Civil Wars, Honky-Tonk's and Grand-Slams ....

In telling the story I'm about to tell I guess I should start this post on Christmas Day 2011.
That day I received a copy of 'Nashville Skyline' by Bob Dylan on Vinyl as a present from Sarah (Howells) who sings with me.

It was apt that she chose that one for it was one of the few albums of his I didn't have and little did I know at the time but it's title would come to shape my next couple of months...

A few weeks earlier I'd been watching Jools Holland and had enjoyed the following performance by a band I hadn't heard of namely 'The Civil Wars' - this is them performing the title track from their debut album 'Barton Hollow'

I'd really enjoyed the performance but hadn't followed it up with any research into who they were or where they were from. Then one day whilst on Twitter a friend of mine posted a video of them performing another of their songs and having watched that I decided to purchase their album.

It quickly became the flavour of the month on my iPod and throughout the Christmas period I was constantly listening to it.

Therefore when it came to the time to start thinking of people who I'd like to work with on the new album I thought I'd see where and with whom they'd made 'Barton Hollow'.
It turned out the man they made it with was a Mr Charlie Peacock based out in Nashville, Tennessee. I read his blog and found it refreshing the way he spoke about capturing the magic within a performance of a song. I thoroughly recommend you read it (if you're into that kind of thing) -

http://recordproducer.typepad.com/record-producer/2010/01/performance-product...

Feeling I had nothing to lose I decided to email him and sent him links to a few of my songs, not really expecting anything back....then something really unexpected happenned - A reply!

Following on from that initial email exchange we said we'd reconvene our conversation after the Grammys as unbeknown to me - Charlie and the Civil Wars were up for two this year. Sufficed to say - they won them both! http://www.grammy.com/news/and-the-grammy-went-to-the-civil-wars

Since then I've seen their name plastered almost everywhere here in London - they've cropped up on the Tube / in the papers / on the BBC Breakfast sofa even...!!

I was even fortunate enough to catch them perform a sold-out in-store gig at Rough Trade East last week. It was great to see something which clearly has grown organically without any forced-image led PR campaign - they are just really good live and sing/write great tunes! Simple!

So where does that leave me? 

Well I'm off this weekend to Nashville - home of Country music and the Honky-Tonk Bar.

I will be there for two weeks working with Mr Charlie Peacock and various other talented musicians on new material. Sarah Howells is also coming for a week, so I'll have another Welshie with me for the journey.

I'll be blogging about my experiences whilst I'm out there and sharing with you all that I get up-to.

Finally I couldn't leave you without wishing the Welsh Rugby Team the best of luck on Saturday afternoon in their pursuit of a third Grand-Slam in 8 years! What an achievement that would be..!!

I wonder if they play rugby in Nashville..... 

Magpies and Mileage

Four weeks ago I shared with you a brand new song of ours called 'Mrs Evans' from the as yet untitled new album. So I thought I'd try and make this a monthly occurrence and therefore introduce another new song 'Blackbird & The Magpie'. Those of you who have been to a live show recently may recognise this one from my set as it's been "road-tested" a few times recently!

Since I last wrote something on here I broke the 70,000 mile mark on my car!
It's been a year of many miles, especially considering that we've now reached the 1 year anniversary of my Caffè Nero Tour where I clocked some serious mileage!

In February I've been to Pontardawe, Norwich and Shoreham supporting the lovely Webb Sisters. Check them out here - http://www.thewebbsisters.com - They recently dueted with Gotye, currently No.1 in the Singles Charts no-less!

Here's a picture taken by Alexandra Bone of myself and Sarah from the Norwich Arts Centre:-

I did a great little gig at the Gwdihw in Cardiff with the very talented Greta Isaac.
The people from the MMP came down and gave us a nice review.

http://themmp.tv/live/al-lewis-gwdihw-8-february/

Finally then last weekend we then headed up to Bangor, North Wales to perform at a Welsh Language Student Night. They were all up for a good time so it made playing for them an easy job for us the band!

 

 

 

New Year / New Song - An ode to Mrs Evans

With it being a new year and all I thought I'd share with you this video of myself and Sarah Howells performing a brand new song of ours called 'Mrs Evans' from the as yet untitled new album (due in 2012) at her flat in West London.

Hope you all like it

Al x

p.s Here's a picture of my little DIY studio (well it's just a microphone and a laptop really) where I'm making my demos in preparation for going into the studio and recording them proper!!

October Shenanigans

When I last posted something on here I was in the middle of touring with Eleanor McEvoy, so that seems like the logical place to pick up on this new post!

Thanks to everyone who came along to see us on the 'Alone Tour'.
After the Eastney gig we headed North and I got to visit Hebden Bridge and Kendal in the Lake District for the first time. Both places I hope to be going back to in 2012. It was also nice going back to places such as the wonderful High Barn in Braintree and Cox's Yard in Stratford-on-Avon. Every night was an absolute blast providing us with a delightful audience and a gorgeous setting.

