Call Upon The Author v2.0

all Upon the Author now has a brand new home!

to follow our continuing adventures, please bookmark www.callupontheauthor.com

Why not drop by now and leave a message to say hello!

I really have to thank the ever reliable Chris Kirkpatrick for all his help with this, as ever he has been both a source of knowledge, an unflagging supporter and most of all a great friend, thanks buddy!

Twitter.

So, I've started using Twitter. It looks to be quite a useful little accessory.

If you're on twitter too, add me at http://twitter.com/mattmerritt

Call Upon The Author

I've started a new blog to house my reviews, you can go have a look at http://callupontheauthor.blogspot.com.

Go have a look, and if you like it, stick around!

2008... it was a very good year

So, 2008 is all but over and I have to say, on the whole, it's been a good one.

The biggest event of the year for me is, of course, that Emma and I finally set a date to be married (11th September 2010), prompting calls of "about bloody time" from all and sundry, not least Emma herself.
I changed jobs this year too, leaving Tesco after 11 years (!) to start working for Scottish & Southern Energy and I have to say the change of scenery really re-energised me.
It's also been a year when a number of local musicians whose work I really respect and enjoy have moved from being people I enjoyed chatting to at gigs and become very valued friends, I'm speaking of course of Andy Foster (www.myspace.com/andrewfostermusic) and Lawrie Bridge (www.myspace.com/lozbridge), two of my favourite artists, not just in terms of local music, but two of the most played artists on my iPod this past year. I've also gained a good friend in the irrepressible Ash Wassell of Loose Tongue (www.myspace.com/loosetongue), a man with an infectious amount of enthusiasm for live music!
Staying on the subject of music, I've seen some cracking gigs in 2008, in larger venues I've been blown away by Nick Cave twice and impressed by Newton Faulkner at the Guildhall too. I've also been introduced to the likes of Yoav, Rosie and the Goldbug and Official Secrets Act by the ever brilliant Iain Martin at Stiff Promotions, a great promoter and another person I'm proud to call friend.
Of course when talking about live music we can't ignore the Portsmouth & Southsea Festival, I was very excited when Steve and Dan invited me to become involved with writing for the Festival and, like so many people, I was really upset when it was announced that the festival wouldn't be going ahead. I can only hope that next year they'll have another crack at it and the tickets will get snapped up.
This year I also started writing for www.subba-cultcha.com, and I'd like to thank Jeremy for the opportunities that have come my way through the site. I really have to thank Darren at Blues Matters too, I've driven him insane with my inability to send in a review on time this year and he's taken it all with consummate goodwill, so thank you mate!
Of course the more I immerse myself in music the more I move away from the theatre. I'm hoping to get back on stage for a show or two next year, which should be fun.
Lastly, I just have to thank all of you for reading my drivel, for sharing gigs both good and bad with me and most of all for being a friend.
Thanks for a great 2008 and here's to a superb 2009,
Matt

Okay, so I'm sure some of these will sit on your lists, others will probably not. But the whole idea of a 'best of' list is to promote debate, so let me know what you think! Just to clarify, I only included albums I own, so if there's a future classic missing, I probably haven't got around to buying it just yet...

01) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus Dig!!! I'm not sure what I was expecting from this album, but Cave surpassed it. Following on from last years Grinderman antics, the music here is loose and more than a little scuzzy. Matched with Cave's usual biblical references and musings on sex and death it all adds up to a frankly brilliant album that maybe the best thing Cave has released in the last decade.

02) Eli 'Paperboy' Reed and The True Loves - Roll With You following on from the likes of Winehouse and Duffy, Reed harks back to the best elements of 60's rhythm and blues with songs that would make tis Redding prous and a voice fit to stand alongside him.

03) Oli Brown Band - Open Road an extremely impressive blues rock debut, all the more so as li himself is a well spoken English 18 year old!

04) Duffy - Rockferry yes, she's been played to death, but when the album was first released it really was a breath of fresh air. Lets just hope she can keep it up for her next release.

05) The Hold Steady - Stay Positive it's well known that I'm a fan of these guys, and this album didn't disappoint. Nothing particularly new here, but they take what they do best and show just how good their best is.

06) Stone Gods - Silver Spoons & Broken Bones take the Darkness, remove Justin and somehow you're left with a superb rock band, an exciting debut!

07) Melee - Devils & Angels I'm an unashamed fan of the likes of Matchbox 20 and these guys ticked all the buttons with this lightweight but bubbly pop album

08) Rosie & The Goldbug - Rosie & The Goldbug if cyndi Lauper fronted The Rapture they'd sound like this... huge fun!
09) Andrew Foster - Media Ghost a great album from a guy I'm proud to call my friend. If you've not heard Andy, you've missed out!
10) Larry Jon Wilson - Larry Jon Wilson the best country singer you've never heard of, there's more than a shade of his good friend Kris Kristofferson in Wilson's worls weary music

Honourable mentions:
Ray LaMontagne - Gossip In The Grain 2008 will be remembered as the year Ray showed his happy side.
The Dawn Chorus - The Big Adventure a superb debut album from one of Portsmouth's best acts.
The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely from out of nowhere, but certainly not a rush job, this was a great album
Sloan - Parallel Play power pop, pure unadulterated fun
Shinedown - The Sound Of Madness when I like to indulge in something a little heavier, this perfectly fits the bill
Teddy Thompson - A Piece Of What You Need everyone knows I'm a big fan, and this didn't disappoint

I am a rubbish blogger!

