I visited Steve at Printstore this morning to begin laying out the text, photos and song transcriptions for a 52 page book, which will include the stories behind the songs on my Waterloo Sunrise album plus brief biogs of all the contributors to the project. This publication will sit alongside the vinyl release and offers the opportunity to feature additional images to those captured by photographer Jonathan Stewart for the record sleeves.
Tag: News
West End walk
A busy day in Mayfair and Soho. Kicked off with a visit to the Simon Carter clothing emporium in Shepherd Market, with its choice of multi-coloured shirts and jackets. I then paid my respects around the corner at the flat in Curzon Place where, very sadly, both Mama Cass and Keith Moon passed away in 1974 and 1978 respectively.
Olympic Studios
Alerted by photographer Jonathan Stewart that the documentary about the rise of Led Zeppelin was on release in theatres, I drove to Barnes this afternoon to watch the film in the very surroundings where the band recorded their debut album in 1968.
Valentine grace
A sublime evening in London Bridge with my wife Julie as we celebrated Valentine’s Day and our having been a couple for thirty years. As Julie had been at work in Westminster that day, we met in the Bunch of Grapes in St Thomas’s Street in the vicinity of the Shard.
Hootenanny online
An extremely useful meeting today in Adam Street, the Strand, with Chris Peabody and Grace Taylor, the executives behind the Hootenanny initiative for the industry. This aims to connect artists with fans, build community, and drive revenue effortlessly. The facility offers a single platform for music and community, generating exclusive events and fan-only opportunities.
Bristol visit
A very relaxing trip to Bristol for the last couple of days, as I caught up with several long-standing contacts in the city. First up was a night out with songwriter and journalist Neil Crossley and top designer Chris Stenner. I worked for twenty years with Neil, principally on The Musician magazine, and it is always rewarding to exchange news of our most recent activities.
Waterloo storyline
The idea of the same characters running through the songs on my new album is an intriguing possibility. So far, I have the following three couples in mind: Kevin and Carol (both in their early twenties), Dawn and former partner Nathan (both in their late twenties), plus Courtney and Jade (both in their early to mid-thirties).
New Year Borders
In addition to our trips to Rome, Liverpool, Jersey and Christchurch this year, we have just returned from a week in the Scottish Borders. Although delayed by 24 hours at Heathrow thanks to the heavy fog last weekend, we finally flew from London City Airport and arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday evening.
Power Pop Radio
My thanks to Simon Lloyd of Power Pop Radio, who played my track Nicoll Road today on the internet based station. Power Pop Radio is a popular Hit Music Radio Station in the East Midlands, broadcasting across Long Eaton, Derby and Nottingham and surrounding boroughs.
Crisis at Christmas
Crisis was formed in 1967 as a response to growing homelessness across the UK. Since then the charity has helped tens of thousands of people out of homelessness and campaigned for change.
Album notes 2
Here is the second write-up of the ideas and influences behind the songs on my forthcoming album, plus details of the remaining seven tracks and what they mean to me: Falling off the edge of the world, Head above water, The girl I never had, Love on a summer’s day, Farewell to your Valentine, Caring soul, and In the comfort of strangers.
Across the river
I met the wonderful Debbie Rogerson, BBC music supervisor, over lunch at the Crown & Sceptre, Great Titchfield St, W1 today.
Vinyl labels
More news on the vinyl manufacturing front: gracious supplier David Noonan has kindly offered to produce a small run with The Vinyl Factory of my Waterloo Sunrise album with revised black and white labels. The test pressings for these arrived today and once the test discs have been given approval, courtesy of a listening session on 22nd November at Mike Thorne’s excellent studio, this latest manufacturing run will be underway.
Album notes 1
What inspires a song lyric? And perhaps the melody too? Well, here are some thoughts on the tracks I have recorded with Greg for my new album: Trust, Quids in, She reminds me of you, Promises at midnight, (London never will be) Nashville, Tennessee, Girl on the train and the title track: Waterloo Sunrise (theme).
Photo gallery
A key part of the Waterloo Sunrise album project has been the illustrative work by the highly-respected Richmond-based photographer, Jonathan Stewart. The collection boasts 160 frames, all taken in either the Waterloo area, or during the recording sessions at producer Greg Fitzgerald’s studio in Canterbury, Kent.
Newsletter sign up
For all the latest news of my recordings and gigs, please sign up to my newsletter. Thanks! Keith.
Jersey
A relaxing weekend thanks to a short trip to Jersey with Julie and Ben. We stayed at the Radisson Blu on the harbour in St Helier, which turned out to be a superb hotel with attentive staff, stunning views from our room across the bay, and ideal facilities by the way of its fitness suite and a pool.
Promo video
Filmed in August by Greg Fitzgerald, the introductory promo video for Waterloo Sunrise is now available on YouTube. This features brief snatches of four of the songs from the album, which accompany my outline of the aims and ideas behind the project. The vinyl edition of the collection is currently in manufacture and news of its release will follow very soon. In the meantime, you can view the lyrics from all the songs on this site.
Video shoot
I met with Greg Fitzgerald and Mark Batchelor at Waterloo today, as we prepared footage for a promo video for the new album. Locations included Roupell Street, Lower Marsh market, Leake Street, the steps at the Station, the garden of St John’s Church and the Southbank.
For Afghan women
I visited Pony Studios in Hackney this afternoon at the kind invitation of Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey to attend the recording of an anthem for the women of Afghanistan by UK based Hazara singer/songwriter, Elaha Soroor.
John Thirkell
A highly enjoyable day at John Thirkell’s studio in Buckinghamshire, as we collectively checked out both his superb contributions to the Waterloo Sunrise album and the collection as a whole.
Photo assets
A productive day in Richmond and Kingston as I dropped into photographer Jonathan Stewart’s office and Prinststore’s premises to collate and formally approve the gallery of images for the Waterloo Sunrise project.
