Whoops nearly left that one two weeks, my apologies! The stress of the "day job" anchored me to the ground last week and that deflated feeling continued across the weekend BUT I do, of course, have good news!
You might have noticed there's a new quote on the front page... Jeremy Vine has listened to Geography! My initial reaction to this news was huh? What?! whaaa.... (and the baby like babbling continued for a considerable amount of time). I'm still in that place to be fair, swirling around in disbelief. Not really sure what will come of that but hey I have at least got a smashing quote now for the album so I'm pleased as punch :-)
On other mesmerising news I'm also confirmed now to be playing at Warwick & Broadstairs folk festival. Jaws upon the floor? Mine too. Ben's immediate response was to find pictures of expected turnouts, show them to me and calming say, "don't mess up." Thanks Ben ;)
So back to normality and I feel I should mention I saw Jackie Oates at the Queen's Theatre last week and her music completely calmed me down from the hysteria of the day job. It was like stepping into the land of ter-nah-nog and taking the deepest breath. I must admit I'm one of these people that never researches artists before meeting/listening to them. I'm not sure why, it could be laziness but I rather think if it's anything it's more of a 'I want to see for myself what they're like and not kiss-ass.' Anyway, needless to say Jackie was a pleasure to listen to and, to quote Depeche Mode, soothed my soul!
So onto the weekend and I am seeing Seth Lakeman perform at the Theatre Royal Saturday. Could not be MORE excited if I tried. This is probably the first time I've not learnt every lyric to a new album before going to see the artist, I'm actually ashamed to admit I don't have his new album 'word of mouth' but I have made a pact with myself to get it at the gig and Ben did at least download it onto his phone so we can brainwash ourselves on the way down to Plymouth. What I have heard though is as gorgous as ever and I am loving Portrait of my Wife so Saturday night should be brilliant.
Nothing much left to say then except that the covers are coming along nicely for the Halloween gig next wednesday and me and Nev (I think) have finally decided on our costume theme... apologies in advance....
See you soon!
Rose x
Well the fall is upon us and that can mean only one thing....
Time for a photoshoot! Don't worry I didn't wear my ill-fitting cowboy hat in the pictures - I'm pretty sure I can hear you all saying "oh!" in protest!
Yes I've had another busy weekend so I'm on the couch in my jammies giving you an update. I started Saturday with a half hour mandolin set outside Nature's Nutrition in Bideford. I'd been invited to play there in order to promote local music and namely 'Geography' so I felt very special indeed when I arrived and found a couch outside waiting for me. Amazingly the sun shone the whole way through - which left me roasting under my stylish black polo neck - and brought out the smile in me when I sang, "sing me another song Angie, bring in a little sunshine for me..." An Excellent start to the weekend and I really appreciated the amount of applause I got from passers by. One guy gave me a fiver, so thank you who ever you are 'cause that helped me get my weekly food shop! After that I had a smashing jam with Nevular for the Tapeley Halloween gig (October 29th). The whole set is pretty much Halloween-themed so we're working on lots of unusual songs and covers which is proving a nice challenge for me. I soooo want to share what they are but I'm going to try and be good and leave it as a surprise, you can tell I'm really looking forward to it.
Onto the dates then, sadly the Voice FM have had to postpone my performance on streetlive as the DJ has other commitments to address at the moment but he is keen to have me back and is keeping me posted on when it will be. I wish him all the best and hope to see him soon. I have another date to add to calendar for next year, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman have kindly allowed me to support them when they play at The Plough, Torrington on May 1st 2015 as well as when they play The Folk House, Bristol March 27th. I really should make it clear to them that I'm not trying to stalk them it just happened this way!
So lots to look forward to and of course today's photos to come :) Keep in touch!
Rose x
Okay so I promised you some gems in my last nugget of news so here we go. I'm actually, for once, just going to get straight to it! I have been given the incredible opportunity of supporting some amazing artists in the coming year - as if supporting Boo wasn't enough fun! I am pleased to confirm that I will be opening for Phil Beer in January at the Queen's Theatre and Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman at The Folk House in March. I know right... what?!!?! Honestly when I was told I nearly made a puddle. I'll probably write a song about that or include it as a lengthly metaphor for something... Seriously thought 2015 is looking pretty perky so far and I'm almost too excited!
But I shouldn't jump ahead just yet, I've still got Tapeley at the end of this month to look forward to. Practise began last night with the lovely Nevular; I've been calling Nev Nevular for as long as I've known him but I'm not sure whether I've done it to his face. You see I always throught of him as this cloud of otherworldy serenity and talent - get that for a description, I'm on fire today! - so anyway that guy from the Queen's, yes he'll be joining me :P We are working on some special covers to mark Halloween and, as ever, I'll be throwing in some brand new old tunes for your judgement - don't miss it!
