• An Awesome Poyzer Gig List: Me Miss, Me Miss! After a break I'm back with zest this Saturday with John Cooper Clarke in Sale, and also this weekend appearing at Stereo Graffiti Night, The Happy Monday Music Festy and George Borowski's wedding gig. Dates forthcoming with the likes of The Alarm, Wishbone Ash and The Men They Couldn't Hang. Good value? Not half ...
• dp's My Space Train: Lots of recommendations to surf on. Wow, is that one a crowd of hungry folk looking for love, and giving it ...
• Songwriting & Performance Worskhops in Warrington: Tuesdays at The Pyramid in Warrington. A valid and worthwhile session.
• Acoustica New Venue: The ever wonderful monthly songwriters gathering in Stockport now takes place at The Bulls Head in the Market Place, every 2nd Thursday of the month from 8.30pm, all welcome.
• Dave Marsh: The gentle man who inspired the song 'Men And Machines' sadly passed away ... a time for reflection and to celebrate the life of a friend.
• Bloody Love Songs: Is the new poyzer album ever going to be ready? Maybe, but you know, I just can't make my mind up and that bloody black dog wants to have his say for sure ...
• George Borowski - a wedding: A special day for Karen, George and Vienna, and a little word about Our George ... about time and all Mr Borowski sir!
• Any Other Business: oh you know, life, the world, torture, stupid whores and all that ...
• Privacy Policy, unsubscribe etc

An Awesome Poyzer Gig List . top of page

Saturday May 27th @ 8pm
John Cooper Clarke + Darren Poyzer
@ Waterside Arts Centre, Sale, nr Manchester
Waterside Arts Centre, Sale. M33 7ZF
See www.johncooperclarke.com
See www.thegigcartel.com
Venue Website: www.watersideartscentre.co.uk
Tickets £14 advance from www.ticketline.co.uk or call 0161 832 1111

followed by a short appearance at:
Stereo Graffiti Night
@ The Globe, Glossop
144 High St West, Glossop
>>> FREE ADMISSION WITH FREE RADIO SHOW CD <<<
from 8.30pm until midnight, a night of many who feature on the Stereo Graffiti Radio Show including:
Room 13 . David Gordon . Phil Hanif . Roydan Styles . Paul Parrish . Colin Wakeford . The Acoustic Pac . The Detours . Andy Mayes . Ann English . Lisa Marie Glover . Al The Wiz . Steve Tomo . and more no doubt!!
www.globemusic.org
www.stereograffiti.com

Bank Holiday Monday May 29th @ midday
Happy Monday Music Festy
@ Ellesmere Port Royal British Legion
Stanney Lane, Ellesmere Port town centre
See www.myspace.com/happymondayfestival
Admission £2.50

Thursday June 8th @ 8.30pm
Acoustica hosted by Darren Poyzer
@ The Bulls Head, Stockport * new venue *
Market Place, Stockport
See www.bakers-vaults.co.uk
Adm free . Songwriters Open Mic . All Welcome

Saturday June 24th @ 7.30pm
The Alarm + Salford Jets + Darren Poyzer
@ Manchester Academy 2
Manchester University Student Union, Oxford Rd, Manchester
Mike Peters and Co: www.thealarm.com
The Salford Jets: www.salfordjets.com
See www.thegigcartel.com
Venue Website: www.manchesteracademy.net
Tickets: www.ticketline.co.uk or call 0161 832 1111
Tickets: £15 advance

Saturday July 1st @ 12 midday - be early, first on stage!!
Cancer Research Benefit Concert
@ The Rake & Pikel, Chester
The Rake & Pikel, Chester Rd, Huntington, Chester, CH3 6BS
Well know for being a fantastic large pub with amazing food - Venue Map Here
Yours truly opens up for a mega day of great entertainment for the ultimate cause. Other bands include:
Alexis Blue . Dirty Somethings . The Auxiliaries. The Standard . The Misled Heroes . The Beehive Project
There's a running order posted on a forum here
Admission by donation only

Thurdsay July 27th @ 8.30pm
An Evening with Darren Poyzer and Kevin Farrell
@ The Works, Sowerby Bridge
The Works, Hollins Mill Lane, Sowerby Bridge, Halifax. Telephone 01422 834821
A rare appearance in the duo line-up for Kev and yours truly, and with the new album due, this could well be something very very special indeed.
See www.kevinf.tv

Friday 29th September at 7.30pm
The Men They Couldn't Hang + Darren Poyzer
@ Manchester Academy
At The Academy, MUSU, Oxford Rd, Manchester. M13 9PR
See www.tmtch.net
See www.thegigcartel.com
Venue Website: www.manchesteracademy.net
Tickets: £12 advance from www.ticketline.co.uk or call 0161 832 1111

