GORDON GILTRAP February News - Lots of CDs and Concerts!!

It is now February and there is still no sign of it getting any warmer, unless you are going to the GG gigs in Malta! Hopefully the latest Gordon Giltrap news will help brighten the mood and warm the cockles of your heart.

The �Old Devil� has signed for Demon  Records.
Gordon reports, �As you know, over the last few years, the main bulk of my back catalogue and studio albums have been released through Rob Ayling's Voiceprint label.

Many of these albums have now become available for relicensing. To that end I'm delighted to say that several albums will be released in double album format with the wonderful Demon Records.

Demon are probably one of the most respected labels who specialise in this field and are co-owned by the BBC. The people there are a great bunch and have the utmost respect for this ageing acoustic guitarist / composer. They are indeed a joy to work with, and being based in the West End of London makes for a good excuse to visit the big city whenever the need arises!

The first of the releases scheduled for TODAY - February 1st will be Troubadour coupled with a live performance DVD of a concert I did a year or so back on the Isle of Wight at the Winter Gardens in Ventnor. The accompanying booklet contains never before seen photos from the Troubadour artwork sessions that Sue Martin took, along with photographs taken in the studio with Del Newman and a nice pic of Sir Cliff and I in the garden at Roger Bruce's house at the end of the Heathcliff run plus many more. The DVD contains pretty much all the material I have been playing live over the last couple of years including The Dodo's Dream with a bonus interview with Rodney Hearth, the guy who filmed the concert.

The second of the re- releases will be Music for the Small Screen coupled with The Solo Album. Once again these superbly packaged albums contain never before seen photos from my personal collection.

I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am to be associated with a first class label such as Demon who have gone to great lengths to make sure these albums are packaged to the highest possible standard. My thanks go to Val Jennings and all at Demon for their hard work and care with these precious (to me) albums.

Scheduled for the coming year will be in no particular order:
The Peacock Party / Airwaves.
Under This Blue Sky / Drifter.
Elegy / A Midnight Clear.
On A Summers Night / Drifter (the live CD).
Remember This / Janschology.

Each of these albums will probably have additional bonus tracks and even more unseen photographs and memorabilia. I'm certain that many of the archive pics contained therein will raise a smile! I also hope to unearth even more archive material to see if it is worthy of re-release!�

More info here:
http://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=4919 (Troubadour   Live At Ventnor Winter Gardens) (T LAVWG)  

http://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=4920 (Music For The Small Screen   The Solo Album) (MFTSS   TSA)
 
You can get the new items at �7.99 each by shopping around, one from HMV, one from Amazon. The cheapest place we have found to get the two together is HMV:

From HMV:
http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;1;-1;-1;-1&sku=312379
(MFTSS   TSA �7.99)

http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;1;-1;-1;-1&sku=312384 (T LAVWG �8.99)


from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Troubadour-Live-Ventnor-Winter-Gardens/dp/B0034C24QE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1264417230&sr=1-1 (T LAVWG �7.99)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Small-Screen-Solo-Album/dp/B0034C26G2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1264417230&sr=1-2
(MFTSS   TSA �11.99)

Preview artwork for future re-releases can be seen at: http://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/SearchResults?SearchType=Artist&SearchText=giltrap&Submit=Go


Shining Morn Tour Dates Announced
Gordon continues, �Selected dates in April, May and June of this year will form part of a major theatre tour that I shall embark on throughout the UK. It will be under the banner of  �The Shining Morn� tour to promote my brand new double album on Floating World Records  http://www.floatingworldrecords.co.uk/

The tours promoters are my friends David and Andy from Beyond the Barricade, whose company is called Smart Move Productions. This will be the first time in years that I have done a tour of this nature. The presentation will be a little different, with the inclusion of back projection and a well thought out lighting plot along with my own personal sound man to guarantee the best sound possible!

I shall of course be featuring new material from the album along with all your old favourites, plus at least eight guitars on stage with me! Even though this is a theatre tour I still want to maintain that element of fun and intimacy which as you know has become a hallmark of my concerts over the years.

I sincerely hope you can make one or even SOME of these dates as it will be a joy to see you there! Have a look at the dates below to see if there is a concert near you.�
29th April, Thursday Theatre Royal, Wakefield
30th April,  Friday Lighthouse, Poole
1st May,    Saturday Trinity, Tunbridge Wells
4th May,    Tuesday The Pavilion, Worthing
5th May,    Wednesday Camberley Theatre, Camberley
6th May,    Thursday Prince of Wales Theatre, Cannock
9th May,    Sunday The Capitol, Horsham
12th May,  Wednesday The Civic Theatre Doncaster
13th May,  Thursday The Castle Theatre, Wellingborough
26th May,  Wednesday St David's Hall, Cardiff
27th May,  Thursday Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon
4th June,   Friday Malvern Theatre, Malvern
13th June, Sunday City Hall, Salisbury

For a look at the tour poster go to: https://www.giltrap.co.uk/images/resources/giltrap2977-2414.jpg

Classic Rock Society Awards.
Our Classic Rock correspondent (Gordon) reports, �On the 16th of this month Hilary, myself along with Cath and Geoff Olner attended the awards night for the Classic Rock Society held in Rotherham at the Montgomery Hall. I was recently asked to be a patron of the Society and felt it a privilege to be asked to present these stunningly beautiful glass awards to obviously very deserving artists.

