The Flown Tour : Part The Third

Ey Up 🙂

Well how’s it going? I am having a great week,  things are going good and I am feeling very productive. In fact, I would go as far to say that I’m on a roll! My ability to get work done however, is directly linked my spring tour coming to an end…booo 😦

But hey, what an awesome two months it’s been; it has been proper cathartic to get back out on the road and just play! I’ve had a chance to play loads of songs from the new record (more news on that soon!), I’ve done a couple of gigs with my lovely band and I’ve also frequented some right lush venues. So all in all, a very special send off for Adelphi, so here it is,   Part 1 of the final round up from The Flown Tour:

This is gonna be well pic heavy cos…well just cos 🙂

Well I headed off to Seaton, Devon for a return visit to the lovely Jurassic Folk. A cracking event hosted in a night club…the most exciting thing about it being in a night club is that there is a pole dancing podium in the middle of the room! Not many folk clubs can boast that now can they! I was tempted to have a go, but I decided that I really couldn’t afford to break any limbs so that was the end of that :p

I’ve gotta show you these…they belong to Hilary, the lovely hostess from jurassic folk. The pink laces just make them, don’t you agree?

Woo Dr Martens!

After that gig I was up at the crack of dawn and on the road for 6am to get myself over to cambridge for a day in the studio with Stu and Sam laying the bass down. I was cream crackered, mornings are not my cup of tea! On route we did pass Stone Henge, however from the road it looks distinctly less impressive and strikingly more like the ickle spinal tap version which did make me smile at early o’clock 😀

The day in the studio was great, although I will admit I was a little sleepy at times and had to eat A LOT of malted milks to maintain focus! Sam played amazingly, I’ve known him for 19 years and the dude is just a bass master! Much like the guys in the video below!

…Sam is also a moog whisperer

Moog getting involved 🙂

Next on the touring schedule was Bothy Folk Club in Southport. My first time at this proper club full of fantastic resident singers and a very friendly audience! It’s completely acoustic and so given the opportunity to not be stuck to a microphone I was having a right boogie on stage…I made a joke about being like beyonce…worrying, I know :p however it seem to fly over the heads of the most traddie in attendance

Hehe, I wish I could move like that…my standard dance moves are much more akin to an octopus trying to put on a jumper 😀 Anyways, Fatea Magazine came and reviewed the evening…you can find it by heading to their website and clicking on ‘live’ 🙂

A few days past and I was flung back into the studio, working with the beautiful soul that is Joy Gravestock. Oh man, it was such an awesome day, it was the beginning of all the grand plans falling into place. I just sat and listened 🙂

Joy

Busy day alert! 2 festivals in a day! although I have been known to do 3 😉

First up the utterly scrumptious and brand-spanking-new Derbyshire festival ‘Hairpin Hullabaloo‘. I was playing there  with Mills and Chimneys, but the main reason I just have to give this a mention is because this festival was run by my very good friend David Gibb of David Gibb and Elly Lucas with help from ‘Mills…’ compadre Julian Butt and they did a smashing job! 2 days of great folk music including Jez Lowe and The Bad Pennies, Pilgrims Way, Greg Russell and more. Here’s to the brilliant hullabaloo long may it reign! 🙂

How gorgeous is this stage?!

BEAUTIFUL VENUE ALERT!!! Pot Belly Folk Festival at Kettering Arts Centre is a relatively new venture too, this was their 5th folk festival and what a special day it was (I was there for the evening only but I was told the day was just as mighty!). Held in a church this place had a real magic atmosphere to it…proper spinetingling stuff! And I was headlining…headlining…a festival…totally cool 🙂 we did have a few technical hitches but once we got going  all was well. I managed to catch the lovely Hadrian’s Union and Jez Hellard, whom I had never seen before but was totally ace!

Jez Hellard rocking out!

Just three more stops on the solo dates then I shall leave you in peace for today 🙂

Record Store Day was on the 20th of April and I headed down to ‘David’s‘ in Letchworth for a cheeky stint in their beautiful shop which sells not only records but books/instruments/cake and everything else that is good in the world! I spent lots! Or Rob did, I wasn’t carrying cash 😉

The 1963 production for Radio 4 of The Hobbit = GEEK HAPPINESS!!!!

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

The lushly (yes I did make that word up) Dunton Folk is pretty brand new, they started at the back end of 2012 and are really passionate about supporting acoustic music and putting on a fantastic programme of gigs. Also in a church, the venue is just gorgeous, in fact as we drove into the village we could see the church, sun blazing down, flower beds all in bloom it just looked like something out of a water colour ya know 🙂 My old friend Kate Denny (formerly of The Kittiwakes) did a beautiful support set. Awesome arrangements, accompanied by Charlie Skelton…ah it was just so up my street, lots of death, misery and crunchy harmony!

The very last date on the tour was at a launch event for Beverley Festival and I was sandwiched in between 2 lovely gents. T.E Morris who was new to me, but boy has he got passion! And headlining that evening was Steve Tilston. Supporting Steve was my first ever paid gig and it always feels great to play on a bill with him. The man is just such a beautiful songwriter!

Also at this gig there was caravan in the backstage area! Awesomesauce!

Indoor caravanning for the win!

