Follow for free on my Patreon.
I post updates and new music every few days.
Bandcamp today
I just decided to make the complete concert in Zürich last Friday available on my Bandcamp site here. For today only they are waiving their usual 10 / 15% payment fee so it’s a brilliant time to pick up some stuff and help musicians who would rather be out playing concerts.
This was a lovely little night and very relaxed - I played a couple of covers and a new song, drank some wine and listened to Flo Bauer play some beautiful blues guitar. A couple of days later I mixed this on a train coming back from Switzerland with some bluetooth headphones so perhaps it could sound better - a sound upgrade could be nice perhaps, let’s see.
Anyway, If you subscribe it’s in your collection to download already, otherwise here’s the link again and please share this stuff if you’re into it.
Be well and thanks everyone,
Stephen
Jazzkeller, Zürich last Friday
Here’s a couple of impressions from a night in Zürich last Friday. As with most of my concerts down there the original date was cancelled due to the Coronavirus so Marcel invited me to play a set before Flo Bauer. The audience was small but super enthusiastic, I ate like a king and Flo and his buddies played a tight set of imaginative blues. Was an easy fine night.
Here’s a cover of the blind Willie McTell song ‘Delia’ and a stomp through ‘I Do Wrong’ with Marcel spontaneously joining me on the drums. Thanks to him for the invitation, fine food and nice company - I hope to be back and see a few more of you there too.
Flo Bauer
Tomorrow, Friday, Bandcamp are waiving their 10 / 15% fee on all sales in an effort to highlight the losses a lot of musicians are having because of cancelled shows, cancelled travel and all this. If you were thinking of picking up some music from me or any other musician that uses Bandcamp to sell (and not only stream) music then tomorrow would be a fine time to do that. My page is here but you might also visit the Woodland Recordings page with other brilliant people here.
I’m also uploading a completely new song I played at this concert to my Bandcamp subscription here, so there’s that too.
Anyhow, stay well all.
Stephen
‘Now Wash Your Hands’ now free
My 2011 album is now free to download because of you know what. Here.
I’m still in Switzerland after a week of cancelled shows and with more ahead seemingly not taking place.
Stay safe everyone and let’s see us soon.
Stephen
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Switzerland this week
UPDATE #2
Winterthur tonight has now been cancelled, as well as the house show in Basel tomorrow.
Hope everyone stays well and perhaps I get to play concerts next month in the north of Germany, Denmark and Sweden as planned. Let’s see.
UPDATE:
My week is now full, with concerts this week in Zürich, Bolligen, Winterthur and Basel. Updated concert dates on the site here. I’m playing a house show tonight in Zürich and if anyone would like to join please email me and I’ll give you the details.
Thanks all
Stephen
Original post follows….
Due to the Coronavirus situation I have had a couple of cancellations this week - my concerts in Männedorf tomorrow and also at Mundwerk in Thun this Friday are both sadly postponed until further notice. I’m still travelling south this afternoon and will play the shows I have, but I am looking for something this Friday the 13th. If anyone can host a simple last minute concert please get in touch. House show anyone?
So it goes like this:
12/03/20 House Concert, Bolligen, CH
13/03/20 free - anyone?
14/03/20 Gaswerk, Winterthur, CH - with Prader & Knecht.
15/03/20 House Concert, Basel, CH - 17:00 start - with Joelle
Feel free to drop me a message if you’d like to join any of these. I’m looking forward as ever and I hope to come back for more shows when we’re all feeling better and braver.
Stay well,
Stephen
Bremen and Hamburg this weekend
Hi all
I have two concerts this weekend in the north of Germany - Bremen this Friday the 6th and Saturday in Hamburg on the 7th of March. Both are house concerts and if you’d like to join please simply drop me an email at thegreatpark@icloud.com. For the Hamburg concert in particular, space is limited and it would be sad if anyone wanted to join but wrote to me the evening of the show when it’s likely too late. So please get in touch before the weekend.
I’m back south next week for concerts in Switzerland - all dates as ever here and again please get in touch if you’d like information about any of those.
In Thun next week at the lovely Mundwerk I’ll be joined by my friend Geneva whose album I recorded and who’ll be playing her first concert in Switzerland. Come on.
Massive thanks to everyone who already signed up to my Bandcamp subscription deal. The first physical copies were sent to you all yesterday and I’m making more today. More to come later, it goes on.
Have a nice week,
Stephen
Bandcamp subscription now available
The subscription option over at my Bandcamp page is now live and the first release ‘Hole Of Fame Recording’ is available in both digital and physical editions.
Every few weeks and certainly once a month there will be new recordings for anyone subscribed. You can join to receive digital releases and there is also an option for a physical edition of everything that I will post out to you each month. Subscription also means you’ll receive every new album that I make in the future, six from my back catalogue and a 20% discount on all physical releases. I also like sending postcards so there’s that too.
