as Green says, is simply human nature. The Inner Game of Music, then, is about overcoming these natural psychological obstacles in order to bring musicians, music students and music teachers closer to their innate potential by eliminating some or all of the negative results of Self 1 interference. Techniques that the author discusses involve methods of silencing Self 1, for example by coming to accept and embrace inevitable errors as part of a learning model, and of diverting attention away from the niggling worries and toward very musical matters such as the physical and aural experience of playing an instrument, the technical and / or extra-musical properties of the piece and the emotions that it instils in you as a performer. I have tried some of these methods with varying degrees of success and it must be noted that the suggestions Green makes are not exclusive or exhaustive: different ways work for different people.

A noticeable flaw in the content of The Inner Game of Music is that the author pays most attention throughout to situations where a piece is already prepared for performance and the only remaining obstacle is a disorganised or inappropriate psychological state – this takes for granted that the musician is more than capable of getting through the piece under non-stressful situations. I felt it would help if the tone was generalised to deal more closely with everyday learning and practising conditions, where frustration and a lack of self-confidence can destroy a student’s ability even to get to the stage where they feel comfortable playing their scales / pieces to a friend or teacher, let alone consider going ahead with a concert or exam. Also, a discussion of how these methods could be applied to life in general would be interesting: a kind of musician’s guide to dealing with marriage, war and train stations!

All in all, an interesting read that perhaps could have done without the ‘Dummies Guide to Psychiatry’ undertones. In any case, there is a section in the book that deals with more affective teaching methods, some of which I’ll try to bring into my normal routine to see if Gallwey’s ideas about improving your backhand can help my students get their heads around the fingering of Bach fugues!

Yesterday evening was the second of the Bradford Music Club performances I have been able to attend and I was also lucky enough to have been invited to perform some music for the event.

Myself and a friend (and fellow member of The First Few), Fintan Grant, got up and performed one of his songs called A Different Kind of Reality, and also two covers : Who by Fire by Leonard Cohen, and Every Me Every You, originally by Placebo.

I didn’t have time to see every performer on this occasion unfortunately but the other guys who were up on stage in the first half were really fun to watch. Bradford Music Club upholds a tradition of encouraging everyone to contribute and is always happy for new people to join in.

The meetings are held monthly (usually on the last Sunday of each month) at Rawdon Quaker Meeting Room, on the North West side of Leeds. Contact me if you would like more information about it.

I did do a short review of last months concert and you can find it here.

In the almost twelve years since I was last in the Republic of Ireland some things have changed quite dramatically. Certainly, the towns and cities have been hungry over the last decade or so and have consumed large quantities of the Emerald Isle’s aptly named ‘greenbelt’ land, reaching out to one another with new housing and industrial developments and with larger, wider and busier roads than ever before.

But, despite the onslaught of global progress that has explicitly affected this small country, there is a certain je ne sais quai here that remains totally untouched. The people continue to be some of the friendliest and most helpful I have come across anywhere and there remains a culture that the people of this Irish nation have every reason to be proud of.

Among many others, one very noticeable facet of the Irish mindset is their relationship to music – specifically, music of traditional Irish origin. The vast majority of the pubs and bars that I visited in Co Kerry’s bustling little tourist town, Killarney, supported some kind of live music on at least one evening of the week, and speaking to some of the locals I was told that this is the case for most of the other 70-odd establishments there, and indeed the same in very many of the villages, towns and cities across the country.

The big difference here, of course, isn’t that the owners of these bars spend a great deal of time or money to attract musicians and audiences, but rather that the concert culture of the majority of the Western world simply doesn’t exist in these venues. That is to say that the split between audience and musician is much less defined – people who are able to play or sing are usually free to do so, whether in an organised, coordinated way or not. Many of the groups that perform in these (often very small) pubs simply sit around one of the tables with their instruments out, a microphone hanging from a cable above them, and get down to playing music for the sheer pleasure of being involved and because that’s just what they do! Others who know the songs sing or play along, sometimes with the band and sometimes by getting up and doing something separately. So, the act of playing, singing and listening to local music becomes a natural part of being in the social setting of a pub or club.

