Hello, how are you?
I write from my kitchen table this morning. We were supposed to be heading off to Glasgow tonight, followed by Newcastle and Nottingham but unfortunately the fates would not allow. I want to be honest with you mailing list folk instead of keeping up the internet pretence, these shows have been postponed due to low ticket sales in advance.
I’m gutted about this. I’m also learning to not take this personally as pre-sales for tickets are down by 60-70% across the board. Tough time for independent artists. This means that venues and promoters are cancelling or postponing shows rather than assuming that people will show up on the night. Because they can’t afford to assume that people will show up on the night.
I don’t write this in a ‘woe is me’ mode, I’m writing from a place of truth and ultimately, trust in my own audience. That’s you. Yes, you!
The Tour
You who have come out to all the Irish shows, the little and the grand. Belfast, Rosemary St. you were stunning, Dublin, The Grand Social, how suitably wonderful you were, Galway, my first headline show with you and albeit small, you were a treat and everyone bought merch keeping the show on the road filling our bellies with sub par pad thai.
Derry, playing in St. Augustine’s on the site of the original St. Columba’s monastic settlement making it over 1,400 years old was nothing short of epic. That, plus a green room betwixt vicar robes next to a record store on the city walls was a chef’s kiss moment. Limerick, the easiest venue to get to in the land despite being a four hour drive away - gotta love those motorways. The iconic Dolan’s welcomes you in and honestly I might still be there if we hadn’t had to drive back to Belfast straight after the gig. Levis’, what can I say? You just have to go there to experience it.
Me, in the green room in Derry.
Kilkenny, garrison town, small and mighty audience with a brilliant sound engineer. Special shout out to those who travelled an hour to the gig - thank you - and again, everyone bought merch keeping the show on the road. Coughlan’s, you kicked things off in a way I won’t forget. I was grinning from ear to ear when people walked out of the show carrying both Notes For A Maiden Warrior and Next Of Kin. So cool to have two full bodies of work!!! Oh, and the socks are going down a treat.
A snippet of pre-gig delirium in Kilkenny after a drive from West Cork with my first ever pints of Beamish the night before.
Coffee House Tour?
I love touring. I love sharing these songs with you. I love that they’re part of your lives even more so than mine in ways. At the Dublin show, someone had travelled from Germany to be there and told me the last time they saw me play Samson & Goliath (one of two songs from Notes For A Maiden Warrior that I keep as part of the set), they fell in love with their partner. How amazing is that?
I love all of this and yet I can’t help but think there has to be a different way to tour. To share these songs with you to be supported and sustained by this magic island that gives me time and space to write these songs. More and more I’m leaning towards a model of grass-roots, community driven spaces and venues, the knitty-gritty, one foot away from the audience kind of thing. I wonder if you’re interested in that? I’m thinking of a coffee house tour, like the songwriters of the '60s, community spaces that hold less than 50 people so we’re in that rawness together. If this is your thing and you’d like me to play somewhere near you. Get in touch, say hello. We can make it work. I come with amps, microphones and socks!
I’m chuckling to myself here because I’m not even finished this tour and already I’m planning more.
A run down of the Next Of Kin Tour
Upcoming Shows
And so, coffee finished, making the most of an unexpected day off, I’m about to hop in the car to meet my Granny for lunch. She is so brilliant. I’ll be in Brighton, Bournemouth, London, Alton and Birmingham next week. If you know anyone in any of those places do send them way.
Photo by the excellent Peter McCormick from Rosemary St. Belfast
Catch you real soon,
DLx
PS obsessed with this new artist, Joshua Idehen.