Monday 17 September 2012

A NOTE FROM ZEB


I have seen
The darkest place
And I have been
To the wrong side -of this- town
And I have seen
The future cry
And I have been
To the edge and looked right down
Don’t you ever change
Don’t you ever change
Cause my one last drop of faith
Is in your eyes
My one last ray of hope is in your eyes
So don’t you ever change


I have seen
The sun go down
And steal the light
That shone upon my dream
And I have screamed
The silent scream
And felt your hand
Slip away from mine
Don’t you ever change
Don’t you ever change
Cause my one last drop of faith
Is in your eyes
My one last ray of hope is in your eyes
So don’t you ever change

Someone whispered in my ear
They shot the last bird from the sky
A white feather floated down
And I asked my angel why
And for the first time in my life
My angel gave me no reply
I caught the feather in my hand
They shot the last bird from the sky
They shot the last bird from the sky

I have seen
And I have lived
And I have loved
And lost ……………
Don’t you ever change
Don’t you ever change
Cause my one last drop of faith
Is in your eyes
My one last ray of hope is in your eyes
So don’t you ever change
Don’t you ever change
From ZEB........

Saturday 8 September 2012

Turkish Storm

The clear blue sky suddenly turned black. I was floating on my back in the swimming pool and warm rain began to fall. The sound of thunder over the mountain and the shutters blowing open and shut and ozone in the electric air. Surreal and beautiful.
In the valley i could hear the stray dogs barking and out to sea the colour changed from turquoise to charcoal. I went to my bedroom and opened all the sliding doors to my veranda which looks out to sea on one side and to the imposing mountains on the other. I sat there on the bed and watched and listened to the storm unfold.
Earlier i had walked down the steep hills into town to have a Turkish shave and massage. He was an artist with the razor, gentle, proud and precise. It was a fantastic experience and ended with a vigorous shoulder, neck, head and arms massage. When finished he said "Now you have face like baby!"
Downstairs in this wonderful 3 storey villa, my sister Moira is marinating the lamb with lemon juice, honey, garlic and rosemary and as the storm leaves us as quickly as it came, Tom brushes away all the water from the patio area and opens the bag of coals for the barbecue. Amazingly, the sky is blue again and the dogs fall silent.
My phone is switched off and Lewis is updating me with any news (i told him i only want to hear good news) from back home where everything is crazy. Our song THIS CITY has been added to the playlist in 9 UK stations and 9 Canadian stations in the last week and the official release isn't until October 22nd so that constitutes good news to me. Downstairs i can hear them all singing Those were the days by Mary Hopkin. I think the 1st of many IGLOOS must have been already poured. Lots of ice, gin vodka, tonic and fresh limes. I was very uptight when i arrived. It has been a tense and tough few months but great gigs at The Cavern Club in Liverpool and the thrilling concert in the stunning setting of PEAK CAVERN, known as THE DEVILS ARSE in Castelton helped morale.
My grumpy mood was not helped when we got a flat tyre on the M1 on the way to the airport. Changing a tyre when there is no hard shoulder with lorries whizzing past your ears is less than calming but being with family and friends in a beautiful place has chilled me no end and the sound of laughing voices from downstairs gives me a warm feeling.
Pretty soon i'm going have to tackle writing my best man's speech for Lewis and Suzanne's wedding. There is certainly plenty of ammunition as me and Lewis have been through some adventures and experienced some momentous ups and downs over the years. I shall not spare him any embarrassment i can tell you that!
And so, a quick cool shower and change for dinner and drinks with lovely people, especially Tom Giblin. He is the reason we are here. It is his birthday and we have joined him in this beautiful place, 11 strong, to celebrate with him. He truly is the kindest soul you could ever meet and i feel lucky that i was blessed enough to meet him and call him my friend.

Saturday 3 March 2012

THE PLUG THE DUKE & THE DEVIL'S ARSE

Greetings my friends. I'm feeling blogworthy again. I think the bacon egg and tomato saturday morning sandwich has given me the energy and will to muse or talk bollocks depending on your view! Saturday kitchen on TV always makes me hungry. If i was ever on that show though i would have a problem because i cannot think of a food hell!

Do any of you have a Costco card? I have. They are bloody lethal. I love shopping there but everything is in bulk. For the past week i have been stuffing myself with Buffalo Mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar and basil as i bought enough to feed all of Sicily. The basil is now looking decidedly limp and sad. I also have enough Granola to feed a herd of cows and enough batteries to floodlight Wembley!
Last night i sang for The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and 700 of their pals in the wonderful setting of Buxton Dome. It turned out to be a great night. Our dressing room was the beauty parlour and i had to wake up bassist Sean Perry 1minute before we went on as he was out for the count on a massage bed. I spoke to the Duke a couple of times. I think that officially makes us pals now and as far as i'm concerned i should be able to show up any time at his place for a cup of tea. Well that's the way i was brought up anyway. The Duchess is very 'fit' by the way!!
It's not every day you get an email asking if you are willing to put a gig on in 'THE DEVIL'S ARSE'
but that's what happened last week. The Devil's Arse is the spooky and magnificent Peak Cavern at Castelton in The Peak District. I went with our John jnr and Lewis to check it out. There are a few logistical problems to sort out but it is definitely going to happen on 4th August. I'll let you know more later.
AND SO TO THE MAIN EVENT MY FRIENDS

A Personal Message from John Reilly.
‘Singer songwriter & the voice of Boy on a Dolphin & Acoustic Angels.’

