About Me

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London & Brighton Singer/Songwriter, Writer, Director and occasional actor...whatever really and who the hell cares!

Wednesday 17 September 2014

GIGS GALORE! And my appearance on Juice FM!

So I am pretty ecstatic right now because last night I was featured on Chris T-T's Midnight Campfire Playlist on Juice FM! What a show it was too, check out the full line up here, http://christt.com/words/midnight-campfire-playlist-17-sep/

 Chris played my cover of Goodbye Girl by Squeeze from my new covers EP. (Which you can download here I might add http://www.lewismckale.bandcamp.com)

It is an absolute honour and a pleasure to have had the track played on his show, many thanks Chris and I do hope we bump into each other at the supermarket again soon if you are reading this!
Please make sure you tune in every Tuesday night from 12am - 2am, Chris plays a fine selection of underground folk music, he has been doing this show for the past few weeks and I have really enjoyed it a lot and it is such a pleasure to be part of it.
Make sure you check out the show if you missed it, here's a link to last nights episode, http://player.juicebrighton.com/?odCat=84&odItem=latest

The next week is certainly looking like a busy one indeed! I have a full list of gigs which I am excited about and I of course look forward to seeing you there, I will be kicking things of this week in Horsham at The Tanners Arms and then the Charles Dickens in Worthing and this will be my preparation before I make my appearance supporting Nell Bryden at the Komedia and my Oxjam 2014 Buskathon apperance at the Brighthelm Gardens!

Thurs 18th September, The Tanners Arms, HORSHAM
Sun 21st September, The Charles Dickens, WORTHING
Weds 24th September, The Komedia, BRIGHTON (supporting Nell Bryden)
Thurs 25th September, The Hope, BRIGHTON
Sat 27th September, Brighthelm Gardens, BRIGHTON (Oxjam Buskathon 2014)




Sunday 14 September 2014

Something Borrowed EP Now available! FREE DOWNLOAD

Over the past few months I have been working with my good friend, Mr Pat Blann, he recorded my first EP, My Father's Son and has taken many photographs for me and booked me my first appearance at The Hope back in 2011. I even said one day he could become my manager! We decided it would be a good idea for old times sake to record some covers and here is the result! Please visit my bandcamp to download the entire EP for free at http://www.lewismckale.bandcamp.com


Something Borrowed EP
1. Goodbye Girl (Squeeze cover)
2. Seven Hearts (Chris T-T cover)
3. Let My Love Open the Door (Pete Townshend Cover)

Just to shed some light on why I chose these particular songs. Firstly, I chose Goodbye Girl by Squeeze taken from their album, Cool For Cats, because I remember as a young boy, my parents raised me on their music. The Beatles were the first ever band I ever listened to and their music made such an impact on me, their sound was like nothing I ever heard. I remember my Dad telling me about how Squeeze were like, "The next Beatles" and to be honest, I remember listening to Squeeze, I believe this was the first time I had ever listened to songs where a story was being told in the lyrics! I also believe this was the first time I had listened to anything from the 80's! My parents hated 80's music but they made such an exception for Squeeze!
I had the pleasure of meeting Glenn Tilbrook at the Shoreham Ropetackle centre a couple of months ago after he played a phenomenal solo show. I unfortunately didn't get a picture with him but what a lovely bloke he was!

My second choice was Chris T-T's Seven Hearts taken from the album, London Is Sinking. This was a difficult choice to make as I am a huge fan of his work and funnily enough we both live in Brighton and I have had the pleasure of meeting him many times..to the point where he knows my name now and now I feel like some sort of crazy stalker! He is a great guy who I have learnt a lot from listening to his music and from seeing his live performances.
Choosing the right song was difficult for me as I love all his music and there were particular tracks I wanted to cover from an album he made based on AA Milne poems but I felt I would rather sing a song of his that he wrote as I love the humour in his words. After much thinking, I went with this track because I liked this song a lot and it was the only track by Chris T-T where I felt I could do something a little different to the original by incorporating a small harmonica part in there. Originally I wanted to interoperate a kazoo in there but it felt way too comical so in the end I passed on that idea.

My third choice was a song by The Who's Pete Townshend called, Let My Love Open The Door, taken from the album, Empty Glass. This album this song is from is one of my all time favourites! I remember watching the movie, Look Who's Talking and this movie appearing in the end credits. For years, I had no idea this song was even by Pete Townshend. When I started getting into The Who, my dad told me about this particular solo album and I remember listening to it and it left such an impression on me and it is a very personal album for me. I especially love how simple this song is and if there is anything I have learnt about song writing, is that writing a hit isn't about trying to cram as many chords into a song as possible. 
I originally recorded this track on a ukulele which I am sure it will surface the internet one day but Pat felt it was quite weak without a guitar so that's what we went with in the end and it was a blessing in disguise because it actually did work a lot better that way.

And lastly, just a quick plug, I will be playing a load of shows over the next couple of months. I am very excited about supporting Nell Bryden and Lotte Mullan at the Komedia in Brighton on 24th September. Please follow the ticket link for more information on the show. Please don't miss! http://www.seetickets.com/event/nell-bryden/komedia/786957


And just one more quick plug, I will be taking part in the Oxjam Brighton Buskathon this year on Saturday 27th at the Brighthelm Gardens in Brighton at around 13:00, please visit my Oxjam page if you wish to pledge a donation. https://oxjam.everydayhero.com/uk/lewis