Tour & EP Release Details ...

A happy new year indeed !

We're barely into 2014 and yet it's already shaping up to be quite a year ... and to celebrate such niceness I'm going to release an EP, and you're the first to know about it ... It Ain't Easy / My Life will be released on March 5th !  And it will feauture 4 songs, original artwork and will travel around the country with me in its physical format whilst being available from all good digital outlets and some rubbish ones as well.



You can listen to what I've put out there for free on YouTube, there's plenty more videos to come too !
Also, SoundCloud seems to be becoming a busier place ...
 

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Mini-Tour of the East Midlands
Halfway through this too, and I've added a few new dates ...

January
Saturday 11th - Twenty Ten, Matlock
Tuesday 14th - Pepper Rocks, Nottingham
Friday 17th - The Musician, Leicester
Saturday 18th - The Donkey, Leicester
Sunday 19th - Brew Dog, Nottingham
Saturday 25th - The Cookie Jar, Leicester
Friday 31st - The Old Bell, Derby
February
Saturday 1st - The Apiary, Castle Donington
Friday 7th - The Musician, Leicester
Saturday 8th - The Bella Jar, Sheffield
Thursday 13th - The Dog & Gun, Syston
Saturday 15th - The Shed, Leicester
 

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More Press Features ...
I did an interview with a lovely fella from Sound Cavern ...
And Now Tune In did a little feature and an interview ...
My shows in Nottingham have been reviewed by Nottingham Live and LeftLion ...
Plus you might want to have a gander at these ...
The Monograph Interview
Subba Culture Feature
Leicestershire Music Interview
Demon FM Interview
 

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Other Stuff ...
My cat has gone a bit viral, I don't really know why but people have joked about him becoming more popular than me, and now I'm started to believe it ... check the furry little Tippy The Cat for yourself.

More blogs to come, including a brand new feature 'Things I Like' which is all about, you guessed it, Things I Like!
Remember keep clicking Follow, Like, Share, ReTweet and Share again, just for good measure.

And we've put a video diary together encapsualting Matt Henshaw & ReggiiMental's B-Boy Soul Adventures in 2013 to celebrate 1 year of Coming Around ... Enjoy !



Peace, Love & Tea !
MHx
http://www.MattHenshaw.com 
 

Things I Like ... Anthony Browne's 'Things I Like'

Welcome to a new regular blog feature, Things I Like ... each week, or every now and then whenever I damn well feel like it, I'll be telling you about some things that I like. It's as simple as that really. Music goodness will come headed with 'Matt Henshaw Recommends ...' and gardening will be covered in 'Henshaw's Horticultural Blog' but I have so much love, energy and positivity right now that I want to share it with the rest of the world.

As this is the first blog I'd like to share with you the inspiration behind the name for it, and my favourite book as a child, and still my favourite book now. I often go back and read its twelve pages from time to time just to remember being a little monkey and how much I enjoyed hide and seek, being with my friends and going to parties.

As an introduction to reading, this book can't be matched, the illustration, simplicity and positivity it encapsulates is second to none, and it's definitely the reason I got into animals, monkeys and, probably later down the line, Oasis and Supergrass, perhaps. I'll put the onus down to my mum who's purchases of this, Sainsbury's First Atlas and Sainsbury's Children's Encyclopedia one afternoon doing the family big shop set me up for life as an inquisitive little monkey. Still am just that, only a little bigger than I was back then.

Also, this book serves as an inspiration for the forthcoming 'Tippy The Cat Stories' Level 1 reading series ... but I'll tell you more about that when the time comes.

Peace & Love,
Matt Henshaw x

PS. keep listening, EP coming out in March, digital, vinyl and CD, by the way ...



Some more Things I Like ...
Fire
Gardening
Film
Yorkshire Tea
LEGO
Tippy The Cat
Khan Academy
Apple Cider Vinegar

---===DOWNLOAD LINKS===---
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/id814589358
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aint-Easy-My-Life-EP/dp/B00I8ZDJZC/
https://play.spotify.com/album/733AAcf7c2KcZ75SUFlpi3
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.emusic.com/album/matt-henshaw/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/14753983/
http://www.7digital.com/artist/matt-henshaw/release/it-aint-easy-my-life
http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.napster.co.uk/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep

Matt Henshaw Recommends ... AJA

Ok, so who doesn't like a bit of crazy in their ladies? No one, that's who. I had the sincere pleasure and privilege to play with our AJA on my second show of the year. Nottingham's own electro wizardess. Unassuming, unpredictable and unbound or chained by musical genre, stereotype or prejudice. AJA weaves in and around the music like a free ethereal being. She's got soul in her bones and it's amazing she can generate it from the cold digital mechanics of a laptop, loop and effects pedal.