It’s not for everyone, I appreciate that, but I like the idea of making particular things for the people that want them so here we are. As ever, I’m happy to hear your thoughts and welcome any suggestions or ideas about this - drop me an email or write in the comments and I’ll get back to you right away.
Have a lovely weekend
Stephen
'Winter' from last night
Video filmed by Mina Reischer last night of the The Diamond Family Archive song ‘Winter’ in the beautiful Bernsteinzimmer room in Nürnberg.
Thanks to all who made it along and to Stefan Gnad for the newspaper article yesterday morning.
Have a lovely weekend,
Stephen
Free 'Autumn 2019' compilation now available
The third in the series of exclusive releases for subscribers to my newsletter is now available here. Recorded over a couple of months at concerts at the end of last year this is a mixed collection of songs in very different rooms. Goes like this:
song for fee
06.11.19 prinz willy, kiel, germany.
if you build it they will come
27.10.19 el lokal, zürich, switzerland - with sophia basler.
it don’t stop the bleeding
30.11.19 ut connewitz, leipzig, germany.
suit of stones
28.10.19 house concert, luzern, switzerland.
pure black coal
07.12.19 jaz, rostock, germany.
song for a coalman
28.10.19 house concert, luzern, switzerland.
winter
06.11.19 prinz willy, kiel, germany. song by the diamond family archive.
understudy
27.10.19 el lokal, zürich, switzerland.
lover o lover
24.10.19 house concert, heidelberg, germany.
what you fear to be the end comes around
02.11.19 house concert, basel, switzerland.
bad roads ahead
07.12.19 jaz, rostock, germany.
you are more needed here
08.11.19 ruhrwerkstatt, oberhausen, germany.
super good advice / stretch acrobatic
21.09.19 desi, nürnberg, germany - with stefanie vivian void. stretch acrobatic is by vivian void.
we could have, we should have, we didn’t
21.12.19 café mainheim, nürnberg, germany - with stefanie vivian void.
so long song
06.11.19 prinz willy, kiel, germany.
And for a taste, here’s the messy surprise VIVIAN VOID mashup at their 10th anniversary back in September:
‘Autumn 2019’ is completely free to download - I put a password in my newsletter and if you’ve signed up but somehow missed it then drop me a line.
As I wrote earlier this week, things will change around here soon but I’ll keep writing the newsletter and making things especially for those people that have signed up for it. Anything to keep me from feeling pressurised to update my Facebook page. My word.
Be well and thanks.
Stephen
Bandcamp subscriptions coming soon.
Hi all
Recently I’ve been looking at ways of managing all the releases I’m making, thinking of a home for them and the best way to share them with people. I’ve realised that, in some ways, the amount of albums, EPs, live releases and various recordings that I’ve released (and want to release) is a bit overwhelming for some people. Some albums have been given away as free downloads, other things come out in small physical editions and some are digital only things that I want to share but can’t decide how to ‘package’ or put out as a physical CD.
For the last ten years I’ve been putting most of the things I make out through Bandcamp and, whilst there are some niggles and little issues with their service, I do feel like it’s allowed me to make and share much more music that I would have done if it were not there. For a lot of people that listen to my music Bandcamp seems to be where the catalogue is and the place where most of you choose to buy my stuff. It’s not perfect but it’s been very good as an outlet for all the songs.
See the problem here?
Anyhow, a few years ago they made it possible for musicians to have a subscription program there and in much the same way as Patreon and other sites do provide some place for regular work to be made. I think it’s about time I start my own subscription service as a place for regular but special releases. I thought I’d give a heads-up to you and to ask if anyone has any thoughts of suggestions about how this could work best for us.
The main questions I have are:
Firstly, is this something anyone here would be at all interested in?
If I were to release stuff to subscribers on a monthly basis, what would you be comfortable paying? €5 a month? €10?
Would you prefer a yearly fee? One off €50 for everything that year?
As a subscriber you would automatically receive every major release I make plus at least once a month a subscription only thing. Could be a live album, EP, collection of alternative versions, covers, etc. I record almost every concert I play and make things in any room that sounds good so there is a lot to choose from.
I’d also include a bunch of things from my back catalogue for signing up. Perhaps 10 full albums or something like that.
I’d also like to release a few very special, limited edition physical releases from time to time. Ten copies of a single where each copy was a different, unique take of the song for example. I also like sending postcards.
I see no problem at all with making regular monthly releases and in fact am really looking forward to having a small pocket of people that I am making work specifically for. I don’t expect this to affect at all the full albums but would instead be a smaller channel that’ll hopefully feel worthwhile, fair and kind of exciting.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Sound like a terrible idea? Do let me know here or via email. I haven’t fixed anything yet and welcome any feedback.
