It is time to post the finished ‘Village Kids’ video!

My Spring tour has sadly come to a close. I had such an amazing time playing in new places all over the UK and meeting some lovely people. I took lots of pictures and can’t wait to share some stories from my gigs and get out and play more & more!

I thought now would be a nice time to post something special to mark the end of the tour, to say thank you to the lovely people who came to watch me play and as a special treat for the ‘Village Kids’ lovers.

This has been months in the making and I am so happy with the finished video and I hope you like it as much as I do.

Thank you to Joseph Eckworth & Will Powers for taking the time to make this beautiful video for me! Please check out their other work and show them some much deserved appreciation.

I’d love to know your what you think and please share it!

With the help of some friends i’ll be putting on a little Village Fete in the summer where we will show the video in all it’s glory on a nice wall somewhere…

Love Samantha

Lots of exciting things happening with Blue Rose Code! (the band I sing backing vocals for)

Not only has the album, ’North Ten’, which we recorded last year, been released. It is also receiving lots of lovely reviews, a particularly special one from one of my favorite music blogs Instrumentali!

You can find ‘North Ten’ on listening posts in a record store near you or on Spotify, Amazon, Itunes…you know what to do.

Spotted, Rough Trade East

Also shaping up is a very busy Summer tour schedule! You can find all the dates HERE . I will hopefully be joining Ross for a few of these shows!

I have some new BRC songs in my inbox to start working on too…so, that’s exciting!

Roll on the summer…

S

x

To follow on from my previous post about James Yuill’s Pledge Music campaign…the album has now been released!

My very own copy was hand delivered to me last week! (Thank James!)

Funded by his fans, self produced & self released makes me feel extra proud to have been able to sing for James again!

You can hear me on ‘Just a Little Further’ & ‘Carrie’.

The album is available to stream for a limited time only on ClashMusic.com but make sure you buy it if you didn’t pledge in time!

Enjoy!

S

x

Last week I went over to James Yuill’s house to film acoustic versions of a couple of songs from his last album Movement in a Storm, that I sang backing vocals on.

You can watch us perform ‘Sing me a Song’ & ‘Foreign Shore’ by registering and pledging towards his forthcoming album, ‘These Spirits’ HERE.

I also sing backing vocals for Blue Rose Code and James did a lovely remix of ‘Whitechapel’…you can hear it on Soundcloud…enjoy!

Blue Rose Code – Whitechapel (James Yuill Loves Aphex Twin Remix)

I’m off to sing for the wonderful Jess Bryant tonight! HERE is the link to the event thingy….Maybe see you there!

Happy Friday & 1st of the month!

xx

We decided it might be nice to try and make a video for one of my songs. I let him choose and he decided on ‘Village Kids’.

He works with Will Powers who was a fellow film student. Supposedly, Will is the director, and Joe the cinematographer, but ultimately the video is simply a collaboration between two filmmakers. They set to work on this project late October and have been working hard since with very little input needed from me! They have got it pretty much spot on throughout and thankfully were happy for me NOT to star in the video!!

It is almost there and I could not be happier with what they have produced.
Here are a few stills from the video to wet your appetite!

Roll on the Wrap Party!

Check out the other work of these talented guys!

S
xxx

Grandad is doing well. He has put on the beef and can now mainly take care of himself, which was the main aim of my time here, along with some time out to look after myself, after a very hard few years.

Although I have faced challenges being 500 miles away from my friends, boyfriend and all things I know, I wouldn’t exchange this precious time I have had with him for anything I have given up, missed or lost in London.

‘All things that are meant to be will come right in the end’.

That is what Grandad says.

I have been able to enjoy being by the sea again and take in in the fresh air and breathe. Learn some things about myself, who I want to be and who I don’t want to be. I am returning home with a fresh set of ambition and ideals about the life I want and how I want to go about achieving that. Still a long way to go!

I have spent time making crafty things and writing letters to friends. I have been able to go out on long walks and jogs with Betty, my Greyhound, just for the sake of it!

I have watched loads of films and tv shows and read lots of books! I have become a Skype and social media whizzkid!

I have played records with Grandad and had a Domino tournament (which he won). We have laughed and cried together and we have sung and played together.  We have eaten Cake, ‘Stovies’ & ‘Slicey’ til it’s coming out our ears…I even painted the shed! I have done so many nice things here there is far too much to list! I have taken over 1000 photo’s so I will be able to remember all that I did.

One of the best bits of the time I have had here is being able to immerse myself in my music again, and letting my voice have a good rest from the hustle & bustle,late nights and pollution of the city. I have played my guitar loads and I have written so many words I can’t think of the melodies to put them alongside! All the long train journeys have given way to a note book full or lyrics waiting to find song…I feel creative and inspired in a way I never have and I am raring to go!

So what next? Who knows, but for once…I am not so scared and I feel excited to find out what is round the corner for me!

Few more weeks of some hard work to make everything into a good place for me to come ‘home’, wherever that is going to be!

02 Granny’s House

Below are some nice snaps from my time here…

This is a moment that sticks so clearly in my mind that since it happened, has gone on to shape me in a profound way.

I am sure I sang a lot before this day, I remember singing as a small child but something about this time was different from all the other times my pipes had given way to a blast of song.

We were all standing round the piano, huddled together into a choir of around 10 little voices, clutching our photocopied score’s to the song, which was, surprisingly enough, not one I was familiar with, ‘The Impossible Dream’ (Written for the 1965 musical Man of La Mancha). This is also, I believe, my earliest memory of singing in a group.

We all sang, but as we did, something swelled up inside me. I disappeared from the choir around me. All of a sudden, I was standing alone, in outer space.

I was singing with that melody and those words so strong and bold. It was the best thing i had ever heard (at that time) and a feeling I had never felt before. I was dizzy and everything was spinning but I felt so nice.

It felt like a bright light was coming out of my chest and filling up the space around me. My lungs let me go louder and I couldn’t believe the volume coming out of me, or the sheer enjoyment I could feel with the sound and sensation that was happening with every note I sang.

It was the greatest feeling I have ever had. I still, 21 years later, haven’t managed to quite match that feeling I got. It was like the feeling of not seeing the person you love for a long time then knowing you are just moments away from being reunited, but stronger still!

The lesson ended and the song was over but I was still spinning with excitement. This could not be over for me.

Mr Hirst (the best music teacher I ever had) could see it. He knew what had just happened to this little blonde girl standing before him. He saw the spark, the realisation, the passion that had just been born.

He said…

‘Samantha, seeing as it’s lunch time now and I have some time, would you like to sing it again?’

I sang it again and again until I was satisfied and I was ready to stop.

The rest is history….

Now as an adult I fully appreciate how important his part is in all of this was and I am grateful I was lucky enough to have a teacher who really loved teaching and went the extra mile. It helps when things are nurtured and encouraged no matter how ridiculous the dream or how unrealistic the goal.

How something as small as a spark can go from an impossible dream to real life and what someone goes on to enjoy everyday.

I know this is maybe a bit cheesy or over the top but finding my voice then having my voice makes me feel very lucky. It makes me feel better when times are hard. It makes me feel even happier when times are good and it can make others feel better too. I recently had the privilege to sing a beautiful bride down the aisle because of this voice. That is a moment in a lifetime that was shaped by my lungs and that makes me feel very proud and joyful.

Singing is so much a part of me and it all began when I was 6.

This photo was taken about 6 months before by my brother, Douglas. It was taken before I learned to sing…