SheBeat on Tour 2018

 

Thanks so much to Melbourne for my warm welcome (you can see a short clip of my performance on my Facebook page), I hope I'll get the chance to perform again downunder sooner rather than later!

 

Travelling gives you so much time to think, I have some good lyrics and experiences to write up over the coming weeks, reflecting on how far I've come in the last 5 years has been super lovely... 2018 I will be looking for more gigs further afield and maybe crowdfund some new recordings and video content... small steps but sure ones, that's what SheBeat is all about!

 

Stay cool Beat fans ;)

SheBeat Meets Special - Ben Ottewell

OMG.

In the upstairs room of a lovely pub in Kings Heath, Birmingham last night, Ben Ottewell gave me all the feels ^_^

I didn't even know he existed 4 years ago, but my chap introduced me to him via Gomez, and I quickly got onboard the Ben fanclub, playing him most weekends at home, so delighted to have seen him live, can highly recommend you catch him on his next tour!

Being super-lovely, he agreed to have a quick chat to me for a special edition of SheBeat Meets, hear us discussing heart eyes, disco balls and who he likes to listen to at home when he's relaxing at home...




Then go buy all his stuff at the online store !https://benottewell.officialstore.co.uk/home?hs=1

Downunder Debut

Getting ready to head to the land downunder...

Can't promise a tour bus like Priscilla but I'm hopefuly doing my debut downunder shows at Melbourne (Nov9, The Labor in Vain pub) and another in Sydney sometime after Nov10, TBC)

I always say the best thing about this music adventure is the people you meet and the friends made, and this comes into play for this trip too! A friend I made at aces Liverpool Soundcity festival (hey Wally!) helped me to find a place to play a few songs & hook me up with a local acoustic guitar!

Very excited to get to perform on the other side of the world, but will they understand my accent??? Only one way to find out ;)

#shebeatontour

Art inspo strikes again

 

The living legend that is Todd White is on his latest UK tour and I was lucky enough to catch him on the first night at White Wall Gallery in Solihull...

 

As you might know, I have two songs in my back catalogue that are WHITE art inspired, Always on the Run and She Never Sleeps Alone... maybe more to come, since I find his pictures so full of character and depth...

 

His latest limited edition coffee table book (fine art entry level £75 folks!) was on my wishlist - I happen to feature in the back inside sleeve (bottom right) thanks to my forearm WHITE brandmark tattoo - and the lovely man that he is, took a few minutes to dedicate the inside page for me with the picture above, which I can only assume, is my debut album cover art! haha

He won't mind, right?

 Better get some new songs cooking!

 

 

 

SheBeat Meets... in review

#WOW Making SheBeat Meets has been so much fun!!!

I obviously thought it might be worth doing, just to see how I liked it/ got on with it... But meeting with these songwriters, chatting about the craft and the passion of music making, has been so inspiring and life-affirming, I am so thankful to my guests for taking part in my little new music pod project for that if nothing else ^_^ 

What a privilege to have exclusive sessions of grassroots talent! A joy to meet such talented songwriters and share a moment to chat about what is it we do and why we feel compelled to do it! Such fun to discover both the unique stories and similarities, such a sense of solidarity in art making! I can't find the words to explain how much love I'm feeling for this little project... 

Which makes this next chapter for the series even more exciting - local community station Brum Radio has invited me to continue the series with them for their Autumn schedule! I mean, if I thought the Universe wasn't conspiring to make all my dreams come true, this MIGHT turn my head a little ;) Such a wonderful turn of events, I do hope you'll tune in from wherever you be - I'll post broadcast schedule/ listen again links as soon as we have them, and planning to have a little launch party featuring live performances from the wonderful singer-songwriters I've met so far! 

Speaking of which... 

Thanks so much to my guests from Season One of SheBeat Meets... 

Hannah Brown 

Esther Turner 

Tehillah Henry 

Liam and Leon from Little Liam 

Faye Bagley

Dee Ajayi

#Staytuned Beat fans! 

Songs from a room...

Picture it... A crisp March evening in Liverpool...
Performing one of my favourite SheBeat songs, unplugged, for a lovely crowd of music lovers at new creative space in the North Docks area, Make...



Always on the Run. Written under the influence of antibiotics for a bad bout of flu, inspired by a brilliant painting on my wall of the same name, thanks to the generosity of the artist Todd White... Now available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify...

Sofar Sounds is such a wonderful community to be a part of, I look forward to more gigs around the globe!

Life's a peach, hey? ^_^

SheBeat Meets...

