Matt Henshaw Recommends ... Samuel Idwal

Ladies, gents and everyone else surfing the cyberweb. Here's Samuel Idwal. Playing here at Charlotte Carpenter's Tea Party and in a photograph taken by one of Leicestershire finest, Mr. Philip J Vernon. This was when I first saw Sam playing down at the Cookie, and what a mesmerising set of melodies he provided too !

A fabulous talent and great supporter of East Midlands Music, Leicester will be sad to see him leave at the end of next month, but his mark and impression will be left, on me at the very least, but I'm sure I'm not in a minority.

Delicately finger picking and caressing his way through a folk ballad or strumming up a storm in a quasi-sea shanty, Sam Jones takes his stage name Samuel Idwal from his grandad, and his music has a quaint English quality that, while far from making it au fait, sounds fresh engaging and endearing.

Having released two EPs and heading down to London very soon, for business, and pleasure I'm sure. I'm glad to be having him play one of his final shows in the city of Leicester, if not his final one, you'd have to ask him. Friday 16th May he'll be joining me at The Cookie for the third instalment of Matt Henshaw's Rhythm & Gospel Cavalcade. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope some of you are too, and if you're on the other side of the world, channel some positive vibrations over, we'll be sure to feel them !

Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

PS. If you enjoyed this recommendation be sure to try some more ...
Abandon Her
Stef Baker
Emily Carr
Becky Edwards
James Byron
Mahalia
Mia & The Moon
Rosa-Leigh
AJA
Kate Rendell
Esther Van Leuven
East Midlands Girls
Ones to Watch for 2014
The Bobcats
Savanna Bones
Mattayoux
Matt Zara
The Simpletones
Charlotte Carpenter
Leah Sinead
Matt Henshaw Recommends ...

---===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

Henshaw's Horticultural Blog: Strawberry Flowers & Getting Ready for Summer !

Good day mateys !

I've just had a wonderful morning and afternoon tea in the garden. Strawberry flowers everywhere, tulips blooming their last gasps of spring and the greenhouse is toasty and warm, currently housing my peas, hemp, lettuce, tomatoes and more herbs and spices than you'd care to shake a stick at.

Nothing like a cup of Yorkshire Tea when you're sat back admiring it all, and a juice, this afternoon made up of strawberries, mint, pomegranate, grapes, apple, pear, radish and beetroot, yum yum yum ! A real summer fruits affair !!

The weeds will come with a vengeance this time of year, but it pays of the nip a few in the bud and make sure you're flowers and fruits get all the nutrients they may usurp, look out for things like dandelions too that are perfect for adding to your green juices, there are a lot more edible bits in the garden than we're often told about. Most won't kill you, I think it's pretty obvious which one might, steer clear of the unknown berries and really dark green viney foliage.

In the meantime, doing my real job, I've uploaded a couple of acoustic demos to Soundcloud, two songs that will appear on my next EP 'Always In The Way' ... OUT JUNE 16th !!

'The Way It Is' has only been up there a couple of hours and 'Goodnight' a couple of days, but the response already has been fantastic, look out for the full band versions surfacing ... piano skills, strings, guitar solos and lots of other lovely good stuff. Stay Tuned !! Spread The Love, MHx



Henshaw's Horticultural Blog ...
Tulips Are My Favourites
Things I Like ... Gardening
National Agriculture Day
Spring Gardening
Planting Season
How To Compost
Planting in Autumn & Winter
In The Garden With Matt Henshaw

---===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

Things I Like ... Khan Academy

There are a few things I enthuse about, endlessly if you know me, fruit and vegetables, health and nutrition, tea, music and football and education ... if we all embraced a few of these things I'm sure we could make the world a better place ... honestly I do ...

If you want to make sense of this below ... get yourselves over there and sign up ! Doing a few problems a day, refreshing your skills or preparing for an upcoming exam, a little bit of Maths and Science everyday can help you to relax, get your brain working and help beat of tiredness, fatigue and depression ... change your world and the world today ...



