A fine time to be a musician

Photo by Rich Spencer

I licked the brown manilla envelope, sealing the last CD inside, tasting the faint sweetness of the glue...

it tasted of hope

(there is no way of knowing if they will even read the letter, let alone write a reply)

it tasted like determination

(or if they will run their fingernail down the spine of the CD sleeve, breaking the tight cellophane)

it tasted of ambition

(or if the lyrics and melodies will sink in, or if the disc will even get to spin)


it tasted like fingers crossed...

 

Luckily I managed to write the last letter before the typewriter jammed again

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Our second EP 'High Time' is now available for purchase worldwide!

This week, the track: Cherry Tree was featured on Folk Radio UK's weekly show and we also landed a review from Listen with Monger! 

"Lichfield. Not necessarily the hot bed of musical talent you might expect the sound of delicate genius to come from but then I heard A Different Thread and my perceptions of Lichfield changed".

Click here to read the full review 

Speaking of Lichfield, this weekend we are looking forward to playing at the Lichfield Festival of Folk (L2F) on Saturday at the Guildhall. Other artists include Jon Boden, Sheelanagig and Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin.

Click here for tickets.

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After a roller coaster of a summer, it feels good have had some time to take stock and reflect

It can be challenging when things don't work out exactly how you expected

but then expectation is a dangerous thing

I will finish with this motivational quote from Jane Siberry:

"Since the music industry cracked and fell apart, gasping for the cash flow it had come to expect, much re-thinking has been the order of the day. It is a fine time to be a musician. Like walking through Sodom and Gomorrah while it is still smoking, on your way to the next gig."

Upcoming shows: 

Sat 14th Oct
(1.30pm)
Lichfield Folk Festival (L2F)
Guildhall, Lichfield


Thu 2nd Nov
The Venue, Derby
(With Kerri Watt)

 

Fri 3rd Nov
The Crown, Lichfield

 

Fri 10th Nov
George IV, Lichfield



Fri 17th Nov
The Greyhound, Lichfield



Wed 29th Nov
Sofar sounds concert
London



Thu 30th Nov
Luna Lounge
London

 

Fri 1st Dec
The George Tavern
London



Tue 5th Dec
The Lansdown
Bristol


Your fan,

ADT

Top photo by Rich Spencer

They say there's no place like home (if you have one)

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We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all those who came out to our pre-release show. It was a very special evening and you all really made it feel... well, like home.
We hope you are enjoying the limited edition CD's and if you missed the show, Jamie managed to catch a few clips on his phone, check out the video below!
 

The new EP will go on sale to the rest of the world on the 1st October (look out for the pre-order link coming soon).

Until then you can listen to the 5 tracks online through our Reverb-Nation page or through our Facebook page... or catch one of our upcoming shows.

We would also like to thank Bric-a-brac for putting on a tremendous performance at the start of the evening and what a joy it was to hear your music again!

When I travel, there's nothing quite like like being a stranger, that feeling of anonymity that can make you act on impulse and force you to think outside the box. Often, when Alicia is asked "Where's home for you?" her proud reply is "I don't really have one of those, I've been travelling for two years now".  Isaac will tell you that he has a 'home' and then he has a 'home home'. (His childhood home in Yorkshire) Me, I guess I'm somewhere in between.

When I returned to Lichfield in January after travelling, I felt a bit like a stranger in my hometown.  

I had been welcomed into other people's communities on my travels and it was time to see if I could create a community from my music back on familiar ground.

It is wonderful to see our following grow in Lichfield. It keeps us creating and It keeps us on our toes. Seeing both new and familiar faces come again and again to our shows makes me feel like we could grow from here, like a ripple.

That spontaneous travelling lifestyle can really feed the imagination.

Even so...

"There have never been so many polkadots in my calendar as there are now." Alicia said to me at the start of the summer.

I guess it's all about balance.

We still have a lot of planning to do (so for those of you who are considering booking us for a house concert, now's the time) as well as working on material for the album that's due next year.

For the next few months we will be somewhat scattered about but I endeavour to push and develop this project, thanks to the support of our fans and followers. Thank you <3

 

Your fan,

ADT

ADT wins competition at Shrewsbury Folk Fest 2017

Photo by Rich Spencer 

Photo by Rich Spencer 

It's funny how things weave together.

