Simon Little

Well, I know that two days away barely constitutes a tour, but we’re about to embark on a longer stint in Denmark and Germany. The two shows we just did in Germany were so eventful I had to start here…
We started off with four days of intensive rehearsals at Ritz Studios in Putney. We’ve added a bunch a new songs to the set from last year and now a have the wonderful Steve Alexander on drums. Steve used to play with Maggie years ago and has since been on the road with Jeff Beck and Duran Duran amongst many others, so we’re really lucky to have him back. He’s a real powerhouse drummer and has already gone down a storm at the shows (Maggie keeps getting the old “Hey.. Your drummer’s really famous!” comments… very funny… still nobody knows who the hell I am though!).
Our first show was the Torgelow Classic Rock Festival, alongside Tony Carey and Ray Wilson & Stiltskin at the Stadthalle in Torgelow, Germany. We were on in the middle (Tony pulled rank and went on first so he could leave early and get an early night!). We had a great show and stayed on to watch a bit of Stiltskin. I was very excited to hear them do ‘Inside’ from the Levis ad…. sadly this was not to be. After their first number, there was some confusion on stage as the band all started checking their gear and in-ear monitors. Suddenly the entire stage went black, and so did the entire building. And so did the whole of Torgelow and the two nearest towns! Apparently a storm had caused a widespread power-cut and there didn’t seem to be any immediate solution. Confusion reigned as band, audience and backstage crew alike were plunged into complete darkness. Luckily Stiltskin took this in their stride and we all used to opportunity to have a chat backstage and have a good laugh at the seemingly hopeles situation! Eventually the fire brigade and local police turned up at the Stadthalle and managed to divert power to the venue from somewhere else, but sadly by this point (about 45 minutes later) around 75% of the audience had gone home. Stiltskin dutifully went back on stage to a smaller but enthusiastic crowd and the show went on. We went back to our hotel.
Now then, our hotel needs some comment. I don’t remember the name of it, but it was attached to an enormous windmill. The owner has obviously become obsessed with this windmill and has made it her own personal trademark as well as that of the hotel. It was run by one ‘Frau Braun’; a rather frightening and larger than life Korean woman who greeted us incredibly loudly in German (she spoke no English and we spoke no German: but both parties were going for the loud and slow technique in multi-lingual communication) wearing some kind of period costume… something akin to a German milk-maid outfit. Every available inch of wallspace in the lobby and restaurant was plastered with photographs of Frau Braun with local dignitaries and various German celebrities wearing what can only be described as an enormous windmill-themed Easter bonnet paired with the various costumes which she obviously has a penchant for. The Japanese kimono was my personal favourite, making her look like some kind of windmill-Geisha.
The second show was 300k down the road at the Brauhaus in Cottbus. We were to be the first ever act on at this newly-converted music venue. We had a great show and the audience were fab. We were really looked after by the staff at the converted brewery, which will hopefully go on to be a popular music venue in the future. It was a pleasure to be first to play such a great venue. The sound was good and the food was even better. Looking forward to going back there next year if all goes well.
Post-show frivolities were sadly rather low-key as we had a bastard early start the following morning to catch our plane back to Blighty. I had about 3 hours sleep…
I’ll post part II of the diary after our next jaunt. Have a look at the gig list to see where we’re off to next. Also, check out Maggie’s page (you can find her in my ‘Top Friends’), it’s more fully-functional than before- I’ve given it a bit of a facelift!
See you soon!
Simon x

Hello folks,

Just wanted to let you know that Clare’s new album ‘Get Happy’ is gonna be coming out February 25th on Universal records. It’s another great mix of well-known standards and originals and features the touring band; Jim Watson on piano, Chris Dagley on drums, Ad Chivers and Colin Ball singing bv’s and me on bass.

It’s already had it’s first play on Radio 2 on Clive Anderson’s show and we’ll be on the road touring again very soon, starting with the album launch at Ronnie’s on the 14th February.

You can pre-order the album on Amazon already so there’s really no excuse. The tracklisting is as follows:

1. All For Love
2. Cheek To Cheek
3. Love Hurts
4. Begin The Beguine
5. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
6. Get It On Sam
7. Get Happy
8. Very Thought Of You
9. Love For Sale
10. Moondance
11. High Love
12. Time After Time
13. All The Things You Are

Hopefully see you at one of the shows soon! The dates are up the main page: there are a few more which I won’t be doing, you’ll be able to get those dates from Clare’s page soon I’m sure….

On another note, if you’re knocking about town this Sunday, don’t miss out on Lea Delaria’s show at the 606. Janette and Fletch are on it so it’s gonna be rockin’!

I’ve also wopped up a couple of new TDC vids for your viewing pleasure on YouTube. They’re from the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2004 and I’m sure at some point soon I’ll get told off for putting them on YouTube and have to take them down so keep it under your hats! It was when Squeezy (aka Ian Watson/Jonny Squeezebox) was with us…. ahhh glory days…. Hope you like them!

See you soon.

Si x

Hello folks,
Well it’s been an awfully long time since I’ve posted anything on here and I’ve been cruelly struck down with some sort of hideous virus for the last few days so I thought now would be a good moment to fill you in on what’s been going down in bass town…
It’s been an incredibly busy couple of weeks for me and I’ve been lucky enough to have played on some great gigs with some great people (and it was the London Jazz Festival! Hoorah!).
This months ‘Wall To Wall’ with Lea Delaria at Pizza Express was a hoot. We were celebrating ‘Women In Jazz’ this time with a host of female jazz musicians (including Deirdre Cartwright, Michele Drees, Alison Neele and the mighty Polly Gibbons) playing tunes written by women. It was one of the most difficult shows so far in terms of logistics and material (anyone for 15/8? No thanks…) but the show as fantastic. We had jazz DJ Helen Mayhew (check out her show on digital station The Jazz) introduce the show and the place was packed out as usual. Really looking forward to our next show there on 19th February with Norma Winstone….
We did a live spot on “In Tune” (BBC Radio 3) on the 19th again which was great fun too playing a few of the tracks that Lea’s just recorded for her live album in New York
Had two fab shows with Clare Teal down south at Salisbury Civic Hall and The Concorde Club in Eastleigh (love that place!). We’re preparing for next year’s shows now so watch this space…
Did anyone spot me on the telly last week? I was on Children In Need in the middle of the night with ‘Songbirds’. Television Centre on Children In Need night is a real experience. The place was a total frenzy of people running back and forth with clipboards and radio mics but everything ran perfectly to schedule; it was an amazing night and a real experience. I’ve found a video of our performance on YouTube and posted it at the bottom of my page if you fancy a look…
And last but by no means least, I had the great fortune to be asked to play with Beth Rowley for a show at the Festival Hall Ballroom as part of the Jazz Festival. If you haven’t heard her yet (and believe me you should…) go check out her page here on MySpace, she’s up there with my top friends. She’s a fantastic singer with some great original material and she’s got a wicked band behind her, including Mike Gorman, saxophone supremo Ben Castle and guitarist Paul Wilkinson (of Duke Special). I had a great time playing with her and we’ve got a couple more things this year so hopefully I’ll get to do some more stuff with her next year when her album comes out. Seriously keep an eye out for her, she’s gonna be huge people…
Anyway, time to sign off for now. I don’t think many people read these bloody things anyway but it does amuse me to occasionally wop something up here just in case.
Feel free to leave lots of comments, it gives me something to read in my sniffling state…
Bye for now!
Simon x

Here’s a picture from the BBC3 website from Lea’s radio session…