The evening kicked off with a good set from singer Anne Marie Helder followed by the presentations. Me being me I didn't think it enough just to stand there, open an envelope and say " the winner is" so I sort of went into funny story mode and it appeared to raise a few laughs.�

And the winner is��. A list of award winners can be found on the February News update on the website https://www.giltrap.co.uk/index.php?page=news&category=General News&display=2380

Purcell Rooms
It�s Gordon again, �In all honesty I was expecting the evening to have been a disaster! Tickets sales were slow, the weather was seriously against us, many people including our webmistress Sue and husband Mike along with friends Jacqui and Larry and Mike Stranks had to cancel because of the snow. Imagine my surprise and delight that by show time we had filled 284 seats!

The evening kicked off with a superb set from Virginia (Luque). The great lady had travelled from New York just for this one show, so a lot was depending on a reasonable turnout. She brought with her on this trip her irreplaceable Hauser guitar built in the 1930's and valued at a quarter of a million dollars. Indeed she made it sound like a million dollars with her passionate and virtuoso playing. At the end of her performance the audience gave her a standing ovation. I was almost in tears witnessing this. It all came good in the end.�

(Fan Review of the evening by Keith Meredith can be found at: https://www.giltrap.co.uk/index.php?page=bio&category=Fan_Reviews&display=2304 . Thanks Keith!)

Gordon continues, �My thanks go to Martin Snodin for promoting the concert. Paul Policarpou and Mollye Brown, Beverly from the New York Guitar salon. Hilary (of course) Paul Fowles for attending and reviewing the concert for Classical Guitar magazine and to you dear audience for attending an evening that was for me very memorable.

There are plans afoot for Mr Snodin to promote a Four Parts Guitar concert this year at this outstanding London venue.�

FOUR Parts Guitar
If you were not aware, Three Parts Guitar are now FOUR Parts Guitar, with the inclusion of the wonderful Clive Carroll. In December, Clive Carroll, John Etheridge, Ray Burley and Gordon had a meeting with their agent to make plans for 2010.
The plan is for the quartet to record an album, and then to do concerts as and when they appear. They had thought about setting aside a specific period to tour, but thought it far better to do the concerts throughout the year.

Gordon says, �I am personally quietly excited at the prospect of working with indubitably three of the finest guitar players currently working in the UK. The fact that we happen to be good friends is the icing on the cake, and will without doubt reflect in the music we will produce and perform in the future.�

Many of you will know of each of these outstanding musicians reputations and past history. For those who would like to know more have a look at their various websites.
http://www.clivecarroll.co.uk/       http://www.raymondburley.com    http://www.johnetheridge.com/

There are some very good new videos on YouTube of 3 Parts Guitar in Buxton, videoed by Harold Houldershaw. Use this link to get to Down The River, then you will be able to get to the other videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tykIzaIYaLA&feature=channel

Also in the February News Update on the website, you will find details of Gordon�s New Guitar and Bill Leader's 80th birthday party.
Gordon enthuses, �Ordinarily I wouldn't be mentioning a birthday party in the newsletter but this one was a bit special for a very special human being. His name is Bill Leader, and way back in 1966 he discovered a young guitarist / singer / songwriter called Gordon Giltrap. It was through Bill that I signed to Transatlantic Records which way back then was THE label to be with.  Bill was a VERY important person in the fast growing folk and blues movement in the UK in the early sixties. For example Bill produced the very first Bert Jansch album! As if that wasn't enough he went on to produce John Renbourn's first album and many more artists who are today household names!�

Here's to Bill Leader and for many more Happy Returns.

Vintage Photos
�Finally mention should be made of a great couple we met. Brian and Sal Shuel. Brian was the man who photographed the main bulk of the artists who recorded for Transatlantic Records including of course yours truly! Sal did the designing and Brian the photos and between them created in my opinion some of the most iconic album covers of the period including of course that first release by my dear friend Bert Jansch. They run a superb photo library where you can register and look at some VERY early GG pics and many more artists and images at http://www.collectionspicturelibrary.co.uk/ �

You might, if you haven�t already, also want to check out the January News Update on the website which features articles on Rick Wakeman's Christmas Concerts at which Gordon was a special guest, mutual admiration between Gordon and guitar maker Roger Williams and Gordon�s Foreword to Del Newmans book - A Touch From God  https://www.giltrap.co.uk/index.php?page=news


Upcoming GG Events
January, 2010
28 Thursday Worcester   Huntingdon Hall
February, 2010
6 Saturday Valletta Malta   Manoel Theatre
7 Sunday        Valletta Malta   Manoel Theatre
19 Friday        Ireby, Cumbria   Village Hall
20 Saturday Stockport, Cheshire   Guildhall
27 Saturday Yarnfield Stone, Staffs   Village Hall
March 2010
5 Friday        Edgbaston   High School For Girls
6 Saturday Edgbaston   High School For Girls   WORKSHOP
7 Sunday        Hatch End, Middlesex    Harrow Arts Centre
                        Workshop with Gordon (Part of TommyFest) 5pm
                       Hatch End, Middlesex    Harrow Arts Centre
                        Guest of Tommy Emmanuel  (Part of TommyFest) 8pm
12 Friday        North Wingfield Chesterfield,  Community Resource Centre
13 Saturday Stanton (Nr. Ashbourne), Staffordshire   Gilbert Sheldon Hall
19 Friday        Sheffield   The Boardwalk
20 Saturday Bulkington, Warwickshire   Bulkington Village Centre
26 Friday        Chelmsford, Essex    Cramphorn Theatre
27 Saturday Shilton, Warks   St Andrews Church PCC

Full details of these and other gigs on the website https://www.giltrap.co.uk/index.php?page=calendar

Thanks as ever to Gordon, Hilary and Sue for all the info and assistance. Dave VW.