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Last night we completed the launch for “Tales of Dark and Light” We were delighted to play at The Constitutional in Farsley Leeds. This is a great venue and it was a joy to play to such an appreciative listening audience. 

Nicky Bray provided an excellent support slot with some terrific songs that the audience really enjoyed. At 9 pm the 7 piece Caravan of Dreams swung into action which then was joined by the superb Jon Burr on “Slow News Day” and “Grey Skies’. Jon is an exceptional harmonica player and did not disappoint. Both Laurent Zeller and Jed Bevington played violin, with Fergus Quill on double bass, Rich Ferdi on percussion, Agi on vocals and Chris Smith on keys. Its like playing with “The East Street Band” this is a powerful ensemble and the audience loved these songs.

 

It is an honor and a privilege to play with such superb musicians and I played five different instruments during the set – tenor ukulele, 5 string baritone, Gregor Nowak guitarelle, Waterloo acoustic and Moses custom strat. This was the first time I had played acoustic and electric guitars with the full band and I loved it. The Moses sounded very Neil Young on a new unrecorded song “Hold that thought” and the unrecorded “All Kinds of Crazy” which I did as a trio with Agi and Laurent. We finished the set with all eight of us “What you gonna do?” This was a magical night and we played in total for 90 minutes which included Rich, Laurent, Fergus and Jed playing a couple of great jazz standards. 

 

There were lots of moving parts and the band was brilliant. Carl Rosamond made sure the sound was perfect and it was great to have a proper sound check and set length rather than the usual “OK, 5 minutes for a line check and then you are on” nonsense. These days I increasingly prefer smaller acoustically great venues both to play in and as an audience member. I’m already planning 2020 as well as completing a series of other Caravan gigs in the UK. The music is far more diverse and its really liberating to be playing a wide range of instruments. Its also far more challenging, but a huge amount of fun!

 

I’ve been involved in many discussions about how many music venues are closing down and it seems that less and less people are supporting live music. A recent Guardian article noted

“The UK’s rapidly changing live music scene. In January 2018, industry body UK Music estimated that 35% of venues across the country had closed in the preceding decade. The UK’s first live music census, published the following month, found that a third of Britain’s small venues outside London were fighting to survive in the face of high business rates and noise restrictions.”

I’ve seen some amazing signed artists that have attracted tiny audiences. I saw the brilliant Fred Eaglesmith play a local venue in Leeds and only 12 people showed up including myself and my wife. In San Francisco once I saw a brilliant trio where again almost nobody showed up.

My own experience is that less and less people are going out to hear bands play unless they are major bands and then such bands often play in huge arenas which are not to my taste. I’m working on the Music for Head and Heart Project that launches later this year in the hope we can reverse some of this trend. I love to see great musicians play live but ultimately unless the public vote with their feet, the venues will continue to disappear.

Again from the Guardian article

” Independent music spots help give cities their identity but are disappearing at a worrying rate, says Cardiff-based campaigner Daniel Minty, who runs agig guide in the Welsh capital. “We’re just going to be full of Prets and Greggs,” he said. “Bands do start at the very bottom, and people forget that.”

Full article HERE

I’ve seen many fantastic performers over the decades, but the number of venues and audience sizes seem to be getting smaller and smaller which is in my view a real shame.

Over four years ago when learning the ukulele for the first time, my tutor Jessica Bowie suggested “Lets sing a song” After a quick deep breath I busked my way through “Hey Jude” and yes it was not that great. I never envisaged doing any of this singing stuff and always thought of myself as a player/aspiring musician. Five years on, I confess to absolutely loving all aspects of singing. The voice is like any other musical instrument, it takes time to develop and refine. After a few attempts at finding local teachers with varying success, I finally found a great tutor in Agi. Not only does she have a superb voice and is an artist in her own right, but she has the exact technical skills and the teaching skills to really help others.

When I first contacted Agi, 18 months ago, she was so booked up that the only slot was 8pm on a Friday night. I booked one lesson and was immediately so convinced that for the last year I see her twice a week. Her input has been invaluable in helping me not only develop my own confidence in singing but massively accelerating my writing skills and the new Caravan of Dreams material is IMO my best yet. I’m focusing increasingly on expression and developing vocal range. On the Caravan of Dreams debut album Agi coached me to do a three part harmony for the title track, which I would never have thought possible.

