The BoHo Scarecrow Plays The Good Ship - August 20th

On August 20th, we're playing the Good Ship in Kilburn, supporting Who's Next who are performing the whole of Quadrophenia. We are going to have projections and I think that they are too, the stage at the Good Ship is theatrical pit with a huge blank space perfect for doing this.

I have been rehearsing with Charlie Moon Fox who is going to be on drums for me. We have been rehearsing a 45 minute set including my micro opus (ho ho), Attack Of The Chevron Action Flasher: A Mini Opera. Charlie is playing some really good stuff. You can tell when he's really on it, because he starts to do these really visual drum moves. There's undoubtably sprinkle of that Moonie genetic magic in his veins. Charlie has one of Keith's old ride cymbals. It is the loudest thing in the room. It would be great if he had full set of those cymbals, he'd be devastating.

We have been rehearsing over at Josh Townshend and James Manningly's Boston House Studio in Brentford. Its a bit out of the way for both Charlie and myself, but a good atmosphere and the location - that is to Minder, what 70s Manchester was to Life On Mars - feels appropriate.

I think that we've got a couple of smoking tunes already. I'm playing mostly electric and it feels suitably wild but still reasonably dignified.

We'll be showing some films before the gig. Haven't decided what yet. It should have some sort of relevance to Quadrophenia or Kilburn, I think.

Tickets are £11. And available from here:
http://www.musicglue.net/thebohoscarecrow/gigdetails/20-aug-11-whos-next-the-good-ship

BUY MILLIONS OF THEM KIDS!!!!!!!!

I think that this is going to be a lot of fun. I have been playing so much more music recently. Its like I've rejoined the musical fraternity.

I went to see Blushing Bones on Monday. Lovely people. I did a gig last night at the Old Crown in Highgate Hill. It was good fun. A bit of an experiment but I want to do something bigger there in the future. What about a Bohemian Scarecrow Festival? Music, film and making scarecrows.

See you in Kilburn on the 20th!

Unplugged Subterranean Music Night

Its been a while since I've played a show.

I spent the last six months ensconced somewhat uncomfortably numb in the bleak mid-winter. It was hugely depressing. Hurtling toward 30 at the speed of light and with little or no sunshine on the horizon. I must be a real sucker for seasonal affective disorder.

But then the magic clock ticked at 5:35pm on March 13th and I was risen. Or thirty at least. And that particular melodrama was over. What next?

I took some advice from a well meaning friend late last year after we had organised a rather successful art exhibition. "Go out and make some money, then you'll have all the time in the world for music". I questioned this a little at the time but I took there advice and spent a time pretending that I was Gordon Gekko.

This did in fact make me slightly richer. It also made me quite ruthless, depressed and very fat.

More recently I took the advice of my ex-girlfriend, who quite amazingly still seems to think that there is some value in my BoHo musical mojo. She said I should play some gigs. I agreed and decided to organise one. My whole mindset changed overnight and it felt very good. Now there are a couple of shows that I have on the books that I am promoting and playing at. In August, Who's Next are performing Quadrophenia in Kilburn and The BoHo Scarecrow is supporting and in May, the Unplugged Subterranean Music Night will rock the Constitution Cellar Bar in Camden out.

Its a great line-up. My pal Mikey Cuthbert, he of In The Attic fame (which seems like a lifetime ago now but you can see a bit of it here) will be trekking up from Southend to take a bow. Mikey is an immensely likeable guy with some great stories to tell. He fits right in with the venue and the whole unplugged theme. Plus, I haven't had a pint with him for a while.

We also have Blushing Bones, who Josh Townshend is playing with for this show. I met Josh last year when he was playing with Thunderclap Newman and I was organising The Who Convention at which he played. He's another nice bloke, who has been doing lots of exciting things recently including opening a new studio (http://www.bostonhousestudio.co.uk) and supporting the revitalised Big Country at the Shepherds Bush Empire .

Then there's this BoHo Scarecrow character. Not quite sure what to put in the set. There's part of me that wants to do this new Light Gate opera that I've been working on, or dust off Attack Of The Chevron Action Flasher mini opera for the night...or maybe just play a bunch of songs that seem to work.

What I do know is that quitting smoking has filled me full of energy and I've been out training and its been a revelation. It will be a great night. Brilliant venue down a back street in Camden Town on the canal. The Cellar Bar where the show will be opens onto the tow path and we'll be doing full classic album playbacks. You can tweet me suggestions for which ones you want to hear to @bohoscarecrow.

You can also check out the group page for the facebook group at:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111029512316338


Hope to see you there on May 20th at the Constitution Pub in Camden. Doors open at 7pm and entry is £3. We will be partying past midnight with the albums getting more classic as the night goes on!

Hope to see you there.

The Mercurial Mr Clark & His Magic Concert Bus

Last week, my friend - the mercurial - Sebastian Clark announced his latest project, The Concert Bus. A sustainable, mobile music venue that will be funded from crowd sourced sponsorship.

You can read about it all here and there's a great video that Seb has put together.

He lives in Seattle now. When I met him, he was here in the UK on tour and was originally from LA. His concept is pretty amazing. Experimental but well thought out.

It got me thinking too. What an amazing opportunity to do something good. Touring across the United States bringing music, a kind of rolling situationism with the destination board marked, "Even Further".

