December 3rd, 2009

Hi Everyone,

I'm such a poor 21st century candidate, I haven't done a blog, a tweet or even taken a picture of my pet dog for anyone that might be interested. Please accept my apologies. I know I need to catch up on a few things. First of all thank you for all my birthday cards and wishes back in September. I received and read them all and I was so touched by the effort and time you put into them.

Since September, things have been pretty crazy leading up to the studio time and it's now been two weeks since we started recording. It’s been suggested that I take small snaps of pictures while we're in the studio- (as William does) - as a way of staying in touch. I think I'll try it. Otherwise it's so easy to go underground and stay hidden in the recordings. For some reason the studio we're in and the way the control room and the live room are set out really remind me of the Star Trek Enterprise Star ships. I keep picturing us flying through space and time!

I don't want to talk too much about the album as you'll hear it soon enough but one thing I'm working on at the moment is a song which has so many words but no breathing space and I am totally adamant not to cheat with protools so just now I've been practising getting my lung capacity to be bigger and get through a whole verse with just one breath. I'm not too far, there are ten lines and I can do seven so far. I'll let you know how I manage!

Ironically I had a small incident with air supply last Saturday. Mike (@Mike_Batt) tweeted about me nearly drowning. I told him about my little "episode" the other day in the studio cafe, when he came to visit and see how it was all going. The incident was all my own fault. What kind of nutter goes scuba diving in December in a lake near Heathrow airport? I did! You see, I'm really keen to get my drysuit diving qualification done. For those of you who don’t know about diving - people usually dive with a wet suit, which is just like skin. It keeps you warm but you get wet. With a dry suit you stay totally dry, and they're useful in extreme cold waters. I want to qualify as a drysuit diver so I can fulfil my longtime wish of diving in the Arctic or Antarctic Circle and see penguins, whales and ice!

So there I was last weekend shlugging my airtank, BCD and the heaviest rubber suit you've ever seen! One thing I forgot to mention is that your neck is where the drysuit ends so it has to be super tight round you neck. My neck was so small they had to add a rubber band round the opening to make it extra tight! Getting to the water was both ecstatic because the gear becomes much lighter, and horrifying cause the water is 7 degrees. We swam out to the middle of the lake and when we first descended I was shocked by the icy water hitting my head; it felt like the North Pole in my brain. We reached the bottom which was luckily only 15 meters down.

Once there, we were practising standard procedure, taking out the regulator from your mouth (your air supply) and replacing it. I don't know what happened, I think I was stressed by the cold, the tight rubber ring round my throat plus the visibility was very poor - the water was pitch black - so I wasn't concentrating. When I tried to replace my regulator I didn't do it properly, so I breathed in and choked on a lungful of water. I tried to stay calm and clear the regulator but I kept choking on water. Because of the pressure, the force and speed at which the water invaded my mouth was such a shock. I did start to panic, especially as you can't go to the surface because of the bends. It was the first time (out of 40 or so dives that I've done) that I had to pull the "out of air" hand signal. Luckily my teacher was right there helping me through my sorry state of horror. She replaced the regulator in my mouth and I managed to summon up the strength to breathe out any tiny bubbles of air to clear the water out of the regulator and when I next inhaled I finally had some air! Looking back at it now I was such an idiot! There's a button on the regulator that clears the water and it's probably what my teacher used to help me, as well as having it properly in my mouth. I really hope this hasn't put anyone off diving, it's still one of my favourite things in the world to do and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Hope you are well, wherever you are. I’ll try to get some pics and more frequent blogs going from now on!

The new album is scheduled for next May, so we have a busy time ahead.

All the best,

Katie



July 29th, 2009

We finally went to Georgia. I played my first solo shows there - it was over so quickly I didn't even get a chance to swim in the Black Sea or eat corn on the cob on the beach!

