Freitag, 3. August 2012

Award-winning summer...

Alright - I've finally given up. There is no such as a silly season. Been thinking all the way summertime is the one to slow down. Few gigs, little work, just some things to take care of. Apparently it's not at all like this.
On top of that I don't really like the heat. In fact it makes every movement a pain in the neck to say the least. If you've been over to the south of Germany the last two weeks you know what I'm talking about.
But hey - it still bears a good surprise every here and now. One of those has been the phone call last week Wednesday when they told me I'm among the laureates of this year's cultural awards of the city of Nuernberg. A truly pleasant, encouraging kick in the arse to get along with all the bugging little things one has to deal with while putting up tour dates for autumn/winter, promoting the annual Badesaison Festival in Fuerth and the usual daily business in Kioski record store, which is currently a place with an average temperature of good 25 degrees celsius. Anyway - I didn't expect this to happen really. As for the award presentation we're just preparing a VERY short appearance with a stripped down Church Of The Blue Nun lineup.

One of the little catastrophes of this hot season (the misprint of the whole first issue of the cover of Janne Westerlund's debut album) resulted in a somewhat funny picture yesterday evening when repacking all the cds. If someone out there needs one hell of a lot of digipacks - just get in touch. The price is negotiable.

Among the nice things to be taken into account I'd list the recordings with upright bass player Isi. We did a rough little version of "Kahden Viikon Mies" for the upcoming split-7" I'll release with Clark Nova prior to our tour this year. She done a real good job I have to say. The song will also feature Mr. Clark Nova on toy piano. After some years there is again a collaboration with Alex Sticht for whom I used to play guitar some time ago. Alex just the other week did the drums on a song which is supposed to be released as a cassette (!!!) by the guys of Carnage Club prior to me and Janne Westerlund playing there.

For those who want to discover some wonderful music there'll be something on in late August. Radio Okerwelle in Braunschweig/Germany decided to air that two hour feature about Martin Newell I did in March on Radio Z in Nuernberg. You can hear this in two parts on air and probably streamed on the internet. 28th and 29th August respectively 2 pm German time..

As it looks for now - thinking of what's confirmed - there will be a quite good solo tour of the UK in December (half of it with Janne Westerlund), another fun mission with Clark Nova in November, the odd gig with my old pals of pub rock outfit The Très Biens and some Church Of The Blue Nun shows. Of the latter let's hope to get some more... A new fun thing are the GoHo Hobos, an acoustic five piece playing very lofi versions of songs you wouldn't even dare to think of. Some of that stuff is also very likely to hit the road.

Here are the confirmed tour dates. Still waiting for the Catalan gigs (most likely with Grae J. Wall) in late September and the Dutch leg of the COTBN tour in October to be confirmed. So it's definitely worth following 9pm Records on Twitter. It's there where the updates will be posted.

7 Sept D-Fürth, Badesaison Kultifest CHURCH OF THE BLUE NUN
8 Sept D-Fürth, Badesaison Kultifest GOHO HOBOS
9 Sept D-Sulzbach-Rosenberg GOHO HOBOS
15 Sept CH-Basel, Cafe Hammer MÄKKELÄ
28 Sept D-Nürnberg, Desi CHURCH OF THE BLUE NUN
1 Oct D-Bamberg, Live Club MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
13 Oct D-Köln, Kultur Cafe Lichtung CHURCH OF THE BLUE NUN
2 Nov D-Schwabach, Jungeggers CHURCH OF THE BLUE NUN
5 Nov D-Nürnberg, Tafelhalle (Nürnberg cultural awards) MÄKKELÄ/CHURCH OF THE BLUE NUN
9 Nov D-Schwabach, Jungeggers THE TRÈS BIENS
10 Nov D-Filderstadt, Anker THE TRÈS BIENS unplugged
20 Nov D-Berlin, tba. MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
22 Nov D-Hamburg, Nachthafen MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
24 Nov D-Bad Staffelstein, Linde MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
25 Nov D-Würzburg, Wunschlos Glücklich MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
26 Nov D-Fürth, Kofferfabrik MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
30 Nov CH-Thun, Mundwerk MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
3 Dec UK-Dover, Louis Armstrong Pub MÄKKELÄ
5 Dec UK-Bath, The Bell Inn MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
6 Dec UK-Glasgow, Mono MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
7 Dec UK-Stourbridge, Katie Fitzgeralds  MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
8 Dec UK-Brighton, Northern Lights  MÄKKELÄ & JANNE WESTERLUND
9 Dec UK-St Albans, The Farmers Boy  MÄKKELÄ & LOS CHICOS MUERTOS
12 Dec UK-London (Miles End), The Victoria  MÄKKELÄ
14 Dec UK-Winchester, The Railway  MÄKKELÄ & SCARLET SOHO
22 Dec D-Nürnberg, K4 Radio Z-Winterfest THE TRÈS BIENS
26 Dec D-Trier, Brunnenhof MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA
30 Dec D-Nürnberg, Schanzenbräu MÄKKELÄ & CLARK NOVA