27 May 2008

We were pleased to have our American friends Steve and Kristi Nebel stay with us for a few days - it was great to chill out together, drink a little, eat together, play some music and generally just hang out. We went to the Bluestone Folk Club where Steve and Kristi joined us performing 'Dream On' and 'One More Song' as jiva and the jivettes - they added lead acoustic guitar, electric bass and extra vocal harmonies... quite a sound.

The following night they were studio guests at Bishop FM, and Terry had asked jiva to take our guitars along too. So we duly obliged, and played again as a foursome.

Next night Steve and Kristi were guests at Cramlington Folk Club, jiva being one of the support acts. For our second spot we invited Steve and Kristi to join us and again jiva and the jivettes played.

In addition to the above, and also travelling the north of England doing floor spots, jiva featured at:

• Longhorsley Village Hall (fundraising concert  for Children's Vision)
• Bishop FM radio (studio guests - we did an Allan Taylor tribute set, playing four of his songs and two of our own)
• Clennell Hall Music Festival (in addition to our spot we also helped with running a singaround)

Our wonderful Bose L1 system was given a couple of workouts - at Longhorsley Village Hall and at Cramlington Folk Club... it was super, the best sound system imaginable.

As well as playing out we like to watch live performances when we can. We saw:

• Debra Cowan and Pete Smith at Cramlington Folk Club
• Anthony John Clarke at the Davy Lamp Folk Club in Washington (he was recording a live album that night)
• Show Of Hands at the Durham Gala Theatre
• George Welch at Netherton Folk Club
• Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby at Croxdale Folk Club and also at the Old School Scout Hut at Ovingham
• Steve and Kristi Nebel at Croxdale Folk Club
• Alistair Anderson's birthday bash at the Sage (with a fine cast of guests including Martin Simpson and Richard Thompson)
• Dana and Susan Robinson at the Davy Lamp Folk Club in Washington
• Allan Taylor at the Lit and Phil in Newcastle
• (We'll also see Allan at Darlington Folk Club on 29th May)

And, as if that wasn't enough to keep us busy, we've also taken on a website commission for a singer/songwriter from Yorkshire - you can see how it's taking shape at:
www.simonalexandermusic.co.uk

We've also added an 'Out and About' news panel to our home page, showing the next three or four scheduled appearances - and, as always, the jiva MySpace profile has further details of these and other future gigs... but we don't list floor spots, so look out and we may turn up unannounced at a venue near you!

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