Hi folks!! Sorry it’s been a little while since the last blog instalment. It’s been a busy run,skip and jump into 2012! First up on the news front is that my E.P is finally finished and has gone to press this very morning. It’s called ‘A Year and a Day’ and will be available late march/early april. I’ll be having an official E.P launch party sometime in May hopefully and most likely at The Brudenell Social Club in Leeds.The E.P will be available for download and also on CD and a limited run of 250 vinyl-very swanky ; )

GIGS!!!

I have a few upcoming gigs-all solo shows and a couple of support slots too which is always nice : )

Fri 10th Feb: Pocklington Arts Centre(supp.Midge Ure)-SOLD OUT

Sat 11th Feb: The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn,Stalybridge - http://garystewart.eventbrite.com/ -  £5.00

Mon 19th Mar: ‘Fictions Of Every Kind’ - literary evening at the Victoria Hotel,Great George Street,Leeds. Facebook event - http://www.facebook.com/events/156031154506800/

Sun 26th Mar: All Hallows Church,24 Regent Terrace, Hyde Park, LS6 1NP Leeds. (supp.O’Hooley and Tidow). Facebook Event - http://www.facebook.com/events/183168791771478/ -  £8.00

MORE GIGS!!!

I am once again stepping into my,ahem,questionable bass playing shoes and playing some shows with the fantastic and lovely group of individuals, Ellen And The Escapades - http://www.ellenandtheescapades.com. You can see a list of the dates i’ll be playing here - http://www.musicglue.net/ellenandtheescapades/

BCB RADIO SESSION-21/01/12(Featuring first live broadcast of ‘Green’ from ‘Year and a Day’ E.P ; )

Last saturday i popped into BCB Radio in Bradford to perform some songs on Liz Jenkins ‘Northern Side’ show and talk about music and my new E.P. You can listen to the broadcast here;

http://www.podcast.canstream.co.uk/bcb/index.php?id=5002

That’s all for now peeps. Take care and talk to you soon…

G x

P.S Here’s the back cover of the E.P ; )

My new sounds: The final version of “Blue” from my upcoming E.P “Year and a Day”-enjoy!! x

Seasons Greetings folks! I hope you are all well. Me and my lovely band were recently involved in ‘Anthologies’ -a non-profit,voluntary project which works with musicians,promoters,venues and other individuals to capture unique performances by musicians who are based in Leeds or are visiting Leeds on tour. We were asked to play for a special ‘Christmas Anthologies’ which is raising money for a Charity called ‘Simon On The Streets’. Here’s our video-it’s of my newest song,’Blue’. You can head over to the Anthologies website and see performances from Hannah Peel,Sam Airey,Paul Thomas Saunders and many more here-

http://www.anthologiesleeds.net/christmas2011

I hope you like the video-please feel free to shout about it and send people to the Anthologies website if you do : ) Here are a few links;

Thanks and Merry Christmas!!

Gary x

Good morning : )

I just wanted to let you know about a rather special show i’m involved in(and indeed my last solo show of 2011);

Hey folks. I hope you’re all very well. Just a quick blog to share a couple of things with you. The first is a video i stumbled across while doing my daily geeky Paul Simon youtube browse. It’s a lovely cover of ‘Mother and Child Reunion’ by Melanie Stewart;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBM8g77Z5Dc&feature=related

As some of you may know Hope and Social(the band i drum for)do a cheeky cover of ‘You Can Call Me Al’ in our set. Well my good friend James Sills who plays in a band called the Rough Island Band also cover the Paul Simon 1986 classic and it’s very very good;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skFoX8GaCRM

You can check out more from the Rough Island Band here;

http://www.roughislandband.com/

That’s all for now. We’re playing the Grand Theatre in Hartlepool this wednesday supporting Jon Allen if any of you fancy playing out? ; )

Byes xx

A little preview from my upcoming new E.P ‘Thorns’. The song is called ‘Eve’. It’s just a rough mix but thought i’d share it with you…comments welcome : ) Cheers. Gary x

Good afternoon!! And a lovely sunny afternoon it is as i write this next blog : ) I have spent the morning basking in the Leeds sun with the lovely Rosie Doonan,having a cheeky shandy and buying the most recent copy of fRoots Magazine(october edition)which includes a nice little interview with the aforementioned Ms.Doonan on page 17.  The interview includes a nice little anecdote about my beard nonetheless ; ) If you wish to explore further,do grab yourself a copy…