So the name change is going well and the songs keep coming. Thank you for the new-page likers on facebook and the tweeters for hanging in there amidst the confusion! I'll bring you another update soon :-)
Rose x
Hello again!
Before I start with my usual waffle I just want to thank the readers of this blog for telling me they're reading it 'cause it really does make all the difference to know I'm not just waffling to myself ;)
Let's start with the weekend - boy was that knackering! I provided sound for a folk festival and found myself the most tired I have felt since Japan. I was actively trying to keep my mind active by knitting, which didn't help much as I'd miss a stitch or do the wrong one. It was very much like jetlag, and in that barely conscious state I found myself scribbling song sketches which I have since been developing on my Brook baby. One song came out though, during Douglas E Powell's set, almost as word vomit.
A complete song in the space of about a 2 minute song from Doug - which will automatically give you an idea of the basic song structure. Yes okay musician friends so it's the same chords all the way through, you should be used to this by now ;) I do like the lyrics though so watch out for "Will play," coming to a gig soon!
I saw a good chunk of local song-writing at the weekend that I had been continually missing for one reason or another - you know how it is, gigs always fall on those days when you're shattered/in the wrong town/working etc. But finally I had them all in one place! Har Har! So here's a list of people that blew me away: Small Town Jones, Scott Xander Linn, Douglas Powell & Kiera Osment. There were also some impressive cover acts - although the term cover acts doesn't do instrumentalist folkies, Jeroka, justice. They were incredible. Dogleg also blew my socks off so there we have it I had a knackering, windy-socks weekend.
At the weekend a cider-soaked friend approached me and said, " so what the ["ahem"] is with the name change?" Rather bluntly I replied, "It's my name." "Yeah but you hate your name Roseanne" "My name is Roseanna" "Oh...." He went on to ask why I did it and I explained that I didn't want people thinking I'm a band. "Oh that makes sense." Hooray!
I'm sure the questions will continue so I openly invite you to ask them and I'll answer them on The Voice FM October 16th 7:30pm as I'll be on street live promoting Geography and the new, old, me :)
On other notes 'Geography' is now available to buy at Nature's Nutrition in Bideford Mill Street and I'll be having a little play outside Saturday the 11th October to entice you to take a look inside. I've finally replaced Ben's awful anti-bacterial, plastic hand wash with some very affordable handmade soap from Nature's Nutrition. I've also invested in some awesome liquorice & Cinnamon tea from them in a bid to sort my throat and stomach out - the weekend has left it's mark!
So October is shaping up to be rather busy and I'm feeling a little out of shape so I think I'll pop the kettle on ;)
Rose x
Well not really a new name, it being my name and all, but it's a huge change and has meant a lot of fresh starts. So why? I hear you cry! Well, it was time to draw a line under Roholio and what better way to end her era than with Geography really. Although it is a goodbye to a name I've nurtured for eight years it is a fond farewell and has so far felt quite liberating. Maybe now I'll share some of those songs I thought too risky to be sung
under the umbrella of Roholio! And there are a fare few I can tell you. I suppose mostly it is leaving behind the assumptions that I am a band.... or Mexican/Spanish (sadly I am not). So really I guess I'm using my name now because I'm finally stepping out from the crowd and admitting I felt all these things that made these songs and I'm quite proud of them and what we've done and I don't need to hide behind other people anymore. I sort of proved that at the launch when I sang, what I consider, some dangerous songs (you go to my head & Speed spring to mind) but I am twenty five now and as my friends reminded me, it's not like I'm twerking on stage....
So there's an update for you! There are a few more to notify you of, some are absolute gems but I'll keep them to myself for now otherwise we'll have nothing to talk about in the slow winter months! Firstly I had a smashing time supporting Boo Hewerdine in Bristol and he was kind enough to give me a pretty nifty quote, "Rose is an exciting new talent. A fabulous singer, instrumentalist and writer. I saw her transfix an audience recently. Fantastic!!” What a lovely man :-) He had a very nice purple shirt on - as I was quick to point out and then quickly realised I sounded like I was sucking up - and delivered a hell of a set. Boo has a wonderful dry sense of humour and we spent any spare moments around the merch table or backstage larking around, pretty much at my expense (I do put my foot in it sometimes). I hope to catch Boo again and I am incredibly grateful he let me support him at the Folk House - what a great venue snuggled in between hobgoblin and a cafe? Amazing!
Last update for this post seeing as it's getting a bit long! I will be finishing my Roholio days at Tapeley Park, Instow on October 29th with a Halloween-themed set alongside Judith Christie & Ruth Harry. I just couldn't resist :-P After this gig any shows I do will go under my actual name so keep your eye out, I'm not done yet!
So a big thank you to the old and new fans, your continued support has made Geography possible. Here's to the next eight years as Roseanna!
Rose x