Yeah, it's official, I am a really poor blogge.r Hopefully though, with my new laptop speeding up everything I do online I'll be able to squeeze in some more regular posts.

Hopefully in the next month or so you should see something else new from me. I'm looking to start my own reviews/opinions website. It'll be centred around music but open to anything to do with entertainment, media and the arts. It will probably start purely as a blog, but hopefully in time I'll be able to flesh it out into a fully fledged site.

So, if you've got any ideas for such a site, fancy adding your own opinions or simply have some suggestions for how to put together an attractive site, I'd love to hear what you've got to say.

Rosie & The Goldbug interview

They're one of my bands of the year, a group who wowed me live and whose album has been played so regularly I'm glad it's not vinyl or I'd have worn it out already! For those who've seen them live you'll already understand why Rosie & The Goldbug are special. For everyone else, see them the first chance you get!

Here's an interview I did with their bass player Lee 'Pixie' matthews, a fine gent indeed!

OKAY, FIRST THINGS FIRST, WHY THE NAMES?
Well Rosie is her own name so there is no hidden message there, Plums rhymes with drums and Pixie relates to my pointy ears and small stature.
YOU'VE GOT A PRETTY UNIQUE SOUND, WHAT WERE YOUR INFLUENCES, INDIVIDUALLY AND TOGETHER, WHEN YOU STARTED TO WRITE SONGS?
There is such a mix of influences that it is actually really hard to pin point, I think that a lot of this comes from the era that Rosie and I grew up in, with my influence from the grunge/punk scene and listening to The Cure, with Rosie listening to Cyndi Lauper, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kate Bush and Patti Smith.
Then there is Plums who listened to a lot of the pop music and Fleetwood Mac.
YOU ALL HAVE A REALLY STRONG LOOK, WAS THAT IMPORTANT OR SOMETHING THAT CAME NATURALLY?
When we played at the local venues around Cornwall they always seemed to be quite bland so we felt that to brighten things up we would have to dress up and put on a unique show that looks slightly out of place.
In some way we were the front drop instead of using a back drop!!
Rosie has always been interested in fashion and helped Plums and I create a style of our own to complement her crazy beautiful style.
WATCHING YOU GUYS PLAY LIVE, YOU'VE ALL GOT REALLY STRONG PERSONALITIES, BUT YOU SEEM TO MESH SO WELL AS A GROUP TOO. WAS THAT SOMETHING IMMEDIATE, OR DID IT TAKE TIME TO BOND AS A TRIO?
Luckily we bonded the minute that we played a song together, it kind of felt like we were all off on our little journeys through music and that we were always meant to be a trio it just had to happen at the correct time. Without being to weird, it feels like we are a tripod conductor that is fueled by the magic that floats around in the cosmos.
Plums has such a unique style with crazy arms, Rosie is hauntingly sexy and I like to bop around.
YOU PLAYED SOME FESTIVAL DATES THIS YEAR, ANY SPECIAL MEMORIES YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?
Bestival was easily the wettest we have ever been in our life and ended up being a great gig with a sea of mud flowing before the stage, with lots of people sliding around having a good time. Rosie felt sorry for them and decided that she would jump off the stage and roll around in the mud with them. Amazing!
THE ALBUM IS OUT NOW AND BEING REALLY WELL RECEIVED, HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED FOR THE BAND?
We have become very busy gigging all over the country, which is a dream come true for us, also we have been lucky enough to have been chosen to support Cyndi Lauper on her European tour in October by Cyndi herself after she got a copy of the album. Woo woo woo!
WHICH TRACKS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF, AND WHY?
All of the tracks on the album sit in a special place in our hearts, so it’s kind of hard to choose individual tracks. Live the song which seems to stand out is Lover with its great hook and energy, but I guess it’s the album as a whole that we are all very proud of.
YOU'RE ABOUT TO VENTURE OUT ON TOUR IN EUROPE WITH CYNDI LAUPER, THAT MUST BE PRETTY EXCITING?
It will be a dream come true for all of us, especially Rosie who has been a massive fan for years, also this feels like a big step up for the band, so we are looking forward to playing at amazing venues and playing to crazy European crowds.
SO, GIRLS (AND BOY) HAVING FUN ASIDE, WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR ROSIE AND THE GOLDBUG?
We have a single coming out on the 24th November called You’ve Changed so I guess that’s the nearest future happening, not just a cheeky plug of course!!!
As a band we will keep on touring until we make everyone in the world into a bug, so beware, you will be a bug soon.


Matt Merritt