Thanks a lot, sorry for the wall of text.
Stephen
TLDR: Subscription service coming, thoughts?
Nürnberg, Dresden and Leipzig this week.
I have three concerts this week, starting tomorrow evening in Nürnberg at the Gostner Hoftheater with Johnny Campbell, heading back to the wonderful Hole Of Fame in Dresden and finally in Leipzig at the most beautiful little bar in town, Dankbar. Here’s a NSFW link for the last one.
I’m looking forward to these concerts very much, happy to head out east and hopefully see some familiar faces out there. In ten days I also have a solo show in Nürnberg at the Bernsteinzimmer gallery, for which I am pretty excited about. More on that later.
Good afternoon all
S
Dankbar, Leipzig.
Empty Room
‘Empty Room’ is available now for pre-order and will be released digitally through my Bandcamp page this Thursday. Here’s the link:
‘Empty Room’ was recorded spontaneously over two evenings in my flat when a room was still unoccupied. It’s 12 songs, nothing new and mostly coming out slow and strange. Here’s ‘Lover O Lover’ for example:
I am writing new songs at the moment, with the idea to make a quiet EP of new things when I find an opportunity to record somewhere. In the meantime I have had this set hanging around and wanted to share it with you. Also coming is a second compilation of live recordings just for subscribers to my newsletter that follows the one I made last year, but more on that later.
Thanks for sticking with me, I hope January has been kind to you all.
Stephen
January blues
Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet.
My right shoulder hurts a lot when I move my arm and of course when I play guitar so I’ve been writing a lot, putting together the next release (end of the month, more soon) and trying to organise some concerts. I hope to feel a lot better by the time the first comes around at the end of the month. I mean, I can play but it’s uncomfortable.
I also have tennis elbow in my left arm and you can imagine how much tennis I play.
In regards the booking shows thing - I would really appreciate some help or ideas with that.
Anyone else have the January blues heavy as a fucking mountain or is it just me?
Free download - 07/12/19 Rostock
Here’s a quick reminder in case anyone has missed it - the recording of my recent concert up in Rostock in the north of Germany a couple of weeks ago is available as a free download on my Bandcamp page right here.
The concert was a pleasure to play - was very quiet and dark in there and I kept mostly to the heavy stuff, including a cover of ‘Winter’ by The Diamond Family Archive and one or two things I rarely feel like going through.
Thanks to Marv and everyone at the JAZ for the invitation and the hospitality.
More music coming from me after this in between week we have now. Hope you’re all doing well.
Stephen
Last concert of the year and new free download
I’m playing this Saturday evening at the Café Mainheim in Nürnberg - a label night in a way. Vincent von Flieger and special guest cause she’s in town Julia Laura are also there and we want it dark as it gets so please bring candles. It’s free to get in but there’s no entry without a candle and we’ll start early so everyone can play long and slow.
Also, later tonight or tomorrow I’ll release a free download of a recent live album from Rostock recorded two weeks ago. Find that on my Bandcamp here:
Have a lovely weekend
Stephen
'Winter' by The Diamond Family Archive (free download)
At Prinz Willy
Winter is indeed upon most of us and yesterday I slipped and sloshed through the first snow I’ve seen fall. I’m home for a few days and reflecting and listening on what I’ve been making the last weeks. To start with, here’s a couple of things around a song by The Diamond Family Archive that I’ve been playing in the recent concerts.
At Prinz Willy’s wonderful corner bar in Kiel I played a rather quieter concert that was very enjoyable. Held the songs close and tried not to let things get too loud or unhinged. By the end of the night I was fit to burst and sure enough lashed out a bit at some innocent members of the nice audience. Apologies and whiskies went some way to fixing things, as is often the case.
Anyway, here’s from earlier in the set - ‘Winter’ by The Diamond Family Archive played spontaneously and a little wobbly true enough.
And here’s Laurence’s original, spectral version to listen and download:
Years ago in Brighton we even played it together:
I urge you all to go and listen to more music by this band, always so magic.
The Diamond Family Archive on Bandcamp
The Diamond Family Archive on Spotify
Have a nice weekend, speak soon
Stephen
PS
I believe this is @marshasdad_outside, whose point of view you can see here.
UT Connewitz in Leipzig this Saturday (free download)
I’m very happy to be returning to the magnificent UT Connewitz in Leipzig this Saturday night. A big old cinema and home to a great program of musicians over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to have played there twice before. This weekend is a Woodland Recordings label night so my dear friends Vivian Void and Geneva are playing too. If you use Facebook the event is here.