Special thanks goes to Eleanor for having me along - she was always on top form every night and set a great example to me as the 'young pup'..! You can see my collection of pictures from the tour here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwwLTqW

On a cold Sunday in October I dropped in on the lovely Jen Long at BBC Wales HQ in Cardiff to perform a few songs for her Introducing in Wales show on Radio 1. I was sad to hear that the BBC are planning to get rid of such shows across the UK in the next round of BBC cuts, it would be a very sad move if the show went as for local bands looking for that initial exposure on radio it is a great platform to get your music heard. Good luck Jen whatever happens x

The following day I travelled down the M5 to Clevedon near Bristol to perform at the most famous Shed in Britain (Shed of the Year no less) for Mr Jon Earl (who you see pictured in his shed)
He's had an array of artists perform in his shed including Eleanor McEvoy and my friends Paper Aeroplanes and Emily Baker so I was pleased to be joining such an illustrious list.

You can view the session here: 
http://www.songsfromtheshed.com/Al-Lewis-Session--144(2563961).htm

October also saw the release of my new music video for Treading Water. Directed by the brilliantly talented Rosie Collins - Click here to watch the video: YouTube / Vimeo

I rounded off the month by attending the Welsh Music Prize award ceremony in Cardiff as part of the Swn festival which I was also appearing at during that weekend. It was rather surreal for me to be standing next to James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers and Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals, bands who I'd grown up listening to and then there I was nominated alongside them for 'In the Wake'. Personally it was a great way to celebrate the past year and a bit of releasing and promoting the album as I was accompanied by most of those who'd been involved with me in some way or another in making it!

I didn't take a camera with me but this video gives a flavour of how the night progressed:

Gruff Rhys was a worthy winner and someone who's flown the flag for Welsh music for over a decade so I think he was a good choice for the inaugral winner, my favourite song from his winning album Hotel Shampoo is Space Dust #2 - check it out! I'm a sucker for harmonies/duets!

Pier and the Craic (the tour so far)...!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Here I am in Eastney/Southsea on a glorious Monday afternoon in late September - nearing the halfway point on this tour supporting Eleanor McEvoy!
It's been great to be back on the road doing a series of dates with a great artist in great venues with lovely audiences to boot!

We kicked things off in Birmingham at the Glee Club - a wonderful place that always treats its artists really well (including the support acts).
Thursday and I was back in London - we were performing at the Irish Centre in Hammersmith. A great place that is sadly threatened with closure but with the support and goodwill of people like Eleanor and the comedian Dara O'Brien among others - hopefully it will survive to live another day!

Friday and it was off to Winchester. One of the few places on this tour that I hadn't yet visited. A pleasant afternoon was spent wandering past the stunning Cathedral and the surrounding streets. Fact of the day - Winchester is the former capital of England - who knew!!

Saturday and it was my birthday, (late twenties in case you're wondering) I was treated to a delicious meal at the 'Le Mistral' French restaurant in Nottingham (go check it out if you're in the area http://www.lemistral.co.uk). The gig that evening was at the Glee again - always a pleasure to play!

Yesterday we were back on the south coast - in Brighton. Lazy Sundays in Brighton are a great way to siphon money on delicious Crepes, Cappuccinos and Smoothies...!
Komedia was a lovely crowd and it was great to see Emily Baker perform again (cheek out her song 'Hit & Run' - tune!)
Which brings us to today and Southsea (where the second of the pier shots is taken)
After today we head back to the Cox's Yard - Stratford upon Avon- a venue I've had the pleasure to play a few times now - so it'll be great to be going back there with Eleanor!

It's been an honour and a pleasure to support Eleanor on this tour. She is a great example of an artist whose longevity is a credit to her songwriting convictions and I hope some of her talent and professionalism will rub off on me!! ;)

Until next time.. X

#Winchester #cathedral

Welsh Music Prize

via welshmusicprize.com

In light of last night's Mercury Prize I thought I'd let you all know that we now have something similar in Wales....

The 12 albums shortlisted for the inaugural Welsh Music Prize (WMP) were announced last week and I'm pleased to say that 'In the Wake' was one of the albums chosen.

Huw Stephens said: "We are very pleased to launch the Welsh Music Prize with 12 strong albums from Welsh artists. The shortlist is but a reflection on the quality music made in Wales and released internationally. We hope the prize brings these collections of work to a new audience, and we are looking forward to announcing an overall winner on 21 October at Swn Festival."

It is a great honour to have been chosen alongside such great bands/artists all of whom have released such great albums. Here's the shortlist in full:

Al Lewis - In The Wake [Al Lewis Music]
Colorama - Box [See Monkey Do Monkey Records]
Funeral For A Friend - Welcome Home Armageddon [Distiller Records]
Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo [Turnstile Music]
Lleuwen - Tan [Gwymon]
Manic Street Preachers - Postcards from a Young Man [Columbia]
Stagga - The Warm Air Room [Rag and Bone]
Sweet Baboo - I’m a Dancer/Songs About Sleepin’ [Shape Records]
The Blackout - Hope [Cooking Vinyl]
The Gentle Good - Tethered for the Storm [Gwymon]
The Joy Formidable - Big Roar [Atlantic]
Y Niwl - Y Niwl [Aderyn Papur]