Welsh rabbit- again!
Oct 01 '08
Hurst House is nestled away on the Welsh coast, its where Dylan Thomas was born, he lived and died here and the church has his grave on its hillside. In the hotel there are 19 writers all busy working on new songs, the sun is shining and the inspiration is flowing. Laughter and piano’s can be heard as lunch is being prepared. The food of gods. There are some really great people here, the week is going well, but more than ever laptops are the branches of communication. Over the years laptops have become more and more the third arm of writers on my workshops, being used more so this week for emailing rather than recording. And now i phones are the wear of the day. How trendy we have all become. The songs are turning out great, we have had three nights of performances now and each night I have been amazed by the quality of what has been written. Each day we write in groups of three and in the evening we perform what we have written to each other, its nerve racking and fun. The rooms here are wonderful and the food is good, the countryside is green and wild, Hurst House is working out really well as a writers retreat. Just like Italy, where we normally go, everyone is finding happiness and inspiration for their week. A break from Pasta for the spuds of the cold, cold ground.
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2 Cool for School
Sep 25 '08
Going back to school, mama packed me off with a bag full of goodies, I walked lonely around the corner to my new address. I spent the day in my class with 15 other students all learning how to jump through hoops, hoops that will make us teachers. I'm going to be teaching songwriting, something I never knew you could teach, I thought you just woke up one day and you were one, but no. We learnt all about group dynamics, and after five weeks on tour I think I had had enough already. We learnt about boundaries. At first I wanted to bolt, but jet lag aside I embraced the good teaching of our leader Neil. He is well trained in teaching people how to cope with the class room, and he made me feel very comfortable with it all, I even took notes and wore my glasses on the end of my nose. The room was highly male dominated, skills ranging from tour manager teacher to guitar and bass teacher, and a small collection of songwriter teachers, of which I am one. Tea in plastic cups and biscuit’s, wall charts, slides, books to read and homework to be excited about. It’s a new beginning one I'm not sure about but I like the journey so far. But at home I was on the phone and busy talking to world, Glenn called from LA all excited about his album which is great news, and Matt about what else is on the menu for the returning cowboy with time on his hands and a loaded pistol!
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Wrap
Sep 22 '08
The flight home at 7 am after three hours napping was delayed, they had to re boot the computer, how scary. I soon settled into my nest with my relaxation tape and nodded off. I woke up and we were above Dublin. A smooth flight. Thank god. Back at home I tried to unpack but everything seemed too surreal, being home, being there as it were. Emma was at a party but soon raced across town to see me. The next morning I gathered myself and looked through all the pictures in my I photo library and felt sad, there I saw the summer in all of its glory passing before me, the tour the festivals the holiday with the girls. I sat with my melancholy and embraced the wonderful time that had now gone into park. The tour has lifted the spirits and shaken up the nostalgia bottle for another year, all those songs floating around like flakes of snow falling on the shoulders of grown men and woman. Hundreds of albums signed, ticket stubs and posters. Hundreds of miles traveled, thousands even. All now past into the back pocket of time itself. Its so sad to see such great memories there on the screen yet so joyful too, the reality of home brushes my shadow as I sit here at my desk. Its so quite compared to being on the road, even the traffic seems quieter here than on tour. Its time to plan for the future and the months ahead, its time to be floating on a sea of jet lag that calmly washes in and out of my day. Its great to see my girls and its lovely to see Em. That’s a wrap.
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New York
Sep 22 '08
Back in new York, the circle completed and back at the Tribecca my home from home these days. My day off was full of radio and more sleep, followed by a full afternoon of TV in the studio on A&E playing four songs from our repertoire and one song each from out solo worlds. At first it seemed very odd to be doing this, swapping hats from Squeeze man to solo acoustic chap and back again without passing go. Glenn rose to the bait and with the Fluffers, almost squeeze, he plowed through a new song from his album. It sounded great, lively and very Tilbrook. I played Fats as a Fiddle, nervously and alone. The Squeeze songs sounded good and in the tiny studio we seemed to make it all seem like magic. To be aired sometime soon I guess. And then the main coarse. Radio City Music Hall is legendary, from the outside it looks like a neon castle and from inside it looks like a cathedral, 7,000 seats of pure awe-inspiring beauty. Back stage time flew by. The vastness of it all engulfed us all I think and the show was a little tired again, which it had been recently anyway. We did our best and I hope we delivered a good show, it was hard to tell the audience were so far away from the stage. It was sad, this was the end of another tour. I crept back to the hotel for three hours sleep and then the early bird home. I was too tired to be excited, I was too excited to be tired, I was neither but both. It was good to see people back stage and to say hi to America again, I love it more than I ever did, I want to come back and I hope it all works out for the future, but the future looks a long way away from the corner of my hotel room filled with room service empty bags a cram packed case and my laptop. Its time to be at home and acknowledge the wonderful life I have, both away from home and at home itself. Its all about balance, its all about the journey.
