Day out in Derby

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Filed under Art, Music, Travel

Well, here I am in Derby in the grandest looking Wetherspoons I’ve ever been to.  I think it used to be a bank. Very impressive. Can’t decide whether to have one of their curries though. The decisions I have to make!

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Derby Wetherspoons

Derby is interesting. Never really looked around it before. The cathedral is quite boring, very Protestant, but there are some interesting plaques of eminent figures of the city’s industrial past. In fact, I didn’t realise that Derby had the first self-contained factory and is therefore at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Around the Silk Mill is a World Heritage Site. Quite picturesque with the River Derwent flowing past it.

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The Silk Mill

Went to the Museum & Art Gallery. There is quite a disturbing exhibition of the town’s army regiments. I didn’t realise the extent of British agression overseas. Not just the obvious ones but South America and other places I didn’t realise the British ever went to. For all the talk you hear about Free Trade, it was actually Forced Trade! It also contains information about how the military controlled riots and civil disobedience at the time of the Industrial Revolution. Frightening stuff! There is also an interesting historical connection with Bonny Prince Charlie and the Jacobite rebellion where local troups were used to repel them. Thought that was just going on in Scotland. Me? I’m on the side of Charlie!! And the workers!!

The art gallery is quite limited but there is a good exhibition of Joseph Wright. His paintings exhibit great technique but really just pander to the status quo. Some interesting portraits of the Arkwright family who were the arch capitalists of the 18th/19th Centuries. It’s interesting, like the de Medici’s of Florence, people from humble backgrounds who achieve great wealth need to immortalise themselves in works of art. Joseph Wright is no Leonardo Da Vinci though!

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Sir Richard Arkwright by Joseph Wright

I like Derby. Next time I’ll bring my guitar and do a bit of busking.

Woody Guthrie Night at The Musician Leicester

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Had a busy weekend just gone preparing for a Woody Guthrie memorial concert at the Musician Venue, Leicester. On Saturday morning I decided I needed to practice and learn some new songs so that I had enough for the night. I didn’t think I needed too many though because a film was being played and there were going to be other participants, I thought.

I was practicing and enjoying what I was doing then I decided to record some of them so I could hear what they sounded like. Well, I was quite pleased with the results so I decided to make a CD of my versions of Woody songs that I would give away to the audience on the night. From that moment my whole weekend was involved with recording, mixing and manufacturing CDs with covers. I made 20 and then gave up. It’s so time consuming!

Sunday night and the concert came around. I got there early and set up and sound checked. Then I found the film was not being shown and there were no other participants! It was entirely my own show! This was when I panicked. Fortunately, my friend Jenny Carter turned up and joined me on violin. I did two sets and did a lot of talking between numbers explaining the background of the songs and also about Woody’s guitar style which was a big influence on me. The whole night went really well and I found I had enough songs. It was quite inspirational for me and reignited my love of Woody’s music and his superb lyrics. He manages to combine simplicity with profundity. A remarkable writer.

The gigs are coming in rapidly at the moment. Am playing tonight at the Leicester O2 Academy for University overseas students and have just got a gig for the Hind pub, Leicester on Saturday. Am looking forward to this. I used to play there regularly but the pub changed hands. It’s a great place to play and, hopefully, I will get more gigs  out of it.

Check out one of my Woody recordings below.

http://soundcloud.com/kenny-wilson/slipknot

James Riley’s talk

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Filed under Art, Art Vandalism, Audio & Video, Counterculture, Film, Music, Politics and Philosophy, The Velvet Underground, Uncategorized, William Burroughs

Here is a link to James Riley’s superb talk:

James Riley’s talk

Nottingham Contemporary

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A strange thing happened to me on Thursday. On a complete whim I decided to take a train to Nottingham. I had a bit of a walk round and then went to Caffe Nero for a cappuccino. So far so boring. Then I decided to visit a gallery. I’ve never been to Nottingham Contemporary before so I decided to give it a try.

There were two exhibitions on. One was an exhibition of drawings by Alfred Kubin, an Austrian artist and writer who I have never heard of before. He is described as a late Symbolist and all the drawings were made as a young man in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. They are incredibly powerful and predate but are similar to later Surrealist works. This is what the programme notes say:

“Haunting drawings of death, trauma and fantastical creatures inhabiting imaginary worlds sprung from Alfred Kubin’s pen at the beginning of the 20th century. His work, executed in a delicate, atmospheric ink wash technique, anticipated some of the horrors of the First World War, and the following decades, at a time when Europe’s empires were toppling. His exquisite, yet nightmarish black and white drawings came from his own imagination, or from illustrating works by writers like Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Edgar Allan Poe.” I would definitely recommend visiting this exhibition.

The other exhibition was of Francis Upritchard who is a New Zealand artist. At first I couldn’t quite see what her sculptures were aiming at. The more I looked at them though the more it became apparent, helped by the exhibition notes! Again, they are very impressive and quite haunting. I was most impressed by the “Hippies and Holy Fools” section. There seems to be a weariness and almost hopeless feel to them as though it is the last clinging to  a lost ideal. This is what the notes say about it:

“Francis Upritchard’s psychedelically coloured human figures “live” on islands of ornate furniture. There is a festival feeling to their gatherings, emphasised by Upritchard’s acid-bright colours, hand-woven blankets and tie-dyed silks. Upritchard has said “all the things that hippies hoped would happen, or felt might happen, didn’t.” In one sense her exhibition is about the failure of the 1960s and 70s counter-culture that is still celebrated at festivals – and its gaudy, individualistic “alternative” aftermath.”

