Follow for free on my Patreon.
I post updates and new music every few days.
Recent Apple Music playlists
I realised I hadn’t shared what I’ve been having on repeat for a few months so here’s a couple for you. No particular order to these, I just make a little list each month for myself and save them.
July 2021
August 2021
September 2021
October 2021
Concerts this month
I’m happy to be playing some concerts this month in Germany and Switzerland, beginning this evening in Dresden and carrying on like this:
03/11/21 Hole Of Fame, Dresden, DE - link
04/11/21 Lila Drache, Halle, DE - link
05/11/21 GALERIA LUNAR goes Underground, Hannover, DE - all welcome, please email for details
06/11/21 Private House Concert, Rosche, DE
07/11/21 Fotostudio Gezett, Berlin, DE - all welcome, please email foto@gezett.de for details
08/11/21 Café Feuerwache, Hamburg, DE - all welcome, please email for details
09/11/21 Tonfink, Lübeck, DE - link
10/11/21 Waggon, Offenbach, DE - link
16/11/21 Gustav, Bern, CH - link
* 17/11/21 - FREE, CH - looking for somewhere to play / stay
* 18/11/21 - FREE, CH - looking for somewhere to play / stay
19/11/21 Mundwerk, Thun, CH - link
If anyone can help at all with the 2 free days in Switzerland, preferably around the Bern area it would be fantastic. Otherwise I’m looking forward to a busy couple of weeks and I hope some of you can make it along to these. Say hello if you do.
Stephen
'FÜRTH' double disc and download now available for everyone
My recent concert at the Badstrasse in Fürth is now available as a 17 song download or double disc physical edition to everyone at Bandcamp or through my Patreon subscription.
This was one of the most enjoyable concerts I've ever played and certainly my favourite show of 2021 so far.
When I Was Away
The Royal Canal
Down Down Down
Hove Beach And Eggshells
Lover O Lover
Deserter
Pretty Peggy-O
I Do Wrong
The Ghost Is The Only One That Beats My Drum
Song For A Coalman
If I Have To Walk All The Way To England
We Could Have, We Should Have, We Didn't (with Stefanie VIVIAN VOID)
Super Good Advice (with Stefanie VIVIAN VOID)
Lord Franklin
So Long Song
Paper Birds
We Swam A Little Song
All Patreon and Bandcamp subscribers automatically receive all new music I make (digital or physical) as well as exclusive monthly releases. Please consider supporting me at:
'Yurt' EP now available
A new 3 track EP, recorded in a Yurt in the west of Austria a few weeks ago is now available on my Bandcamp and Patreon sites. It includes a new sketch / song I was writing the same evening.
This was a lovely little visit. After a couple of nights in the luxurious Villa Müller (recordings from that are here) I rode over to my friend Johannes and set up in his beautiful yurt in the field behind the old house he’s rebuilding. There was an old bottle of cheap whiskey and I played and played. Most of it unlistenable, of course.
I’m uploading and sharing more of these sort of occasions, as well as some recent concerts I’ve enjoyed playing on my Bandcamp and Patreon sites. It would mean the world to me when more people head over there and support me that way.
Thanks all
Stephen
'Work With This' from Speicher, Husum last weekend
Here’s the first song from my long set at the wonderful Speicher up in Husum on the north west coast of Germany last weekend. I’ll probably put together a collection from this evening for my Bandcamp and Patreon pages in the next few days as I remember it being a nice concert.
I’m just home after other enjoyable concerts at the beautiful Buchhandlung Blattgold and Prinz Willy’s lovely little bar in Kiel. In between I spent most of the week on the little island of Bornholm in between Sweden, Denmark and Germany. No concerts played there sadly, but some writing and much fuel for further songs.
Big thanks to everyone who came out and helped. Later this month I’m in Karlsruhe, Freiburg and then Ulm. Anyone up for coming along please get in touch.
More to follow then,
Stephen
'Zeppelin' video
From the 18th subscription release ‘The Villa Müller Recordings’ out 01.10.21 at the following:
FREITAL now out
A set of songs from my recent concert at the Spielbühne, Freital on the 21st of August is now out.
I played outside the theatre to a quiet but super friendly crowd - was a lovely visit. I played two sets, lots of songs and this is a selection of most. I edited out some of my excessive talking, and a couple of technical sound issues with a few of them.