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Seattle
Sep 22 '08
The day begun with a radio show, Glenn and I played for some 20 or so guests in a studio live on air, a rare thing these days. It was fun and I'm sure it helped the ticket sales for the show in town. I was dog tired and went back to bed for the rest of the day arriving at the gig in time for the show. The place was busy, not sure if I was in the room or not but it seemed to go well. After the meet and greet I went back to bed for an early rise, four hours later for my flight to New York. Sleep had become like napping rather than anything deep, just a slight snore here and there in the airport hotel. I said goodbye to my van that had carried me almost 6,000 miles on the tour, I said goodbye to the West Coast. I was on the home run and it felt like it in so many ways.
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Portland
Sep 18 '08
During the day i walked around town looking for life, all I found was construction men and office workers, I did however find a post office, a rare thing in this country. The show was in a part of town not in the centre, the hall was club like, another town hall sort of experience. I thought nothing of it, and then we went on stage and the roof came off it was so amazing. The place was packed and everyone seemed up for the show including us, which was so good. John and I sat in the dressing room after the show like two men in a sauna, it was so hot on stage, hotter than the hottest day of the hottest year. Once I had sobered up from the atmosphere Matt Ed and I set sail for Seattle just up the coast, just 150 miles away, just. After about 1 hour on the road the road became blocked. A bull Elk had set foot onto the freeway and struck a small car, there were flashing lights for days, we fell asleep in the van as the police sorted out a detour for everyone, we arrived in Seattle at 4am. I was half man and half doughnut by the time I went to my bed. My room was the size of a small shed, but I was not in the mood for moving rooms I hung my jeans behind the door and snored my way into the future. I think im Go-Go....
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to see the total eclipse of the sun....
Sep 18 '08
Last year we played here and it was so lovely to be up the top of a mountain looking down across silicon valley, the Mountain Winery is expanding and is such a great place to play. Tonight the audience were amazing, the dancing was some of the best I have seen on this tour, so expressive and rhythmic. On stage we seemed to be, as Glenn put it, bone tired, its all catching up with us maybe, or should I say with me. Too much sitting around in dressing rooms falling asleep, eating tour food and then dancing about on stage for 80 minutes. What an odd life, I sit in the van all day drive to the show, nibble some snacks and then sound check, why I never know, it always sounds so great. Eat diner with the band and then I normally fall asleep Dad like in the corner until an hour before show time. I get dressed and moan about the shirts not being dry cleaned. I drink green tea, and then we walk on stage and prance around, sing and throw shapes whilst hanging on to a piece of wood called a guitar. Then its off stage towel down and back in to jeans, say hi to everyone who comes back stage and then off to the hotel, or drive, depending on where we are. So far my trip computer in my van says I have driven over 5,000 miles in four weeks. Whip those horses! And the drive to Portland today took 12 hours, Matt and I had a good catch up while Ed drove most of the way, up the long and winding route north. We stopped at a town called Weed for lunch, not so much a one horse town more a one legged one horse town. Nice sandwich though. Finally at the hotel in Portland tuned into KCSM my top Jazz station on the internet. Time to unpack my case and re pack, just for something to do, its the highlight of my day off. This time next week!
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San Fran dang a lang!
Sep 15 '08
Being in San Francisco is always very pleasant, being on fisherman’s wharf is being trapped with the tourists. I took a walk around the harbor and watched the massive ships coming in under the Golden Gate bridge. Like a tourist I took some pictures and eat ice cream, like a tourist I looked in the shop windows. The venue was a few miles away from the hotel, the hall reminded me of an English town hall, loud and sterile. Our show was pretty slick, a small but enthusiastic crowd seemed to take it all in. Afterwards everyone went to a circus in a nightclub, very burlesque and by all accounts great fun. I went to bed, feeling tired from my day by the sea. Melinda is a big Squeeze fan and she turned up tonight with her husband, she is baring a child for a gay couple and I thought how wonderful that is for someone to do. Good luck to her. And so we leave this great small city for another time another year, leaving behind us another show that bodes well for the future. Glenn is playing so well and singing so great, I'm really looking forward to working with him again on another album whenever that should be. But first his solo album, which I hope to hear very soon. Our lives seem fuller than ever these days, much more so than they did 25 years ago. Another lifetime ago.
