This looks nice http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/performance/18786.aspx

Sandy Denny homage gig on Mon 28th May at Bridgewater hall, Manchester. MD and several of the band are from Bellowhead, plus the mighty Jerry Donohue on gtr. Singers inc Thea Gilmore, Joan "as Policewoman" Wasser, and Matt "Maddy" Prior now that he's no longer detained in Dubai

I believe Mr Ellen and I have something in commmon as we both set out to have a dry January. I almost caved in before I'd even started as the British Liver Trust pronounced that a month long detox was a waste of time. The last few times I tried this I gave up far too easily, telling myself that I don't drink that much anyway, and so why was I denying myself the simple pleasures inherent in my mantra of "moderation in all things, missus". It's not helped by the fact that my birthday is near the end of January

But as it happens I got through January without any problem, other than my birthday meal out being a tad subdued. I'm not in any great rush to restart, to be honest

Having said all that, it's probably just as well that I didn't attend the NW Mingle in Liverpool

Is anyone else in a similar boat? Why do you do it, and to what extent do you benefit?

My GLW and our Daughter in Law were chatting yesterday about our respective family Sunday catering arrangements. DiL said "Now that Dancing on Ice is on.."

I mistakenly thought she said "Now that Downton on Ice is on.."

Then it occurred to me. That can't be very far away can it? Monkey Tennis anyone?

New Unthanks tour announced http://www.the-unthanks.com/tour-dates

It's "paired down" apparently. Does that mean 2 of them aren't there any more?

The Meeting Peter Green thread has a link to wikipedia re the new Fleetwood Mac box set. A quick perusal threw up the name Johnny Almond. "Blimey" sez I, "Mark-Almond! What ever happened to them?"

Does anyone else remember this? Mark played acoustic guitar, quite latin jazz styled, and Almond played a wistful sax. They had Tommy Eyre on electric piano and Roger Sutton on bass, which may well have been fretless. Mark and Almond were in the first incarnation of John Mayall's acoustic look-ma-no-drummer line-up

I had their first album on vinyl and had completely forgotten about it until I saw Johnny Almond's name just now. I think I bought it on the strength of one bossanova-ish track that got played a lot on the hip radio shows of that time. I can't even remember if the album as a whole was any good. I guess not, or I'd have replaced it on CD. They're not on Spotify so I can't refresh my memory

As far as I know, no connection with the tattooed bloke who wails with Soft Cell. Wiki says Johnny Almond died in 2009 in san Francisco, and Jon Mark makes new age music in New Zealand

Incidentally I remember said John Mayall line-up being roundly criticised after their first visit to Belfast on the grounds that they were a) acoustic and b) had no drummer

I guess they're not the first longstanding firm to go bust but it seems a shame. I'm intrigued as to why Robin Campbell and Earl Falconer aren't in the same boat http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15348236

I got an email from a major client yesterday saying that they were reviewing some procedures because they weren't compliant with the corporate risk appetite

It struck me that the Corporate Risk Appetite Protocol could be the acronym we've all been waiting for

and I didn't mean "Corporate Risk Appetite - TMFTL" although it's certainly a contender

My colleague wondered if it might sit nicely alongside their Strategic Hierarchy Initiative Template

Oh come on, it's Friday for heaven's sake!!

I posted last week that I'd seen the Zac Brown Band headline the opening day at Merlefest 2011, and playing a version of Van Morrison's Into the Mystic. They were terrific, and played a 2 hour set that suggested they were a road-hardened unit who are currently at the top of their game

They are playing a few UK dates in June; Hyde Park with the Kings of Leon, and a show at the Shepherds Bush Empire

Just look at how easy they make this cover version seem, played considerably faster than the original hit. Guest fiddler Casey Dreissen (in the red suit) is a phenomenal player but regular fiddler Professor Brian Cox ain't no slouch either. The band boasts 2 very good electric guitarists, both of whom can play keyboards to an impressive standard. Zac occasionally plays a Les Paul but mostly plays a nylon strung guitar. But he can hold his end up, so to speak; watch him tear off a few breakneck runs towards the end of this

Here's a thing - on Thursday 28th April I was at Merlefest in North Carolina, with my 2 pals (all 3 of us brought up in Belfast) watching opening night headliners The Zac Brown Band. Currently very big in the States, they were terrific, as good a live performance as I've seen for a long time. Towards the end of a 2 hour set Zac introduces a song he's written about an experience watching the sun rise on a mountain top in Australia. There follows a song incorporating a bit of an Aboriginal stylee chant. The big screen camera then focuses on Zac playing his nylon strung guitar as he sings "We were borne before the wind, all so younger than the sun..." and there is a collective sigh as people recognised Van Morrison's Into the Mystic

Fast forward 11 days to last night where I'm at Bury Met with the GLW to see Mary Gauthier. On comes opener Ben Glover who turns out to be a Northern Irishman now living in Nashville and writing with Mary G amongst others. He was pretty good, with nice guitar style, often using non-standard tunings. On his last number he had reverted to standard tuning and in the middle he stopped singing, kept strumming and said "Any Van Morrison fans in the house?" A mild ripple from the audience. "This one's for the 11 of youse"

I don't know how this happened; I must have just sensed it from the rhythm and the strum pattern but I nudged the lovely Mrs Black
and whispered "he's going to do Into the Mystic", and he promptly did

What's that all about?

I had the pleasure of meeting Beany for the first time on Friday night when I spotted his presence at the Thea Gilmore gig at Bury Met. My wife and I only had a few minutes to chat with him after the show but we talked some top nonsense between us including coming up with the fantastic factoid that Natasha Kaplinsky's father wrote "The Bear Necessities"

I think I can safely say that not a lot of people know that

It's more likely that you might know the lady in question was Eliza Gilkyson. We got there in the end via the scenic route: Natasha Kaplinsky -> Lucy Kaplansky -> Eliza Gilkyson

These lads from Donegal & Cornwall have just signed to Cara Dillon's label and are currently opening for Sara Watkins. I was one of about 50 punters at Bedford on Saturday night where this was taken. The Promoter introduced them with an unneccessarily brutal "I've never heard of them, let's see what they're like" but they just seemed happy to be playing to an attentive audience; at one point Joe said they mostly play in crummy bars with a few people who watch the golf on TV throughout

They opened with a spot on version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Kathy's Song" and kept up a good standard throughout. Marty (on the left) told me he plays guitar, bass and piano but is currently enjoying the S&G one-guitar-and-harmonies stylee

It's not YouTube so I hope this link works http://www.clevercaptures.com/Music/Winter-Mountain/Winter-Mountain-Vide...

This is great; sorry about the advert at the start

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelvideo/8036431/Airline-hopes-Lady...

A member of the Word Massive is namechecked in this article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8014008/Sarah-Kennedy-I-wa...

I wouldn't imagine he's overly pleased, or would the well-known newsreader named in the article. For what it's worth, our Massive colleague has my sympathies for having to suffer such goings on at close quarters

I've just had an email from somebody called Magazione saying they want a word in my ear. Should I be worried? Is there a horse's head involved?

New in at #20 in the official UK album charts - Dream Attic by the mighty Richard Thompson