When I started working the Tipis it was something different, some variety to help with developing new skills and to get some fast cash. I never thought it could lead to me playing at Glastonbury 2016 or to ADT winning the open mic competition at Shrewsbury folk festival this year!

Black Dog Tipi's are a 'glamping' company based in Devon and they operate all over the UK.
I remember when I got the phone call from Tom: I had just returned from my spring trip to europe in 2014 and was on a coach to Bristol, contemplating my life options.  
"Rob, it's Tom. Hannah told me that you might be kind of in-between things at the moment and...well we could use an extra pair of hands".

For the next three summers, I got used to living mostly outdoors (or in a tent/van), lifting canvas and hammering pegs, then sitting by the fire in the evenings and enjoying the warmth. It was great fun, not to mention the festivals!


Shrewsbury was the last Tipi gig of this season and just as I was turning my thoughts away from tents and back to my music career, the two things seem to have gone and wound together...

The rope is tight around the wooden pegs as we heave them from the hard dirt ground. It's humbling to feel the rain on the back of our necks and to see the almost pitiful looks from strangers as they leave the festival gates...if only they knew.
(The prestigious festival holds an open mic competition each year and the winner is invited back the following year for an official slot)
See you next year Shrewsbury!

In other news, we have a new record launching on 1st October (officially) but there will be a special Lichfield EP release show on the 1st September (This Friday) where 50 copies of the EP will be for sale in person. First come, first served. We are delighted to announce that 'Bric-a-Brac' will also be performing alongside us (we saw these guys play at Shrewsbury and couldn't get enough of their infectious folk sound).

This month we also did some recording at the new 'Ivy Lane studios' in Dartmouth and thanks to our good friend Alfi Romeo, we now have two new singles waiting to be mixed. They already sound fantastic!

One more day of Tipi's to go and as we fall asleep, we hear the distant sound of fiddles and a hundred voices singing in harmony as the festival gates close for the night.

Upcoming shows:

Friday Sept 1st
Exclusive EP launch show
Lichfield
Brewhouse & Kitchen

Sunday Sept 10th
Balstock Festival
Hertfordshire
The White Lion

Sat October 14th
Lichfield Festival of Folk
Lichfield Guild Hall
(early show 1.30pm)

Your fan,

ADT

New EP + Upcoming shows

Photo by Joni Nelson

Photo by Joni Nelson

Dear reader, 

I am writing to you from the lower cabin of 'Mimosa', a classic boat of nearly 100 years old which is moored in Dartmouth harbour. The boat rocks gently in the wake of the ferry as it passes by, the sound of seagulls and tourists drifts in from the open doorway and the kitchen is full of musical instruments.  
This boat has been our rehearsal space, cabin quarters, office and kitchen for the last few days whilst we have been recording in Ivy Lane studios here in the town. We laid down two new tracks and they are sounding fantastic!
Tonight we are playing a show in Kingsweir before heading back up to the midlands for a Friday show in Lichfield.

We are excited to announce that our next EP is in the final stages of production and we are having an exclusive launch party on 1st September in Lichfield at Brewhouse (more info to come soon).

Upcoming shows:

Friday 18th Aug
The Horse and Jockey
Lichfield

Sunday 20th Aug
Landed Festival
Verbal Melodies stage
Wales

Friday 1st Sept
EP Launch show
Brewhouse Bar & Kitchen
Lichfield

Sunday 10th Sept
Folkstock
The White Lion
Baldock

We hope to see you there,

Your fan,

ADT

Upcoming shows, Ireland recap and House concerts

We have mostly been recovering from our tour of Ireland. The tour was a real adventure, be sure to check out the blog post here.

In other news, we are excited to announce that ADT are taking bookings for house concerts in July and August, click here to visit the page and check out the video below!

Upcoming shows:

15th July
Sofar Sounds, 
London

16th July
The Lexington
London
7.30pm

28th July
The Astor Theatre
Deal
(supporting The Sons of Pitches)

30th July
Y not festival
(Hog and Barrel stage)
2.15pm
Derbyshire

Your fan,

ADT

Folk on the Water

Straight after our gig with Jonathan Byrd last week Alicia and I shot off to Glastonbury Festival where we have been building Yurts and Tipi's in a field. 