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LA for one night only
Sep 12 '08
The day at the venue in downtown LA started with an interview with Hustler magazine, both Glenn and I sat and took questions in the normal way, no nudity. Thankfully. The theatre was almost full by the time we went on stage and for me it was the best show of the tour I felt at one with my Fender and my voice, and I danced in the usual way, like a parent dancing at a new years eve party. It was so amazing just standing on stage and enjoying people dancing and watching people singing and smiling. What a great job we all have. Back stage we were graced with the company of Johnny Depp. A big thrill indeed. John said he had queued up for 6 hours to stand next to his wax works in London with his daughter, and here was the real thing. He posed for a picture, wax works like for John. So life like it was jaw dropping. Vanessa was very lovely too, very down to earth. Our next guest was Christopher Guest who had filmed Mighty Wind in this wonderful theatre. It was great to see him, but like ships in the night it all went by too quickly. We took more pictures. Pink was there too, although I didn’t see her, and Leona Lewis who was lovely. Her tour manager is our old tour manager Steve Martin. We all miss him. Matt and I left for the hotel happy with a good nights work. Its nights like these that make being on tour worth while. It was a feeling so great to take to bed, my head hit the pillow and the lights went out just like that. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of LA or not, last time l liked it more for some reason, perhaps its all to do with the hotel and where you stay in town. The Sunset is baked in history and has done a great job at upgrading itself, but I'm left unsure. At this end of the tour its all so whistle stop anyway.
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Tucson Arizona (old picture)
Sep 12 '08
Nice old theatre, nice old dressing rooms, nice old sushi diner, nice old songs, nice! I could feel it something in the air tonight, something missing that is, a spark that we had a few nights ago. Every band has an off night, and for me we had one of those tonight, we just slid through the songs in the set without being connected to them in any emotional way. The two days off and all the travel had a lot to do with it, and the burning of candles at both ends too. Its funny gliding through the songs, in my head phones I can groove with all the moves and smile with all the style, and be part of my own world yet part of everyone else’s too. I had spent the afternoon visiting friends, I stroked a few horses and enjoyed the love and the freedom of sobriety in a hot desert garden. I felt well after being with the horses, I felt calm within. Back stage I pigged out on raw fish, which was on the turn. I laid down to sleep, but was woken by guests, I did my thing, I, like the rest of us glided through the 80 minute set. But what a young crowd, it was so good to see you chaps air playing guitar along with Glenn’s solo, for a moment I thought I was in Metallica. And then Ed and I drove to LA, seven hours through the night arriving just before the early morning traffic to my hotel. The Sunset Marquis is a place i remember well, not least for watching Gilson trying to drown the guy form Flock of Seagulls on a long lost tour, it was funny to watch for the first two minutes...so I fought with the Wi Fi, I tried to rest, to sleep, but they were drilling the floor upstairs, the door bell kept ringing as endless maids wanted to remove dust from my room. I woke to a text from home, I opened up i chat and said hello. I fell back to sleep for a few hours and then welcomed my manager Matt who had flown in from the UK. It was so good to see him.
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A day off, indeed a day off.
Sep 12 '08
I had a few hours rest on the wonderful new bus and woke up to the sight of desert cactus and rain, I sat up the front with the driver and took it all in. It was like being a child again. In a great big leather seat that faces forward. I sat with my legs dangling down feeling happy and young, watching endless road miles coming up before us, behind me the rest of the band were sleeping in their bunks. The purr of snoring came gently from the bunk section of the bus where behind curtains dreams were being woven. I could see a train which was about three miles long being pulled by six engines, I could see Mexico and its border as we passed by El Paso, I could see sky, lots of it. I could see cowboy land. America is very big place indeed. Both John and I didn’t sleep very well, our minds drifting from one random thought to another. He sat at the back of the bus emailing and I was at the front, legs dangling down. Stephen was the one who slept the most, Simon was up early unshaven for days and Dad like with his one line jokes, and his jeans kid like at the bottom of his bum, not a great look. But it goes with his jovial hat, dandy like on the side of his head. Between beers and hot dogs Ross our TM was on the phone advancing the hotel, which he does with great efficiency. The hotel we stayed in was a resort with a spa, so I had phoned ahead of time and booked a facial and some nice other stuff. And then, the crew bus driver called in to say that the bus had blown up. The crew were pleased the bus blew up as they hated it, the old bus had finally bitten the dust. I bit the pillow and went to bed. Woke up the next day and enjoyed my body wrap and the facial, I was glowing with new polished skin. More sleep and then a Mexican meal with most of the crew, followed by a few drinks in the hotel bar. The Mexican meal was a good move tonight, chocolate chicken, with rice and beans. I knew it might repeat on me, but I was hungry for local food and a night out. My day off came and went just like that. Outside my room I could see the lights of Tucson flickering in the evening heat, I could see the valley below me and the sky all above, I could hear the sound of insects I could smell the dryness of the gardens below. Oiled like a baby, farting like a horse and sleepy like toad, this was my day off in Tucson.