Before returning to my comfort zone of an acoustic guitar and vocals I made my own musical expedition, an esoteric voyage through the world of alternative beats and flavours, and I'm glad I did. Listening to AJA is so much more rewarding if you've school yourself in the intricacies of Bjork's, Beck's and Moby's back catalogue. Don't worry though if you haven't, there's still entry for all into AJA's world of positive psychedelic vibrations.

An accomplished DJ and songstress the room is filled nigh on all night with colour, sounds and shapes. An modern 24 hour technicolour dream beckons, so if I was to throw a party, after-party or hire a boat for some close friends, sail out to international waters and be as debauched as a libertine after lent I'd give AJA a call and get her behind the decks.

Have a listen, liven up your weekend ...



But, don't you ... forget about me ...

Matt Henshaw Recommends ... Kate Rendell

A nice quick blog before I head out into the bright lights of Leicester City. Why am I going out I hear you cry? Well, first off, after a day of video production, tour-related meetings and a bit of fruit indulgence on Leicester Market, I'm off to play a secret little show and then see another one of my favourite East Midlands girls perform at my local, right on my doorstep bless her !

Kate Rendell is so sweet, like a real proper fruit salad, I'm not talking the saccharin little sweets that get in your teeth, or syrupy stuff out of a tin, but an actual fruit salad with all the freshness, zing and zest of real fruit ... now, Kate is not a fruit, but she is sweet. Anyway, I think I've lingered on this metaphor long enough ... Music ?

Such a natural with a guitar in her hands it's as though she was born that way, she can carry a stage or compliment an other as easy as most find it to tie their shoes. Tonight I'm seeing her play with the wonderful Tom Crump as part of Sold Separately, which with their combined teenage songwriting abilities have hit a few melodies and turns of phrase that would have you jotting down beautiful similes and metaphors by the dozen if you was keeping track.

Also, performing with Moccasin Mile there's a diversity and a recognition that the comfort zone is ever-expanding. I'd like to see more of Kate on her own and develop that sweetness into a fully formed songstress, and I think an element of diva won't do her any harm, when a girl has a gift a girl should get what she wants and run with it. Very much still learning, as she is still at college, and finding her musical feet, it's early days for our Miss. Kate Rendell but definitely one to keep an eye on and listen out for, one day she'll write her own Tapestry and you will all want to hear it, I hope so anyway.

Peace, Love & Tea,
Matt Henshaw x

PS. she's also a dab hand with a camera too ... I'm in the process of uploading some studio shots she did for me at the tail end of last year ... Spread The Love !

Matt Henshaw Recommends ... Esther Van Leuven

Here we go, 2014, new year, new recommendations and loads of Love to spread. As promised I'm going to be bringing you the best of the best when it comes to female vocalists over the coming weeks. I'm limiting myself to the East Midlands because I'm a proud(ish) East Midlander, and in my short tether as a singer-songwriter I've played with and enjoyed the company of so many of these girls it's such a joy and so refreshing coming from the alpha male dominated world of indie, blues and hip-hop.

Esther, I met mid-way through 2013 when we shared a bill at The Bodega Social Club in Nottingham and we've met a few times since - me, in my infinite bumblingness forgot her name on the first couple of occasions, yeah, that's right, two whole times - but I've never forgotten her face or her voice. And it was pleasure to share the stage with her for a second time last night at Pepper Rocks. My word, what a star!

Demure and continental, Esther packs a little folk, soul, Balkan and a real range and timbre into her voice. She reminds me of a true starlet, that doesn't realise the profundity of her essence, in a room or on stage, carrying herself as she does like a Joan Baez or Melanie type girl with dashing of Sandie Shaw and Mary Hopkins for pop clarity.

I know you might be thinking they're not particularly au fait points of reference or, Matt Henshaw seeing the world through his 60s tinted spectacles, but I'd be hard pushed to find anyone of the current crop who has the adorable grace of our Esther and the understated charm with which she carries herself, this one's not pushing to be a star, the world is just waiting for her to become one ... listen for yourselves ...



And here's me sharing a little Love and a little Soul ...

Matt Henshaw Recommends ... East Midlands Girls

Well, here we are in a new year and I'm going to continue my recommendations, we had a bluesy Christmas with The Bobcats and Savanna Bones, but I'm going to go back to my first two Recommendations and feature some more Est Midlands ladies.