The Royal Canal
Down Down Down
The Ghost Is The Only One That Beats My Drum
Pretty Peggy-O
Luck Is Cruelty On The Wind
We Make Our Own Fun
Barbara Allen
Super Good Advice
Lord Franklin
So Long Song
Good Night
We Swam A Little Song
I’ll have it on this site very soon, but in the meantime it’s available at Bandcamp here.
Hamburg concert this month
I’ve just added a special, acoustic concert in the Buchhandlung Blattgold, Wexstrasse 28 in Hamburg for next Friday evening - the 24th of September.
It’s free entry, with donations and I’ll be playing for an hour from 19:00. Spaces are very limited - I think about 20 people can attend. It’s 2G and you’ll need to reserve your place via email.
You can also just drop me a message and I’ll take it from there.
If you use Facebook, the event is here.
That’s all the info - I’m very excited to be playing back in Hamburg after almost a year away and hope some of you can make it.
Have a great week,
Stephen
Villa Müller, Feldkirch
Photos above by Katharina Koutnik from my concert at the beautiful Villa Müller a week or so ago.
I stayed there a few days, played a concert on the Sunday and then recorded most of the next day. I played some old songs but also wrote some new things and played some instrumental ideas. I’ll post the complete set of things I made on my Patreon and Bandcamp sites soon but in the meantime here’s a little idea of what happened.
'Lord Franklin' from 'Eight August Songs'
Here’s a spontaneous cover of the folk song ‘Lord Franklin’ I recorded a few weeks ago for my latest release, ‘Eight August Songs’ available through Bandcamp and Patreon now.
‘Lord Franklin’ (or ‘Lady Franklin’s Lament’) was written around 1850 and tells the story of the 1845 expedition to find a passage between the Arctic Ocean and the Pacific. Two ships and their crew were lost and the wife of Franklin sponsored many expeditions in an effort to locate her husband. The song is told from the point of view of a sailor at sea who actually dreams Franklin’s story into the song, thinking it true, which it is. It’s frames within frames, songs within songs and a very strange and beautiful text. Naturally, Wikipedia has more information on the origins and various versions here.
I’ve always loved the melody of this song and thought I’d try to understand the structure, which is actually very simple and in fact likely originates from a much earlier instrumental Irish tune ‘Cailín Óg a Stór’. This, in turn, was the basis for ‘The Croppy Boy’. As is often the case, start looking into a folk song and the rabbit hole opens up.
I had never tried this song before this take but have since played it at most of the concerts I’ve played this month. All of these shows were recorded and I’m posting songs from them on my Patreon and, along with other recordings I’ve just made, they’ll likely turn up for the next month’s subscription release.
Thanks for listening,
Stephen
Recordings from Freital on my Patreon.
I’ll be posting live recordings from my recent concert in Freital on my Patreon page over the next few days. It was a lovely night and I played a bunch of things I don’t normally play. Some new songs from the last few albums and a couple of folk covers, including something I never tried before. Please consider supporting me there - it’s just €3 a month and there’s much exclusive music from me uploading already, with more coming all the time.
The photo above is by ankola007 from the night.
Free download of 'DESI'
A six song recording from my recent concert at DESi in Nürnberg is now available as a free download to everyone on my mailing list and to all Patreon and Bandcamp subscribers. It’s also available to buy through Bandcamp.
I’ve put the form for the newsletter below. I post once a month maximum and have a few other releases that are available to everyone there. I get that it’s a bit old fashioned but it’s nice to feel like I’m speaking to the people that are wanting to hear from me and not just shouting arrogantly into the void.
31.07.21 DESI, Nürnberg, Germany
The Royal Canal
I Do Wrong
We Could Have, We Should Have, We Didn't
Hove Beach and Eggshells
Lover O Lover
So Long Song
I’ll send an email out tonight with a link to download, and if you miss it drop me a line and I’ll add you to the list and I’ll make sure you get another.
Of course, everyone signed up to my Patreon or Bandcamp subscriptions get all the new music I make and release anywhere so there’s that too. I’d be super happy if more people decide to support me this way as it’s the absolutely one of the best sources of encouragement to me these days.
This was a spontaneous, relaxed evening and I’m happy to share music from it with you.
Cover photo by https://www.instagram.com/lea_laerm/
Live tracks on Patreon
I’ve been uploading single tracks, especially recent live recordings over on my Patreon page for the last few weeks. Today there is a version of ‘The Royal Canal’ from last Saturday’s concert in Nürnberg up here. I’ll follow with more in the next week.
