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I'm now in the process of updating the mail-lists and newsletter workings, with an occasional spam free mail-shot bringing you the latest dp news, plus snippets of interest from all the other Stereo Graffiti websites, including the forthcoming Internet Radio project.

SIGN UP PEOPLE!!

There's a last minute gig booked in for this Wednesday Nov 10th at The Wellington in Widnes. Also looking now to Feb 2005 with a number of shows to promote the new DVD, and preview songs from the new album.

Got a number of stills from the forthcoming GLOBAL DVD. Here's a couple:

A BIG THANK YOU to all those who treated me so well during the recent shows with WISHBONE ASH.

Ash themselves were truly wonderful, and the staff and gig-goers at The Citadel in St Helens, and The Platform in Morecambe, left me feeling humbled by their generosity and affection.

I'm Still buzzin'! dp x

Well, those of you who've raved about the live album 'GLOBAL' will be pleased to know we're in the final stages of editing the live footage for the GLOBAL DVD!!, and it won't be too long before it's added to the merchandise table.

For those who are uninitiated in the art of enjoying this magical recording of poyzer-esque acoustica, here's what one reviewer had to say:

"An amazing songwriter fighting for the cause against the karaoke, the tribute acts, the DJs, the bile of Saturday night 'fun' acts. He is the anti-pop, the working class hero, an amazing talent. Nothing more can be said. Buy this album and see the light."

Gigs added: November, the first of hopefully 2 or 3 shows with fantastic Aussie songwriter RORY ELLIS, plus the first date of 2005 in St Helens!

Gigs coming up with THOM THE WORLD POET (Glossop, Wigan, Stockport) and WISHBONE ASH (St Helens, Morecambe)

The gigs with Thom so far have been absolutely fantastic.

And please do check out booking your tickets early for the Wishbone Ash shows.

Photos from the recent Church Unplugged Festival in Uppermill, courtesy of John Mortimer:

Leeds Music Scene Review: "Where Darren Poyzer appears, unusual things happen and people enjoy themselves ... The big heart and the big smile were there in quantity ... Darren went into a set of ‘Julie Rainbow’, ‘Best Friend’, ‘Sunday Morning Footballer’, ‘Brand New Rock’n’Roll’ and other favourites in some ways resembling Monday’s live webcast from Edinburgh. The resemblance was in the choice of songs, but what a difference in scale: the Festival gig had him on a large stage with plentiful amplification to punch the songs out into the open air; at Leeds we got him in natural acoustic sound with trademark warmth, firmness and tenderness from his guitar and seemingly effortless projection of the distinctive voice that shares those same qualities. I could almost go along with something overheard last year outside the Melborn in Bradford; that he has a voice like a silk purse ... Darren Poyzer had once again produced an evening that mattered, with his songs and his own relaxing presence causing good things to happen round him ... the guy knows the magic of mixing warmth with cool and not getting lukewarm" - John Hepworth

A little note to say a big 'hello and thank you' to everyone who has made recent festival gigs in Edinburgh, Uppermill and Nantwich such wonderful occasions. It's been a great run, and a pleasure to come away on such a high.

Good news is I've started writing with a passion for the new album, provisionally titled 'Bloody Love Songs'. Gigs continue, including some shows with 'THOM THE WORLD POET' in October and of course a forthcoming show with WISHBONE ASH in Morecambe ...

Coming soon: Edinburgh pics, possibly Uppermill pics also, a splendid review from the recent Leeds gig at The Grove, video footage from the forthcoming 'Global' DVD and the recent Arts For Life Edinburgh Festival.

dp x

Now I need to catch up on sleep ready for LEEDS on FRIDAY ...!

The BBC's Martin Coldrick reviews a recent dp live performance in Sowerby Bridge: "It was just him and his guitar, but in one song Darren still managed to transport me from a little pub in Sowerby Bridge on a warm summer's evening with pint-in-hand to the other side of the world ... it was often like being a kid again, sitting at the knees of a storyteller as another tale was deftly told"

See full review here

Updated with a stop press gig in Wigan on Sunday Aug 8th - very very strong line-up, unbelievable for a free gig - with MARK WILSON and SIMON FOX. Also added a gig on MON SEPT 20th as part of IN THE CITY in Manchester.