So here we are in March already. What a hectic few months since the release of my new solo album Zebulon. We have had some solid support from Radio across the world, great reviews and early indications for the next single One More Mile are very positive. We have just finished some fantastic dates around the country, the highlights being The Leicester Square Theatre in London and the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool but the reason I am sending you a personal message is that what I regard as my most important gig in the last 10 years is just 1 week away. The very 1st JOHN REILLY BAND concert at THE PLUG, SHEFFIELD on SATURDAY 10TH MARCH.
This is the start of a new era for me, having spent the last 2 years honing the songs and trying them out as stripped down versions with Lewis Nitikman on piano. I will now be taking to the stage with DARREN FORD (Boy on a Dolphin/Acoustic Angels) on drums. ANDY NEEDHAM (Boy on a Dolphin) on bass. CHRIS FIRMINGER (Firecracker and ace session player) on electric guitar and slide and of course the brilliant, enigmatic LEWIS NITIKMAN on keyboards to perform full band versions of songs from ZEBULON, TEACOZY HAT & MY FAVORITE BOY ON A DOLPHIN SONGS.
For all of you who have supported Boy on a Dolphin and Acoustic Angels over the years I would love you to be there at this the  1st  NEW John Reilly Band gig in a very cool rock venue in the heart of Sheffield. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. Here are the details
JOHN REILLY BAND

SATURDAY 10TH MARCH
THE PLUG
14 matilda st Sheffield S1 4QD

TIMES
Doors 7pm
Support – ‘See Emily Play’ 7.30pm
JOHN REILLY BAND 8.15PM – 10.15PM
This leaves plenty of time for a good night out in Sheffield. Recommended after show venues. Delaney’s Bar and Maggie May’s.
We recommend that you book tickets in advance if possible.
HOW TO GET TICKETS
Box office 0114 241 3040
24 Hours 0844 478 0898
Also a limited number of tickets without booking fee from Colin Wilder at Art Music – 0781 706 1690

·     There is so much happening at the moment and some imminent announcements. So, to keep up with all the latest news, comments and musings you can now follow me on Twitter.
·     https://twitter.com/#!/johnreillymusic
·     Also join me on facebook

Finally – Have a great weekend and week everyone. I think we could well be hearing the new single on BBC Radio 2 this week so listen out. Please spread the word. Really hope to see you at the PLUG and to have a drink with you all afterwards.

John Reilly

Saturday 25 February 2012

STRAGGLERS (& Back in the saddle)

New single soon dudes. It's heading off to radio land right now. The peoples choice.

And so what happened. Sheffield City Hall December. All my stuff; Reilly/dolphin/ angels Most said it was the best ever. Heard my songs on the radio again. Once when at the traffic lights, the car next to me had the same channel on, window down....strange feeling. I looked at her and said 'Great song' she smiled and nodded. I felt like an idiot. And so Christmas where i sat back, looked at my family and took it all in. 
How it's changing with the nephews grown up and new babies keeping the big wheel turning. 
In between Christmas and New Year a mad flurry of Angels gigs night after night. A welcome diversion to focus my wandering questioning mind. This was one night;
A big part and I mean a very big part of being a musician is hanging around waiting to go on and do your thing. That time in between sound check and performance can drag and drag and usually involves crap food, tedium and headaches from strip lighting. I find it very hard to relax at this time and it doesn’t seem to matter if it’s a big or small gig, solo, Angels or Dolphin. Tonight the food is better, prawn salad, haggis and cracked pepper chips and good old pork pie. The lighting too is better than usual and the background music is pretty cool, Bonnie Raitt live. Yet still I have that pre gig uneasiness, which will disappear only when I get on stage. I’m sitting here and I’ve no idea what the 1st song will be. I’ll look out at the audience when I get up there, decide on one and shout it out to the band and away we go.

(Later)
TV GUIDE CAN ONLY SHOW SO MUCH OF A TITLE EG LAST OF THE….. AND WE KNOW IT’S GOING TO BE SUMMER WINE
BUT NEW SHOWS YOU HAVE TO GUESS
THE GOLDEN AGE OF….
IS IT rock n roll
Cinema
Space travel
No it’s the GOLDEN AGE OF CANALS

(Even later)
I could see the light
Even when I closed my eyes
It was so bright
And it called me on and on
I could hear that voice
Calling out my name
So far away so clear so loud
 Through the valley of hope and joy
Over the mountain of despair
Over the sea that makes the man out of the boy
Oh tell me when tell me where tell me 
Where did I take that wrong turn
 I could see the map
Tattooed in my brain
Indelible
With a red cross, at the destinations name.
 Like a kiss on a letter of love
Like a big blue open door
Like the open wings of an angel from above
Oh tell me when tell me where tell me when
When did I take that wrong turn?

There was also an escape to Filey alone to write and disappear. Staying at my friends lovely place overlooking the sea. The 1st morning full of good intentions i took a walk along the sea front. A school party of very young kids in single file with a teacher at the front, one in the middle and one at the back were walking towards me. I passed the teacher at the back and about a hundred yards ahead of me i could see a lone child at the railings looking out to sea. I shouted to the teacher. 'You've got a straggler!" He looked at me with panic in his eyes and said thanks, running to the the hooded child. he reached the child who turned around startled. It was a 60 odd year old dwarf lady just out for a walk! oops.

OK this isn't a proper blog but i have to restart the engine you see. Especially as i'm now a tweeter. please follow me   @johnreillymusic

How diverse this big ball is. 2 people leave the ride. A million miles apart in every way. One threw away God's great gift and one just laughed like fuck till the end!


'It's the way i tell 'em"

See you soon
SAT 10TH MARCH - PLUG SHEFFIELD - MY NEW BAND