I also have a massive appreciation for singers who learn how to develop their voices. Its a bucket of hard work, but truly inspiring and I can honestly say I really love it. In a week’s time I’ll be doing a couple of solo songs for the very first time at the charity event linked below and I strongly recommend supporting this evening as well as exploring the extraordinary medium of singing. I suspect when you do so, you’ll surprise yourself and find it genuinely liberating

For Agi’s debut single check HERE

BOOK FOR THE CHARITY EVENT BELOW VIA THE LINK

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/voices-unite-tickets-60636170418

I have always been a great fan of Glen Hansard and last night in Dublin once again he delivered a superb live performance showcasing his new album. Like all great songwriters he is constantly developing his craft and the new album out Friday is superb.

Glen has been a big influence on my own writing and he is an exceptional live performer. Vicar Street Dublin is the perfect place to see him live and clearly his home crowd love his music as much as I do

I spent some of yesterday testing out the Ear Trumpet Myrtle mic in the studio with the Waterloo Collings guitar. The ear trumpet myrtle produces a fascinating sound and we did a quick demo of a few ideas I have for new tracks.

This reminds me massively of early Bob Dylan and its the simplest recording approach with one mic to capture all the sound. The Waterloo guitar sounds fantastic, like a really great old guitar and the myrtle captures vocals in a very different manner to anything I have come across previously. I have a few artists in mind for this project and am planning an EP which we will start recording later this year.

I already have a handful of songs in mind that would work really well with this old school style of recording

Tales of Dark and Light from Nick Cody & The Caravan of Dreams released May 11th.

Book for the album launch party HERE

Ok, prepare for a short rant. If you don’t want to hear a guy complaining, then just skip this article and I won’t in anyway be offended!

The internet is a terrific resource, BUT it seems that increasingly online questions are increasingly ill formed and on a daily basis there are endless posts that are IMO essentially meaningless. Here are some examples of questions that drive me nuts, because the question is too vague and generalized, so without context, its impossible to give any kind of useful answer. These questions appear on a daily basis on social media and rather than ask the questioner to clarify the question, hordes of posters pile in giving responses which are well intentioned, but IMO not that helpful.

Here are some examples –

“Whats the best, cheapest instrument for a beginner?”

“The best” means what exactly? There is no “best” without context. “The best” could mean whatever will fit in my rucksack, the prettiest looking (also totally subjective), the one which sounds “best” to my ears (also totally subjective” “The cheapest” also is meaningless without context. There are endless instrument shaped objects poorly made that are not really IMO musical instruments in that they are often unplayable. They may be great props for posing with, but that’s about it.

Another consideration is “What sound do you want to create?” Again , the question is meaningless without that consideration. The same goes for the perennial questions about string choices. The combination of strings and instrument wood/hardware along with the playing style will determine the final sound. With small bodied instruments like ukuleles, different combinations will produce radically different results. Everyone will have a personal preference for what suits their own ears, BUT that equates to “what I like most” which is different to what is “best”

I have over 200 sets of ukulele strings in stock including 90 sets of Hilo strings which are now unobtainable. The Hilos sound terrific (to my ears) on Shimos, but don’t sound great (to my ears) on many other ukes. My Collings concert ukes sound better (to my ears) with Worth strings.

Another question is

“What’s the best case for my instrument?”

I’m a big fan of protecting instruments and there is always a trade off between construction, weight and cost. For me the strength and weight and the two primary considerations. For guitars Carlton fiber glass cases (no longer available in the UK) are fantastic in terms of strength, but they are heavy.

I used to but them directly from Keith Carlton after I saw Martin Simpson using them. Now they are only available in the USA they are hugely more expensive. For ukuleles carbon fiber cases are fantastic, seriously light and really strong, but there is a big price tag and I can only find these in Japan. Again its all about context and whether weight, cost, looks or any other factors are the primary consideration for what is “best”

So any question that starts with “What’s the best?” is meaningless without any context.

I saw this photo on social media and it provoked me to ponder the nature of music competitions and my thoughts on such activities.

I have had some people online suggest that with the OUS online platform I start competitions to encourage artists. I’ve always been really wary of this as in many niche music concerns, competitions seem to accelerate the status seeking behaviours which eclipse any focus on musical creation. Instead there’s an almost obsessive drive to be “biggest” and “best” which of course is always totally subjective. I’m sure there are many very healthy music competitions but these often bring out the very worst behaviour, especially when individuals claim to be ‘award winners”

Of course many music competitions are hugely biased or rigged from the outset, which makes such activities equally meaningless. In some niche music concerns there’s a mutual congratulation behaviour where social favors trump any genuine musical creativity. I have also heard on very good authority of artists approached to be on TV shows and guaranteed pre any auditions that they would make it into the final group of artists.

I fully appreciate that I may be in a minority with this view and clearly many people salivate at the idea of joining a music competition, but as of now I totally agree with Bela and no promises of free instruments, or cash persuades me otherwise…