"Heeeeeere's Johnny"

A reminder that this coming THURS 22nd JULY I am opening the show for GLENN TILBROOK of SQUEEZE in Wolverhampton - see gig guide.

This comes in the middle of new footage being filmed for the GLOBAL DVD that we hope to release for the Autumn - so if you see me out with a cameraman, say hello to camera!

And finally, news is starting to surface about the EDINBURGH FESTIVAL appearance on MONDAY AUGUST 16th which will be filmed for LIVE INTERNET BROADCAST. More details will appear here as soon as I have them ...

And having seen the fantastic WRECKLESS ERIC last night in Salford, I've added a link to his site in the community section.

Some 18 months after recording the live album 'Global', I've finally got round to sitting down with producer Mark Tolle (Stone Roses / Mock Turtles etc) to look through the video of the show. And guess what, it really is quality footage!

Seeing as the album, which Tolle recorded and mixed to an outstanding quality, has been so well received, we are now looking at compiling the entire show as a DVD.

Watch this space for developments - I'm looking at shooting some additional footage telling the stories behind the songs, and showing the way that each song is played in poyzer-esque!

We've added a new 'Guest List' for you to sign in to. Currently updating it with all the previous entries, new entries welcomed and appreciated!

Last minute gig added with GLASSCHILD at The Wellington, Widnes, this Wednesday July 7th. Other gigs this week: Bakers Vaults, Stockport on Thursday, re-launch of Acoustica! at Jacksons Pit in Oldham on Sunday. See Gig Guide for info

I'll be busking around Glossop this Saturday lunchtime, and dropping in on a number of shows, to celebrate and promote THE LIFT GLOBAL MUSIC FESTIVAL 2004.

Check the website at www.liftglobal.com for details of one big weekend of fantastic events, which includes an anything goes acoustic afternoon on Sunday ... I've kinda promised myself that I wouldn't play Glossop for a while now but y'know ...

Gig guide update with SAT OCT 16th dp supporting WISHBONE ASH in Morecambe.

Gig guide looks a little bare but still includes forthcoming gigs in LONDON, EDINBURGH (Festival), WOLVERHAMPTON (with Glenn Tilbrook), WIGAN (Festival), MORECAMBE, NANTWICH (Festival), ST HELENS, STOCKPORT, OLDHAM, LEEDS and BRADFORD ... musn't grumble

Have added a few Texas Tour Photos to the Gallery.

The one you see here was taken by an old shck in Bostock, Texas, situated just off the Colorado River.

Website for Aussie Songwriter Rory Ellis added to the Community section. We did a fantastic gig together at Glastonwick recently and Rory stayed over in Glossop for a few days ... Poyzer touring Aus maybe ... ??

Acoustica nights at Jacksons Pit in Oldham are postponed until after Euro 2004. Re-Launch night is Sun July 11th, details at www.acoustica.tv.

Thanks to all who've attended recent gigs: Puzzle Hall with Shaun T Hunter and The Glossop Folk & Blues Fest were excellent. Particularly enjoyed running the songwriters workshop at the Festival, whereas the gig with Fluff on violin, Kirky Boy on guitar, Kevin Farrell on Bass and Ann English on backing vocals was senational!

Ok, it's an unusual week, so here's the run-down of what's happening:

Tues 15th - Pure Radio in and around Stockport is back on-air on 87.9FM, and dp is featured playing tracks from self-penned albums, plus a few by the likes of Tony Auton, Andy Goddard and Ann English, at 10pm

Weds 16th - A 'real-life' portfolio of dp on and off stage doing those everyday things, courtesy of photographer Lloyd Bishop, is featured as part of an awesome Photo Exhibition called 'Diffuse'. Check out Diffuse at CommeCa, 24 Worsley Street, (off Ellesmere Street), Manchester, tel: 0161 839 7187. Exhibition runs 16–19 June 04. Opening Times: Tues–Fri 11:30am–5pm; Sat 12pm–4pm; late night Thurs until 7:30pm.

