Rainy and The Dust

Music from Singer Songwriter Rainy

Behind the blue

Cover photo : Sunrise over Nusa Lembongan taken from the east coast of Bali in 2008.

Cover photo : Sunrise over Nusa Lembongan taken from the east coast of Bali in 2008.

It had been eight years since I'd stepped foot on the island of Nusa Lembanogan off the east coast of Bali in Indonesia. A whole life had seemingly passed before me in that time as I ventured out into the dim early morning light. Six months previous to this trip I had endured the trials of spinal surgery after being bedridden for many months before that. This was my first long haul flight since my operation and I still felt vulnerable and cautious to push my body. Medication had taken away my coordination to sing and play an instrument during those months and I had recently reconnected with my dear old friend songwriting. To return to a place is to acknowledge what has been as much as it is to reconnect. Change is inevitable. I write and think about change a lot nowadays. It's a theme that features heavily on my new album Fell For The World. With an increasing fascination I've grown to be ever more comfortable and familiar with impermanence.

I love words. Music and lyrics have always coexisted for me as a songwriter. Words usually introduce themselves as phonetic sounds to begin with. A verbal dance with the music that’s unfolding. Following a stream of conscience like this is where I'm happy as a writer. Perhaps it is for this reason that I've always loved obscure lyrics. It is this obscurity that often draws me deeper in. Suddenly out of the swirling depths comes clarity: a word; a line or couplet that cuts through and stands crystal clear. 

The scrambling mystery that follows a twist of words as you absorb, process and interpret a new combination of elements reminds me that we often crave these fresh experiences. There is a fluidity between writer and listener. A space where interpretation and projection coexist. A place where all who care to immerse themselves are welcome. An open place of no wrong conclusions. I love that obscurity. It is for this very reason that I've always hesitated to explain my intentions behind lyrics and meanings of songs. Believing that the journey of a song and of sound itself is only completed, and to some extent only really exists, when it reaches the listener and they invite it in. Much like a rainbow only exists when the angle of light hits the eye of the observer ( see previous blog post ). 

Sometimes a song arrives with such clarity and ease that it's immediacy can throw you. It can cause you to doubt yourself for a moment. Once you've established that it isn't a song that has already been written after all, and that it's familiarity is not because you’ve heard it before, but rather that a pattern has emerged from this swirling intricate life that resonates in that particular moment. You suddenly find yourself in the right place, connected, awake and in the flow.

I sat down to write later that morning. My wandering had revealed changes on the island that now sat awkwardly in me. Plastic pollution had started to gather at various points on the islands beaches and in the forests where eight years ago there had been none. My heart ached and my conscience cried out in silent guilt over the changes that our modern world had brought to this paradise. Many other similar experiences had gathered in me while traveling over the years. Deep within the forest a yellow Oriole’s call echoed as I stumbled upon the opening melody. I vowed to myself that this song would only exist to give back in some way. A reminder that, although change is the most fundamental nature of existence, we can learn, respond and interact with that change with compassion, wisdom and love. 

All proceeds from the sale and streaming of Still Here will be donated to The Ocean Clean Up indefinitely.

As most folks tend not to buy or download music anymore there are two other ways you can contribute. If you listen to music through a streaming service like Spotify or Apple Music then please follow this link to your preferred streaming site and add the track to a playlist or share it around on social media. As small a gesture as this sounds, It still all goes to helping raise money to clean our oceans and rivers.

If you are inspired to give more than £3 for a download then please follow this link directly to The Ocean Clean Up’s website donation page and make your donation.

Still holding on to the rhythm

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it had been a while.....

In all the excitement of recording my new album ( announcements to follow soon I promise ) some part of me quietly acknowledged that it has been 10 years since I recorded Hold on to the rhythm....

....TEN YEARS!

I am forever grateful to everyone who has stumbled upon this album. I am still really proud of these tunes and at the same time deeply humbled by how these songs have been embraced over the years. They have carried me far and wide to beautiful places and enabled me to meet beautiful people. I can't express how grateful I am to everyone who has danced and sung along at shows and let these tunes into their worlds. You are the momentum and life that fuels these songs to endure the years and stay present and alive. 

Thank you!

Front Cover of Hold on to the rhythm - An amazing piece of Spalted Maple courtesy of Paul Hinds over at Hobbit House Inc

Front Cover of Hold on to the rhythm - An amazing piece of Spalted Maple courtesy of Paul Hinds over at Hobbit House Inc

"I just want to lift you up..."

It was just after the millennium had rolled through and we were all still here. The world hadn't ended, despite the warnings of computer systems malfunctioning worldwide. It would be another 12 years before such paranoia would strike again and for the moment life had returned to normal.

I had been living in Wales for a few years playing with my band Little Gaia. We had trodden the coast road for many months playing bars, surf clubs, and festivals.

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...and I find myself knowing...

"...and I find myself knowing the things that I knew. Which is is all that you can do on this side of the blue.." Joanna Newsom

I have often found myself saying that you rarely learn things just once.  It is not entirely true of course as some things are so profound that they stay with you from the moment you experience them.  It is just such an experience, along with the return of life's usual routines, that drew me to write this blog post. At the very least it serves as a reminder for me to recall the lessons I had learned through this period of my life; lessons and truths that helped me recover from a painful operation and something I'm determined never to forget.

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