What really struck me about this exhibition is how close it was to what I’ve been thinking about my own past as I write about it in “My Life In Music” and also what a coincidence it was that I had discovered the exhibition by chance. I’d only just finished writing about how the year of the Woodstock festival had seemed like the end of an era to me. I haven’t referred to any other sources other than my own memories and here I was confronted by my own feelings. Even more astonishing was a talk by James Riley that I saw in the study area of the gallery. In this he speaks about ” the symbolic status of 1969 as a terminal point at which the decade’s earlier optimism gives way to death, violence and ‘bad craziness’.” Almost exactly what I’d been thinking and writing. I came away feeling quite strange and determined to follow up some of the leads he discusses and to continue my own work. It’s taking on an importance I never really intended!

I’ve Got Nothing To Say And I’m Saying It – YouTube

This is a one minute film I made.

I’ve Got Nothing To Say And I’m Saying It – YouTube.

Busking in Nottingham

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Haven’t blogged on this page for a while. That’s because I’ve been busy writing “My Life in Music” page and that’s taking up a lot of my time. It’s getting very long but it’s really good reflecting on my past life, what I can remember of it that is.

Am sitting in a Nottingham Wetherspoons at the moment making use of their free WiFi and enjoying a pint of Abbot Ale. Very civilised! Have just finished busking because of a downpour, which is a shame because it was going really well. Lots of people taking an interest and stopping for a chat. It’s my third busking trip and I’m really getting into it now. Went to Melton Mowbray last week with Steve Cartwright and that was really good as well. It’s easier to create an atmosphere with two people. It’s not just about making money although that helps, it’s about creating an event on the streets and meeting people I probably never would otherwise. Playing in bars is OK but there are a massive number of people who never go to them. Busking cuts out the middle man and sets the music free!

To find out how my music developed from an early stage go to “My Life in Music” page. It’s still being written and edited but there is plenty there to be getting on with.

Reflections and Recollections

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Filed under Art, Bob Dylan, Counterculture, Music, New York, Open Mic, The Velvet Underground, Travel

Have been back a week now and have decided to write about my feelings about visiting New York.

The reason I went was to fulfil a long ambition to visit a place that figured large in my imagination and was a place where many things happened that were an influence on me. In my mind at times it was a place I should have been. But I never went and, in fact, never visited America until now. Why was that? Well, chiefly it was financial. I simply couldn’t afford it. But I am sure I could have found a way if I had really wanted to. Money never stopped me from doing other things I wanted to do. I think the main reason was fear of disillusionment. That it would not live up to my idea of what it was. That all the things that I found attractive were not there any more or that I would not find it or fit in to it. And also fear of leaving my comfort zone and what I was familiar with. In many ways all these fears applied to me on my recent trip, it was just money that was no longer a problem!

I spoke to a friend last week who was enthusiatic, perhaps too enthusiastic, about my recent trip. He said I was living the dream. He’s the second person who has said that. He was raving about how I had done what Bob Dylan did and how I was an inspiration to him. I know this is quite a compliment but it is not really true. When Bob Dylan went to New York he was young, poor and ambitious. I was old and relatively well off and not ambitious in the same way. I wasn’t seeking fame and fortune, it was more an act of redemption! At the same time I think I probably felt some of the things that Bob felt. It is a scary thing to go to a big city where you don’t know anyone and you have no idea what is going to happen.  On the other hand, we were both driven, in our own way, to do this. I’m very glad I did. The experience has been better than my most optimistic scenario. I met lots of nice, interesting people and felt I achieved something special doing the rounds of open mics and jam sessions. In fact, I felt accepted in a way I never expected to.

Another more recent influence was reading Patti Smith’s book “Just Kids”. I thoroughly recommend this book. In it she chronicles how she went to New York in a similar spirit to Bob Dylan. She slept rough and on subway trains and eventually had great success as a poet and singer. Inspirational. I can particularly relate to her description of visiting Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris. I’ve done the same thing. You’ve got to step out of yourself to find yourself.

The New York scene is not the same as it was in the 60s or 70s. The same focus is not there. But, I think, that is the same everywhere (as far as I know). Music has become far more diverse and there is not the same audience for live music as there was. On the other hand, interest and desire to play and write music is possibly even higher than it was. New York is full of great musicians and song writers and other acts. There is a vibrant poetry and spoken word community. In fact, you can find more than one place to perform any day of the week. On top of that busking is accepted in parks and subway stations. The general standard is pretty high! There is also a strong community feel amongst performers, they are supportive and interested in each other. From my first open mic spot onwards I was invited to many events and was even offered a job in a band as a lead guitarist! I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

There are many places to play. Bars and cafes offer one hour slots through the night. There tends to be no official pay but a bucket is passed round at the end of the set. Where there’s a decent crowd people tend to be generous and it is possible to make a reasonable amount of money. People are also more inclined to buy CDs than here. I took thirty and came back with none. Should have taken more!

My favourite place was Penny’s Open Mic on St. Mark’s Place. There was an amazing variety of acts and they were all incredibly good (well, nearly all). I’d go back to New York just to go there! But there are lots of others. Path Cafe is good and that is where I made most of my contacts. It was also, conveniently, just round the corner from where I was staying. The spoken word event on 116 MacDougal Street is worth going to. I was the only musician but they liked my song so much they videoed me and put it on their web site. They were very encouraging and the poetry was brilliant. Paddy Reilly’s and National Underground were good for jam sessions and I also made lots of contacts there. By the end of my time in New York I felt like a part of the local scene which like everywhere, considering the size of the city, is really quite small.

One of the good things about New York is the public transport. For $29 you can buy an unlimited ticket that you can use on any bus or subway train. This can take you to any part of the city including Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx, and they run all night. The Staten Island ferry is free! No excuses not to go anywhere. There are many places and things I didn’t see but I had such a good time I’m sure I’ll be back.