Thurs 17th - dp plays The Puzzle Hall with Sean T Hunter (see gigs)

Fri 18th - Midday approx, dp plays live and talks music on High Peak Radio 106.4 & 103.3 FM

Fri 18th - 2pm until 4.30pm, dp runs a Creative Routes Writing workshop in South London (see workshops)

Sat 19th - The Glossop Folk & Blues Festival with dp songwriting workshop at 1pm, followed by dp & friends live at 5.30pm (see gigs)

Those of you who wanna chat about music, putting the world to rights or computer technicals, come and help us get the new
Stereo Graffiti Message Board
up and running

DP featured on the playlist at KZSC in Santa Cruz, California, USA. 'Sunday Morning Footballer' translates Stateside, which is an interesting concept given that their 'football' is a different game to ours ...

Regular visitors will notice a little site re-vamp: I've added 'GALLERY' and 'REVIEWS' to the menu, combined the listen and shop pages into one 'CD & MP3' page, and added a 'WORKSHOPS' page which includes dates of forthcoming workshops.

Gigs added for Edinburgh Festival and London, World Mental Health Day - details to follow.

* * *

Also just in, a recorded interview piece for High Peak Radio, should be broadcast week of Glossop Fest 14 June onwards, more soon ...

A reminder that I am running a SONGWRITERS WORKSHOP at The Glossop Folk & Blues Festival on SATURDAY JUNE 19th at 1pm. Places still available, anyone who's interested please e-mail me.

A 'real-life' portfolio of dp on and off stage doing those everyday things, courtesy of photographer Lloyd Bishop, is featured as part of an awesome Photo Exhibition called 'Diffuse'. Check out Diffuse at CommeCa, 24 Worsley Street, (off Ellesmere Street), Manchester, tel: 0161 839 7187. Exhibition runs 16th – 19th June 2004. Gallery Opening Times: Tues – Fri 11:30am – 5pm; Sat 12pm – 4pm; late night Thurs until 7:30pm.

Pure Radio in and around Stockport is back on-air from 14 June - 11 July on 87.9FM, and dp is featured playing tracks from self-penned albums, plus a few by the likes of Tony Auton, Andy Goddard and and Ann English, at 10pm on Tuesday June 15th.

Whispers of an invite to play a peace festival in a war zone hot-spot in the Middle East, and an invitation that I'll gladly accept if it looks viable. This may well not happen, but it has actually made me think how little we do to help the people out there who are stuck in the middle of all that bloody pig headed violence.

I get so frustrated ... I know I know, I shouldn't, but ...

I attended a cracking gig on Friday (and of course gatecrashed the stage and played a few tunes) featuring ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER and from the US, a superb political activist and songwriter called DAVID ROVICS.

Attila you may well already know to be radical, fun, enjoyable and inspirational (www.attilathestockbroker.com), however Rovics is a new to these shores, very astute and powerful songwriter from Boston. And you can hear him, because virtually every song from his albums is available to hear at www.davidrovics.com. I particularly reccomend 'They're Building A Wall' and 'Who Would Jesus Bomb?', but there's loads of other great songs to hear. Do the good thing though, buy a cd or two, he's well worth your support, and indeed has a session with Andy Kershaw due soon on the radio.

Quite like these ... this was the recent Wishbone Ash support gig, quite an occasion. Big thanks to official venue photographer Alan Kenny for photos!

Pacific Rd Photos 

* * *

Also, I'm re-vamping a couple of things on the site ... one or two dead links have been updated in the Community section, with one or two added also. And yes, I've removed a few ... you know, some people can't even be bothered reciprocating ... oh well, that's 'community' for you!

Glossop Folk & Blues Festival: now on stage at 5.30pm, lining up with POYZER / FLUFF / McELHINNEY / ENGLISH

Well, what a top way to end a tour - 3 gigs in 2 days in Brighton; you were brill, and you're footy team didn't do so bad either ...

