My apologies for the delay in diary reporting – I arrived back from the US last weekend, promptly suffered from my usual jetlag/insomnia following an eastward flight, and have now just given myself another self-induced dose by staying up until 2.45 am to watch the UK election results. Dribbling into the office this morning, I discovered that I made it exactly as far into the night as Robert Fripp : we both felt that there was a point at about 2.45 when it became apparent that the mad/inaccurate/”I’ll eat my hat” exit poll from five hours previously was indeed reasonably accurate, so we could creep off to bed. High drama tinged with reality and significance – let’s hear it for politics as prime-time TV! (we’ll leave discussions of the consequences for another day.)
Good things continue to flow following my foray to the States. I shall undoubtedly be returning in the autumn, and will give plenty of notice so that any interested parties can help to fill my calendar. We have discovered that this works far more efficiently than an old world top-down approach. It has also become apparent that my specialist topic, which embraces my whole career and philosophy, is “The Uneasy Marriage between Music and Business” – coming to a bar/café/shop/college/house near you if you can propose a half-sober audience.
I received a wonderful email of support from Bill Bruford (who has long pointed out that all gigs now involve a significant amount of "pressing the flesh" afterwards) who approved of the fact that I had gone one step further and removed the troublesome bother of setting up a drum kit and playing a gig, and gone straight to the meet and greet!
I am also excited by various meetings with iTunes, Amazon and the Seattle braintrust, which will help to power us through the second half of the year. There’s just the minor inconvenience of having to write another book and finish another album. And I’ve signed up for at least seven of these. What’s more I’m really excited about it. I have even enticed Bobby Willcox, who last appeared on the Tantalizing Eyes single in 1994, to play a session or two. What can possibly go wrong?!
"Breathing is optional."
