Anwyn Williams Music

Sunday, 7 April 2013

The BIG Announcement Week

Hello there!

I'm sure most of you follow me on Facebook and Twitter already and are therefore aware of what my big announcement was, but just in case you don't (and because I am incredibly pleased and excited about it...), I was thrilled this week to announce that I will be going on tour with the fantastic Emily and the Woods as a support act, along with Sam Brookes. The tour will see us play in York, Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield and Nottingham from the 17th - 21st of June. Like I've said many times this week via social networking sites, I am so very happy about this opportunity and a big thank you must go to NA Music for making it all possible! There are many more details over here!

Right, so now all that excitement is out of the way let's get down to business! After my regular stint at the Golden Fleece open mic night on Monday I was feeling a whole lot healthier and very ready for Tuesday night's gig at Rescue Rooms. I was very excited about playing in such a well established local venue and it certainly didn't let me down, I even had a dressing room backstage! (that may have made my day a little bit!) Anyway, once I'd managed to tear myself away from my lovely, comfy sofa and TV, I performed a half an hour set in the Red Rooms area of the venue which was really fun, I got to throw some new stuff out there to an almost completely new crowd which is always a nice experience. I shared the bill with Samuel P, Them Balloons and Minimum who all made me feel super old - and I'm only 21! These young guys are all very talented, I was particularly impressed by Samuel P who kind of reminded me a little of Ed Sheeran. I really enjoyed the indie vibe Them Balloons were going with and I could really see their potential. The headliners, Minimum, really worked the crowd while the heavier sound isn't my genre of choice I really felt that they were brilliant musicians.

Writing my dissertation has been a priority for the majority of the rest of the week. I have finally reached the point where I am writing about music now which is making it much more enjoyable. Not that it wasn't enjoyable before, I love researching about feminism and music and now that I have a clearer idea about my topic I'm looking forward to completing it! As it is a music related dissertation I'll probably talk at more length about it on here at some point, but I'll save it for now...

After a week of being a hardcore student (the boring writing bits, not the fun drunk stuff), I had a musical weekend! It began on Friday evening at the Lacehouse in Nottingham where I was drafted in at short notice by a friend to play a set. I love the Lacehouse, it's a lovely place and the NTU Music Society are hoping to do some more work with them (although the end of term and university in general for me is fast approaching!) Watch this space! The fantastic Agnes Bella, who seems to have obtained my cough, and Michael Stott were also on hand for some entertaining entertainment and fun was had by all!

On Saturday I got to do a road trip for the first time in a little while, albeit only a little way down the road to Derby. I played at Book Cafe which was another venue that I was very impressed with. I'd never been there before but it was incredibly cute and quirky, plus you can never complain when you get paid in pizza - very, very good pizza might I add...

So that's been my week! Not especially busy and with my deadlines looming I expect the old guitar will have to take a backseat again soon but I'm having fun I suppose... Besides, all my studenty friends that abandoned me for the Easter break are slowly returning to Nottingham so I've got plenty to look forward to!

Have a lovely week everyone!

Love y'all!

Anwyn :) x

PS - you may not know this about me but I quite like football, so here's a little clip of something that made me pretty happy this week... Now we wait and see how everyone else gets on today, these next few weeks are bound to get interesting!

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Sunday, 31 March 2013

Not so Much of a Happy Bunny

Happy Easter folks!

I'm still powering through a horrible cough this week, but thankfully as you're reading this online I don't have to apologise for my constant coughing fits (which has been a problem on stage this week...)

I kicked it all off this week at the Maze (after a whole weekend in bed). I was playing for their Notts in a Nutshell night and as the solo act I was first to take the stage! It was my first time playing at the Maze, which is kind of one of those places you have to play at least once if you're based in Nottingham. Unfortunately, I wasn't up to my best standards what with the poorliness but managed to pull two newbies out of the bag to a very receptive crowd. Before I headed home (via the Golden Fleece open mic, of course) I caught a set by a band called HotBox. I was really impressed by these young guys, they've got a really cool sound and although the covers they played were all songs I already love, their original stuff was what sold me... I'm looking forward to hearing more!

I was back on bed rest/dissertation duties for the next couple of days after being informed that I am 'banished' from my hometown until I finish it... I was really gutted this week that I have had to cancel two gigs due to being unwell, I'm not a happy bunny (Easter joke, get it!?). So I'd just like to apologise to Monk in Matlock and Verve in Leeds for having to pull out of things this week, I really hate cancelling gigs but this week has just been a total write off. I did however manage to finish a song, stay tuned...

I did manage to squeeze one more gig out of the week on Saturday in West Bridgford. Despite being still very ill, it was a really fun experience. It was just me playing covers all night and it was kind of nice to take a break from my songs for the evening and pay tribute to some of my faves! Also, the crowd were amazing!

So, it's back to bed for me... I'm feeling a little better today but still not 100%, hopefully I'll have made a full recovery by Tuesday for my gig at Rescue Rooms (message me via Facebook for tickets). I'm sure the new season of Game of Thrones will help with this... :)

Enjoy the chocolate!

Love y'all

Anwyn :) x

LINKS

Sunday, 24 March 2013

R&R: Rock n' Roll vs Rest and Recuperation

Hello everybody!

I was back to my busy-bee ways at the start of this week, following a very fun St Patrick's day at the Salutation Inn with music from Satnam's Tash, I was back to my own music on Monday with an NA Music gig at Jam Cafe in Nottingham. I opened the night (powering through this disgusting cold I have...) and shared the bill with The Retrospectives, Wolf Club and Proper English Gentlemen. I was very impressed by all the acts that played, in particular The Retrospectives, who played a more stripped back set than usual and completely smashed it!

I ended Monday night at the Fleece (who's surprised?!) and later back at my lovely friend Nikola Neumanova's flat for some all night jamming with our wonderful musical friends Michael Stott, Agnes Bella and Yasmin Issaka. It was pretty much a perfect night in...

Tuesday was a back-on-the-road day; I had another NA Music gig, this time at the Basement in York for the first time since the tour which was rather exciting! I love York, it's such a beautiful place and my second time at the Basement was great, with other support sets from the young and talented Harley Daniels and Shannon Cole. Headlining was Toby Burras, otherwise known as Unfinished Drawings. With a super smooth voice and really unique guitar playing he really blew the crowd away, I especially liked his cheeky little cover of Kelis' Milkshake... that was impressive!

I was on Music Society presidential duties by Wednesday as myself, Agnes Bella, Matt Gold, Max Hammond and Michael Stott played at The Point, Nottingham Trent's student's union bar in Clifton, for their Real Ale and Cider Festival. It was a really enjoyable evening and we're definitely hoping to do more work with NTSU and hopefully put on some more live shows over in Clifton, so watch this space!

Since Wednesday I've spent a lot of quality time with my bed trying to shake this cold/cough that wants to ruin my life (also because who needs this much snow in England in March?)... But at least that's meant I've had a fair amount of time to do bits and pieces on my dissertation, at last. I opted to take this approach... yes, it's a bit Carrie Mathison from Homeland, but I am probably going to go slightly crazy before I get this beast of a project handed in so it seems pretty justified.

Just quickly, resting in bed tends to have a fair bit of social media attached to it these days, so here's something I came across that you should check out. If you like The Smiths, a rare demo of them in their early years appeared on YouTube this week... give it a listen, the sound quality is pretty poor but it's cool, and it's a little bit of musical history! Find out more on NME.com.

Have a nice Sunday everyone!

Love y'all

Anwyn :) x

PS - 2 new songs completed this week and at least 2 almost there... stay tuned!

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