The work has been hard and very hot but the combination of good food, great company and all that sunshine and fresh air has done wonders for my soul. 
This morning we left the Tipi field for a quick shower before our show tonight at Folk on the Water festival in Warwickshire.

Catch us at The Cuttle Inn at 9.20pm this evening.

Here's a video from a session we did for the festival organisers last month:

Hope you enjoy the video, we would love for you to catch us at a gig soon!

Next public show :
23rd June
The Greyhound
Lichfield

 

Your fan, 

ADT

Tuesday gig with Jonathan Byrd (Birmingham)

What better way to spend a Tuesday?

Dear readers,

An americana legend is coming to Birmingham.

A Different Thread will be opening for Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys at the Kitchen Garden cafe and there are only a few tickets left!

They are on tour from North Carolina, I saw them last year at the South Carolina state fair: 
In-between the chaos of the rides and carnival food stalls, they created an oasis of calm and delivered a heart-wrenchingly superb performance (see video).  I just can't wait to hear those songs again and Isaac, Alicia and I are looking forward to trying out some of our new material (and instruments) at the show.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

A video from last year Alicia was invited to sing onstage with the guys!



I hope you enjoy the videos,

See you there?

Your fan,

Robert

 

Our first gig in Cardiff

This wednesday (7th) we are performing at Gwdihw in Cardiff with Folk ensemble: Bonfire Radicals. They're from our neck of the woods and have emerged from the Birmingham folk/world scene with a fresh approach to traditional tunes and a host of creative original material. Check out the video below.

There are only a few tickets left so grab them while you can!
GET TICKETS

In other news, we are proud to be supporting Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys on the 13th of June at the Kitchen Garden Cafe in Birmingham, CLICK HERE to check out Alicia's story of how we got the gig and her personal connection to these incredible artists in our most recent blog post.

Your fan, 

ADT

Tonight! Birmingham gig supporting Those Pretty Wrongs

at The Kitchen Garden Cafe in Kings Heath, Birmingham! 

This acoustic duo consist of Jody Stephens and Luther Russell. 
Stephens may be best known for his time as the drummer in the legendary act Big Star, and Russell was part of the early-90s indie-rock band the Freewheelers. Here they are doing a classic Big Star tune!

This is a great opportunity for us to make a good impression at this renowned local venue so come on out and show your support! 

Last weekend we were in Devon for Dart Music Fest
CLICK HERE to view the blog post about our adventures!

Photo by Sarah Howe

Photo by Sarah Howe

Your fan,

ADT

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Blues Bomb! + May Tour Dates

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On monday we played a show at Mr Wolf's in Bristol and we got 'blues bombed' by the Bristol Blues Dancers!

We were about to go on stage and there were only a handful of fans in the audience and then all of a sudden the room filled up with amazing dancers!

It was hard to keep my jaw from dropping.  
We're looking forward to playing a blues set for them on 12th June at Pata Negra.

Speaking of mouths, we are excited to be returning to Dartmouth this weekend to play during the Dart music festival and kick off our shows for May!

May 12 Fri
Newbold Methodist Chapel
Rugby

May 13 Sat
The Seale Arms 1.30pm
The Floating Bridge 6pm
Dartmouth

May 14 Sun
The Cherub Inn 1pm
Dartmouth
The Ship Inn 6pm
Kingswear

May 18 Thu
Apples & Pears Bar
London

May 20 Sat
Lichfield Kitchen Fest
Lichfield

May 21 Sun
Kitchen Garden Cafe
Birmingham
(Supporting Those Pretty Wrongs)

May 25 Thu
The George Tavern
London

May 26 Fri
Amersham Arms
London

May 29 Mon
George IV 2pm
Lichfield
Lichfield Fringe Fest 3pm
(Beacon Park) Lichfield

May 30 Tue
The Marr's Bar
Worcester
(supporting Lisbee Stainton)

For more info on shows visit our website at www.adifferentthread.com/tour 

Your fan,

ADT

We're on the radio tonight @ 8pm!