Finding it fun to share things every few days - I would really appreciate it if you considered signing up there to hear this stuff. €3 a month will get you started and it means a lot to me to make things for those that are listening.
Thanks all, have a good weekend.
Stephen
Nürnberg concert this Saturday, tomorrow
I just got asked to play a last minute concert tomorrow in Nürnberg at the rather excellent DESI. Doors open at 15:00, music and reading from 16:00. My good friend Julia Laura will play at 17:30 and eventually I will finish the evening at 21:00. That’s the story.
Winterthur last weekend
Just back home after a lovely couple of days playing and travelling through some beautiful countryside in Austria and Switzerland. I’ll share some recordings from the last few days on my Patreon this week.
Winterthur concert in a week
Quick note to say that I’m playing a last minute concert in Winterthur, Switzerland next Saturday the 24th of July at the brilliant Gaswerk. Doors 18:00.
They’ll open their bar for the first time in ages and I’ll play some. It’s casual dress, bring your thirst.
202106 Music Playlist
Also lots of Becky Becky but they don’t seem to be on Apple Music so go and listen to them here instead.
'Work With This' out now
Work With This
Zeppelin
This Is A Calling
Hove Beach And Eggshells
Luck Is Cruelty On The Wind
You Remain My North
Good Night
An album of seven new songs is now available for everyone here on my site, my Patreon and over at Bandcamp.
As a thank you to all Patrons it’s available to download to everyone subscribing, including all at the €3 tier. Please consider signing up over there to support me directly.
I suppose here is the place to share some words about the making of this one.
My last album ‘The Ghost Is The Only One That Beats My Drum’ came out in December and whilst I might usually go and play some concerts or get out of the house for some weeks that hasn’t really been an option recently, so I just carried on working on songs. Some of the ways I was working whilst making that album didn’t really change and often things that were started back then just kept bubbling away over time. Slow cooking. I think that’s apparent on a few of the songs here - the ones based on a rhythm and with more percussive stuff in particular. There’s a link, as always, between the albums, but here it’s like I didn’t stop. I suppose I didn’t stop.
This time there’s no one else playing on the thing and it’s generally a little tighter written and structured I think. I cut a lot away, despite there still being a couple of longer songs there. I’ve never been as brave or ruthless an editor as I should be.
‘Zeppelin’ was a song called ‘Four’ that I started about 15 years ago and was originally based around a Neil Young guitar feedback sample. I don’t think I ever played it live but it’s likely that the recording was released ages ago, perhaps on an edition of the ‘Church Boat’ CD or something around 2005. I don’t think anyone will recognise it but if you do please let me know.
Likewise, ‘Hove Beach And Eggshells’ isn’t an old song but is somehow about events that happened around that time when I lived on the south coast of England. Recently I found myself trying to care for a young crow and I think it brought back sentimental memories of nesting gulls.
I’m playing concerts again, starting this week.. No idea if I’ll get to try any of these out but let’s see.
Thanks everyone, have a lovely week.
Stephen
'Work With This' physical edition
The physical edition of my new album ‘Work With This’ is available to pre-order now at Bandcamp and also available directly through my store here.
The album is out on Monday the 5th of July.
This simple edition features a hand stamped CD-r and an A4 lyric and guitar chord sheet. A punch card with the date and time of manufacture is also inside. The sleeve is hand stamped and each is numbered from an edition of 100.
I’ll be sending these out at the start of next week and will also have copies at all my concerts that I am planning, fixing and very much looking forward to.
More info on this album at the weekend, have a nice Friday.
Stephen
Juneteenth fundraiser day at Bandcamp - 'Luck Is Cruelty On The Wind'
A special version of a new song, ‘Luck Is Cruelty On The Wind’ is available now through my Bandcamp page.
This version is an alternate mix and edit of a 9 minute song from my new album, ‘Work With This’ releasing 05.07.21.
Today, the 18th of June is the Juneteenth fundraiser, where Bandcamp donate 100% of their share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. I’ll do the same for any digital purchase from my catalogue
Last year, in the midst of the worldwide protests, Bandcamp did the same thing and, with the help of all who picked things up from me I donated $225 to legal aid charities via ActBlue. Things may have thankfully calmed down somewhat but the need is very much still there.
If you’re considering buying any of my music then today would be the day to do that.
Thanks everyone!
Stephen