SheBeat Meets... is my latest project to share with ya'll... 

I have long loved radio-making and radio-listening, so after much umming and ahhhing, I am now in production of my very own new music podcast! Think BBC Introducing without a budget... Your fav singer-songwriter chatting to other singer-songwriters about music making etc, exclusive live performances, plus a chance to discover someone new... I always say, just around the corner could lurk your new favourite song! 

One of the motivations for my making this little addition to the big bad world of podcasting is how few outlets there are for talking about your music as a grassroots artist... I'm hoping to give a platform to a handful of artists you might never hear about otherwise... I was inspired, in part, by ItMattersRadio with Kerry & Monica who invited me to be their guest a few months back, which I found such a great experience. I also really enjoy a gal pal podcast called Call Your Girlfriend - recommended to me by my own girlfriend KC - which often laments the lack of women in podding... so here I am! 

The series will be in season format, I am recording six episodes which will be dropped weekly via the soundcloud page below hopefully starting sometime next month... bear with me caller ;) 

After the first season I will take stock and seek feedback on whether we all want to carry on for another batch... but first we shall suck it and see!

This is where SheBeat Meets... will live when we go live, so add it as a bookmark beat fans...

Festival Fun

This weekend I'm performing at the first edition of The Great Estate at Scorrier House - they're calling it a rambunctious garden fete - so looking forward to finding the fun!

Am super proud to be playing the BBC Introducing Cornwall stage Sunday lunchtime - which is a prime hangover spot time for a festival, so don't worry I'll be gentle ;) So thankful to BBC Introducing for the support they've given me this last year playing lots of my tracks - you can hear all my published songs on Spotify and there's a few on Soundcloud too, iTunes... you know, all the places...

BBC Introducing is in part the inspo behind my new podcast series project currently in production - an indie platform for new unsigned and independent artists... going to publish once I've got a few editions under my belt then decide whether to do more/ how often etc - stay tuned! SheBeat Meets... coming soon!

 

 

The Great Outdoors

What could be better than the sounds of SheBeat in the fresh air? It's festival season once more, and slowly but surely the dates are dropping into the Chez Beat mailbox... 

I really enjoy an open air gig - it has a totally different vibe to a venue gig - and sunshine permitting is a great day for everyone!  The snap above was taken when I played Wirral Festival of Firsts a couple of years back on Hoylake Beach... I recall it was so windy I nearly lost my dignity, but thankfully a friend with a safety pin saved the day! Ha! You hear all the best rock & roll stories here... 

As soon as I can confirm my dates I'll brb ^_^  

Meanwhile enjoy this free download, just because...

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans

After a successful start to the year, including a wonderful write up on music blog My Random Jukebox: 'an authentic charm which makes her stand out among the flood of acoustic singer songwriters out there today'; a fab #lustylive debut at Lusty Glaze; and successfully launching the first Sofar Sounds city for Cornwall, life has thrust me into an unexpected direction (again). 

Always one to go with the flow, and try to figure out how best to enjoy what the Universe has in store for me, I'm keeping my chin up while I find my new postcode... If being Cornish for 9 months has taught me anything, it's to keep calm and do things dreckly ;) 

Onwards on my journey in this life, I shall update you as to where I will be gigging once I'm relocated...

Meanwhile, enjoy this video Lusty Glaze filmed ahead of my gig there last week - one of my favourite songs I've written and seemingly true to life at the moment! ha

 

Sofar Sounds adventure

 

I signed up to be a part of the Sofar Sounds community in 2015 and became an artist for Sofar Liverpool in 2016, this year marks a natural next step for me in a new postcode - I am now the team leader for Sofar Truro!

Sofar Sounds is all about the music. It's a listening audience in an intimate and/or creative space and a chance to hear something new for a few quid that goes back into the music making.

Having organised many gigs and events before, I'm hoping this is the makings of a gorgeous new scene for Cornwall, as there are limited opportunities for new artists to play gigs like this in the region that I know of - tho I have only been around 6 months so please correct me if I'm wrong. I've had lots of good vibes and support from the local music community so far tho, which defintely helps!

I had a great response to the Songwriters Circle I started last year and that should continue with some showcase gigs and more group open mic outings across the region... Pop along if you have a song to share - we meet every second Tuesday of the month...

Other new things coming up for me this year are plans for recording a track or two with a local producer Mike Smith, festival performances including the new Beardmasters event and coming up next is a Woodburner Session for Lusty Glaze on Feb 10th - a gem of a venue by the beach!

Meanwhile sign up for some Sofar fun, it's going to be an exciting year! 



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