Happy New Year!

The end of 2009 is nigh.. but the night is young!
I'll be welcoming the New Year, and celebrating the end of all that was 2009 at Oxford Arts Factory this Saturday, January 2nd with Sooners.

As it's the very last day of the year, and the moment for reflection and resolutions (and ridiculousness) I would like to say thank you to every special person who has helped & supported A Casual End Mile this past year. So to those who have watched, listened, documented, advised - it has not gone unnoticed. This project began as something shy and hidden in a bedroom, and now exists outside a daydream, living and breathing in the big wide world with a real strong heart.
It would not have been possible without the patience and love of the aforementioned.

May you have all your heart desires in 2010.
See you in the New Year!
x

Fox & a Prayer

The Local Fidelity program on Fbi Radio (every Sunday evening) has included "Fox and a Prayer" on their 'Top 5 of 2009' list! This feels like a very good way to end out the year.

You can read the rest of this list here.

x

May All Your Christmas's Come at Once...

It's one week until Christmas, so come and enjoy the silly season with me while we can all maintain excuses for drinking allllll through the week.

Playing TOMORROW NIGHT at the Sandringham Hotel with Jo Meares & the Honeyriders, and a bunch of other brilliantly talented alternative-country folk. I'll be on late for all you night owls, around 10 pm.

I'll also be playing for free on Sunday evening at the World Bar Radio Social Christmas Party, which A Casual End Mile seems to be accidentally headlining (first time ever playing last, I'm all grown up.) So come get boozy on eggnog, and make the most of the mistletoe!
Jack Cowell will be opening the evening with a solo ukulele set. He will be followed by the Johnny Took (replacing Assembly Hall), whose alt-country tunes I am most looking forward to hearing live.

Hopefully see you under the mistletoe! x

Something Other Than Hope

Being the time of year for thinking of others and general good deeds, I am playing at a fundraiser at Red Rattler Theatre this Thursday. The event will raise money for those arrested at the Climate Camp in Helensburg earlier this year. 

Also featuring performances by Karma Farmers Collective, Edwina Blush (cabaret, spoken word) and Aimee Bull McMahon.

$10... little for an evening of fun/action/good karma.

Homecoming

On Wednesday evening I will once again grace the floor of the Oxford Arts Gallery Bar. I will have just returned from Melbourne the night before, so come along and after the show I can tell you many stories involving missing planes, raving to the Animal Collective and phenomenological experiences with nature. Plus, my set will be FILMED so you can be a part of 'a casual end mile' history.Playing at 9 pm (good news for all you late-comers)

AND IT'S FREE!And probably one of my last shows for the year. Doors from 8 pm x

Devils & Devotion

A Casual End Mile now exists on last.fm! If you visit the page, you can hear a demo of my newest song, "Devils & Devotion", which was recorded about three weeks ago, thanks to Rob Irish (Sooners). I played this song live on fbi's Local Fidelity program recently (am endeavouring to get a copy of this interview), but if you missed that and haven't made it to a live show in a while then it will all sound brand spanking new to you.

So I am back to my old ways of weekly gigs with shaky hands, and recording in bedrooms. Recovered from a bout of serious live-performance-anxiety nerves, and managed to have a good time playing at the Loft last Thursday as the main support for the Small Hours. The stage was lined with tiny Christmas trees, and I had so much in-house reverb thanks to sound-extraordinaire Jordy Lane, I felt like I was in a Cathedral. Perfect.
After my set I got told that I had the unrestrained intensity of an animal - "not domesticated - a wild animal." Ah, you have to love awkward compliments.

In a couple days I am running away to Melbourne for a week, to learn songs in open E, drink coffee with my dad in tiny lane way cafes, and dance drunkenly to the Animal Collective at Meredith Music Festival. You should all come and welcome me back at Oxford Arts Factory on December 16th.
x
Devils & Devotion
I fell in love
with your voice
so I called your name
in the night
But you're always different
in my dreams
You come so close
and say these things
so when I wake
I'm lost again

Lie to me
any line will do
Lie with me
Stay 'til the morning

But I see devils
at the heart of you
but I would sell my soul
to belong to you

I am devotion
in your name
come the dawn
that old refrain

Is this real?
I'm never sure