29 posts from 2007

What an absolutely crap day.. So I thought I would be halfway to The Writer's Cafe in Stockton-on-Tees by now, but no.. I am back home..

After the fun of carrying my Fender Rhodes down 6 flights of stairs, we'd been on the road for about 25 minutes when we became overwhelmed by a crazy weird burning plastic smell. Which seemed to occur straight after filling up the tank. We became more concerned when we both thought we were going to pass out. So we stopped in Highgate and called Green Flag. Someone from the shop we'd stopped next to came outside and said 'what's wrong with your car? it smells like it's on fire'. Which was disturbing to say the least. We then waited for an hour and a half in the rain. During which there was a hailstorm. Yes, hailstorm. At which point the lovely lady from the shop said we could go and wait inside...

Breakdown

We finally got home, and lugged the Rhodes all the way back upstairs. Only to discover that I had left the legs behind:

Rhodeslegs

Either way this has been a bloody weird day. I send my sincerest apologies to Trevor and the Writer's Cafe. I am absolutely gutted, not only because I HATE cancelling gigs, but also because I was really looking forward to playing.. :-(

Hey IB.. I thought I'd post this power pop ballad for fun.. I hope you like it... :-).. this is gonna be my last musical post for a few months..

x

Hotel_roughmix

susie wilkins

2 comments

Hey everyone... I'm playing indieboy's End Of Camden gig at Tommy Flynns this Saturday.. it would be great to see some of you down there..

Camdenflyer2

Hey everyone... I've put a new forum online: http://susiewilkins.freeforums.org where you can post messages, talk about any gigs of mine you've been to recently, or find out what I'm up to these days.. as I'm sure I have millions and millions of fans checking my vox every day, I expect to see loads of registered users by the end of the day... Go on.. you know you want to.. make me look popular... :-)

Blimey.. I have no idea what's going on, but I'm up to 132 plays today on my myspace.. more than I've ever had in a day, so that's exciting.. Things have been pretty hectic of late.. I have a new manager - Mike Maska - he manages Joe Jackson, and really seems to be doing a lot of cool stuff for me already. I was played on WXPN in the States on Friday - if you go to their blog, you can still download 'No Answer'.. and leave a comment if you like.. :-)

And it looks like I'm heading off to the States in January to do some recording.. I'll give you all some more info as soon as everything's confirmed...

So I thought I'd go against the grain and post a cover... I did this version of Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks for a guy at EMI Asia.. needless to say nothing ever came of it.. long story.. anyway I like it.. also I thought you'd be interested to hear it cos Patrick Murdoch and Geoff Holroyde from Big Linda are playing.. and Big Linda are about to be HUGE.. we recorded this in their living room in Notting Hill.. it was a good day...

enjoy...

Sunnyafternoon_

susie wilkins

2 comments

I got this message on myspace today and it amused me, so I thought I'd share it with y'all..:

' Hi,

We are liking your profile and wondered if you would be interested in featuring on our Summer Compilation CD and Nationwide tour taking place throughout England with top UK unsigned Artists.

Artists that have performed so far include Aggro, N Dubz, Tinie Tempah, DJ Ironik, K Sounds, including special appearances by Big Narstie and D Fam plus many more. CLICK HERE - We only have the last spaces avaiable, so please hurry. Please do not reply to this email as I can't open my inbox. Thank you'

Ummm... does anyone think this might be spam perhaps...? I can just see myself on the same bill as Big Narstie.

Big_narstie

From  this: 

Kent

To this:

Buildingsite

Okay so this is a rant of sorts... Not really a rant so much as a statement of fact. Where are all the female artists? Artists with substance.. the serious troubadours..? Is this a reflection of us as consumers, or the industry at large? Why is a 30 something stubbly male singer/songwriter palatable, whereas a woman isn't? (without the stubble of course...).. The UK seems to tolerate indie bands, 'serious' male singer/songwriters, young pretty girls, or kooky yes KOOKY females. To succeed as a female artist in this country in the mainstream it seems you have to be kooky.. although I applaud KT Tunstall and Amy Winehouse for managing to break through.. But this is not enough.. And sure enough a twatty fashion band won the Mercury Music Prize when Amy's album was blatantly the best of the year... *sigh*..

I took the liberty of looking at the Columbia UK roster. I counted 5, yes 5 females out of 53 acts (including the ones in bands)... This is not a dig at you Columbia - like I said, this is a statement of fact. This is the sad truth about commercial music. I honestly cannot say whether it's because people wouldn't buy records by moaning 30 year old women like me, or because people just buy what they're given. Who can say...?

Anidifranco

So female artists keep working away in the background, gigging, selling, doing whatever they can, and working 10 times harder. But perhaps this inevitably leads to greater freedom and more fulfilling success. Check out Ani DiFranco. I idolise this woman. She's done everything herself, comes to the UK, sells out venues like the Shepherds Bush Empire, and yet I am amazed at how few people have heard of her. A perfect example of a brilliant, talented artist who would never be signed by a major label, and yet her talent has got her to where she is. It is possible ladies, so keep on working...

Hey everyone.. fancy coming to a gig? I'm playing a solo set next Thursday... Here's the flyer:

EARmusic Live