The trip South was an epic with an all star cast ... stopped off in London to meet Sarah and a few members of the Creative Routes group - I'll be working with them soon, only part-time to begin with, but with plenty of opportunities to network down South

(... and hello Laura - I'm smiling even now, happy hangover :-)

The first of 3 gigs in 2 days was the Glastonwick 'triple header' with Wob and Rory Ellis ... more on these guys soon with web links, but let's just say that performing 'round robin' with these two for what was almost a 3 hour gig, is now featuring in the top 10 dp gigs of all time

Pics soon also I hope - plenty of cameras around so, please send!

2nd gig was an intensely beautiful House Concert with Paul and Jocelyn and a party of guests ... Paul is introducing a new house concert concept called 'Trouserless Gigs' whereby men aren't aloud to wear trousers ... mmm, ok, count me in, I've got a couple of footballers knees to show off

And then finally The Evening Star, a rousing hum-dinger with support slots from the fantastic John Paul Davies and Andrea, plus Paul Chi, followed by a foot to the floor drive from Brighton to Glossop in less than 4 hours

Thanks to everyone who has made this a fab run of gigs, adventures in conversation, and touching friendships. Hope you all felt and found some magic along the way - I sure did

dp x

Gig Added: Opening the show for Glenn Tilbrook (Thurs July 22nd) in Wolverhampton

Back home! BIG THANKS to everyone out in Texas, especially Thom, Wendy, Steve, Kathleen, Ivanho, Chris The Future, Eric The Orchestra, Connie, Julie, Abby, Noah, Patricia, Greg ...
For the time being the tour diary remains as written:
CLICK FOR LIVE TEXAS TOUR DIARY
I'll sort an overview / edit version soon, with previously unwritten extras!

Excellent review from the recent St Helens Green Room gig, now to be found in it's entirety in REVIEWS
To Quote: "... doing it live is what Poyzer does best and he delivered a truly uplifting set that manage to reduce the wall-to-wall, packed out Green Room to an almost religious silence ... many of the crowd had probably never heard of Darren Poyzer before tonights gig. Now they would never forget him"

TEXAS TOUR DIARY

Following a sensational night in Glossop last night, it's now time to prepare for departure ...

CLICK FOR LIVE TEXAS TOUR DIARY
Yep I've sorted a Diary for the daily adventures ... read on!

So far so good ..

Well I am really enjoying the first part of the 'tour'! Still in the UK, I am now taking a deep breath for the plane journey to Texas on Monday.

This week then I've played a joyful gig with ROY BAILEY, and a couple of absolute stormers with KIRK McELHINNEY - the boy's a genius, and sadly our last gig together for a little while will be tonight in Glossop - don't miss it!

Thanks to Pixie Girl who e-mailed me with her reflections on last night's gig in St Helens, when a 90 minute dp set was played in duet with Kirky Boy:

"I had an excellent night last night it's been a while since ive been so amazed ... My friends were also impressed by your talents and even more shocked how quiet i was, and to me that says it all for a band to grab my attention and take me into that other world so peacful and imaginative were all i can see and hear is the music being played ... you yourself know that you played with passion and love and for a musician to get off stage absolutly fkd tells everybody you was there for the people and all your heart went into it and we all appreciate that i felt the love in the room last night you brought us all together WOW thank you
Peace out
Lynd aka pixie girl x"

Witchwood, Ashton

I do get some hits on the site still for The Witchwood, the gaff in Ashton Under Lyne that I used to run the music venue for. Well they are currently under threat of closure (possibly) and so if you wanna catch the drame live as it unfolds, go to the website:

www.thewitchwood.co.uk

Sign the petition, send your support ...

Tour Plans: Here we go ...

The BRILLIANT WORDS Tour starts this Thursday April 29th in Bradford

There then follows a number of NW dates, a trip to the Midlands, then from May 9th to the 24th, it's Texas USA

I will be in occasional e-mail contact via darren@poyzer.com

For those who want to keep up to date with the tour diary, I'll be posting it here, and on the new Stereo Graffiti Message Board

Thanks for all your love and support, hope to be seeing you at a gig real soon ... dp x

Wishbone Ash gig ...