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Dallas
Sep 09 '08
Its tall glass buildings dominate the skyline, its orange pollution warnings glow across the freeway, the hill from where Kennedy was shot sits lazy in the shadows, I'm back in Dallas, and its been awhile. Glenn was 21 when we first played here and we had chicken wire across the stage to stop the bottles from hitting us, I remember being nervous. Tonight we played The House of Blues with its comfortable dressing room and famous stage, and an after show in the golden club, a hideous place with loud music. We had a good night tonight, a little more controlled than last night I thought, and better for it. I'm on the tour bus tonight for the 16 hour drive to Tucson which at this very minute seems years away from being here, as we sit waiting for the band to appear from the golden bar upstairs. The modern bus awaits like a big black sleek limo, with its flat screens and leather seats and large bunks. Its all new to me. Outside the glass buildings are now lit up, green neon traces the corners and curves into the night sky, its one am here in Dallas and 7 am in Brighton. In two more weeks I will be waking up to the not so neon sky line of a damp but homely seafront, a place right now that seems like another planet. Another girl, another planet.
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Austin
Sep 09 '08
Being In Austin in this heat is like standing with your face to the oven, inside the Sunday roast slowly cooks away. I tried to walk a few blocks but had no idea why I was walking or where I wanted to go. After breakfast I went to a meeting in a church down the street, as ever it was moving to be in a group of like minded people sharing their lives in such a generous way. At the venue we sound checked for the first time in a few weeks, and then most of the band went off to a studio to record with Joe Ely, local boy made good. I stayed for some Thai food and relaxation in the dim but cool dressing room of the club. I read this on line about myself- Chris Difford indeed seemed to be having tons of fun onstage. He frequently did a little soft-shoe dance (sometimes in tandem with bassist John Bentley), smiled all the time and basically goofed around like a big kid. His droll lyrical reading of "Cool for Cats" was particularly fun.- were they watching me! I thought to myself, but in general I am having a nice time. Even in a smelly dressing room there is reason to be jolly, I'm not sure what it is but its there somewhere. I like Austin but despite what I used to say, I could not live here, its too hot for the white skin and chubby being of me. In the club tonight a great show if you are Glenn, who played out of his skin and a average night if you were me. Afterwards I went for an amazing Pizza with my friend Tony, who I had not seen in over 20 years. Tony said to me that she thought Glenn was like a kid on stage and I was like a man with a lot on his mind. I took that thought ot bed with me.
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Nashville cats
Sep 05 '08
On arrival into Nashville I went to a guitar store called Gruens, I saw loads of lovely stuff but what do I need, I have all I need. I went to a record store, I walked out with a few bumper stickers, what do I need, I have all I need, I was not in the mood for shopping. The Ryman is a wonderful hall, very famous, pictures of Johnny Cash on the dressing room walls playing here, and Roy Rodgers too. We did not have a full house tonight but it was a great show, people up dancing and smiling. After the show my driver Ed and I set off on our journey through the night with a mini pizza and some chilled water. It was raining. Austin seemed light years away. Simon still has his eye in a patch but he is clearly not taking it too seriously as I saw him with a fag in one hand and his eye drops in the other. A new bus arrived tonight for the band as Glenn said farewell to his home his bus, it needs too much work for it to be out on the road as it kept going wrong, and I thought Glenn was very magnanimous in letting it go. The new bus is very smart, as I got in my van I had a streak of envy appear on the side of my face, but it soon wore off as the night engulfed Ed and I in its mystery. The rain fell and fell as the road took us through Memphis and Little Rock. I tried to sleep on the back seat but it was like being suspended between two worlds, the road and the dream. My eyes were shut but my head was full of thoughts drifting from one moment to the next glued together by constant motion. Like being in some mechanical jelly I drifted off, and on, and off and on. 13 hours later and we are in Austin, hot and dry.
