We had a lovely show last wednesday at the RHS Harvest Festival surrounded by some of the largest and most impressive fruit and veg I have ever seen.
To the left of me above is Caitlin my new accordion player, on the right is Basia and then Helen Babbs with a copy of her delighful book ‘My Garden, The City and Me‘ which I have read and love. Find out more about it here – http://helenbabbs.wordpress.com/book/
Anja and I just recorded this cover of ‘The Park’ by Feist for our american friend Mr Ron Trembath. I hope you like it!
Wow – an epic week up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in which Basia, Jane and I managed to clock up over twelve shows in a week!
Click on the above image to hear us play ‘The Suitors Ballyhoo’ on the last Pleasance podcast of the festival.
Highlights included an amazing show at the last Golden Hour for The Forest Cafe and a lovely moment when we got to serenade a group of Maths academics in The Pleasance Courtyard who got another group of friends to watch us play via skype on their laptop.
Podcast recording and filming … L-R: Paul on camera, Robin on guitar, Basia on violin, Jane on accordion and Al on microphones.
A slightly tired Basia and Jane having a nap on the train heading north to Edinburgh.
A nice fella called Stefano has just booked me for a show on Wednesday 7th September at The Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green which is hugely exciting for me as I have heard a lot about what a great venue it is.
I am going to be sharing a stage with Stead as part of the BTZK festival.
You can buy tickets here – http://www.wegottickets.com/event/130946. Do come 
The Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PL
I just stumbled upon this lovely review on http://www.record-play.net and thought i might post it in full here…
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What this music undoubtedly has is life, and a firm grounding in the everyday. From bounce to melancholy we can hear Robin’s enthusiasm: his instrumentals are tight and expressive, his voice soothing and familiar. Mainly this is music to listen to for a celebration of the simple, good things going on in life. And if by some sad chance there aren’t any, then it might help a little on the road to recovery. It is certainly not damning with faint praise to call this offering well-meaning – what higher accolade could there be, if you think about it? And not just well-meaning: well-crafted and well-delivered too.
There is a kind of a theme among new contemporary folk musicians who think, and we have reviewed quite a number of them recently. Living in the same times as them must help a little, since we get the little references. For those of us living in London, we’ll maybe get a few more from Hackney-dwelling Robin Grey’s songs than most. I have never heard Amhurst Road mentioned in a folk track before, but for those of you further afield, don’t feel too despondent, because you’re invited to the party too.
As the tea and cake loving Grey plays out and about, teaches others what he knows and prepares to release a follow-on to last year’s excellent ‘Only the Missile’ LP, we have lots to look forward to. Grey has released his first album, as well as the EP ‘I Love Leonard Cohen’ which preceded it, under a creative commons licence in a brave and probably very sensible move. If you didn’t know, this allows anyone to share and remix his songs free, so long as it isn’t for commercial gain or without attribution. It is an interesting choice, and probably truer to the original nature of folk music dissemination than any other model.
Today, from his EP, ‘Shakes And Shudders’ is a beautiful tune for a bright grey morning, as we slowly awake to the week, this is just the thing to help us on our way.
July was quite the epic musical adventure with over fifteen gigs including a nature reserve, a squat, a farm, a cafe, a theatre, a library, a shopping mall, a canal boat and a floating stage by a pop-up cinema. Here are some of the photos…
Performing at The Big Day Out Festival at The Pleasance… That is none other than the living legend Ronnie Le Drew doing the puppetry! Photograph by Joey Toller.
This was taken at Helen Babbs‘ book launch on the summer solstice at Camley Street Nature Reserve.
These photos were both taken during our Folly For A Flyover show on a floating stage!
Teaching the kids how to hold a protest march at William Pattern Summer Fete with Jane and Basia.
I have had my music on the magnatune website for over a year now and they have been awesome, handling all of my music licensing stuff and generally being the most ‘on it’ and accountable crew I work with.
You can hear loads of music on their site which you might not find elsewhere – it is all curated by one guy called John who has great and eclectic taste!
They are currently in the business of starting a website to provide music for businesses and restaurants called moodmixes which you should check out too.
My next show is at The Urban Physic Garden in Southwark, sharing a stage with Sam Lee and Dear Winesburg.
The evening is being put on by The Magpie’s Nest and Folie à Deux, my favourite north and south london folk promoters working together for the first time.
The garden is a lovely green spot with table tennis tables, see-saws and a camp fire. Need I say more! Do come – facebook page is here.
Wednesday 10th August, 7pm
The Urban Physic Garden (map)
100 Union Street
Southwark, London, UK SE1 0NL
I had a lovely day yesterday collaborating with Sam Lee on a musical commission for ‘A Smaller Sound, A Bigger Crowd: A Film Installation and Performance by Ian Giles telling the story of The Docklands Bell’
We are both going to be floating about the Thames a week on friday playing the song we wrote to Ian’s lyrics, with Sam singing and me playing some appalachian dulcimer – see here for more info – http://www.floatingcinema.info/events/#events-38
A last minute show this Sunday at 6.30pm playing before one of my favourite films which being shown in a pop-up cinema in the gap between the East and Westbound traffic of the A12!
Barbara and I will be floating about on the river serenading people as they arrive for the film ‘Reqium For Detroit‘.
Have a peek here for more info – http://www.follyforaflyover.co.uk/
The show is being organised by Thomas Lindner under the rubric of ‘The Kindest Bard’ – http://www.thekindest.org/cruisingbard