Right then, that really is enough for today 🙂 But check back tomozipan for the part 2 of this blog where I will be rambling about

• The recent Lucy Ward Band gigs
• Top 5 Tour Stats
• FESTIVAL SEASON!!!
• The forthcoming new album

Ciao peeps, hope you are enjoying the sunshine!

Luce xx

News news news ‘For The Dead Men’ release date and more

Ey up Blog beans 🙂

Hope you are well, this is the first in a series of blogs to fully update you on all things 2011, brewing in 2012 and generally bring you up to speed with everything. I have imaginatively named it BLOG MONDAY (my creativity astounds me sometimes hehe). Anyways I hope you had an awesome festive season and that it hasn’t been too difficult to get back into the swing of January type things.

So my news! Those of you who follow me on facebook (feel free to add me if you’re not already a facey b friend) will already know that I am releasing ‘For The Dead Men’ as a single. But I can now announce that it will be officially released and available for download on the 22nd of January.

mock cover before final editing

Physical copies will be available but they will be limited and only available directly from me (that’s how singles work apparently hehe). But although I am an advocate of the joys of mp3’s (vinyl still reigns as the king of all formats btw!) if you do want a physical copy you will also get an exclusive remix of ‘Maids When You Are Young’ that won’t be available anywhere else. Cool eh?! :p

Since being jammy enough to get my contract and record my album there have been A LOT of firsts; lots of amazing experiences and lots of hard work. I’ve been very much learning on the job but to be totally honest with you I am having an awesome time doing exactly that! 🙂 This is my very first single…I feel like a member of the Spice Girls…I mean, a single, that’s what pop stars do…so cool.

Can you tell I’m a bit excited?

Currently, the lovely Stu Hanna, who also produced ‘Adelphi has to Fly’, is working on the final mixes of the tracks for the single.

The photographs for the artwork were done in December (watch out for a later Monday blog for more details), by the marvellously talented Elly Lucas. And we spent last Friday working together to design the artwork for the promo sleeve. Twas a long day but I think we’ve made something that is pretty darn cool, even if I do say so myself 😉

There is still a lot to do…I still have to film a ‘For The Dead Men’ video and get all the other stuff in order to make sure people can actually listen to the new track! I’m sure there is even more stuff to get on with than that…but I find small chunks of work, coincide much better with my ability to achieve stuff.

Now then… you are fully filled in on the imminently impending single release, which was 22nd Jan in case my rambling had erased it from your mind.

But what you don’t know (mainly cos it was only decided yesterday) is that I will be releasing a 2nd single. The date isn’t confirmed yet but we are thinking march/April. The track is already recorded and it is……….

……..

…..Oooo I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist teasing ya! Everything I have told you is true but I’m going to keep you in the dark about which track it is for the moment. Mainly so it can be a lovely big suprise 😀

What I can tell you is, that it was recorded at the same time as ‘For The Dead Men’, and was intended as a B-Side. Best laid plans :p

So now I have most likely annoyed you with my ‘I know a secret you don’t know’ antics I am going to toddle off and start preparing the rest of blog moday, I am hoping it will be sufficiently interesting so you will be able to forgive me for leaving you in suspense! In fact as an extra apology please enjoy this picture of me as a bear

me being a bear...as you do

Take care you guys

Luce xx

The hungry blog :)

Ey up 🙂

After putting up a status on facebook which said ‘blogging makes me hungry’, my good friends from that online world suggested I should ditch my current blog subject and just write one about food. So here it is :p (you must be careful what you wish for guys! hehe)

I LOVE FOOD

ALL WARDS LOVE FOOD

FACT!

Now we have established that, I can now continue 🙂

Top 3 cakes:
1 – Lemon Drizzle
2- Battenburg
3- Apple Cake with fresh cream

Top 3 Hot Puddings:
1- ‘No Bones Jones’ Bread and butter pudding with sticky toffee
2- Syrup sponge pudding
3- Apple pie

Top 3 cold puddings:
1- Trifle
2- Cheesecake
3- Really spectaclar ice cream

Top 3 Pie Fillings
1- Macroni Cheese
2- Homity
3 – can’t think of a third but only beacuse all food is improved by incasing it in pastry!

NB: All food is also improved by putting it inbetween two slices of bread 🙂

Top 3 Cheeses:
1- Boursin
2 – Brie
3- Wensleydale with white choclate and cranberry YUM!!!!!

Top 3 ways to eat tatties:
1- Roast
2- Mashed with loads of real butter
3 – Chippy Chips

Top 3 ways to eat eggs
1- Poached
2- Scrambled
3 – Boiled with loads of mayo on top

Top 3 standard sandwich fillings:
1- Cheese and Onion
2- Egg Mayo
3 – Jam

Best things I have eaten today?
Omlette made by my mum…TASTY!

Best thing I have eaten in the last week:
These creamy leek parcel things, can’t tell you how epically tasty they were! You put egg in as well so it’s all creamy and rich and pastry covered and just YUMMY!!!!!!!

Right, blogging made me hungry in the first place, blogging about food…I’m famished! 🙂

peace out guys

Please feel free to share your food thoughts back 🙂

Luce xx

 

PS: Writing this post was totally random, however is does link in to a very exciting project involving lots of other folkies sharing their love for food! http://www.facebook.com/#!/foodandfolk