I've spent most my life in England trying to describe Georgia, and really if I could use one word it would have to be that Georgia is dramatic! The people are very dramatic, aided by the gutteral language, which always makes me sound like I'm having a world war 3 argument with my mum on the phone, when in fact we might be discussing dinner plans!

I knew this trip was going to be dramatic when our plane was followed by the most exotic thunder storm which I could see in the distance. We landed in Tbilisi at 4am, and even at that time of night we were embraced by the warm air. The band went off to their hotel and I went to spend the night at my grandparents. The street I grew up on used to be a quiet, tree lined street, now my grandparents place is the only one storey house left.

I was delirious and delighted to see them, so after a quick cup of tea Iwas sent to bed by my fussing gran to make sure I got enough rest forthe next day. In the morning the worst thing happened. I've beenwaiting to do this gig for five years and I wake up with a tickle in mythroat, I tell myself it's just a bit of nerves and I'll be fine by the evening.

The day passed in a crazy cocktail of press conference, proud and anxious relatives, other Georgians claiming to be relatives, and a trip to see the Minister of Culture after the soundcheck. When it finally came to show time I couldn't believe I was there, in the grand, beautiful Opera House. During the set I sang a couple of Georgian songs which went down really well. From the stage I could see my first singing teacher from when I was seven. We played a great gig and afterthe show we got on our bus to drive to the seaside town of Batumi. Halfway through the drive I looked around me and saw that most of the band and crew had white faces and big eyes staring at the road. I remember that the rules of driving in Georgia are somewhat different to Europe, there's no fear of overtaking on a one lane road - whether it's a corner or a cliff - no fear even without street lamps on a pitch blacknight, in fact no fear at all!

As expected we arrived safe and sound after seven hours (my uncle has done it in five in the past).

The gig in Batumi went really well too, we had a small issue of live electricity on stage and I was told not to touch anything but no one got electrocuted - and despite the electric thunder storm at an outside gig 8000 people showed up! If I can talk the band into it I'd love to go back and play there again. Sadly the two gigs in Georgia completely knackered my voice out and thenext morning I woke up with no voice at all. This was why we had to cancel the gig in Mainz, I am so sorry for those of you who bough ttickets and were looking forward to the gig, there was just no way that I could sing. So on doctors orders we decided to pull the show. I hate canceling gigs and I hope to be back in the future.

All the best

Katie x



July 15th, 2009

It feels eerie to be in the same hotel in Arhus Denmark as I was last summer when I found out about Georgia being invaded and my mum and brother getting stuck there during the war while on holiday. It's even stranger that I'm going to Georgia next week to play my first gig. I am so excited, I've been trying to play in my home country for so long but because of relative instability and the logistics, it's made it difficult to organize. But now finally after much convincing the gig is on and I'm going with the whole band and crew. They'll finally get to try Georgian Hachapuri ( a delicious hot cheese/ bread thing) which I've been going on about for so long.

I can't believe that my Gran is finally going to see me live! She was the first one who told me to sing from the heart (it doesn't sound so corny in Georgian!) and when I go there every summer she'd get me to play her mini concerts in the kitchen. This is because she's totally petrified of flying and thinks there's a curse on her, so unlike all the other relatives who have visited England she's never been able to fly and come to a gig. But next week we're bringing the gig to Tbilisi and Batumi, the towns I spent my childhood in.

All the money raised is going to go to the Iavnana foundation, whose mission is to give shelter to orphans and children deprived of parental care. If you wanna find out more about the foundation please visit their website here.

I'm gonna go now and try to remember the words to a few Georgian tunes that I'll be performing there.

Take care

Katie x



June 4th, 2009

I can't believe it's nearly the end of this short acoustic tour of North America. I'm going to come away knowing a little bit more about the start of the War of Independence, thanks to my historical walking tour in Boston. I also stared straight in the eye of a ticket tout trying to sell me my own ticket outside my gig in Canada! And a near miss with death on a hotel balcony in New York after having had too little sleep where you think you’re dreaming and you can fly!

