...has been a mixture of all kind of things good and bad.
  Me and many close friends celebrated new years the traditional way with a house party at mine, we laughed a lot.
  Unfortunately, I had to attend a funeral early on in the year :/ Mad Mick, who worked in Crossplay music on the high road, was never short on kindness for anyone. He's helped me a great deal over the years both musically and personally, he was a genuine, unique and brilliant character. Beeston said goodbye to Mick in the most brilliant way. A stage was set up in the Hop Pole and there was live music all day, I just can't describe the atmosphere. I hope I have a send off like that when the time comes. RIP Mick!
  First gig of the year was at The Chameleon in Nottingham. I'd never played there before and had a hard time finding the place. The venue had an extremely DIY feel to it, with an enormous PA system! All the other acts were brilliant, the crowd was great, and the whole atmosphere was fantastic. We were all huddled on the floor in our coats hats and scarves just enjoying some brilliant acoustic music.
  The second and third gigs of the year I unfortunately had to pull out of due to the snow! I HATE cancelling and I hate being cancelled on, so I was really not happy that I had to do that to other people. Still gutted about it :/

Got a really busy and exciting week coming up now, more on that later ;)

The first video I filmed was quite random, me and a couple of friends with a digital camera and a mobile phone. We walked out into Beeston square at about 10pm, the christmas lights looked great and nobody was around, I played through the song once, put my basic video editing skills to the test and that was that!
"Snow" is my favourite christmas song, written by Ryan O'Neal who's stage name is Sleeping at Last. He had some nice words about my cover which I was very pleased about! - "That is beautiful! Thank you so much for covering it!! I'm honoured. You did a wonderful job."
You can download the original version of the song for free at Noise Trade. 

The second video had a tad more planning put into it and took a few takes before my camera was full, this is result! "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch!" :D
I planned this a few days in advance and when the day came around the temperature DROPPED! So enjoy it!

So yeah, I won the songwriting competition! 
So happy! 
I won £200, which will be spent on various recording kit before I start demoing for the next EP!
The Hop Pole have also released a compilation CD of the best entries, which I feature on twice, for sale at £5 behind the bar.
I next play the Hop Pole on December 15th :)

Fanks!

So for anyone who hasn't seen me live, this is what I've been up to with the loop pedal...
Filmed by www.youtube.com/thephotogeezer at the Na Music and Guitar Bar Records showcase on 13/11/12.

Thought I'd write a little blog about what's going on...

Next Release!
It's still very early stages, and I don't want to go into too much detail but I have so many ideas for the next E.P. and I'm planning pretty much all the time. I can tell you a couple of goals are a longer release and more mature songwriting. I have a rough theme for the artwork based on current song ideas. I have some ideas for a music video. "Iris Of War" and "3am" should be on it.

Singer songwriters in Nottingham! READ!
I've had a little idea which I think could be quite cool but needs polishing up. It's kind of a local live lounge thing. Basically two local artists will cover one of the others songs, however they like, film it, put it online and share it. Huh, maybe it doesn't need polishing after all. So yeah, if anyone reading this fancies it, drop me a message and we'll talk and see what happens!

Upcoming gigs!
The next gig is a showcase for NAMusic and Guitar Bar Records. Pretty cool. This isn't a competition, meaning NAM or GBR can choose as many artists as they like for some amazing opportunities. If NAM decide they like me, I could be offered management for at least one year, a single release with music video, and a one week tour, which would be awesome. If GBR like me, I could be offered studio time for a full album release!
The following week is The Songwriting Competition Final at the Hop Pole, Beeston. I'll be playing along with two other finalists for a £200 prize! If I'm fortunate enough to win, that money will go straight towards some new recording software which is desperately needed!

Of The Night
I'm missing Of The Night desperately!!! I'm really enjoying what's happening with my solo stuff, but I miss making loud music and generally acting like idiots with instruments with the guys! I can't wait to pick up where we left off this summer!!! If you're curious... www.ofthenight.co.uk :P

That's all folks!
Em x

Played at Bartons again on Sunday for NOT the Glastonbury, I was there for most of the weekend and really enjoyed it. I really recommened you check out some of the events Bartons put on, brilliant atmosphere but needs more people!

Here's some excellent shots from Robert Balmer. I was so happy when I realised he was the photographer as he took some photos of Of The Night once and they're my favourites.

I've also been told I've been on BBC Radio Nottingham a few times this week again. I think tracks were played on Thursday and Friday and there was a mention on Saturday :)

This is from Thursday, starts at about 2:39:20.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00wm0c4/Alan_Clifford_23_08_2012/

Next gig is Acoustickle at The Maze, here's the info!
http://www.nottinghamlive.co.uk/live/2012/08/looking-ahead-acoustickle-the-maze-30812-2/

   So I was on BBC radio Nottingham on the 1st of August :P
It was very last minute and I was on the train about two hours before when I got the email. I raced home, grabbed some CD's, threw some food into my face and raced back to Notts! I had great fun in the studio, had a lovely conversation with Alan Clifford which you can hear on iPlayer :)

BBC iPlayer PopOut
It's about 1:50mins in.

   On August 4th I supported Troubadour Rose at Bartons. I'd read the very impressive Bio and listened to their singles which accompany the film Strawberry Fields so it's safe to say I was excited!
   My set went down really well, the crowd were lovely and I tested out my new song "Iris Of War" which was very well recieved, but more info on that song in the near future :P
I've now run out of CD's :S
  Troubadour Rose played an amazing set, I strongly recommend you catch them if you can, I'll be seeing them again! I'm a sucker for vocal harmonies and if you can do them live as well as TB do then you have my heart! Very creative, insprational songs, and they're lovely people too. Made me want a banjo!
   Bartons is a great venue, I can't believe I've never been there before! I'll be going to any shows they have on, and I'm playing there again for NOT Glastonbury supporting Petebox on August 26th!