Book Slam – where fiction meets live music

Last week I went to my first Book Slam night.

Book Slam – “London’s best literary club night” – is a monthly event bringing together novel readings and live music. As a musician who has recently completed a novel about his band, this seemed like the kind of place I needed to be hanging out.

The event took place at the Clapham Grand, a venue we’ve played many times ourselves (if you need reminding, here’s a photo and here’s a video). The main thing that struck me during the evening was I’d never heard the Grand so quiet. There was a pin-drop silence as the guest authors read, despite the generous 400-strong audience in attendance.

Novelists Chris Cleave (Incendiary, The Other Hand) and Marina Lewycka (A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Two Caravans) both read from their latest releases, thoroughly charming the attentive crowd. Inbetween their sets, ukelele-wielding singer-songwriter Purple Ferdinand provided the meat to the multi-media sandwich with tinkly Lady Gaga covers and a sprinkling of her own songs.

I couldn’t help but feel that this is just the kind of gig I’d like to do with The Lightyears. I think it could work really nicely if the readings tied in directly with the live music and, with the album we’re working on being directly inspired by my novel, there’s potential there for a link between the two art forms.

You can find out more about Book Slam by clicking here. Give me a shout if you’re heading to one of their future events – chances are, I’ll be there.

Oh, and if you haven’t yet had a chance, check out my new novel readings at the Project Lightyears micro-site. We just need another 270 views to unlock our slowed-down, acoustic recording of “This House Will Burn”.

ps. if you fancy helping me along, drop Book Slam an e-mail and tell them how much you’d like to see The Lightyears at one of their events. If it works, I’ll buy you a drink after the show. 😉

BBC pick up on Lightyears Olympic song

Last year we were commissioned to write a song for the Olympic Games by Moira Green, Vice Principal at the Voyager Academy (on behalf of the city of Peterborough). Following a recent rehearsal visit from a local journalist, the BBC have picked up on the story.

“There With You”, which George and I wrote in his studio up in Yorkshire in Autumn 2011, will be performed on Peterborough Embankment on Tuesday 3 July by The Lightyears and an army of singers and drummers from all corners of the city (nearly 800 in total) to mark the passing of the Olympic Torch through the city.

The BBC were so taken by the story that they extended their planned coverage of the rehearsal and plans are now afoot to screen the Embankment performance live and nationally, in its entirety, on BBC1 on the evening of 3rd July. Our experience of TV is that things can change at the last minute, however, so watch out for updates from us so you don’t end up sitting through half an hour of Newsround wondering where the bleeding heck the bleeding Lightyears are.

Click here to read the story on the BBC website.

n.b. the sharp-witted amongst you will notice an error in this story, namely that the BBC have reported the song as having been written by pupils at the school. Now, I’m known for not being afraid of releasing my inner child, but that may be stretching it a bit.

Blitz spirit

This was the view from the crowd during our headline set at the Goring & Streatley Jubilee celebrations yesterday. What a night!

During set-up and soundcheck, fears were afoot that the incessant drizzle would keep people away but, as it turns out, the age-old stiff-upper-lip Blitz spirit kicked in and a huge crowd braved the weather for an awesome night of singing and dancing.

You can’t really close a queentessentially British Jubilee celebration without playing “Hey Jude”, so we did – and here’s a video shot from the crowd.

Oh, and the street party that preceded the concert – spanning the length of the villages’ twin bridges – has been getting press as the longest in the UK. Possible Guinness world record apparently…! Read more on the ITV website.

People of Goring & Streatley, thanks for being part of one of our highlights of 2012 so far. As homecoming gigs go, I can’t imagine one much better.

*image originally posted on Twitter by Debbie Walpole, @DWTBC