I've just arrived in my hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia.. I love the accent the locals have, its so rounded and sweet sounding. The thing that has annoyed me is having to lug my warm winter coat around when it's 88 farenheight outside but bloody freezing inside because of the air conditioning! I take my coat off when I'm outside and put it on when I'm inside! Wouldn't they save money, energy and people's health if they kept it at a more average 70 farenheight?! Okay, rant over.

I've just heard an incredible album that makes me so happy to be alive at this time in music. Joe Henry's “Civilians” is nothing short of a masterpiece. Check it out if you haven’t already.

I’d like to thank all the lovely people that have come out to see me on this tour and I hope to see you all again soon.

Katie x

May 5th, 2009

At the airport, about to get on a flight to San Francisco. I’ve been in LA for the last week, had a gig two nights ago and a showcase last night. It all went well but after my performance things got a bit crazy. Two women that no one recognised - being an invited only event- had a huge fight, glasses were thrown, wigs were pulled and blood was running from jaws.

Now I have this theory that they were professional gate crashers and they stumbled on each other’s gigs, started defending their territory and went crazy. If you are one of the said two women, would love to know who you were? And hope you’re alive!

Jet lag is still beating me. But I’m going on interesting journeys by reading “Decreation” by Anne Carson. Here is an extract from a poem I read at my gig by Elizabeth Bishop, it’s called the Man Moth and this is what Anne Carson has written about it: “The man moth is a creature who lives most of the time underground, but pays occasional visits to the surface of the earth, where he attempts to scale the faces of the building and reach the moon, for he understand the moon to be a whole at the top of the sky from which he can escape. Failing to attain the moon each time he falls back to the pale subways of his underground existence”

‘The Man Moth’

Up the facades
his shadow dragging like a photographer’s cloth behind him, he climbs fearfully, thinking that this time he will manage to push his small head through that round clean opening and be forced through, as from a tube, in black scrolls on the light.

(Man, standing below his has no such illusions).
But what the man moth fears most he must do, although He fails, of course, and falls back scared but quite unhurt.

If you catch him,
Hold up a flashlight to his eyes. It’s all dark pupil, An entire night itself, whose haired horizon tightens As he stares back, and closes up the eye. Then from the lids One tear, his only possession, like the bee’s sting, slips.

Slyly he palms it, and if you’re not paying attention He’ll swallow it. However, if you watch, he’ll hand it over, Cool as from underground springs and pure enough to drink.

March 24th, 2009

Hi

Back from Georgia today. I was there for a week and it didn't feel long enough to dip into the past like that. It's incredible to witness a country change so much, the centre of the Tbilisi looks so amazing they're really starting to preserve the old architecture. There's so many shops and I was so shocked to shop in a small supermarket instead of the small booths that used to be privately owned, often by your neighbour.

My grandad's house is being rebuilt after it collapsed 6 months ago. It used to be on stilts and the next door neighbour was digging very low foundations, it happened to rain really heavily one night, and the land slid. Thankfully my grandma felt the earth tremor a minute before his house fell and she screamed up to him and he rushed down the stairs as the building behind him collapsed.

The most incredible album came out last week! Polly Scattergood's self titled album is my favorite so far this year. I've known her work for a long time and have been waiting for this record for ages!

When I was on the plane back to london I was listening to Emily Dickinson's poetry on my audio book and completely fell in love with this one:

I felt a funeral in my brain,
And mourners, to and fro,
Kept treading, treading, till it seemed
That sense was breaking through.
And when they all were seated,
A service like a drum
Kept beating, beating, till I thought
My mind was going numb.

And then I heard them lift a box,
And creak across my soul
With those same boots of lead,
Then space began to toll

As all the heavens were a bell,
And Being but an ear,
And I and silence some strange race,
Wrecked, solitary, here.

And then a plank in reason, broke,
And I dropped down and down--
And hit a world at every plunge,
And finished knowing--then--

Emily Dickinson

See you soon.

Katie x x x