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St Louis
Sep 05 '08
On the road entering into St Louis I saw signs for Kansas and Memphis, magical names that were made aware to me when I was young and listening to rock and roll music, from the Beatles to Chuck Berry, from The Stones to Little Richard. These were places that existed in song, almost biblical names, places I never thought I would ever visit. Today we are beginning our long journey across country, so far I have driven 2000 miles, and there are many more to travel. 20 more days of almost constant driving or flying. Many more city names will appear above the road as we make our way through the last few weeks of the tour. Its not like that in the UK place names just don’t sound as good as they do here for some reason. Bedford, Basingstoke, Oxford, Crewe all names that don’t seem to ring bells in musical song. The Pagent is a club where many famous people have played and in the catering room there are hundreds of pictures of famous people with the clubs owner, who looks a little like the chap in Abba with the beard. They welcomed us back, but I don’t recall being here before. Simon has a puffed up eye, an infection, the doctor is coming to see him here later before the show. He looks like he has been in the ring with Mike Tyson. He played a blinder, so to speak, despite the bad eye and for me tonight was a great show, I stood on stage and soaked up the feeling in the room, the love that there is for our music sometimes escapes me. I felt proud. Its not a bad job when all said and done despite the miles travelled.
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Chicago
Sep 01 '08
Its Glenn’s birthday, and after a five hour drive I set about editing a video for him which we showed on stage during the show, it was members of the band telling him how much we loved him and wishing happy days, it was very funny. Sadly it ran out of sync on the stage screen so the message was lost, but the thought was there. Revina is such a great place to play, its an inside outside venue with people on the lawns having picnics and people inside dancing and having a ball. On stage it was a great night, the floor was wooden, a bonus for leather shows, and the stage was wide. This was good for the dancers who joined us for two songs, Glenn looked completely surprised as they danced around him, he was Prince for a day. We all cried with laughter as the hips of the dancers gyrated around Glenn’s position on stage. I was worried that he might not like the surprise, I hope he enjoyed his birthday, I think he did, his bus was outside the hotel here in downtown Chicago rocking till the early hours so that should tell me that he did. The bus is his home, his club and his pride and joy. On tour he has his world around him, one he has worked hard for, and this includes his band members who enjoy the word party as much as he does. Meanwhile I enjoyed the soft furnishing and a huge bed of this lovely hotel, 21 floors above the beautiful city of Chicago. A day off for bonzo!
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Cleveland
Sep 01 '08
Hot dogs for supper, are not a good idea as the minute I got on stage I could feel the buggers barking in my stomach down below. We played by the water front in a huge tent like thing, by and large it was a good show, not full by any means but respectable. The band are playing really well, Stephen is so great with his fingers on the keyboards and he looks so good too. Back to the hotel early for some sleep, I actually got to bed before 12 as the rest of the band went out to party at a local club, and to see in Glenn’s birthday. Hello Cleveland springs to mind.
Um!
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Royal Oak Detroit
Sep 01 '08
The irresistible hanging around in dark dressing rooms is only made bearable by catering and bumping into the members of the crew who drift in and out. The hung over members of the band curl up and try to wrap themselves in some solitude, but the dampness is pungent but who cares. Only one toilet for everyone to use back stage. And only 3 hours to kill. I have been for a walk, enjoyed some fresh air and watched a very long train pass by in the street. It took five minutes. Engulfed in childlike word play the day passes, dripping through my hands like water from a stream. I'm missing home and the moments that go with it. The cream coloured fridge in the corner of the our dark dressing room whirls slowly, a constant grinding noise eats at my left ear. Somehow it feels calming. The Royal Oak in Detroit is a nice old venue with cavernous acoustics, we have played here before in the past but I cant recall its picture from the folder in my brain marked ‘tours’. There is only one thing for it, a listen to the new Glenn Campbell album which is brilliant. Out on the stage the lights are green its one step forward now you’ve been seen. A wonderful audience and a very hot night on stage that I almost past out. Our hotel was a 40 minute drive away out by the Ford motor plant, there is nothing around it but freeway and cold looking buildings that hug the skyline like boxes of shoes. I'm off to my pit with some tea and tele.
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