My '62 tobacco sunburst Gretsch Clipper. Bought for £200 in 1982. It became the sound of Summer into Winter, North Marine Drive and Eden. The thin hollow body and single pickup gives a warm jazzy tone but low sustain - great for chordal stuff. Gretsch originally made it as a no-frills entry-level guitar, but it has great character. When I bought it it had lost it's pick guard, so I had to source a new one. Still play it live to this day, although sometimes superceded by my Gretsch Single Anniversary 1959.
News — In Full
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My 1959 Gretsch Single Anniversary
I bought this for the Hendra tour in 2014. I wanted a single pick-up to capture the sounds of North Marine Drive but with a bigger body than my old Gretsch Clipper to add warmth and dimension to the live sound. It went with me everywhere and I ended up playing songs like Hendra and Golden Ratio on it too. I temporarily changed the bridge to help it stay in tune on the road but otherwise it is all original. The colour is smoke-green.
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BBC 6Music 60min Mix May 2011
Another 60 min mix from my 2-hour 6Mix radio show for BBC 6Music. This one was originally broadcast on May 22 2011.
DJ Sprinkles presents K-SHE, 'Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair' (Skylax) / Blackbird Blackbird 'Summer Heart' (Blackbird Blackbird) / Phantogram 'Mouthful Of Diamonds' (BBE) / Lake People 'In A Few Deep Words' (Musik Dewinnt Freunde) / Miracle Fortress 'Raw Spectacle' (Pantha du Prince Remix) (Secret City) / Romanthony (pictured) 'The Wanderer' (Rob Mello No Ears Remix) (Glasgow Underground) / Abyss 'Birdsong' (Buzzin' Fly) / Bob Sinclar 'The Ghetto' (Yellow) / Danny Tenaglia 'Loft In Paradise' (Ben Watt Unreleased Edit) (Unreleased)/ Lovebirds feat. Stee Downes 'Want You In My Soul' (Winding Road) / Abyss 'Birdsong' (Flowers and Sea Creatures Remix) (Buzzin' Fly)
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Magic in Nature - Deep Folk Mixtape 5
Mixed with additional space echo, found sounds and field recordings. Recorded early March 2015. This is a non-commercial, non-profit mix. If you like any of the artists featured, please seek them out and buy their music.
Tracklist:
Klankbeeld - Electric Train Passing [FX]
Julie Byrne - Holiday
Klankbeeld - Forest Spring Birds Windy [FX]
Gary Ogan and Bill Lamb - Kac
The Weather Station - Way It Is, Way It Could Be
James Blackshaw - Key
Klankbeeld - Cobblestone Road Traffic [FX]
Luluc - Small Window
Sam Moss - Minature Dwellings II
The Durutti Column - Portrait for Frazier
A Mountain, The Sea and You - Happiness
Pentangle - A Woman Like You
Gold Leaves - The Silver Lining -
My Favourite Gigs of 2014
I played almost sixty shows in support of ‘Hendra’ during 2014, taking in UK, Ireland, North America, Japan and Australia; I didn’t even manage to get to mainland Europe (apart from one show in Berlin) which explains its absence from the list below, although I am planning to visit Spain, Germany and more in 2015.
Over the course of the year I played solo, as a duo with Bernard Butler, as a trio with Bernard Butler and Martin Ditcham, and even as a full band with a guest appearance from David Gilmour. I can’t really think of a bad gig, but here are my favourites; can’t always tell what marks one out from another - it needs something from everyone in the room - but they were nights when it all seemed to gel and connect in a special way. Dublin, Tokyo and San Francisco were outstanding. Thanks, everyone.
01. Dublin - Whelan’s
02. Tokyo - Club Quattro
03. San Francisco - The Chapel
04. Newcastle - Cluny 2
05. London - Village Underground
06. Minneapolis - Bryant Lake Bowl
07. Hebden Bridge - Trades Club
08. Sydney - The Basement
09. Port Eliot Festival - St German’s Church
10. New York - Joe’s Pub & Le Poisson Rouge
11. Edinburgh - Voodoo Rooms
12. Brighton - Komedia
13. Los Angeles - The Troubadour
14. London - Islington Assembly Hall
15. Bexhill-On-Sea - Music’s Not Dead