I think there is a slight downside to all this : that there will always be performers who perhaps are not terribly accomplished musicians – bands playing that just don’t quite meet the grade. But, then again, the very meaning of this genre of music is surely strongly related to participation for all; an Irish tradition of the learning and relearning of songs for anyone who is interested in being involved. Personally, I think it’s fantastic and a shame that many other Northern European countries don’t embrace this type of musical venture.

Today marks Joss Stone's 19th birthday and learning this really reminded me of how seemingly random twists of fate, such as our collective discovery of these extraordinary talents, are actually so massively contrived by the powers that control our media.



In Joss's case, no great harm seems to have been done thus far but it does make me wonder if it really was a good idea to place a 17 year old girl into the international spotlight, however much potential talent she showed. Her own website, www.jossstone.com*, refers to her as "perhaps the most precociously gifted vocalist of her generation" and who could blame the girl for taking on a sizeable ego boost with her new found fame and, presumably, great financial freedom?

And, the truth is that, unlike other child stars of years gone by such as Charlotte Church, Joss Stone does exhibit a really remarkable musical ability. The songs she does tend to be of an interestingly retrospective style, blending soulful melodies with 'Austin Powers-esque' instrumental arrangements, particularly in Don't Cha Wanna Ride. But the lyrical content is quite naive - exactly the kind of ramblings you'd expect from a teenager in the throws of her nth love affair this term. And then there's the fake American accent that seems de rigeur for any upcoming British pop act of this day and age...

I really can't help feeling that if the EMI's of this world concentrated their efforts more on nurturing the artists they record instead of inflating their own ever increasing bank balance through excessive and premature distribution schemes, then young musicians like Stone would have more time to develop a musical, artistic, emotional, political and, ultimately, aesthetic voice in the way that does them real justice BEFORE being thrown in front of the cruelly fickle media machine of the early 21st Century.

Of course, like any commercial venture, the record labels are in the business of making money and without that sole drive on their behalf a whole industry would collapse. But, when you look at other artists who were shot to fame at a young age, it makes you wonder if the end really justifies the means, particularly in this internet age of free and easy communication - we can now share our music directly, cutting out the middleman altogether.

For example, when another soul songstress, Shola Ama, was interviewed recently for a British music television station she described how being flung into the limelight at 17 years old had been a metaphorical double-edged sword : yes, she suddenly felt empowered by money and recognition, but behind the scenes the chain of events that started with her signing a recording contract had had a detrimental effect on her emotional wellbeing, as her creativity and literal freedom of expression and movement were stifled by an organisation that used her for its own monatory ends. And remember, not only did she personally suffer in this way at the hands of the businessmen, ill-prepared for a dash through the spotlight, but we the public ended up losing out because the label could not fulfil its promise to us : they could no longer deliver the 'real' Shola. So, who won in the end?

Looking further back into pop history, there are too many cases to cite that have ended in much more marked tragedy, directly or indirectly as a result of pressure on artists exerted by the media machine that drives our sense of public taste and decency, not least the deaths of such characters as Kurt Cobain, Karen Carpenter, John Lennon etc. etc. Let's hope Stone is tough enough not to end up going down one of those roads.

The replacement presenters for Channel 4 / T4's Popworld programme have been announced.

Simon Amstell & Miquita Oliver will be replaced by Alex Zane & Alexa Chung. I just hope this new pair are able to maintain the style and humour of the past 6 years.




Together, Simon and Miquita have produced some of music journalism's magic moments simply by subjugating traditional attitudes towards celebrity musicians (and, by extension, others in the media limelight), poking fun at the pretentions of artists and labels alike. And it's been gripping stuff, in a similar way to the hit comedy The Office was in that it was often almost painful to watch!! Seeing celebs coming on expecting to be praised, rising to the ranks of deity, but instead ending up squirming in their seats as Simon & Miquita shine a torch at over-inflated egos and the disproportionate sense of self-importance, was just fantastic.

These two did a great job of presenting good, varied music to Channel 4's weekend audience in a down-to-earth tone.

The Observer's Barbara Ellen interviewed Simon & Miquita in today's magazine. The article also discusses many of the funnier moments over the years that Popworld has been aired : click here to read it.

Jon Daley, of Sandman Magazine, reviewed TFF's March 3rd gig at The Vine :

"The First Few seem to draw a pretty big crowd. Things get a lot more sing-along now, with a big bag of lively acoustic numbers for fans to clap to. They've nothing groundbreakingly original to offer, but they do get me in the mood for batting a giant balloon around."

