Here’s a recent pencil drawing of me by Leicester artist Andrew Jackson. It shows me playing a guitar that I bought from him, and mutual influences in the background: Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Django Reinhardt. What an amazing piece of work!
Phil Riley is part of a group I belong to called “Reynard Collective”. We are all singer/songwriters promoting and developing our work. It is already yielding results. Here is a link to a Spotify playlist of Phil’s new E.P. “Such a Tiny Boat”
Out on June 1st, ‘Such a Tiny Boat’ is the latest digital-only release from Phil Riley. Available on Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon and other major streaming platforms, it is a five song EP of original material, recorded in-home in true lockdown fashion, mixed, mastered and produced by Phil. Two tracks feature Chris Chambers on lap-steel, dobro and electric guitar. Listen carefully too for a special backing vocal guest appearance from Deborah Seabrook.
“Old John” is a famous “folly” at Bradgate Park, Leicester well known to people in the East Midlands. A great place to visit. It is built to look like a beer tankard!
Here’s a new recording of a song I have written and recorded about a building on a hill at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire, England. It is a strange building (known as a folly) that is built to look like a beer tankard. My friend Al Owens wrote the lyrics and I did the music. It was built as a memorial to a miller who’s name was “Old John”
A FOLLY CALLED OLD JOHN Lyrics: Al Owens Music : Kenny Wilson Old John worked at the windmill On a hill in Bradgate Park. John was there when the mill collapsed In a storm; the night was dark. Too long it took to lift the beam That threatened certain death And no-one in that howling gale Heard John breathe his last breath. Later on in that same year The owner of the lands Built a tower from the scattered stones - He and his farmyard hands. They stuck an archway on the side Of that folly on the hill. From the left and right Old John looks quite Like a tankard you could fill. Bradgate house has become a ruin - Crumbling, ghostly, stark. No Lords or Ladies dwell there now And the public own the park. Footprints of those darker days Have faded out and gone. Yet upon that hill upright and still Stands a folly called Old John.
Here is a recording I have just made in my home studio of Fats Waller’s classic jazz hit “Aint Misbehavin’”. I actually played all of the instruments on this which turned out to be a bit of a trial and more difficult than I thought. A good learning experience though. I play with a band called Parisian Swing and look forward to recording with them in the near future. You can’t beat the feeling of playing with others but it can sometimes be hard getting people together!
Take a listen to this playlist of artists from Leicester and surrounding areas. Some great songs and music including one of mine. You can find the group on Facebook.
