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Free EP
- My debut EP is out now and available for free download.And here's a little video from the EP launch gig: Afraid of the Dark (live)
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Posts
Here’s a little something I’ve been working on whilst travelling around Germany, hence the name… hope you like it x
BARN SESSIONS.
We’re delighted to say that the Barn Sessions video that we did at In The Woods Festival this year is now up online! Thank you so much to Amer and co for filming us!Oooh here’s a little live video with Peter and Kerry in a barn at In the woods festival earlier this year!
I love playing Peter and Kerry and that festival was really rather fun!
X
- i fell in love with your music. you're amazing. kisses from a brazilian fan. :)
ah thanks, kisses right back at you! xxx
- Found your music internet browsing today. Keep doing what you're doing. It's beautiful.
ah thanks so much, i sure will :) x
Here’s a bigger version of the photo, taken by the lovely Philippa Johnson (she’s on twitter you know)
xxx
18 months ago I gave up a comfortable job to do music full time. I had always dreamed of doing this, ever since I first started playing guitar when I was 12. It’s amazing, but it can be really fucking hard sometimes.
I wrote this little song when I was feeling really fucked up, It’s about needing family and close friends!
I’m currently working on a new EP, and maybe thinking of doing an album sometime. So I’ve been writing and recording loads. I thought I’d share this little ditty with you all. It was really fun layering up the guitars, vocals, banjo and accordion all in my little bedroom. Hope you like it.
My friend Philippa Johnson was kind enough to do this photo for the song (you can download the song for free by the way).
Hope you like it, here it is.
Alistair
xxx
As a proud south londoner, i’m silly excited about playing a gig at Upstairs at The Ritzy in Brixton. I’m supporting a sweet band called ShineLikeTheSun.
Click here for more details.
See you there
Mwah x
Yes, playing a gig at the Slaughtered Lamb on Tuesday 22nd May with Pull Up The Roots (one my fave promoters) supporting Urusen - they are super good, loads of beautiful vocal harmonies and good stuff!
Can’t wait!
x
- Howdy, I stumbled upon your blog here and took a listen. I really love your music. Truthfully, really great stuff. I downloaded your free EP, shared it with some friends, and just wanted to say thank you from my friends and I here in Arizona. Cheers.
Hey dude, so glad to hear you’re enjoying the tunes. Thanks for sharing it around, much appreciated :)
- Hey man, your EP was lovely. 'Words I Speak' was my favourite, a really nice melody. Also, I really enjoyed the backing vox for Peter & Kerry the other night. Congratulations too on affording to live off music for the past year! That's the dream. x
Hey thanks for your kind words, and glad you liked the bv’s at the Peter and Kerry show, i love playing in their band, those kids are awesome aren’t they! x
My friend Richard Watkins is a drawing genius (and writes lovely poetry too), this is a little something he rustled up as part of his project ‘Literal Idioms.’
This is me.
Richard also wrote the words and inspired the song ‘Words I speak’ from my first EP.
A new song - ‘I need you’
Last night, I stayed up till 4am drinking whisky and writing a song. This is the song. Hope you like it….
Here are the lyrics:
I feel like I’m going mad
I feel like I’m going to fall
I feel like I’m holding on
By the skin of my teethAnd I need you to save me
Way too much time on my hands
So tempting to sit here alone
I feel like I’m going to crack
I need to escape from my headAnd I need you to save me
And I need you to hold me right now
Cos I can’t survive on my ownx
- Here’s a little something I’ve been working on whilst travelling around Germany, hence the name… hope you like it x
(No streaming audio available)100 plays - Goodbye for a while - a song about needing to be a hermit every now and then….
(No streaming audio available)196 plays - 176 plays
- Here’s a cheeky demo of a new song…. hope you like it!
(No streaming audio available)345 plays - 18 months ago I gave up a comfortable job to do music full time. I had always dreamed of doing this, ever since I first started playing guitar when I was 12. It’s amazing, but it can be really fucking hard sometimes. I wrote this little song when I was feeling really fucked up, It’s about needing family and close friends! I’m currently working on a new EP, and maybe thinking of doing an album sometime. So I’ve been writing and recording loads. I thought I’d share this little ditty with you all. It was really fun layering up the guitars, vocals, banjo and accordion all in my little bedroom. Hope you like it. My friend Philippa Johnson was kind enough to do this photo for the song (you can download the song for free by the way). Hope you like it, here it is. Alistair xxx
(No streaming audio available)438 plays - A new song - ‘I need you’ Last night, I stayed up till 4am drinking whisky and writing a song. This is the song. Hope you like it…. Here are the lyrics: I feel like I’m going mad I feel like I’m going to fall I feel like I’m holding on By the skin of my teeth And I need you to save me Way too much time on my hands So tempting to sit here alone I feel like I’m going to crack I need to escape from my head And I need you to save me And I need you to hold me right now Cos I can’t survive on my own x
(No streaming audio available)532 plays - If only…. an intoxicated unrequited eulogy (this is a demo, i’ll record this properly soon)
(No streaming audio available)821 plays - Little Bird (2006) Here’s another free download for you. It’s a really old song I wrote about 7 years ago. An old friend of mine called Maria, asked me to write a song for her, and this is what I wrote. You can also download this for for free, if you like it please spread the word. Merry Christmas x
