This retrospective release features 3 songs recorded for the 2017 album ‘In Dreams We Fly’. The songs, which were not included on the original album, will be available to stream on all major platforms and also available to download on the band’s Bandcamp page from May 5th 2023.
Author: Journey of Song
Pavilion Set podcast with Simon Robinson-Po
It was a great pleasure to join my old Copter and Blue Aeroplanes bandmate Simon Robinson-Po on his Pavilion Set music podcast sofa. We started out with a reading from Patrick Duff’s new memoir, The Singer, and then riffed on many things Bristolian before embracing music beyond the southwest frontier. The show is an hour and a half long. I don’t have the timings but here’s the tracklisting:
The Singer – Former Strangelove frontman Patrick Duff reads an extract from his new memoir, followed by an extract from ’Sixer’, by Strangelove.
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Graceadelica by Dark Star
Way You Feel by Copter
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Earthquake by This Is The Kit
Help by Rozi Plain
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88 Out by The Blue Aeroplanes
Not With Standing by Get The Blessing
Money by Emily Breeze
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Goin Down South by North Mississippi Allstars
Nothin Too Much Just Out of Sight by The Fireman
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Don’t Hide by Frank Leone
WEAK by Bunny Hoova
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Helen is a Reptile by Jemma Freeman & the Cosmic Something
Backyard Skulls by Frightened Rabbit
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Salvador Sanchez by Sun Kil Moon
Note: Salvador Sanchez is from ‘Ghosts of the Great Highway’, not ‘Ghosts of the Western Freeway’, as I say in the podcast (I mixed up a Sun Kil Moon album with a Grandaddy album!)
Northern Country by Heidi Berry
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Dayligone – Reading about the Three Cane Whale song, from ‘Journey of Song’ by Shaun McCrindle
Dub-banjo Unreleased improvised live recording (excerpt) by members of The Blue Aeroplanes, c.2000 (taken from cassette). All rights reserved.
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Elin’s Photograph by Strangelove
The Kiss by Judee Sill
New Rock n Roll Angels album released
‘Life Lines’, the second album by Rock n Roll Angels, is now available to stream and download on Bandcamp and Spotify. Find out about the making of the album on my YouTube channel, here.
Bristol group Rock n Roll Angels return for a second collaboration with dBs Pro and experimental producer Jay Auborn.
‘Life Lines’ is a 7-track mini-album, featuring 5 songs tracing a life journey through gambling, debt, work, escape, and commitment. The songs were recorded in Bristol, at dBs Pro studios. Three of the tracks were then mixed live by Auborn, in St Michael and All Angel’s church, through a process known as ‘reamping’. The musicians’ performances were played out into the church space, through multiple speakers, and then captured with a single microphone to create binaural mixes for each song. The remaining four tracks were mixed at dBs Pro, using the church’s sampled reverb. You can watch videos about the recording process on the band’s website.
The cover artwork reflects the five stations of the ‘Life Lines’ journey, with each symbol signposting a song.
Released January 22, 2023
Credits
The musicians’ performances were recorded at dBs Bristol, during August and September 2021, by Giorgio Cortiana, Joe Valek, Charlie Griffee, Oliver Maddern, Oihenart Garai-Morales, and Jodie Norvell, featuring:
Shaun McCrindle – vocals, guitars, percussion
Jonathan Westrup – piano, backing vocals, percussion
James Anderson – upright bass, electric bass
Jamie Hill – drums
and
All songs Copyright Control 2022
Pete Judge-harmonium (track 1)
Pete Webber-lap steel guitar (track 2)
All songs written by Shaun McCrindle, except Full Time Woman (McCrindle/Anderson)
JOS at Bristol Balloon Fiesta
John Slattery joined me on bouzouki to perform a selection of songs from ‘Shaun McCrindle’s Journey of Song’ at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, on August 11th. The sound engineers took a recording from the mixing desk which I’ve uploaded to Soundcloud. You can hear it here: My favourite tracks from the performance were probably ‘Bedpost’ and ‘Speak’. Check it out – you may have a different favourite.
Rock n Roll Angels ‘Life Lines’ recording project with dBs Pro
Between August 2021 and July 2022, Rock n Roll Angels collaborated with Jay Auborn, at dBs Pro in Bristol, to produce a ‘mini-album’ called ‘Life Lines’. The project was conceived as a response to RnRA’s debut album, ‘Peaceful’, which was recorded live (mostly) in St Michael and All Angels church, on Windmill Hill, Bristol, in December 2017. Instead of recording ‘Life Lines’ live, we decided to record the songs in dBs studios and then mix them live in the church, through a process known as ‘reamping’. There are some short films about the project here.
Rock n Roll Angels to appear at Keynsham Music Festival on 3/7/22
After a COVID-induced hiatus, Rock n Roll Angels are looking forward to performing live again at this free festival in Somerset (England). You can find out more information about the event here. RnRA will be playing at 5pm on the Bandstand stage, on Sunday 3rd July.
‘A word from our sponsors..’
A short promotional ad made for the eBook launch, featuring a brief excerpt from the Glass Angel song, ‘Burning Calvary’.
March 2022 – eBook launch
On March 17th, I celebrated the publication of my songwriting memoir – ‘Journey of Song’ – by launching a bottled lyric of the first song I ever wrote, into the River Avon (in Bristol). Click on the link to watch the launch video, made with my daughter Grace.
March 2022 – Radio! Radio!
After recording the audio for Shozzo’s performance of ‘The Salt Path’, in October 2021, Joe Valek interviewed me on his Joe-to-go show, in March 2022. We talked about songwriting, Rock n Roll Angels’ Life Lines project and the Journey of Song memoir. Listen to the full show on Mixcloud here (track listing and timings in the photo) or on YouTube – in two parts – here.
October 2021 – Live recording
In October 2021, Shozzo – an acoustic trio comprising John Slattery on bouzouki, James Anderson on upright bass, and myself on guitar and vocals – performed a version of my song The Salt Path, at Windmill Community Centre, in Bristol. The performance was recorded by Joe Valek (audio) and Simon Snashall (camera and editing) and can be seen by clicking on the link.
Inspiration
I was inspired to write the song after reading Raynor Winn’s book ‘The Salt Path’, during the first Covid Lockdown of 2020. The book records an epic walk she and her partner undertook in 2013, along the 500+ miles of the southwest coastal path in the UK. This was no holiday! The couple had nowhere to live after they’d lost their house through a bad investment, so they decided to walk, and walk, and walk, camping each night wherever they could find a spot along the narrow confines of the rugged coastal path. They were out in the open air, with very little to survive on, for months. Critics described it as a “triumph of hope over adversity”.