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Nick Drake tribute artist from
Leeds, West Yorkshire (UK) Tony
Blakeney.
Available for
performances. Also available for
general studio sessions (manifold and diverse acoustic guitar and vocal
styles). Here are some
“rough mixes” for you to enjoy:
Clothes
of Sand
Know
Parasite
A
Place to Be
Rider
on the Wheel
Riverman
Strange
Meeting II
Thoughts of Mary Jane
Learn more about the
great, late singer & songwriter Nick Drake at www.nickdrake.com
www.brytermusic.com
www.nickdrake.co.uk
and read Tony’s own words about this project:
Recently I pulled all the muscles in my
lower back while taking the wheelie-bin up a flight of three steps. Agony is not an adequate word to
describe the pain; there should be more “a”s at the
beginning. This may all seem
irrelevant at first glance, but not being able to sit, lie, lean or
otherwise assume any natural posture apart from standing up, I spent a
whole week upright and playing my newly acquired 1961 Martin nylon-strung
guitar(which, incidentally, is the same model as Willie Nelson’s,
although his has a hole in it!). I
had recently re-discovered Nick Drake and the result is here for your
delectation. I started by
practicing “Clothes of Sand” because I love the lilting
“sea-shanty-ness” and the way that the song takes you
immediately to the seashore.
Then I moved to “Fruit Tree, but
didn’t record that one in the end.
The other songs which I love but have not yet recorded are
“Black-Eyed Dog” and “Three Hours”…
powerful stuff indeed!
I was recently asked why I wanted to
record Nick’s music, but really couldn’t answer. For those who don’t know Nick:
his life was basically cut short by what I feel was the result of him
being totally rejected by the popular music establishment at that
time. Weakened by depression and
on anti-depressants, he died from an overdose.
There is some dispute as to whether this
was a deliberate or accidental suicide; either way, he died in 1974 at
the age of 26, leaving a legacy of timeless art.
I have recorded these eight samplers
“live”, i.e. I have played and sung in the same takes, as
I’m sure that’s how Nick would have done it.
My aim is to go on the road in a small
way, probably as a support act or what have you. While I can’t, of course, take
credit for the music, I wish to be a vehicle for performing this
wonderful music live and authentically.
Nick Drake only performed his own music a
few times in public; doing these intricate finger-pickings while singing
is not very easy, to say the least!
I hope that these recordings will not
offend the Nick Drake estate, and that they will be heard more as an
appreciation than as any cynical money-making venture.
I welcome any comments and feedback
(brickbats as well as bouquets), and any gig or studio session
enquiries. Please E-mail me at
anthony dot blakeney1 at ntlworld dot com
Bon
appetit!
Anthony J Blakeney, Leeds,
March 2006
Plug Plug Plug: Enjoy also my own-design jewellery at www.tensionrings.co.uk
!
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