BBC Radio Scotland-Mary Ann Kennedy’s ‘Global Gathering’ show…

Yes!!! Tonight,Mary Ann Kennedy is going to be playing ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ from my album ‘Boy Cries Wolf’ in the second hour of her Global Gathering Show(21:05pm onwards). You can listen online here;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0151w9z

A Night At The Theatre…

 We’re(Hope and Social that is-the band that i play drums for) very excited to be involved in Bring The Happy, an ongoing project from Leeds based art company Invisible Flock We’ve been working with them over the last few weeks and have five brand new songs to debut as part of a performance next Thursday 29th September at Northern Ballet performance space in Leeds. A little bit about the project…

“Last winter Invisible Flock built a giant map of Leeds in Kirkgate market. For two months they spoke to thousands of people about their memories of happiness, the where, the what and the why of it all. Each story, each individual memory was marked out, creating a 3D landscape of the city’s happiness. Bring The Happy is an installation that will transform - for one night only - into a performance, bringing together over 1000 memories, in all of their beautiful, sometimes tragic, sometimes ridiculous and occasionally mundane glory. Invisible Flock, in collaboration with Hope and Social and other special guests, will attempt a gloriously extravagant portrait of happiness in contemporary Britain. Become part of this project as it continues to grow.”

Get your tickets from http://www.northernballet.com/boxoffice/booknow3a.aspx?PerfID=176, quickly mind you as they’re very limited,…we’re all really excited about this one…a lovely life-affirming piece of beauty. And new songs to boot!

Och Aye The Noo!!!

Get your kilt socks on,get your haggis(or indeed ANYTHING else that takes your fancy)deep-fried,toss your caber,sound the bagpipesp-we’re coming up to Scotland this weekend!!! Aye indeed. This friday(30th september)we’re playing in my hometown of Perth at a nice wee pub called Brennans. Music starts at 9.30pm and we’ll be playing a set and so will Hope and Social. And it’s free entry too!! Blimey!!! Here’s the Facebook event;

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=275961272418549

On the saturday we are playing a House Gig somewhere in Edinburgh(details to follow)and on the sunday we are playing Kaleidoscope Festival in St.Andrews(http://www.kaleidoscopefestival.co.uk) which should be a really nice way to end our wee Scottish jaunt : )

That’s all for now folks. Take care,stay safe and hope to see you at a gig soon!!

G x

Hello there strangers : ) I hope you’re well. I just thought i’d ease my way back into the blogging canvas by posting some upcoming dates;

Friday 26th August; Limetree Festival,Lime Tree Farm,Grewelthorpe,North Yorkshire. (full band-Mainstage,12pm) www.limetreefestival.co.uk 

Tuesday 6th September; The Duchess,Stonebow House,York.YO1 7NP.(full band-supporting Dan Mangan) www.theduchessyork.co.uk

Friday 9th September; The Hop,19 Bank Street,Wakefield. WF1 1EH.(solo-with Ryan Spendlove and Johnny The Firth) www.thehop-wakefield.co.uk

Saturday 10th September; The Puzzle Hall,21 Hollins Mill Lane,Sowerby Bridge. HX6 2RF. (full band) www.puzzlehall.com

Friday 23rd September; The Irish Centre,York Road,Leeds. LS9 9NT. (full band-fundraiser with Rosie Doonan,Ryan Spendlove,Middleman and special guests) www.theleedsirishcentre.co.uk

Thursday 29th September; Henry Boons,130 Westgate,Wakefield. WF2 9SW. (solo) www.hbclark.co.uk

Friday 30th September; Brennans,38 St.John’s Street,Perth.PH1 5SP. (full band-with Hope and Social) www.brennansperth.co.uk

Sun 2nd October; Kaleidoscope Festival,Kinkell Farm,St.Andrews,Fife. (full band-9pm) www.kaleidoscopefestival.co.uk

Saturday 22nd October; Club Fandango at The Bull and Gate,Kentish Town,London. NW5 2TJ. (full band-with Hope and Social) www.clubfandango.co.uk

Friday 28th October; The Bell Hotel,Market Place,Driffield. YO25 6AN. (solo-supporting Miranda Sykes and Rex Preston)

Wednesday 2nd November; Perthshire Amber Festival,Dunkeld,Perthshire. (full band) www.perthshireamber.com

Saturday 8th October; The Crypt,St.Peter’s Church,Byram Street,Huddersfield. HD1 1BU. (full band-with Hope and Social) Tickets available from www.eventbrite.com, www.wegottickets.com and Jumbo Records,Leeds.

Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th December; Two Secret Gigs (solo-supporting Alisdair Roberts) Watch this space!!!

Saturday 17th December; Acoustic Revolution at The Adelphi,Dock Street,Leeds. LS10 1JQ. (solo)

NEW E.P IMMINENT!!!

Yes!! We are almost finished the new E.P! It has taken somewhat longer than expected but it won’t be long now : ) The E.P has a working title of ‘Evergreen’ and the tracklisting is;

Side one; Thorns

                 Eve

Side two; Green

                 Wagons

Exciting isn’t it?!!!

That’s all for now. Do keep popping in from time to time and I look forward to seeing you on the Battlefield/Stage ; )

Bye for now.

Gary x

A lovely video-shot by the lovely lads of Shot By Sodium : )

Taken at The Gaslight Club,Leeds on 08/07/2011.

Enjoy and see you soon…

G x

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo1iyugAs_Q

Hello there hello there!!! And a Happy Belated 2011 he says rather sheepishly,what with it being March and all. However,the time has been well spent I hope you agree…

“Boy Cries Wolf” Tour-part II

Yep. We’re out on tour next month to come and play in a venue near you!! We’ll be mixing up songs from the album with a couple of newly-penned ones and maybe even a cover or two ; ) Here’s the dates chaps and chapettes;

Mon 11th April-Oporto,31-33 Call Lane,Leeds. LS1 7BT.(Gaslight Club Birthday Special)

Fri 15th April-City Screen Basement,13-17 Coney Street,York. YO1 9QL.(with Paul Liddell,Jessica Lawson and Friends)

Tues 3rd May-“The Lion’s Den” at The Golden Lion,244 Gloucester Rd,Bishopston,Bristol. BS7 8NZ. (www.goldenlionbristol.co.uk)

Thurs 5th May-The Royal Oak,The Lower Bristol Road,Bath.BA2 3BW.

Fri 6th May-The Picturedrome,Holmfirth. HD9 1DA.(Part of TheHolmfirth Festival Of Folk-with Ellen and The Escapades,Ottersgear and Stephanie Stephenson)

Sat 14th May-The Bull and Gate,389 Kentish Town Road,London. NW5 2TJ.(with Hope and Social) (www.bullandgate.co.uk)

Sat 21st May-The Crypt,St.Paul’s Church,Huddersfield.(With Martin Stephenson,Helen MacCookerybook and Stephanie Stephenson)

Mon 23rd May-Hare and Hounds,Kings Heath,Birmingham.B14 7JZ.(with Hope and Social)

Festival Season-yeah baby!!

As well as the Tour,we’re also appearing at a handful of Festivals too!!;

Fri 10 June-Sun 12th June-ROUGH BEATS FESTIVAL,Clapham,North yorkshire.(www.roughbeatsfestival.co.uk)

Thurs 14 July-Sat 16th July-LARMER TREE FESTIVAL,Larmer Tree Gardens,Salisbury.(www.larmertreefestival.co.uk)

Fri 22 July-Sun 24th July-DEERSHED FESTIVAL, Baldersby Park,Topcliffe,North Yorkshire.(www.deershedfestival.com)

Fri 12 August-Sun 14 August-BEACON FESTIVAL,Heslaker Park,Skipton,North Yorkshire.(www.greetingsfrombeacons.com)

Fri 26 August-Sun 28 August-GREENBELT FESTIVAL,Cheltenham Racecourse.(www.greenbelt.org.uk)

Fri 30 Sept-Sun 2 Oct-KALEIDOSCOPE FESTIVAL,Kinkell Farm,St. Andrews,Fife,Scotland.(www.kaleidoscopefestival.co.uk)

New Recording

I’m currently in the Studio recording my next E.P!! It’s going to be called “Thorns” and will comprise of four songs-“Thorns” and “Green”-which we’ve been playing live for about a year now,and two brand new songs-“Wagons Roll” and “Eve”. The former is a song penned by “Boy Cries Wolf” producer Rich Stephenson’s old band The Avenues. The latter is a brand new song I wrote last week for my 5-week old niece,Neve : ) The tracks are coming on very nicely and I aim to have the E.P available for release in late April. Watch this space…

That’s all for now folks. Take care and hope to see you at one of the upcoming shows : ) 

Gary xx

P.S If you haven’t got the Album,you can buy it online from my bandcamp page; www.garystewart.bandcamp.com. If you’d like an “old-fashioned” ; ) hard copy,send an email with your address to garystewartband@yahoo.co.uk. The cost is £11(postage included).

Cheerie for now!!

G x