Current page: Linda's Page
Current page: Linda's Page
Linda Simpson [photography: copyright John Haxby]
Photo: Irma van Rijswijk
As you all will know by now Linda is very busy with the preparations for her short tour of the Netherlands, together with dutch singer/songwriter Elrieke van Gelderen. Here’s the latest news about this tour, from Linda’s website:
“I've just been over to Holland to do some promotion for the coming dates in November. We did a few radio shows, some recordings and had a photo shoot. Thanks to all the friends that are helping us to put this one together!!
Magna Carta has had a long association with Holland and I would hate to lose that contact and the friends I have made there.
I can't do in Holland what I am trying to do here in the UK as it would be impossible for me to set up venues at a distance. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do but then several people, including Chris, asked if I had any plans to work with Elrieke.
Elrieke is a very talented young singer/songwriter just trying to break into the music scene. I had thought about offering to manage her at one point but as I'm not really 'management material' I decided I would probably do her more harm than good and shelved the idea. I do very much believe in her talent though and so to work with her seemed like a good idea. I asked her if she would like to give it a try, and she said yes.
At the concerts Elrieke will be joined on stage by singer/songwriter Leopold Geldmeijer, a fine performer in his own right. We will perform both together and separately and will of course include some favourite Magna Carta songs too. Matt will join us at a couple of the venues if he can, but I can't promise anything as he is now with a new band, Tommy Ebben & The Small Town Villains, and they are very much in demand.
Having already decided to visit Holland in November I am now approaching venues interested in helping new talent to make their way in this very difficult business. This will give Elrieke a chance to work with the right kind of audiences and, if it works well, it will give me the chance to do the same with other musicians just starting out.”
VIDEOS
On the web site there is a PR page. It's not a public page, but those of you on the mailing list can have a sneak preview. Click HERE to find personal video footage taken whilst shooting the publicity photos - and some footage from a radio show. There's lots of other information available on the page too - along with the November Dutch dates. It seems that there may be more so I will let you know as soon as I have more information.
NEWSLETTER
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TOURDATES:
Thursday 10th Nov 2011 20:15 Het Beauforthuis Austerlitz
Friday 11th Nov 2011 20:30 De Klif in Oosterhout (near Nijmegen)
Friday 18th Nov 2011 20:00 DRU Cultuurfabriek in Ulft
Saturday 19th Nov 2011 20:15 Engelmunduskerk in Velsen-Zuid
Please note: more dates will be added soon!
DETAILS on these tourdates and where to obtain tickets: Linda’s website
Linda Simpson's first solo cd has just been released.
The album Moving On has been released on Mama Dont Records and can be ordered here www.mamadont.co.uk. [opens in a new window].
Linda writes about Making the CD
I’ve been working on this whole concept now for almost two years and it has changed considerably over that time.
My first idea was to have a band on board and take them down to London, playing gigs along the way but, as soon as I started living on the boat, I realised that that was going to be a no-no. .. not enough space.
So, a major re-think later, the plan is to try to open venues and arrange events for acoustic musicians. It all sounds like great fun, but it’s not possible to live on fresh air, and so I had to find some way of earning money at the same time.
There are a couple of other ideas, that might come into play as this project goes forward, but the most obvious thing to do is to sell music at these events. To that end I have put together a CD of my own material, some from my time with Magna Carta and 4 new tracks recorded since I left the band.
To have a CD, you need a record company and so Mama Don’t Records was born.
Future CDs will feature the best musicians and writers that I come across as I work but there had to be a starting point and I don’t apologise for using my own material as I need to lift my own profile and let people know that I’m doing this as a musician, for musicians.
It had to be mastered before it could go into production and so I got in touch with Digital Audio in Skipton. They had done a few CDs for us and the quality could not be faulted and so I felt confident of a good result.
The art work can be a massive headache. I had no idea what I wanted – other than it had to be fun, so I asked Walter Goyen if he could help me. I don’t know where he finds his patience but he said yes and came up with a great idea. We put the lyrics in and I had the idea of a booklet that could be reversed and become a hand-out so that the CD and the project could advertise each other. Emails – so many emails, poor Walter was flooded with them, but eventually it all started to come together.
A trip to Skipton sorted out the mastering but ‘Only Road Home’ wasn’t sitting properly. I had chosen the very first version that was ever recorded, as that was the one that had the impact on my Mum. I will never forget her sitting there, listening to the song. She had tears in her eyes and that was when I knew she understood why I lived for my music.
I asked Chris if we had any other versions that might fit the CD better and he found one that slotted in perfectly. He offered to sort it out and even went to Digital Audio to master it for me, which was very nice of him….but then he’s good at that sort of thing and I hope he enjoyed the process.
When everything was almost ready I received a list of ‘got to do this lot first’ … blimey it was quite a list and I thought I’d never get there but, eventually, all was in order and the CD was in production.
Two days ago it all paid off and the CDs arrived. For the first time I had in my hands a CD that was all mine. I don’t think it has sunk in yet.
Now I’m working on the web site to get a shop set up to sell them – I can’t live on fresh air and there’s still a long way to go…
Love, Linda Simpson
A message from Linda
You may or may not know that, since leaving Magna Carta, I have been working towards putting together a musical project.
This weekend I will be setting off, on my narrow boat, to get out there and do all I can to make it happen.
The website is www.mamadont.co.uk. [opens in a new window].
If you're interested in where I am, and what I'm doing, there is a blog attached.
Love,
Linda, May 14th, 2010.
NEW: LINDA VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE
Linda Simpson has just put up quite a few recordings from her concert at the Acoustic Festival of Britain 2010 on YouTube. Linda is accompanied by Jonathan Barrett (guitar) and Andy Tillison (keyboards).
Watch Shine here [opens in a new window].
Watch Blues for a Long Road Home here [opens in a new window].
Watch Lovers And Friends here [opens in a new window].
More videos are accessible here http://www.mamadont.co.uk/biography_7.html [opens in a new window].
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