31 December 2007

Last Taylor Guitar Of 2007

On 16 October we mentioned the arrival of Baby Lucy - a Baby Taylor guitar, a free promotional thank you for our purchase of Jimmy's 910CE-L7 Brazilian Rosewood guitar on 21 September... yes, you've guessed, we just had to have one to match for Val. So, on 12 December it was back to Guitar Guitar in Newcastle where we bought Jack. Slightly darker than Lucy, he's every bit as cute, and produces a big sound for such a diminutive guitar.

Why 'Jack'? And why 'Lucy' for our first Baby Taylor? Well... this dates back to our 2006 Songwriting Seminar in Germany with Allan Taylor. We were absolutely delighted and deeply moved when Arno, a fellow student (and now friend) sang 'Jack And Lucy', a lovely Hugh Moffatt song which he dedicated to jiva. That performance is one of our favourite moments on the DVD from the seminar. We've often thought about adding the song to our repertoire, but we've not yet managed to add the jiva touch... here's hoping.

Last Night 'in charge' At Ashington Folk Club

20 December was our last night in charge at Ashington Folk Club - the full review on their website includes photos and soundclips. We're normally too busy MC-ing, photographing, PA-ing and recording to find a slot to perform at Ashington, but there'd been many requests for an extended spot, so we happily obliged. We closed the night, finishing the 2007 Ashington season and rounding off our four-year stewardship of the club with 25 minutes of the gentle jiva blend:

• Sonny - song of the moment for us, our arrangement is derived from Mary Black's excellent take on the Ron Hynes song
• Louise - a Paul Siebel song requested by Derek Greenacre
• Back Home To You - a relatively new Allan Taylor song he's not yet released on CD
• Silent Night - what better way to close the set than with the Bothal Suite filled with harmonies? To quote Mike Jessop... 'Unbeatable'.

Amid the cheers and clapping there were shouts for one more song, so we duly obliged by encoring with:

• One More Song - a very, very apt jiva composition

One more tear, one more smile
Who knows what tomorrow may bring?
Keep this in your memory
One more song to sing

Goodnight, and thank you all.

Last Website Design Of 2007

Earlier in the year we'd been approached regarding a website for the Chillingham Folk Club in Newcastle. Once we got the go ahead it only took jiva design a few days to produce some drafts for comment/approval. Our initial design was readily accepted and the site was published on Christmas Eve. Our portfolio of music-related sites is growing:

• www.ashingtonfolkclub.co.uk
• www.bridgefolkclub.co.uk
• www.chillinghamfolkclub.co.uk
• www.cramfolk.co.uk (makeover of existing site for Cramlington Folk Club)
• www.jiva.co.uk - this site!

We've also busied ourselves with MySpace profiles for Allan Taylor, Ashington Folk Club, Cramlington Folk Club and (of course) jiva as well as a website for a local writer and a shop in Hexham.

So get in touch with us, and soon you could have your own custom-built presence on the internet.

Last Performance Of 2007

28 December was our last performance of the year - we went down to the Foggy Furze in Hartlepool for a relaxed sing around (with snacks laid on by the club members - thanks to everyone there, very much appreciated). We played:

• An Acquaintance Of Mine - beautiful Anthony John Clarke song
• Silent Night - again, loads of harmonies from everyone there
• Best Friends - a jiva composition whose first public airing was at the Foggy Furze when we did a guest spot for them in August this year
• Sonny - our own arrangement of the Ron Hynes classic
• One More Song - we dedicated this jiva song to the Foggy Furze, probably the friendliest club we've ever played at

Our last song of 2007 was also the last Foggy Furze song of 2007 - thanks to Ian and C^o for being such good friends. We look forward to seeing you again in 2008.

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