Two years ago , encouraged by Ted Fordney, I set out to write one song a month in part as a distraction to the ongoing medical treatment . I made it through to June and the songs from that period will form part of the the new acoustic album I’m looking to complete later in the spring . I’ve decided that it is a really good discipline to focus on at least one new song idea per month and this year I intend to go one step further and as well as writing the song, record a demo version to put into a monthly posting on this site.
To start this process this month is a topical song “Twelfth Night” written around the night of the same name . This is a emotionally charged night as it is the closing of Christmas celebrations , the real starting of a New Year and also the start of the worst two months of the year in the UK where it is damp, grey and just a waiting period for Spring. Anyway this year there was the added irony that the christian origin of twelfth night is the coming of the wise men bringing gifts from Persia ( Iran and Iraq).
So here is a rough first demo recording of Twelfth night which will continue to develop over the year .
For many years I have played with Pete Young on keyboards , both in Ulterior Motives and in acoustic duo/trio formats . One standard in our set since the early 80’s has been a version of Swan Lake (From Tchaikosky’s Nutcracker) with a reggae feel, which originally came from Madness. It was often a set closer or encore and Andy Boyd discovered he had something like 20 versions on video through the years , from shows and rehearsals. Anyway he recently had some spare time so put together a compilation of Swan Lake through the ages and the 23 minute version is here : Swan Lake
Finally on 12th January we played a 30 minute set in The Seven Stars pub in Bristol where Andy once again shot a superb HD video so I thought I’d post it here as well for anyone who missed it on Facebook .
And so now as we also prepare to move house I’m busy working on a slightly longer than planned acoustic album , tentatively titled “Wildflowers” but that could yet change. Will confirm the track listing in next months post .
I like this song, words really strike home. I am dealing with winter blues here in Arkansas, not used to the cold and it is so dreary with the trees bare and grass all brown. Keep it up Alan, your songs say so much, I always listen to the words carefully as I can tell you write from the heart.
Thanks April. Looking forward to Spring, and things are just beginning to shoot again here .
Love your new song Alan … Twelfth Night ! A beautiful statement on the hypocrisy that exits today between religion and what we are doing to our world! Love also the Swan Lake video! So fun to see you playing this song over the years! A great compilation! I look forward to hearing more you are doing!!!
Thanks Wendy. Will be at least one more Swan Lake to add to the collection in April , with a really big band !