The last time I played there was back in 2014 and the recording from my concert that night is currently up as a free download on my Bandcamp page here.
Also, Mina Reischer filmed the whole thing on Hi-8 video tape and that can be watched right below.
The night before, that is tomorrow, I’ll be at Gelegenheiten in Berlin. Also happy to be going back there and if anyone wants to join me there well that’s really brilliant too.
See you soon
Stephen
St Arbogast
The new recording ‘St Arbogast’ is now out as a physical and digital album both here on my site and also on my Bandcamp page. A free 4 song EP exclusive to newsletter subscribers is also available now. Here’s all the links and some words about the heavy thing.
I was invited to participate in the Arbogast folk festival in Austria at the end of June 2019. A three day, two night event in and around the grounds of the St Arbogast church and the different, interesting spaces there.
The weather was incredibly warm, it was the first time the festival had taken place and some scheduling hiccups meant that somehow over the weekend I really didn't get to play to so many people. I think all in all I played four little sets when the plan was for eight or so. At one of the concerts I had one guest.
Anyway, late on Sunday evening, when mostly everyone had left I went into the church to try to make something, or rather, try to give something. If the invitation was to come down and make some work and perform there I was feeling that I hadn't really had the opportunity to fulfil my side of the deal.
I recorded for two hours into a Zoom H5 audio recorder. Very simple, stereo microphones, no headphones, standing in front of the altar. There are fourteen complete songs - these ten that seem to go together and the others anyone can hear online separately.
To begin with I thought I'd get two or three songs. Thought of doing everything in C, church band style. Concept.
I didn't want to put the lights on and make anyone feel that they could come in. I took pictures with my phone of the big dark room, neat rows of white chairs and the big glass doors. Two months later hard drives were stolen so I lost these and actually for a week feared that I had lost the audio too. But I found out it was still on the SD card in the recorder so we have that and one picture I had already uploaded to my blog the morning after recording.
More and more I'm interested not so much in making recordings but in recording performances. Recording rooms and trying to be open to how things come out and can sound. I had a strange couple of hours in this dark space and when I listen now I can hear that feeling somewhere. At first I was scared to make a noise, quickly loved that noise and then later was scared again when I thought I had lost it.
Anyway, just some thoughts about this thing I made.
Many thanks to Johannes for the invitation and to everyone that weekend who made me feel welcome down there.
Stephen
Here’s the Bandcamp release, with immediate download:
As I wrote above also available is the four song EP ‘St Arbogast +’ with songs from the same session that weren’t included on the regular album. This a free download to anyone subscribing to my newsletter, which you can do so here.
Here’s a video Selina and I made in a couple of hours a few weeks ago in the Fürth forest.
I think Spotify and everything like that will come in a week or so, no rush. The last week or so has been very busy and I’m ok with not trying to put new music in every corner of the galaxy right away.
Thanks to everyone who already picked this up - I’ll send the physical copies out in a couple of days. Have a lovely week!
Stephen
Fritzen, Hamburg (free download)
Photos by Jenny.
I recently got invited to play a concert in the wonderful little Fritzen design studio / gallery / shop in Hamburg. Was a real pleasure and a lovely visit and I wanted to share a couple of songs, some photos, brilliant sketches and illustrations from the evening. You can imagine the crowd were all hot creative folks so there was a fair bit of sketching, photographing and that sort of thing going on. Please click through the links, download the songs and share and all that - the people up there make lovely stuff and are incidentally the best hosts. Thanks Kathrin and all fine Fritzen folks.
Photo by Kathrin.
The following illustrations are also by Larissa Bertonasco.
Three songs from Luzern (free download)
I’m slowly getting my shit together after a hectic few weeks of concerts and working on new projects. Just this week we finished the debut album by Geneva, which I recorded and produced and is out now through my label, Woodland Recordings. A lovely little collection of songs in a delightful package - have a listen have a look:
I know, I know - somewhat off topic. Stay on target.
Photo by Neda.
So here’s three songs from a house concert I played at Neda’s lovely place on the hill above Luzern in Switzerland a few weeks ago. Neda takes care of The Phrontistery space in the town but this evening she invited me up to her house to play to a small audience there. Was a wet night, the rain lashing down and I played a collection of slower things, or at least the songs came out in different shapes this night. Here’s three of them edited together - listen separately below or click the button for a free, simple download from Dropbox.
As I said, I’m catching up with things and this weekend my next album ‘St Arbogast’ will be sent out to anyone who pre-ordered it and available to listen in full and buy from my Bandcamp right here.
I’m not lying when I say half of the first edition of 100 are gone so please pick one up kind of quick if you’d like one of those. I’ll write more on that before the weekend I’m sure.
Thanks for sticking with me and please have a lovely week.
Stephen