I've been using Khan Academy practically since the day it started, and followed Sal Khan's meteoric rise in the world of education, his vision for how we can educate young people better, easier and cheaper, at their own pace, and altering the entire world education system is inspiring. You can watch loads of his lectures and interviews on the website, and even grab a copy of his book 'The One World Schoolhouse'.

It has just undergone a major redesign and the company is growing, not for profit, helped in the beginning with funding from Google and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is now a little bigger than Sal operating out of his closet in California !!

I was introduced to the Khan Academy by Douglas Mallette, watching one of his lectures on Cybernated Farm Systems and equating the maladies of how we live and produce food, waste and energy on earth with how we could transform it so easily using Mars base technology. I'll probably write more on him and CFS at a later date. But it's good when one inspirational character leads you to another, and there are plenty around, even today, you just have to know where to look. First piece of advice - "switch off the tele" !

See you all soon Math Geniuses,
Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

PS. here's some videos of me and what I do ...



Things I Like ...
Fire
Gardening
Film
Yorkshire Tea
LEGO
Tippy The Cat
Khan Academy

---===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

'The Deepest Cellar' 4 Year Anniversary ...

So, it's 4 years to the day since this happened ...

ReggiiMental and I made B-Boy Soul in his basement cellar, almost completely by accident ... we shared it with the world, and you can still look and listen if you fancy !! Spread The Love !





Peace,
Love &
Tea, MHx

Matt Henshaw Sings ... 'Wonderful World' by Sam Cooke

A bit of soul for you in the midnight hour, and back to the smoky salubrious setting of my living room for a bit of Sam Cooke. Just because I fancied it, and just because I believe he is the greatest singer in the history of ever !!

I could not begin to tell you, or describe the profound affect this man and his music has had on my life, when I hear his dulcet tones resonate through speakers anywhere my heart is filled with joy and my soul is bustling with gladness. He stands alone as an inspiration, success and master in the world of soul and every day we should be thankful he did what he did, wrote what he wrote and sang what he sang, because if it wasn't for Mr Cooke the wonderful world of music wouldn't be the same today.

He changed the musical landscape, for black and for white, and for British and American. Thousands upon millions of lives have been changed by 'A Change Gonna Come', 'You Send Me' or 'Twistin' The Night Away', some explicit and some implicit so, his musical influence and reach stretches like the octaves in his vocal range.

And thank God he lived and sang, because immediately without him we wouldn't have had Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Steve Marriott, Rod Stewart, Eric Burdon or any number of British kids in the 60s that tried to emulate what this man did, and he was a young Aretha Franklin's favourite singer too ... Goodnight and God Bless !! Spread The Love, MHx

The man himself ...



This record makes me cry when I listen to it, regularly, and I'm not ashamed to admit it ...



The King & Queen of Soul !!



And he was mates with this chap too, even had him singing on a couple of records ... Yeah Man !!





Matt Henshaw Sings ...
Blackbird
The Mighty Quinn

---===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 ... Abandon Her

Abandon Her are amongst the local bands I have seen the most around Leicester in 2014, great band, great songs and, above all, lovely people ! Four of the loveliest you might ever meet. And they're playing for me at The Cookie for my next single launch in June, more on that later ...

The band invited me to play at their EP launch at The Musician in Leicester back in March and it was a wonderful spring day full of love and music, and free cake ! There's nothing better than sipping your favourite brand of tea, in my case Yorkshire, and being entranced by their glorious music.

Olivia has an effortlessly beautiful voice, Abby writes classic pop structured tunes, Sarah knows her way around a keyboard and if Giles doesn't make you laugh within minutes of meeting him then something must be amiss, and he's a great drummer to boot. Great, genuine advocates for Spreading The Love these folk !

My iTunes is currently pretty bare, composing of my two records plus Abandon Her's brilliant debut 'Principles', and Tapestry's free EP (maybe a clue as to who I might be recommending next).

Each track is a winner, but the song 'Witches Island', about a roundabout in Countesthorpe of all things, is definitely my favourite song currently of any local artist in the East Midlands, and there's some hearty strong competition, a lot of great music around at the minute ... but here's a quick top 5 of some of my favourites ...

