The official home of Marty Willson-Piper
I’ll be returning to the cosy grip of Anekdoten, performing as the headlining act at the Chateau Villersexel in France on August 5th. This two day progressive festival under the eaves of the home of a real Baron and Baroness (Potet) has a history of famous visitors including Winston Churchill and Charles De Gaulle who were there to see early Progressive Rock bands from the forties. À bientôt!
rockauchateau.fr
Olivia and I will be playing at the Live Am See festival in Meschede tomorrow. “Live Am See” means Live By The Lake because…
What will be different from last year? Well, I wanted to play some obscure cover songs (not obscure to me and those that love them) like The Dolphins by Fred Neil and Blues Runs The Game by Jackson C. Frank. In the sixties talented singer-songwriters would often include contemporaries’ songs on their albums simply because they were great songs. The lack of ego benefitting the quality of the record. Donovan sang Buffy Sainte-Marie, Buffy Sainte-Marie sang Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan sang Gordon Lightfoot and Paul Simon, Fairport Convention sang Bob Dylan (as did many), Paul Simon sang Jackson C. Frank, Tom Rush sang Joni Mitchell, The Walker Brothers sang Tom Rush (a little later)…
Remembering the words is the only hurdle. I will also be seeing what it sounds like to play without a beard. See you there.
After a busy few weeks rehearsing and playing shows in Italy and Norway with Anekdoten I am finally reunited with my amazing wife Olivia in Cologne. I have been meaning to write about all these recent adventures (especially the incredible city of Rome) but alas I am going to Berlin tomorrow, seeing Jeff Beck at the Tempodrom next Tuesday and then off to Hamburg for 3 days before returning to the Cologne/Bonn area where I can hopefully settle down to some writing regarding recent events, adding the latest news from the In Deep headquarters including musical plans and upcoming projects before the next adventure blurs out the last. Now on the way to sit by the Rhine and watch the barges and contemplate the hazardous current to the chorus of 1000 blackbirds.
Anekdoten play in beautiful Bergen at the “Close To The Rain Festival” this Saturday, 9 June.
From 29 October 2006 to 21 January 2007, it rained for 85 consecutive days. Can you imagine? See you there and even though it’s June, I’d bring your umbrella.
It is with great sadness that I have to report that Mark Wilkin, Noctorum drummer, who played on the first three albums, was tragically killed in a motorbike accident on May 6th near Helston in Cornwall. It’s taken a while to report this as I didn’t really know how to say it. Mark was a lovely man with the poshest accent and although we hadn’t seen him recently due to the rather large gaps between recording Noctorum albums we will always remember him fondly and gratefully for his musicianship and good vibes. Condolences to friends and family.