I want a slice of that particular pie and so am going to try and help Seb in some way with the project. Part of this, I hope, will be to take a trip on the bus. Where the journey will take me, I've no idea but I want to see the project happen. I want to participate. I've talked to a few friends about it and not one of them thought that I was crazy. In fact, everyone just said "do it!".

The United States is a most amazing country. If you haven't been there, then you have no idea of what the definition of a "big country" is until you've seen it. I went to Seattle about three years ago - how time flies - and it blew my mind. Islands, volcanos, mountains,sea, lakes and so much land stretching out. I enjoyed playing the gigs that I did there and had been very fortunate that there was someone at the time who believed in me enough to make them happen.

It left me with a taste for it and I want more. I want to see that country and rock it. I want to film it, to breathe it in and to come back to England as a better BoHo Scarecrow. More than anything, I want to actually DO something rather than talk about it.

I have been trying to get all sorts of projects off the ground with mixed success. I have started promoting, which in truth scares the shit out of me but I seem to be quite good at it and have been learning a lot. Each time it gets better but I want to see the big one come off. I think that I could move a long way forward with a trip on the bus with my writing, recording and just learning how to be a real musician again.

So, it could be a short trip, it could be open ended; the best stories always are. As Edward Fox once said in character of Major General Brian Horrocks "Gentlemen, this is a story you will your Grandchildren, and mightly bored they'll be!"

I have a gut instinct that this is going to fly. In fact, I think more than that it is something that will grow into all sorts of different adventures. Whatever part I play in it, even if its only a very small by writing this blog, the Concert Bus will be one of the most happening happenings ever to hit the road.

If you want to donate, please take a look at the link. Seb will send you fantastic things. He'll hate me saying it, but the man is a visionary. I just hope that he knows how to drive a bus.



What do you get if you cross Kurt Schwitters with He-Man? Sebastian.

Cash / Trash ! Lyrics

Ladies and Gentleman, this is what is commonly known as, money....

Here's the intro from the Magic Christian which riffs all over this theme and was directed by the Goon show accolyte, Joe McGrath.



Recently, The BoHo Scarecrow appeared at an event - in cognito - called the Culture Hack Day. At this day, Leila Johnston (@finalbullet) talked about the idea of cash machines being fun. You plonk in your PIN code and BANG! Money.

Earlier today, having failed to buy any wares from the designer cheese counter in Crouch End (see facebook photo stream), I sat down and started to write about a line that entered my head last night, something about "I deserve my cash reward". It sounded like electro in my head. But then, and as these things usually do, it changed and I quickly had a clear song in my head and a set of lyrics called "Cash!/Trash!".

Below you will find two things, one a fragment contextual inspiration and the other
the set of lyrics for the aforementioned song. The Youtube trailer for the Magic Christian features my chums from Thunderclap Newman, a Pete Townshend side project from the early 70s, who had a number one hit with "Something In The Air". I am proud to say that on October 3rd last year, when they played the two day festival I organised...that in the wake of my lost voice, Andy Newman himself did offer me not one, but TWO, Fisherman's Friends. Alas, it failed to cure me and I had to settle for playing guitar with the headlining act on their encore. I played a Lennon Edition Gibson Casino worth more than my father's BMW and managed not to drop it.

BMWs? Expensive Guitars? Money. The most pleasurable experience that I've ever had with money, was getting my cash card for the first time and entering my PIN in the machine. It sounded like a touch tone phone. Like KITT from Knight Rider. Is it possible to combine Ray Kurzweil's concept of singularity with the ATM and a bit of fraud to give me access Mark Zuckerberg's billions?

That would be nice but it'll never beat loved up spooning.



Anyway, here are the lyrics. I'll pick up the guitar in a minute and put it together. Hopefully will have something on youtube quite soon. Its been a while, as I've had the most horrific writers block. Enjoy.


Cash! / Trash !


Its the only game,
that you'll ever play,
where you get to choose,
what the winner gets paid.

CASH! TRASH!
Its just a game, just a game, just a game.
CASH! TRASH!
Its just a game, just a game, just a game.

If I had a penny,
for everytime I've withdrawn cash,
I could have bailed out Barings Bank,
before it crashed.

CASH! TRASH!
Its just a game, just a game, just a game.
CASH! TRASH!
Its just a game, just a game, just a game.

They say "fun is in direct proportion,
to how much you earn".
But you'll stop smiling,
when your overdrafts burned.

C-C-CASH! TRASH!
Kerching, Kerching, Kerching.
C-C-CASH! TRASH!
You win! You win! You win!

He's got more money than you,
his skies are always blue,
But you don't need a PIN Code,
to make sweet love or screw.
But he's got more money than you,
he's got more money than you.

Its such an easy game,
that anyone can play,
You'll earn yourself bonus points,
if you get your Balance On Display.

CASH! TRASH!
Kerching, kerching, kerching.
CASH! TRASH!
You win! You win! You win!

At the Corner Bank,
and the High Street Arcade,
Its the Post-War answer,
to the Piggy Bank Raid.

CASH! TRASH!
Its just a game, just a game, just a game.
CASH! TRASH!
Its just a game, just a game, just a game.


The BoHo Scarecrow