1) Witches Island - Abandon Her
2) Whole - Charlotte Carpenter
3) Princess in a Paper Bag - Becky Edwards
4) Falling From Grace - Leah Sinead
5) We Are The Simpletones - The Simpletones

Just a quick Top 5, not a lot of thought gone into it, just a few that have cemented themselves into my psyche, search for them, have a listen for yourself and enjoy, next week I'll probably have some different favourites.

If you enjoyed this, why not check out another Matt Henshaw Recommends ... ?
Stef Baker
Emily Carr
Becky Edwards
Mahalia
Mia & The Moon
Rosa-Leigh
AJA
Kate Rendell
Esther Van Leuven
East Midlands Girls
Ones to Watch for 2014
The Bobcats
Savanna Bones
Mattayoux
Matt Zara
The Simpletones
Charlotte Carpenter
Leah Sinead
Matt Henshaw Recommends ...

---===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

Things I Like ...

And simply, sometimes, I like to share with you Things I Like ... and I hope some of you like them too ... here are the things that have made the cut so far ... put the kettle on and have a read through a little Matt Henshaw Life Like Love History ! Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

Things I Like ...

Fire

Gardening

Film

Yorkshire Tea

LEGO

Tippy The Cat

See you all soon ! x

---===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 Sings ...

A recent addition to Matt Henshaw's Adventures in Wonderland is Matt Henshaw Sings ... at the request of my wonderful followers, some of whom like to hear me sing other people's songs, so I'll be treating you every now and then to a few of my favourites ... done a couple, so enjoy them, and listen and look out for more ...

Blackbird

The Mighty Quinn

---===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

Henshaw's Horticultural Blog

I started writing about my garden in October and right now in the Spring/Summer it's bloomin' lovely ... here's my little journey, and I'll keep you posted and hopefully expand and expouse upon my writings in the future, time permitting of course ... but remember it's cheap and easy to grow your own produce, nurture beautiful flowers and compost WILL save the world !

Tulips Are My Favourites

Things I Like ... Gardening

National Agriculture Day

Spring Gardening

Planting Season

How To Compost

Planting in Autumn & Winter

In The Garden With Matt Henshaw

---===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 ...

Just whilst we're having a pause, here you can flick through my recommendations, I started in November and this feature has quickly become the most popular on Matt Henshaw's Adventures in Wonderland ... Loads more to come, but for now, check out ...

Stef Baker

Emily Carr

Becky Edwards

James Byron

Mahalia

Mia & The Moon

Rosa-Leigh

AJA

Kate Rendell (Sold Separately & Mocassin Mile)

Esther Van Leuven

East Midlands Girls

Ones to Watch for 2014

The Bobcats

Savanna Bones

Mattayoux

Matt Zara

The Simpletones

Charlotte Carpenter

Leah Sinead

Matt Henshaw Recommends ...

---===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

It Ain't Easy / My Life Available to Download & Stream NOW !

Before the madness of Summer and the Festival season starts I'm going to take a little time to sit back and think about all I have done in the last year. It's now just over a year since I left my job working at The University of Leicester, and even though I didn't start playing out with my acoustic guitar until July it's feels like the last twelve months have been building up steadily, and for that, I Thank You All ! Stay Cool & Spread The Love, MHx

I was able to release my debut single on my mum's birthday this year !

Get your copy of 'It Ain't Easy / My Life' Now from all good online digital retailers ...



Available now on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, bandcamp etc. etc.

7" Vinyl
A - It Ain't Easy
AA - My Life

CD
1 - It Ain't Easy
2 - My Life
3 - Play The Game
4 - In The Presence Of The Lord

Digital Download (available March 5th)
1 - It Ain't Easy
2 - My Life
3 - Play The Game
4 - In The Presence Of The Lord
Bonus 1 - My Life (Acoustic)
Bonus 2 - Play The Game (Acoustic)
Bonus 3 - In The Presence Of The Lord (Acoustic)



Also ...