To be honest, I'm not quite sure what point Jon's making with this, apart from that the stuff we do with TFF tends to be pretty melodic and memorable. The night we were reviewed we played alongside 'Dog City', 'The Experts' and 'Amida', none of whom were terribly groundbreaking. I'm not sure how original a rock band can aspire to be in 2006, with 50-plus years of material already written and recorded in this very specific genre.

In any case, you should be able to read the full review, including Jon's remarks about the other bands that played The Vine on 3rd March, by visiting the Sandman Magazine website.










Also, read an earlier band review of The First Few's progress, written by Duncan Seaman of Bradford's Telegraph & Argus, by clicking here.

After last week's successful recording session, TFF have a busy weekend of gigs ahead.

Tonight they'll be headlining at The Vine, in Leeds - a venue they've appeared at on a number of occasions in the last month or so. Then, tomorrow evening, they'll be first on stage at Bradford's new music venue, The Gasworks Bar.

Please visit their website by clicking here for further details.

You may have noticed that over the last couple of days VH1 have been running a series of music videos that have been voted as containing some of Britain's favourite lyrics. There is a number to call to be part of the poll but I figured putting a few words up on my blog would do these particular lines much more justice than running up my phonebill. So here goes :

Sean Coughlan, of the BBC News Magazine, compares the 17th Century practise of castrating young boys in order to allow them to maintain their vocal range into adulthood, to pushy parents encouraging their kids to appear on televised talent contests, such as Pop Idol & Fame Academy :

"Castrati were the singing superstars of the 18th Century... In 17th and 18th Century Italy, about 4,000 boys were castrated each year, from the age of eight upwards, with the aim of making a fortune as opera singers and soloists with choirs in churches and royal palaces."

It does occur to me that this obsene practise is in many ways strikingly similar to the lengths people will go to in this day and age to achieve celebrity and stardom. You only need look to the likes of Jade Goodey, happy to be slated on a daily basis by our national gutter press as "thick" and "ugly". Happy, that is, if it means she's able to attract attention to herself, just as children often misbehave to get noticed - any publicity is good publicity. Thus far, it doesn't seem to have done Jade a lot of noticeable harm but I get the distinct feeling there's a fall to come.

Those seeking fame by being 'discovered' on Pop Idol have a slightly different relationship to those castrated gents of a few hundred years ago : at least both parties in this case are actively trying to do something creative.. or at least, have their 'abilities' noticed. But, like 8 year old boys being encouraged (or forced) to allow irrepairable damage done to their bodies, I can't help thinking that the next generation of Pop Idol candidates to be humiliated on screen (whether successful on the show or not) have been somehow held to ransom by the fickle, voyeuristic peer group that is modern day Western society.

You can read Sean Coughlan's full article about the Handel & the Castrati exhibition here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4853432.stm

It's been a productive but tiring day at Bradford's 'In-A-City' Recording Studio for the TFF lads. We spent most of the day laying down one single track, while the sound was carefully crafted by Carl Stipetic, In-A-City's inhouse Producer & Engineer. Because of the Sunday afternoon timing of the session it felt a little rushed, but by 10pm we managed to get a reasonable version of our song 'Confessions' mixed down to CD / mp3.


You can hear the track by visiting the TFF website - as soon as the page launches the song should start playing. The band lineup on this recording is as follows :

Lead Vocal - Jamie Bridge, Backing Vocal & Piano - Damian Oxborough, Guitars - Fintan Grant, Drums & Percussion - Richard Szustakowski, Bass Guitar - Liam Grant.

The recording session wasn't without it's difficulties either... this is probably one of the more challenging songs that we perform because of the way the piece is structured into various sections that are lead in and out by a strong but rigid pulse. It's hard enough to get this right when we play it live together, taking advantage of the odd nod and glance to keep everyone in check, but near impossible to get it perfectly in time when the parts are recorded separately, without a click track.

Having said that, I think the finished result is pretty impressive for a few hours work. Once we were confident that the rhythm section had the fabric of the song stitched up, we concentrated on making sure that the vocals did the sentiments expressed in the lyrics some justice. I think we we're getting pretty close with this recording, with the help of Carl's refined ear for these things.... the time and effort we have all put in has definitely been worth it today!