More excellent feedback from the official Wishbone Ash site about that fantastic gig the other night:

"Special mention for the guy who stepped in at short notice to support - Darren Poyzer. No lazy cover versions here - lots of energy and humour, great playing and lyrics that blow yer mind"

"WOW. I came from Birmingham to Pacific Road to see this Gig. The package made the evening extreemly enjoyable, from the venue, the support artist, and of course the mighty WA"

"Darren Poyzer was a pleasant surprise. Far from being another folkie, he was funny, sad and original all at the same time, with a nice guitar style"

Brilliant Words Tour

Ok, the dates for the forthcoming tour are more or less settled now ... extra dates added in Rochdale (April 30) and Wolverhampton (May 2)

It starts in earnest on Thurs Apr 29th in Bradford, takes in Wigan, St Helens, Oldham, Manchester, Glossop, 2 weeks in Texas, Chorlton, then 3 gigs in and around Brighton

Whey hey!!

Wishbone Ash + Darren Poyzer, Birkenhead, 17/4/04 ... one of the top 10 gigs of all time

A last minute booking - last night I stepped in to support mighty prog rockers WISHBONE ASH at The Pacific Rd Arts Centre in Birkenhead. On 'paper' you'd think that a solo acoustic playing at 8pm would be up against it - not so!

I played to an audience of 450 + who really got into what I do ... it truly now appears in the top 10 dp gigs of all time, alongside the Mark Burgess 'duet' in Oldham last year, the 'Global' gig, Celebration Circle in San Antonia, Houston Poetry Festival 2002 etc

Still buzzing today. A MASSIVE THANKS to the many many people who came up to say hello and offer their best wishes after the show, to all the staff and Henry the promoter at the Pacific, and of course to Andy Powell and Wishbone Ash for making me so welcome and playing a mighty show.

See www.wishboneash.com

To quote a post this morning on the Wishbone Ash message board:
"The venue was excellent, the crowd and the atmosphere was tremendous and even the support was engaging"

Engaging? ... Ok, I'll go with that!

Diary flying ...

Well it's been a quiet-ish start to the year by my standards, but we are about to rock 'n' roll ...

STOP PRESS JUST IN > a date with WISHBONE ASH this coming SAT APRIL 17th at the Pacific Rd Arts Centre in Birkenhead

The BRILLIANT WORDS TOUR kicks in, starting in Bradford on the 27th of April and finishing in Brighton at the end of May

And the details are rolling in for the 1ST GLOSSOP FOLK & BLUES FESTIVAL in June. Workshop and now a full concert performance by POYZER / FLUFF / GODDARD / MCELHINNEY

Stand by ...

Songwriters Workshop

Yours truly invites all to attend a Songwriters Workshop I am holding, as part of the 1st Glossop Folk & Blues Festival

The date is Saturday June 19th, from midday. Details of the workshop and the festival are slowly appearing in the gig guide listed on the left of the screen.

In the meantime I welcome initial enquiries by e-mail from those who may wish to attend.

Gig Guide Updated

Surfin' on the crest of a wave

Ok, so tonight I've been a little bit down, so I thought why not surf the net, hit google and see if there are any poyzer snippets out there to make me feel good ...

And whey hey ... Billy Bragg official guestbook / forum and there's an August entry with some guy on there name dropping yours truly as a point of reference to an American poyzer-like songwriter who's just been very favourably reviewed in The Times and the Guardian

Feeling good until ... E-Bay: Some guy called Piquetblue from Austin, Texas USA selling 'Darren Poyzer, Passion & Conflict CD (US Tour Version)' still wrapped in the plastic seal, $2.99

Still effing wrapped in the plastic seal for chrissake!!!

Well a Joan Baez CD is only $3.00 so shouldn't grumble s'pose ... Ah well ...