I'm so pleased to now have the complete set of all four songs from my debut record out there on YouTube, from the excellent Little & Large team ... sit back, relax, watch and, hopefully, Enjoy !



Many thanks to Nik Robinson and Simon Lubowski, MHx

---===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

London This Wednesday !

My first adventure down in the big smoke as a fully fledged singer songwriter solo artist ... I hope you'll come and join me at The Hootananny in Brixton !



Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

Matt Henshaw's Rhythm & Gospel Cavalcade Tonight in Leicester !!

SEE YOU ALL THERE !!!

Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

Matt Henshaw Sings ... 'The Mighty Quinn' by Manfred Mann and Bob Dylan & The Band

A second instalment of Matt Henshaw Sings now, and it's a little different from the first, and the usual kind of cover versions you see on YouTube ...

I went to Portugal at the start of this month, and it was the longest I've gone for a long while without singing, apart from a couple of rounds on karaoke, but best not to talk about that really, so I thought driving up to my first show of the month I ought to try and warm up my voice with the iPod going round in the car, I skipped a few to find one that I could sing along to and belt it out, apparently I got really excited when Quinn The Eskimo came along, so the wife decided to start doing some cheeky filming ...



So, I sang a little and I smiled a little and I laughed alot. Unfortunately for everyone, I'm sure, it wasn't so much the prospect of singing along that got me excited, but all the useless/useful knowledge and trivia I have about the song, Quinn The Eskimo, Nicholas Ray, Manfred Mann, Bob Dylan and The Band ... I didn't really wreal much off here, but anyone who has ever sat in my passenger seat would be able to tell you, I love to give little bits of poptastic trivia out about whatever comes on my iPod.

I'll leave you with a few interesting pictures ... please discuss ...



Quinn The Eskimo



The Savage Innocents directed by Nicholas Ray



Bob Dylan



Manfred Mann

Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

Matt Henshaw Recommends ... Stef Baker

Head down to the Soundhouse to see Grace & The Magic Roots and catch up with the great Rhett Barrow on a quiet Tuesday night and you just might happen to see someone who stops you in your tracks and blows you away. That's exactly what happened last night with the wonderful, glorious and extremely talented Stef Baker ... I enjoyed her short set so much that I've added her to my show at The Cookie on Friday night.

Just four songs was all it took, and to be fair she had me hooked after two original gems, and then produced a superbly haunting cover of Wonderwall that reminded you that, even though you've heard it a million time ad infinitum, and it may have driven you up the wall at varying points in your life, it is a great, great song. Kind of like when Ryan Adams slowed it down and Noel Gallagher said that's how he always intended it to be. Although The Chemical Brothers claim he took it to them before they recorded Setting Sun and N. Gallagher wanted to make a Balearic dance tune with it !

So, yeah, Stef Baker will be joining myself, Becky Edwards, Kate Rendell and Emily Carr at The Cookie in Leicester on Friday night, and there's a few other surprise guests planned too, and with Charlotte Carpenter hosting her Tea Party downstairs we're sure to have a whole building full of Love !

Other reasons to Love Stef ... even though you'll have hundreds after Friday night ... she obviously quite likes LEGO almost as much as I do as well !!

Things I Like ... Fire

Now, this may be a controversial thing but I love building, making and having fires. Maybe it's something to do with the fact I Like Gardening, perhaps to do with the paganistic rituals and pre-historic beliefs in the original four elements of earth, water, fire and air, or maybe just the cathartic process, like songwriting of reducing the past to a burning ember and embracing the future like a phoenix from the flame, either way I see it as a positive, sometimes necessary process.

This is the little fire I made last night, after a very busy week playing tunes and spreading the good Love I find it's the perfect way to unwind. Make a brew, eat some nuts and burn a few things, get back to your inner cave man and relax ...



