When you are young you think that life will just never stop, its goes on forever, like the dream. When you are on the cusp of 60 time takes on a very different meaning. Each day comes quicker and each day seems to sip faster through the fingers, but the youthful soul within still thinks life will go on forever, like the dream. The truth is the bones remain the same. I can feel my weight either in deepness or in time, i know that beyond the door of eternity awaits the cloud of release, attached to the balloons which have me soar through wild imagination i float way out there in the final approaches of not knowing. I can punish myself for not being a better person or taking more time to be with others, i can take my shadow and cast it upon those who are happiest when im not around. Funny times to sit and ponder like some old oaf on a park bench. On the up side April is a reflective and rejuvenating month where spring and blossom illuminate the garden, birds sing so full of heart and optimism pokes its head above the lawn. A year has passed since we married, that wet and wonderful day that passed like the flick of a page, but there we were giving ourselves to each other in commitment and in love. We took the time to have a night away in a hotel to celebrate that great day, we eat nice but fussy food, we sat in the sun and talked. We were as one, as it should be. Paper days i could marry Louise everyday of the week.
Over in Dublin The Strypes were recording demos and opening the door to album number two, the tricky number two as it is for all of us. Or was. Some great songs and energy filled the air. My week in Cavan was fruitful and it was great to see the band and Niall back happy from the long American tour, and like me at their age loving what they had found. No radio prejudice, no record company egos, no borders of musical nonsense to cross. America is the open space in your musical heart that will always embrace the talents for what they are. Its the bands future im sure of that. The Dublin shows were amazing and the best bit about the trip for me was the Gold Discs given to the band back stage, the smiles were like three bar fires on full, so wonderful to see the excitement and warmth, those were the days, see Niall chaperone to the stars with his golden disc, well deserved. And then, back home Glenn and i are selling out shows as we put our tour on sale for later this year, and im filled with joy to be working with Glenn in this time of our lives, a more open and happy place. Rehearsing the songs has been deep, it has been a challenge possibly for us both but we will reach a sensible place along the route, one we both will own with happiness and love. Easter came and went and not an egg in sight, for me that is. The bells rang out and people looked towards the sun for a new day. The Barn is coming on and on, it looks more amazing every time i see it, but is it going to happen….there are question marks. Firle is a warm blanket around us all but we move on in time, and i have moved on so much in my life. Greenwich, Blackheath, Edenbridge, High Halden, Peasmarsh, Wapping, Brighton Hove and Kemptown, Marylebone and Dulwich. Firle. So many homes so many rents to pay and so many years of change, its all about change and having the courage to change, and float on the wind, and to soar with the imagination. I own nothing other than the words i write, and even they are co owned in some cases. I left each home with a handful of balloons pumped up on the imagination that has made my life what it is, my feet have never been far from the ground. From up here i see so much, from here i see nothing but hope and happiness. Bought myself a Red Balloon, got a blue surprise hidden in the Red Balloon the pinning of my eyes, took the lovelight from my eyes blue, blue surprise.
April beings record store day to the High Street, and there i found myself playing in two stores on my acoustic guitar, one in Eastbourne and the other in Lewes. Chris Topham kindly put my solo album out on vinyl last year and it sounds so good, and record store day tries to embrace the love of all things 12 inch. I enjoyed the small crowds and the time Toppo gave to this my solo world unique. In all time this is the love, this is the album that says, I did get where iam. Lastly i went to see the band in Paris and they were amazing, watching the band for the first time in a few weeks i noticed how they have grown, the songs with small tweaks have benefited from the road. They breath as one. They are inspiring to watch and to be around. Watching young girls in the front row punch the air and gasp at the good looks, how they eat up the songs like fruit from a youthful feast. Back stage its water and ducks back, even though they are surrounded by girls who have flown in from Canada to see them play. I remember those days. In the bus and overnight to Spain for the last show of this tour. April is in the bag, May is around the corner and time to knuckle down to new chords, lyrics, boxed filled with the past and boxes filled with the future. Valuable time for prayers.
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