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Live session and interview on David Roberts' show at 8pm tonight on Meridian FM

Tune into 107 FM if you are listening in the following areas:

East Grinstead, Ashurst Wood, Crawley Down, Copthorne, Dormansland, Domewood, Felbridge, Forest Row, Lingfield, Newchapel, Sharpthorne, Turners Hill, and West Hoathly.

or listen online here

 

your fan, 

 

A Different Thread

Vote for us to play the Isle of Wight Festival!

I remember my dad showing me the DVD 'Isle of Wight' fest from 1970 for the first time and it really blowing me away. I watched artists like Joni Mitchell, The Moody Blues, The Who and Free performing to the thousands upon thousands of people and thinking "I want to do that".

Well now we might just have a chance!

This management website has launched a competition to feature a new band on the 'New Blood' stage at the 2017 Isle of Wight festival and we need your vote!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW! (you will need a facebook account to vote)

Please spread the word by sharing the link on social media if you can.

Your fan,

A Different Thread

The Fantastic Light Ship!

Photo by Emilie Barbier

Photo by Emilie Barbier

The VIP party on the John Sebastian was a corker of a night!

The 130 year boat is a magical venue, it smells like old wood and teak oil, and you can hear the harbour water lapping at its sides.  Maybe it was the booze, or the dancing, or some combination of both, but we all had our sea-legs on as the boat rocked with us all night.

'Moody Will and the Roll' kicked off the evening with some great tunes, and we are looking forward to them playing with us again this Saturday for the EP launch gig at the Lansdown in Clifton, Bristol! (get tickets here)

Part way through the evening Alicia Best joined us on violin and vocals (we are exploring our sound as a trio,) and as one person wrote; your voices blend like milk and honey.

We set up a typewriter on our merchandise table so that our crowd-funding campaign donors (and other VIP guests) could type anonymous feedback about the evening's events.  We will continue to use the typewriter at gigs for our email list and general feedback (perhaps some of you signed up for these emails via typewriter!)

In Dartmouth between shows and some busking, we hiked out by the coves and filmed this live video on the seaside cliffs.

Our gig on Tuesday in Birmingham marked five shows as a trio, in as many days.

 

Our Bristol EP Launch Show

We would love to see you at our EP launch gig in Bristol on Sat April 15th at The Lansdown in Clifton. We are excited to be featuring The globe trotting songstress, all the way from the USA - Alicia Best! Hosted by the tremendously talented - Larkham and Hall AND featuring The Young and Rambling Bristol duo - Moody Will and the Roll.

All live in person for one night only! An intimate evening of Folk, Blues, Americana.

Oh and maybe a Murder Ballad or two...

Tickets are £7 each and the money from the tickets gets shared between all the performers.

The atmosphere is cosy and we maxed out our last show here so get your tickets on Skiddle.com while they last! 

GET TICKETS HERE!

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE HERE!

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Weekend recap

Friday's show was a blast!

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We had a great time on Friday at the George IV in our hometown and as a result, have been offered a slot at The Lichfield Folk Festival this October! 

Photo by Baz Scoular  

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We used a similar set list for last nights show in Notting Hill at Mau Mau bar, which we thoroughly enjoyed despite the fact that Robert didn't have his harmonicas!

We will be back at Mau Mau bar this summer. 

We even had time to squeeze in a bit of browsing at the famous Portobello Market.

For info on our upcoming shows, visit  www.adifferentthread.com/tour

For info on our upcoming shows, visit 

www.adifferentthread.com/tour

Big Crane music Video out Tomorrow!

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It's a cool night in Antigua , Guatemala. The volcano, Fuego, is erupting softly in the distance and the cobbled streets are almost empty. 

The stage is set

"Action!" 

I conceal my dictaphone in my coat, I can hear the bells at the Merced church begin to ring and the familiar opening riff of the song comes drifting out of my inside pocket...

"Big Crane heard my shout, Big Crane gonna lift my doubts"

The video for "Big Crane" is coming Tomorrow!

Make sure you pre-order our EP "Home from Home" on iTunes or Amazon.co.uk where you get the single download straight away!