New 3-song live EP on its way…

This time last week, and most of that day, I was in the beautiful Billiards Room at The Pearce Institute in Govan. The building dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. It also happens to be next door to the (now sadly demolished) tenement close where my great-grandparents and their children were living at that time. Peter, my great-grandfather was an iron-driller in the Govan shipyards. The Pearce Institute was built for and donated to the people of Govan by ‘Lady’ Elizabeth Pearce in 1906, in memory of her husband who had been one of the shipyard owners and also Govan’s first MP.

The Billiards Room at The Pearce Institute in Govan, Glasgow.

You’ll have guessed that I wasn’t playing billiards (does anyone anymore?). Instead — after a long hiatus following the release of Johnny Blue’s Well — I was recording some new songs; and this time, on camera too. I had hatched the plan a few weeks earlier with James Mackay. As some of you will know, James is my nephew, a veteran of the now legendary (?) Abbey Road trip in 2021, and a super-talented guitarist, trained in the jazz programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. James enlisted the help of Pippa Blundell, a rising star of the Scottish music scene who will release her first album in June (I’ve had a sneak preview and it is sublime). The video for Pippa’s latest single ‘wasted’ was made by Michiel Turner, and Michiel joined us behind the cameras to capture live performances of the three songs that will make up the live EP.

As well as playing guitar on two of the songs, James took on the sound engineering and, as we speak, is working on the mixes and masters. I’m hoping we’ll have the first song ready to share in a few weeks. In the meantime, here’s a little teaser recorded on my iPhone by Michiel, once the ‘proper’ cameras had been switched off.

That clip is of ‘Sausalito Blue’; a song that started as a kind of postcard to myself reflecting on a trip to San Francisco, but which has become a kind of love song to (the better parts of) the USA, and a plea to sober up. Trying to sober up and be the better version of yourself is also the theme of ‘The Old Mistake’.

The third song — ‘Those Plastic Truths’ — was the reason why I chose to record these songs at The Pearce Institute. That song is inspired by a photo album of my Dad’s. He’s now about to turn 93; the picture below is him at the age of 15, at the hut in Carbeth where he had spent much of the Second World War with his parents. The song also mentions his father, John, who was one of those living in the tenement next to The Pearce Institute in the early part of the 20th century. John was born blind and became a pianist and piano tuner. So, it’s likely that he made music at that flat; and possible that he might have played in The Pearce Institute about 100 years before we did.

I’ll be playing these three songs, and a couple of others from the Johnny Blue’s Well EP, live in CamGlen Radio on Ros Barclay’s show on 27th April. Her show starts at noon. Tune in if you like. :)