Poyzer on the Radio (2)

More radio play, this coming Sunday March 14th via Geoff Speed's Folk Scene on BBC Radio Merseyside. Listen to BBC Radio Merseyside on 95.8 FM and on 1485 AM

Poyzer on the Radio

Tracks from the 'Brilliant Words' album are now being played by legendary poet NICK TOCZEK on Bradford Community Radio, 96.7FM around West Yorks and broadcast via the internet at www.bcb.yorks.com

Listen

Following the brief, albeit interesting flirtation with running a radio server, I've gone back to the traditional mp3 method. Therefore you will find many good things on the site to listen to now, including for the first time, tracks from the brand new 'BRILLIANT WORDS' cd.

Guest List

The Guest Book (aka The Guest List) is back. At last I've found the time to sort this ... please sign in if you haven't already done so, and note that your e-mail address can now be submitted without it being made public. Impressive eh? :-)

Poyzer on TV

Interference on Channel M TV, Greater Manchester and surrounding villages ... 10pm every Sunday from March 14th and yours truly is on at least one episode in the new series.

Stand by because this is a very impressive studio session, proper 3 camera shoot and very fine edit.

Audio 'Book' includes Poyzer Track

I've lost count of the number of compilation albums on which Poyzer tracks are featured, but here's a nice one ... Chris Judge launches his second novel in both print and audio book versions, and the soundtrack book version includes 'Julie Rainbow', taken from the recent 'Brilliant Words' album.

Called 'From Oldham' it is "a tragi-comedy, the story of a group of Oldhamer's struggling to come to terms with their own identities as race riot fuelled violence erupts all around them".

Check out Chris at www.fromoldham.co.uk.

The launch event is in Oldham on Sun March 28th. Info at www.acoustica.tv.

Gig Guide Updated

Gig Guide Updated

CD's Info

BRILLIANT WORDS CD REVIEW:
"An excellent 9 track cd, well worth getting hold of ... There's more to this than the usual Poyzer voice and acoustic guitar: track 3 'Men & Machines' starts off with a laid back lounge music feel, and throughout the cd we get beautiful violin sounds weaving through the songs ... Darren's songs are catchy, memorable and never feel contrived. It's like the songs have written themselves, there's no sense of them being laboured over, they just flow out, as natural as can be ... a touching hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck job ... if you see Mr Poyzer press money into his hands and demand a copy of this album" - Feedback Magazine 2004

Buy CD's

You can now buy Poyzer CD's right here, online via secure credit card payment.

Gig & Workshop Update

Gigs with Roy Bailey MBE in Bradford, and with Ann English and Eliza P in Bury

Gig added at The Bowling Green, Wigan, plus Workshop at Festival in June

Gig Guide Updated

Gigs added include: Fri Feb 13th with Attila in Wortley . Sat Feb 14th in Oldham with Dave Corbett . Sat May 8th at The Globe in Glossop

Communities In Contrast

This coming MONDAY JAN 26th yours truly is special guest at Andrew Rainbow's 'COMMUNITIES IN CONTRAST' Photo Exhibition Launch Event in Bradford. Details now available via the gig guide, with printable invitation here.

Then of course on THURS JAN 29th it's a rare Poyzer & Fluff outing in Loughborough ...

Gig Re-Schedule / Come & Play

First up, due to a nasty spot of bronchitis and subsequent lack of vocal, I've re-scheduled the Holmfirth gig, originally planned for Tues Jan 20th, now happening on TUES FEB 17TH. Special guests include the very wonderful SHAUN T HUNTER and the inspirational GREG OLDFIELD.

However, Acoustica! Come & Play nights will go ahead as planned, with merely a hosting role for yours truly.

Happy New Year and Welcome ...

It's all systems go with acoustica! right now, and the launch of another new weekly event. This Monday Jan 12th we kick off at Bar Risa / Jongleurs on Chorlton St, Manchester. Poets, songwriters and acoustic bands are all welcome to come and play, from 8pm. See www.acoustica.tv/manchester for Bar Risa info.

And I'm very happy to announce that I have two special guests with me at this month's Herveys gig in Holmfirth. SHAUN T HUNTER and GREG OLDFIELD are guaranteed to make this a stunning night out on TUES JAN 20th.