I have had the pleasure of playing with some great artists throughout the East Midlands, amassing a series of shows and plenty more to come, and I have found that playing with the girls is the most enjoyable. I don't know if it's a lack of a testosterone clash or no battle to be conceived as the alpha male in the room but there's a sweetness, a modesty and a genuine love for music, writing and singing in some of the female artist that I've come across.

So far I have showered Charlotte Carpenter and Leah Sinead in glory, and they're two of the nicest girls I've payed with, hung out with and listened to. I suggest you do the same and keep your eyes and ears peeled as through the next few weeks I bring you the best of the best of those with the double X chromosome in Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Northampton.

Peace, Love & Tea,
Matt Henshaw x

Anti-Tesco Protest Video & Public Debate in Clarendon Park, Leicester ...

If you've been following my blog and recent press you will have noted that I've joined the campaign to see Tesco's plan to introduce a new store in the Clarendon Park area of Leicester be scrapped.

Here's a little video with some hearty and healthy information about the Tesco corporation ... stop shopping for convenience and think about what you're doing, make informed choices and if you want to improve your world, improve the world around and within you first. Boycott Tesco.



Also, I've been featured in the Leicester Mercury, well a short snippet of all that I said, here's everything that I said ... which was welcomed with no answer or rebuttal from Mr. Simon Petar towing the well rehearsed lines of the Tesco corporation ...

"Hello I'm Matt, a former student and former employee of the University of Leicester I have used Queens Road in the past and now live on the other side of town behind the De Montfort University campus. I'd like to ask if you were involved in the introduction of the new Tesco at the bottom of Mill Lane by Bede Park and how long you've been with Tesco? The way that Tesco store has affected the local area by installing itself in a beautiful old building, forcing the Bede Park Sainsbury's out onto to Narborough Road, and forced other shops in the area to struggle such as Step In and the De Montfort University Spar shop. There are far more derelict buildings now than just the one that Tesco believed they would "renovate", and the locally Nat's convenience was undercut by Tesco and sold to Costcutter which couldn't survive and then sold on further at a lower price to Tesco owned stores, OneStop, another Tesco store in the area, under a different name to avoid laws on monopolisation."

"You say that it will create local jobs and be convenient to local but you're preying on the transient student population as you did in the De Montfort University area and it is they who will frequent and be employed in the shop. Is there anything we can actually do to stop this Tesco being opened or is it a forgone conclusion?"

A round of applause and a non-answer, but I do fear that there isn't much we can do beside mass mobility and, possibly occupying the store, and/or the street !!

Viva La Revolution !
MHx

PS. read some Anti-Tesco Protest Poetry ...

Happy New Year & Mini-Tour Details

A gloriously lovely and majestically warm welcome to 2014 to you all,

Right, now the pleasantries are over and done with let's get down to business ... here's a brand new video for the new year ... hope you enjoy it and I hope you'll play it more than once an share it with your brethren ...



Again, there's loads more where that one came from and it's only a matter of them surfacing online soon.  For your listening pleasure, of course, and you're exra especially super lucky with this one, there's video too !
 

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Mini-Tour of the East Midlands
I'm going to be on the road for the rest of this month playing all over the East Midlands, some formal shows, some secret and popping up in random spots all over our fair shires ... here we go with the ones I will tell you about, see you around hopefully ...
January
Saturday 11th - Twenty Ten, Matlock
Tuesday 14th - Pepper Rocks, Nottingham
Friday 17th - The Musician, Leicester
Saturday 18th - The Donkey, Leicester
Sunday 19th - Brew Dog, Nottingham
Friday 31st - The Old Bell, Derby
February
Saturday 1st - The Apiary, Castle Donington
 

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The Monograph Magazine Feature & Other Press ...
Starting off the year with a nice big double page spread in the East Midlands music and culture magazine The Monograph is a lovely little thing ... have a read of Matt Henshaw talking to The Monograph it here ...
And some other bits to skim over if you have the time ...
Subba Culture Feature
Leicestershire Music Interview
Demon FM Interview



Other Stuff ...
I Love My Cat ... and I hope you do too ... Tippy The Cat.
More blogs to come, including a Matt Henshaw Recommends series on East Midlands Girls.
Remember keep clicking Follow, Like, Share, ReTweet and Share again, just for good measure.

Peace, Love & Tea !
MHx
http://www.MattHenshaw.com