(No streaming audio available)377 plays - Here’s an old recording of my song ‘Fire’ which is featured on my EP The Mess We’re In. I recorded this way back in around 2005 in Liverpool, it’s with a full band and sounds quite a lot different to the way I play it nowadays. Hope you like it, you can download this for free!!! Merry Christmas xxx
(No streaming audio available)382 plays - A new song - If only (demo) Ummm here’s new song for all of you lovely folks… a bit of a love song. I drank some wine then locked myself in my room to play some music… and this is what came out. The muse of this song should probably remain nameless… Hope you like it though, and I hope she likes it, whoever she is. Alistair x
(No streaming audio available)821 plays - Words I Speak (Solid): here’s a another taster from the EP…… Enjoy x PS. I wrote this song as part of a collaborative little project called Take it and run (http://takeitandrun.wordpress.com/) in which my good friend Richard Watkins offered up his poems and illustrations for other artists and musicians to do a kind of cover version of the original piece. Was an absolute privilege to have been part of this project. Here is the illustration/poem that I used as the inspiration for the song (basically I just took the words and put a tune to it…):
(No streaming audio available)579 plays - Afraid of the dark: Here’s a little demo I’ve been working on over past week or so. I hope you like it… If you do, please feel free to pass this on Alistair x Oh and here are the lyrics: I’m bored and I need some attentionFeeling close to self destructionI think I dreamt this all last nightIn the end we don’t get what we deserveI’m numb and I need some affectionBut I’m pushing you away because we’re doneI’ll hide away and wallow on my ownWistfully contemplating homeI guess I’m afraid of the darkAnd the monsters under my bedThe demons inside of my headI guess I’m afraid of the darkMy propensity for running awayExaggerated by my foolish waysI can see them coming, but I can’t stop the tideIt’s clear, I’m my biggest enemyThe fear of failure in my headThe weight of expectation on my chestJust metaphors for making excusesMaybe I just can’t sleep I guess I’m afraid of the darkAnd the monsters under my bedThe demons inside of my headI guess I’m afraid of the dark
(No streaming audio available)691 plays - Here’s a little taster from my EP coming out soon….
(No streaming audio available)716 plays - Here’s a link to a song from my up and coming EP - the song is called: Words I Speak (Solid) Enjoy x
(No streaming audio available)579 plays
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Gigs
- Here's a list of all my gigs coming up:Saturday 6th October - 5th Folking Night - Bethnal Green. Free entry, details here.Thursday 11th October - Jam Sandwich @ The Troubadoure, Earls Court. Details here.Sunday 21st October - Old Queens Head... details coming soon...Recent Gigs:Thursday June 21st - Folk Sessions at The Old Red Lion. Free entryFriday 25th May - Upstairs @ The Ritzy, Brixton, supporting Shine Like The Sun. Click here for details. Free entry!Wednesday 23rd May - Clerkenwell Design Week, click here for details. Free entryTuesday 22nd May - @ The Slaghtered Lamb with Pull Up the Roots, supporting Urusen.Tickets £5Thursday 17th May - Folk Sessions @ The Old Red Lion, KenningtonMonday 14th May - The Unplugged Sessions @ The Windmill, MayfairThursday 23rd February 2012 @ The Portobello Acoustic Sessions, The Metropolitan Bar, Westbourne Park.Sunday 12th February 2012 - We love Sundays @ The Worlds End, Finsbury ParkWednesday 25th January 2012 @ The Bowery, Soho (with Ear Music)Sunday 15th January - Bar SoloTuesday 10th January - The Slaughtered Lamb, with Pull up the RootsMonday 28th November - The Slaughtered Lamb, clerkenwell with Pull Up The Roots-supporting the Amercian folk duo 'JT Nero & Allison Russell'Tickets £10 (£4 if you rsvp to fb event)Monday 14th November - Unplugged Sessions @ the Windmill, MayfairWednesday 2nd November - Old Queens Head, AngelEar MusicThursday 27th October - Folk Sessions @ The Old Red Lion: KenningtonThis is my monthly folk night. Click here for more details.Thursday 20th October - Bark - Tamesis Dock - a gig on a boat!Saturday 8th October - Old Red Lion Pub: KenningtonPlaying a set of traditional folk songs with a little band of musical maestro's! Expect banjo's, mandolin's, fiddles, dobro's etc....Thursday 6th October - Music is Medicine @ Euphorium ActonSaturday 1st October 5pm - EP Launch gigSpeakeasy Espresso & Brew Bar,3 Lowndes Court, Carnaby, London, W1F 7HDSunday 18th September - Beatnik@The Drop, Stoke NewingtonPlaying a solo acoustic set at this night run by Beatnik events. Starts at around 7:30pm, open till late.
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Tracks
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videos
- Afraid of the Dark - live @ The Mess We're In EP Launch 1st October 2011:
A love song about Cardigans:Solid (Words I Speak) - Live:
The Mess We're in - live at the Portobello Acoustic Sessions:
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Photos
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Photos
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Links
- - Facebook: Please like me on Facebook- Twitter: Follow my music related ramblings- Tumblr: Follow my blog postOther links:Music Tuition: for all things related to music teaching and such like, have a look here at my other website - www.alistairmackenzie.co.ukGretchen Jacobsen: amazing illustrator, artist and beautiful lady! Gretchen was kind enough to do all of the artwork for my EP and this website, definitely check out her website, it is amazing and she has prints on sale!Miles Langley: This lovely chap has been kind enough to record a few live video's for me. Have a little look at his site, go on!Richard Watkins: Poet, illustrator and friend. Richard set up a brilliant little project called Take it and Run in which the song 'Words I Speak' was conceived.Peter & Kerry: I play guitar, banjo and sing backing vocals with these lovely folks. Check out their website.
