The Smallpiper Blog

Hello!
Another month is nearly over. We can't believe where the time is going! Since we last wrote we've been rehearsing really hard with George Papvgeris, we're off into the studio with him in a few weeks. We are seriously looking forward to recording again! We've just returned from the Otley Folk Festival where we played heaps and heaps and also snuck up on stage to play a couple of tracks with George. Luckily there was a grand piano in Korks Wine Bar, so Jonny was able to play one of the piano parts. Jonny's piano playing I always find rather beautiful, it's wonderful to hear him play (it is Vicki writing this bit btw!) It almost seems a shame that we don't include the piano in the set, but it really is too big and we have enough instruments already! Anyway, I'm digressing! I've rebuilt our website and created a new image for the front page. So go and take a look! It's the same site really, it's just had a bit of a spruce up and clean down.

Gigs for the near future include:
Faversham Folk Club on Wednesday
A last minute booking at the Red Lion Folk Club in Birmingham this Saturday supporting Cloudstreet.
Big Music Night for charity on 12th October in Ipswich.
Acoustic Kitchen Music night in Kings Lynn on the 14th October.
Sheffield Folk Festival at the end of the month.

In the bits when we're not playing we'll either be rehearsing or recording with George and also rehearsing for Hectors CD launch in November. So the summer might be over, but we're far from finished for the season!
Best get back to the practise! Look forward to seeing you somewhere on the road!
:)
Vicki & Jonny

Hello!
August is nearly done and we're feeling a bit sad, we've had such a wonderful summer. Starting off with the Sidmouth Folk Week, then straight into the Bideford Folk Festival, then the Mansfield Folk Club, Shrewsbury Folk Festival theSail Loft Folk Club and we're finishing off with the Wallingford Bunkfest. Although we took a camera with us we didn't actually get round to taking any photographs so if you find any of us we'd love to have them. I have discovered a youtube video that someone took at the Brown Cow, so I've embedded it into this post. To give you an idea, Jonny had broken a string in the previous piece and I decided to play a tune on the nyckelharpa to pass the time. It was a new tune and possibly not quite ready for performance and certainly not up for being video-ed, but it's sort of sweet and does show where I'm up to with the learning the instrument! The guitar is a bit out of tune, but Jonny couldn't tune whilst I was wailing away on the nyckelharpa!

Sidmouth was an amazing experience for us, our first time there and the shear numbers of folkies was amazing. You couldn't go anywhere without bumping into someone wearing a wristband or a badge. I think our highlight has to be sat in a bus stop and being asked "are you Pete and Sue Coe?" I feel quite honoured! The weather held up and we were grateful for the extra space that the awning gave us in the campervan. We solved the problem of mic-ing up the nyckelharpa, we purchased an AKG gooseneck (the same one that Jonny uses for the accordion). The Audio Technica would have been good, but didn't fit on the tail piece, the AKG works superbly though and I don't have to worry about wobbling around and moving around from the mic.
Bideford was wet but just as fun, we were grateful for wellies and for the very fashionable crocs, which although got your feet very wet in the long grass of the campsite dried out in minutes in the town. Shrewsbury had the most amazing organisation, we were so impressed! It also had the best weather and we hadn't checked the weather forecast and came out without any shorts, doh! I had the most amazing Smallpipe workshop. At 10 o'clock in the morning I expected a couple of people that I would play for for a bit and then let them have a go. I was faced with an audience of more than 50!! So if you were in the audience and didn't get chance to have a go, send me an e-mail and we'll see what we can arrange some place!

Finally (before I ramble on for far too long!) Hector Gilchrists album is now out with backing on from not only us, but also Paul Sartin and Steve Poole. It's called Ingleneuk and we love it! Jonny doesn't get to play the piano very often, so it's lovely to hear it. So go buy it! Anyway I have rambled for long enough, time to go and pracise now! Hope to see you soon!
(^_^)
Vicki & Jonny

Hello!
August is here and it's time for the summer, well we hope it's time for the summer anyway! We had a fantastic time at the Warwick folk festival at the weekend. The rain tried it's best to flood the campsite but we all bundled over and made camp by the riverside instead. The site was muddy but with wellington boots in abundance the fun couldn't be stopped! The weirdest moment must have been on the main stage when I opened my eyes (concentrating very hard you know) whilst playing the nyckelharpa to be met with a sea of paparazzi all snapping away! Thanks to Harriet's mum for this picture! When we added this instrument to the set I had no idea it would cause so much of a stir! Now I just need to learn to play it without getting nervous in front of fiddlers!

Our next two weeks are filled up with the Sidmouth and Bideford Folk Festivals. We're looking forward to some time in the van and meeting lots of old friends. There is a chance that we're doing a CD launch of Hector Gilchrists brand new album Ingleneuk but we've decided not to take the bass, so we'll see how we get on! Exciting news that the album is ready, we can't wait to hear it!

Anyway we look forward to seeing you somewhere this summer!
(^_^)
Vicki & Jonny

Hello!
This months Make it Folky are giving a chance to win a copy of SlipTease! All you have to do is answer a simple question. (It really is simple!) I'm not going to give away the question or the answer, so go and listen to the show and then e-mail your answers to the show! (We're also not going to reveal what happens in Harry Potter, but it was a darn fine read!)
:)
Vicki & Jonny

Hello!

The official tour has finished. We've updated our tour diary for the last and final time. We had such a fantastic time though going round to different clubs though that we're going to keep doing and it and build up an online calender of the local clubs and sessions. So keep your eye out for it! We'll blog it when we've created it! We had a fantastic time on Sunday at the Willows. So many people came that we recognised to hear us play both in the afternoon and join in, in the evening session.

Thank you everyone for coming along!

We drew the raffle for the box set and congratulations to James from Surrey and Pat from Cheshire who each won. (We decided last minute to have two winners).

The best thing is we have decided to hold a session at the Willows on a regular basis. It's going to be on the 'teenth Sunday of the month. (you can only have one Sunday with the date the something teenth and it seemed quite a catchy way of remembering it!). So the next session at the Willows will be on the 16th September, hurrah!
Hope to see you there!
(^_^)
Vicki & Jonny

Hello!
Our tour is drawing to a close now, The MIlkMaid Folk Club on Friday night and then our final concert on Sunday afternoon at The Willows in Cressing. We're doing a full concert spot in the afternoon at 3pm and then an open session at 8:30. We'll be drawing the raffle for a box set in the evening. We've put up a map and directions on it's very own Willows page. Hope to see you there!
:)
Vicki & Jonny

Hello!

We've had an action filled time since our last post! We're now well over half way through the tour and we're definitely getting sad! We've been to the Headingham music night, St. Neots Folk Club, the Havering Folk Club, The Sail Loft Folk Club and the Three Horseshoes in East Hannigfield. We've taken oodles of photographs and made many many new friends! (even added some of them as myspace friends! We've freshly updated the tour diary, so have a peak!

There is less than a week to go until we do the raffle for a box set, so if you've not bought your copy of SlipTease yet and been entered into the draw, you've got until Sunday lunch time!

We're also running a competition to win a CD, we're going to extend this particular competition until September, so get your thinking caps on and enter!
Hope to see you somewhere! Sunday at the Willows would be a good place and time......
:)
Vicki & Jonny