Life Affirming Times in Old Deutschland ! MHx (Songs & Whispers Tour Diary 4)

Not long to go now in Germany and I've got to say this last week has brought me so much happiness and joy to be amongst people, performing music and working so hard ... certainly 3 shows in particular have given me so much resolve in the power of live music, the connection between beautiful people and affirmation and reaffirmation that life is good, what I'm doing is good and we're on the right path !

Peace, Love & Tea ... Frieden Liebe und Tee !!

There are so many countless stand out moments in the last few weeks I could write a short novella on the great times I've had, I hope the next few nights down south in Duisberg, I only hope the good people around Dortmund, Dusseldorf and Dinslaken are as good to me as the great folks in the north west have been.

Here's me with Lucky, Annika's Songs & Whispers office dog, and now my good friend, I love that little chap !

Aside from the big city lights of Hamburg and Bremen, I've particularly enjoy seeing the smaller towns and villages, the places like Quelkhorn and Achim covered in snow, seemingly like German postcard spots, beautiful places and beautiful people, so much history.

But tonight's show in Syke was one of the most enjoyable I have played anywhere, ever ! A massive amount of people turning out in a beautiful space, a museum of contemporary art, much like my favourite home town show at the Nottingham Contemporary art gallery,which I hope to heading back to before the summer, and talking of heading back, I will definitely definitely definitely definitely be back in Germany before you can say "eine tasser tee mit milch!"

Fur meine Frau ...



Original post:
http://songsandwhisperstourdiary.blogspot.de/2015/01/life-affirming-times-in-old-deutschland.html

Frieden, Liebe und Tee !! January 2015, MHx (Songs & Whispers Tour Diary)

One week driving and performing through Britain, France, The Netherlands and Germany, and what a ball I am having !! The press clipping (left) is from this week's Oyten - Bassen newspaper where I have just played, in a private bar called Dohm-Eck, a great little place, only open twice a month, once for the wonderful Songs & Whispers artists.

The good people of Oyten, Bassen, Bremen and Bremervorde have so far made me feel like a star in Deutschland, such fantastic people, kind, warm-hearted, good-natured and willing to listen, enjoy and appreciate people making music.

Conversation so far has centred around tea, football and the cost of cigarettes and alcohol in Britain !! And, I suppose, how mein Deutsch ist nicht gut ... but I get by ... tee, tasse, untertasse, löffel, milch ... I know all I need to know.

Alles gut back home and I'm loving my time in Germany, and I'm already thinking about next time !

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

PS. my latest YouTube video - 'Stop Me Girl' - keeps on accumulating the views too, so Happy Days ! Stay Cool, Stay Beautiful, One & All x



Original Post: http://songsandwhisperstourdiary.blogspot.de/2015/01/frieden-liebe-und-tee-january-2015-mhx.html

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 
 

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

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 
 

Matt Henshaw - It Ain't Easy ...

With Love,
Matt Henshaw x

Mixing Coming Around ...

So, in my last blog I told you about the recording of Coming Around by myself and ReggiiMental fresh from the box ... well, the next step was to get in a mix master general to master the sounds and make them fresh.

Joe Rizzle @ PukkaMix fitted the bill perfectly and trips to Tamworth were on the cards, and the album, I must honestly admit sounds as crisp as I ever wanted it to and thought it could be. 15 track Coming Around and coming soon, so very soon, May 1st in fact. I hope you're following the build up to the album on all the social networks, radio outlets and wherever else they're featuring mine and Reggii' faces. It's all good. Sit tight !

Again, for now have a listen to the two tracks previewed over on bandcamp ... why not pre-order?!



And here's the mix master himself at the desk (virtual desk - come on it's 2013) mastering the album in March ...

Recording Coming Around ...

Good afternoon folks, followers & fantasists,

It's been a short while since my last blog so I thought I'd write one about recording the album. It began in January following the release of the ever innocent ReggiiMental aka. Jimmy B-Boy from HMP for misdemeanours I shall neglect to mention. I went to see my partner in crime [sic] for an afternoon of Yorkshire Tea, LEGO and Ribena ... his creative spirit undamaged we proceeded to record new music with a sense of urgency and feeling of optimism I hadn't had for some time. The new album features 15 songs, so many for such a short space of time, recorded over two months, and my parts written and recorded in perhaps two weeks. I can't wait for you to hear the thing in full, the artwork is pretty snazzy too, and I hope you like the whole package, a lot of love has gone into it. My friends and earthbound spirits, I truly hope it tickles your fancy ...

For now have a listen to the two tracks previewed over on bandcamp ... why not pre-order?!



And here's a picture of me taking a break from mixing in March with a furry little friend I found hanging around the studio.

B-Boy Soul - The Second Episode ...

Hey there ho there howdy,

As February progresses there's a lot going on, The Deepest Cellar Part 2 has 14 tracks I can reveal and will be titled 'Coming Around' ... you've all heard the snippet of the lead track ... go on listen to it again ... B-Boy Soul coming at you !



Other bits in the works and live dates in the pipes ... watch this space !

Matt H. x
MattHenshaw.com