I love a walk amongst the wildlife, and it is something that is relaxing. As you get older, wiser, take pleasure from the pastoral, you have to find things that help you be at peace; walk, watching fish, gardening, picking fruit and making a little fire. Very different from me being asked at the age of 6 what I wanted to be when I grew up? When I said "arsonist" there was probably some cause for concern, but I have never burnt myself, or anything; or anyone, my safety record is impeccable, although perhaps there may have been one incident at my grandparents with some candles, but I was only learning ...



Like all the things I like to write about on my blog there's some link to my story, past and make-up, and I think it's only right that I mention Mr. Steve Marriott. Reading his book; or the book about his life - 'It's All Too Beautiful' by John Hellier and Paolo Hewitt - I was amazed to discover he shared a similar neanderthal-like pleasure as a child and a teen, enraptured by the perhaps apocryphal tale of him burning down one of his school blocks. But then I was saddened to read of his untimely and ironic death at the hands of something he had derived such pleasure from. I can only hope I have removed this potential hazard from my life by pre-empting it and having not touched a drop of brandy for nearly 6 years, and never again intending to !



Only once in the past have I let my "hobby" come into my creativity, the original plan with ReggiiMental, a fellow fire builder, was to follow up the award winning 'The Deepest Cellar' album with a concept album called 'The Fire Pit' featuring much darker, funkier and jazzier pieces with loads of Massive Attack influence, unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances this never came to fruition and we released a wildly different sounding EP, and recorded this crazy little video, the night before we performed at Lovebox Festival for thousands of people !!

Enjoy, and I'll see you again sometime ...



Also, check out 'Burn It' by Mia and the Moon, those girls like a fire or two too ...

Matt Henshaw Sings ... 'Blackbird' by The Beatles & Sir Paul McCartney

As with many things on current social media, viral videos and nominations seems to be the order of the day, so earlier this week I was nominated to sing a cover, record a video and upload it to my Facebook, I did it, quite enjoyed and I hope a lot of you did too ...

Here's my version of one of Paul McCartney's finest acoustic numbers, 'Blackbird' from The Beatles "White Album" ...



This has given me a new idea for a blog, 'Matt Henshaw Sings ...', every week or so I might just treat you to a favourite song of mine that I like to sing in the home or on the road, stay tuned and be sure to watch, listen, follow, share, like, comment and just generally keep on keeping on and Spread The Love !!

Thanks to Lee Spencer !

And I'm sure you can see the inspiration from The Beatles "White Album" in my own sleeve ...

Matt Henshaw's Rhythm & Gospel Cavalcade Poster !!!

SEE YOU ALL THERE !!!

Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

Matt Henshaw's Acoustic Rhythm & Gospel Cavalcade Part II @ The Cookie, Leicester

One week away and I'm hosting my second night at The Cookie Jar in Leicester, very excited I am too, we're going for it on the third Friday of the month, every month, until Christmas, and maybe beyond !

This month I'm hosting a bevvy of beautiful ladies, a harem as such, but this is more by accident than design, but what a happy accident ! So for your pleasure, and mine as well, we have ...

Kate Rendell

Becky Edwards

Emily Carr

... and myself of course, trying really hard to follow my very own Supremes ! I need to really up my Marvin Gaye A-Game !! See you then Leicester folk !!



Here's me and James Byron sharing some love last time around ... this picture pretty much sums up the good feeling in the air for a solid 5 hours of great music and positives vibrations !!

Spread The Love ! MHx

Henshaw's Horticultural Blog: Tulips are my Favourites, Happy April Everyone !

Just to reiterate, tulips are my favourite flowers ... just so you know ... just in case it comes up in a pub quiz one day !



It still astounds me that this ...



... can become this in just a few short months !



I'm leaving my garden behind for a week and heading off to Portugal for some Vitamin D so I'll leave you with this educational video to digest in the meantime ... The Botany of Desire ...



... you might be pleased to know I have successfully grown all four of these historically significant plants ! I think some of you should too ... "easy peasy" ... funny saying that, because peas can be quite tricky !

But if you're here for the music, then please watch this playlist on a loop ... or get your Spotify on ...



Peace, Love & Tea, MHx