And so with summer just around the corner it only seems right that I should get out of London for a couple of months and head off to Europe, especially with all this Brexit and snap election business going on. This will be my second foray into the EU on tour. Back in 2015 I spent a career defining couple of months there and came down with a serious case of the travel bug! You can read all about that adventure in my previous blog post: 'What happens on Tour stays on tour' This time around I'm hoping for more of the same... and then some! In fact things are already shaping up to be my most successful tour yet with some great gigs and opportunities lined up for the up coming months.
It all kicks off with a gig at the Mojo Blues bar in Copenhagen. Denmark is not a country that I've been to before but the signs are already good that my music should go down well there as English is spoken commonly. I've also picked up another gig at the hostel I'm staying at for a free nights bed and board, which is good as I've heard head the city is pretty pricy. It will then be off to Poland with a gig in the countries capital of Warsaw and then on to Krakow. Germany will be the next stop after that, and a city I was very impressed with last time I was there, Berlin. I've also managed to book a house concert in the city which will hopefully mean I will start to build a strong fan base. It will then be a train ride to Hamburg, a city that already has a strong connection to English music because of the time the Beatles famously spent there at the beginning of their career in the 60's.
It will then be on to what promises to be the most successful leg of my tour, the city of Amsterdam. It will be my first time in 'The Dam' but promises to be a productive one. I have an interview lined up with 'The Blues Magazine' a dutch publication which have already published a great review of my new album 'City of Streets'. You can read all about that here. I was also lucky to have another Dutch blog 'Rootstime' review my album, read all about it here. And if that wasn't enough to fit in I will then be performing live on the radio show: 'Taste in Music'. Before playing a gig at De Tanker in Noord in the city. After that it will be on to Antwerp and then Paris were I will be playing at Onze Bar. This is a great venue I performed at when I was on tour in France back in 2015. Barcelona looks like the final stop on the tour with a slot at Harlem Jazz Club. I'm still hoping to get some more bookings in, and with another house concert lined up in Portugal, I'm just waiting for a venue to confirm dates, so more news to follow soon. And as with my tour of USA I will be documenting the trip with a vlog, just incase to missed it you can see it again below.
In other news I was lucky enough to return for an amazing show at Folking Around. This is a weekly Folk and Americana night held at Woody's Bar in Kingston. They always put on a great show of acts and the standard is always high as they work hard to match the acts in style and genre. It was a bank holiday special so the place was packed and even though I was playing a solo set without my band, the show went down very well with the local punters. Hopefully I should be playing there again later in the year with my band in toe.
And so with only one more gig left to play at 'Bedlamb' at the Lamb in Surbiton, it will be just a month before I head off on tour in June. In the mean time I will be getting some practice in ahead of the weeks on tour. Which if your not propertied can be gruelling, so I'll be trying to eat healthy and get some exercise in. We'll see how that works out...