Friday October 20th @ 7pm
Wishbone Ash + Darren Poyzer
@ The Picturedome, Holmfirth
The Picturedrome, Market Walk, Holmfirth. HD9 1DA
See www.wishboneash.com
See www.thegigcartel.com
Venue Website: www.thepicturedrome.net
Tickets: www.ticketline.co.uk or call 0161 832 1111
Tickets: £15 advance

Tuesday October 24th @ 7. 30pm
A Mental Health Benefit Concert
Darren Poyzer + Dave Rowley
@ The Octagon Theatre, Bolton
Contribution / Tickets £5

Wednesday November 1st @ 8pm
Wishbone Ash + Darren Poyzer
at The Albert Halls, Victoria Sq, Bolton. BL1 1RU
See www.wishboneash.com
See www.thegigcartel.com
Venue Website: www.alberthalls-bolton.co.uk
Tickets: £15 adv from 01204 334400

dp x

dp's My Space Train . top of page
all the following links courtesy of poyzermyspace at
www.myspace.com/darrenpoyzer
Playlist: Men And Machines / Julie Rainbow / From The Beaches Of Ibiza / Sunday Morning Footballer

* Please note at time of posting, 'My Space' server is offline ... please try again soon!

When the world is shit, there's always My Space. The virtual home of pimps, both musical and sexual, providing you know where to find the magic, it can be found. Kinda like finding decent poetry on planet earth, you gotta have the desire and belief before you set out. So, here's a guide to just some of those who's songs and magic can be sampled via the poyzer my space quick link:

poyzer myspace has friends links to: Teitur Lassen / Ane Brun / Joy Division / Attila The Stockbroker / Dave Sharp / Vinny Peculiar / Nikki Rous / Amsterdam / Lily Allen / Greg Oldfield / Steve O'Donoghue / Paul Parrish / The Radio Shed / Chris Moyles / Room 13 / Kevin farrell / Colin Wakeford / Roydan Styles / Nick Harper / Glenn Tilbrook / Phil Doleman / Dom Collins / Stevo and Catherine from Glasschild / Chris Difford / Jake Burns / Kate Bloor / The Domingo Kings / The World Famous Camel Tamers / Philly G / Vivid Rhythm / Mourning Humour / Baby Boom Records ... and many many more. And of course my nephew Sanjay's band Temporarily Blank, kicking up the new guitar madness down in East London.

dp x

Songwriting & Performance Worskhops in Warrington . top of page

After a short break for 1/2 term, the essential poyzer songwriting workshop re-launches every Tuesday from June 6th at Warrington's The Pyramid Arts Centre. This has so far been an excellent, friendly workshop group that I am very proud to lead and be a part of. The Sessions runs from 7.30pm until 9pm, there's a fee of about £3 I think, and The Pyramid web space for all info hereafter can be found at www.pyramid.org.uk.

We welcome all from beginners to those with experience looking to find a new space to work in, and whilst having an instrument to play is good, it's not essential. Our workshop 'kit' includes a piano and a pa system, and we're working towards a series of live performances in the Autumn.

Amongst those who have been with us since day one is Kate Bloor, pictured left, who can be heard at www.myspace.com/katebloor. Remember where you heard the name first ...

dp x

Acoustica New Venue . top of page

Some of you will know that for the past (?) years I've been co-ordinating regular live songwriter sessions called 'Acoustica'. Not to be confused with some of the badly organised, inhospitable open mics that litter the place these days, Acoustica has always been a welcoming and impressive event, and has found it's formula welcomed in many towns around the North West.

Ok, we've only moved across the road, but the monthly Acoustica 2nd Thursday gig in Stockport now takes place at The Bulls Head, in the Market Place, welcoming all to play, listen and enjoy free of taxes, from 8.30pm.

The next Acoustica therefore takes place on Thursday June 8th, so get away from the tele, the World Cup, the internet, the quiz nights and the bingo, and come enjoy something that is always refreshing and highly enjoyable.

dp x

Dave Marsh . top of page

We all lose people eventually, and we ourselves will one day leave the body for whatever. Sadly, a good friend of mine Dave Marsh passed away this week, having battled the big C for long enough. My first thoughts are of course with his wife Annie, his family and closest.

My first meeting with Dave and Annie came about as most meetings do with music, at a gig. They were both very generous in their appreciation, Annie caught me with her wonderful poetry, Dave his photography, and they both made me very welcome to visit their home on a number of occasions thereafter. Indeed it wasn't too long ago that we swapped host duties and paid each other visits to kinda celebrate Dave's recovery and percieved 'all clear'.

