Recovering today from a grand night out with the Nelsonica team at my favourite village pub. Mayor of Dreamsville, Jon Wallinger, had arranged a get together of the principal members of the team that help stage my annual live event and Emiko and myself were kindly invited to attend. Jon, Ian, Eddie, Duncan, Martin, Paul, Tony, Emi and myself occupied a long table where we enjoyed a perfect feast of food and drink, a rare occasion for us to relax without the organisational pressures of my live events.
Much laughter and a little liquid refreshment added to the evening's fun. I made a quiet suggestion that, despite my decision that last year's 70th birthday concert might be my final live performance, that I would like to hold an album launch party event later this year, if at all possible. I can't pretend this was purely a spur of the moment decision as I'd been contemplating the possibility for several weeks but, with the wind in my sails and a couple of new guitars to parade in front of fans, I might just find the nerve to do it.
The only problem is that it's a little late in the day to begin the long process of planning and creating all the content that these events require...but we'll see what transpires.
I would think that the launch party would centre around the current 'Old Haunts' album project, but possibly with another album on simultaneous release too. I have so many 'in the can' awaiting release.
Tonight I've just mixed another new track for 'Old Haunts,' this time an instrumental piece titled 'The Phantom Palace Of The Prince Of Dreams.' It's a spooky little piece with an almost middle eastern feel. This brings the album's track count up to nine but I still need at least a couple of other tracks to add to the list. Must get the album finished by the end of this month though as July is going to be studio renovation time and the move from my old but faithful Mackie hardware system to a much newer software system based around Cubase Pro 10. A certain amount of trepidation about the change, as I've noted before. It will take some getting used to and will have a fairly steep learning curve but I'll give it my best and hopefully it won't be too painful.
Strange dream last night...In the dream I was with Jon Wallinger, walking on the old Waterloo Road in Hunslet, Leeds, which is actually no more as the area was redeveloped back in the late '70s. But in the dream, it was like it used to be in the '50s when my father worked there as manager of R.Broughton and Son's radio and television shop.
In the dream, Jon and I walked down the street and came to the shop where my dad had worked. It was in a state of dereliction, broken down and partly boarded up. The door of the shop was open and we went inside. The interior was in a terrible state, debris everywhere, dust covering all the surfaces, broken woodwork, plaster falling from the ceiling, a total mess. We picked our way through the rubble and on the floor I spotted an old electrical transformer. I turned to Jon and said: "I think that was one of the transformers my father worked with when he sometimes repaired radios here...I'm going to take it home with me." At that point some workmen entered the shop from a back room and asked what we were doing there. I explained about my father. They said they were in the process of demolishing the premises but allowed me to take the transformer. Jon and I then left and walked away from the old shop, but then Jon took out his phone to photograph it as we knew it was about to disappear forever.
I woke up from the dream and, for a brief moment or two, couldn't figure out if it was real or not. Memories of visiting R. Broughton and Son's shop in Hunslet when I was a child in the late '50s and early '60s are vivid and poignant. If I had a time machine I would go back to relive those moments that are still dear to me today. And sometimes I do travel back via the mechanism of dreams...
Another flyer for a double album completed but awaiting release...
'The Jewel' is an album recorded a couple of years ago but not yet released.