Dave's cooking and photography were carefully delivered with the greatest love and devotion, however it is for his sense of humanity that I am mostly inspired. I hope he'll forgive me for this, but one of my starkest memories came the day he phoned me, mid-afternoon, crying and weeping over the news coming in from Iraq. The slaughter had just begun, and he knew what was coming. As hopeless as I feel that we as a people have caused that, I feel privileged that another person would take my attempts to understand and deal with these things as a comfort.

If you've heard a song of mine called Men And Machines, on the Brilliant Words album, this was inspired by Dave. Written just after he retired from work, this song was written to enhance the view of a caring man who sought some kind of peace away from the war-makers of the world, to a place where he could simply celebrate his love for someone special and "the Summers we have left". You can hear Men And Machines at www.myspace.com/darrenpoyzer.

One of the most important and incredible occasions at which I will play and sing, will be at Dave's final resting day, this coming week. From there, I will walk again with my own sense of humanity strengthened by the fact that I shared a little time with a wonderful man ...

dp x

Bloody Love Songs . top of page

I know, every so often I talk about a new collection of songs being recorded and put to cd. Well, it's slow, but I am starting to see the light with this one. What I have right now is some very special new stuff, but not enough for a full album. So, at present I am thinking of re-recording one or two from the back catalogue, and putting out to a wider audience (proper distribution etc) a love songs 'hits' cd.

The more I think about this, the more I think it's the way to go. There are still many out there who have never and will never hear what I have to offer, and with the depression kicking really hard this past winter, I'm thinking more in terms of legacy these days that I am about World Tours and socialising in 'circles'.

So, it will be with you sooner rather than later, and will feature all the popular new stuff that thankfully, is being extremely well recieved. You'll not know how relieved I am when a new song makes it's mark ...

Stay with it people. I am alive and kicking up a deal with the black dog to allow functional creativity to blossom again.

dp x

George Borowski - a wedding . top of page

A final word of news for this newsletter and it's one of joy for a great songwriting inspiration, George Borowski, and his partner Karen Spencer, who are at last going to be wed in holy whatever it is these days, this coming Sunday.

George doesn't play as much on the live circuit as we'd all like him to, however he's been at the top of his game for longer than most of us put together, which is some achievement. If there was any justice, you'd all know and love the music of George Borowski.

There's a website for GB at www.guitargeorge.co.uk.

dp x

Any Other Business . top of page

So, how are you? I get lots of e-mails, some personal, some like this saying "come to our gigs coz we're ace, like, yeah" etc. I don't mind, I prefer all of these to begging letters from numpties offering penis enlargement and meds. And I do try and get to see lots of other gigs when I can.

Just lately, since taking on teaching a bunch of ace music students at West Cheshire College, I've been out watching other stuff again, and it's been really inspirational.

This summer of course we have the Footy World Cup and lots of Festivals - ideal for making life worthwhile if you dig all that crowd scene thing, and guaranteed to take our minds off the fact that here in the UK we have arrogant bullies who actively promote torture as an answer to something. I mean come on, what exactly is 'The British Government' and what is it supposed to stand for? Opposition to terrorism or the promotion of our own brand of bloodshed?

If you can deal with the uncertainty of that last question, well done, you're doing a lot better than I am. Maybe I should have been a politician, outspoken but well advised enough not to go mixing it with the Big Brother stupid whore industry ... what chance have we in bringing children into a comfortable world when they have shallow fuckwits served up as their role models? Peter Andre and Jordan anyone? Sweet Baby Jesus. Go away. Now.

Yes, I sound like yer dad, but let's get one thing straight: when cheesy disco and designer drugs kicked in during my younger years, I didn't subscribe for the very same reasons ... no matter what your era, generation braindeath is a disease that must be challenged. On all levels. Always.

That's why I applaud all writers and creatives with a zest to promote challenging views and ideas. With these come the desires to affect change. Ok, we tend not to run find raising marathons, but runners need to know that there's a public conscience out here pushing them every step of the way, and likewise our charities, health workers, teachers, youth workers and so on. It's a battle, and if you applaud something that is genuine and humane, it's a big punch in the nuts for the war-makers, absusers and stupid big men who are forever looking to push us around.

War in Iran anybody? Maybe we'll get to prevent this one ... maybe the Star Ship Enterprise with it's future ideologies will have a Muslim member of it's crew after all.

Lots of love and thank yous,
dp x

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Sender: Darren Poyzer, Stereo Graffiti, The Cottage, Huntsmans House, Clutton Broxton, CH3 9EP

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