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11th
Dec 2011 I've spent the day making a video of my
version of "In the Bleak Midwinter". This is
my favourite Christmas carol. The tune (by Gustav
Holst) is gorgeous, and the lyrics are based on a poem by
Christina Rosetti, though I seem to inadvertently have
changed one or two of them (sorry Christina!). I'm not
religious and never have been but as a child I loved singing
carols and this one has special memories: my sister (seen
below aged 16) used to read poetry to me and I think her
appreciation of lyrics rubbed off on me. I'm not sure
I'd be a songwriter if it hadn't been for her, so thanks
Alison! Thanks too to Dave Ellis, who recorded and filmed
this clip. And Happy Christmas
everyone! Click here
to play video.
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26th
Nov 2011
Right:
Here we are earlier in the month outside Ronnie Scotts
after playing in Ronnie's Bar as a guest of jax saxophonist
Renato D'Aiello.
Far
right: My Mum found this great photo of me with
my sister Alison. I think it was taken around 1971: I
would have been about eight and I have a feeling we were
singing "Who knows how long I've loved you" by the
Beatles. Great wallpaper!
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20th Sep 2011
After a break for August we found ourselves on the Sue
Marchant Big Night In on Radio Cambridge on Friday night
(16th). Click here to hear the interview. Sue
was really nice to us and put us at our ease. The next
night we played to a full village hall in Ashwellthorpe
thanks to all the efforts of Brian Mondin and crewe. Local
band Tallis supported us and provided the PA and a lovely
night was had by all... (Thanks
to Paul Bowerin for the Ashwellthorpe photo.)
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31st
July 2011 I couldn't believe it when I realised we
haven't played at the Club Tent at Cambridge Folk Festival
since 2006. Thankfully Hitchin Folk Club were kind
enough to put us on as part of their session this
year. Ian decided not to risk his upright bass in the
jostling crowds and went for the Table Football look
instead. Warwick was wearing the same hat he was
wearing when I first saw him play on the same stage several
thousand years ago. I went backstage afterwards and
asked him if he'd do a gig with me. The rest is
history... (Photo: Jim Wenham)
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9th
July 2011 It was touch and go as to whether we'd
have a bass player at Ely Folk Festival. Ian had been
on holiday and was landing at Stanstead that
afternoon. thankfully his flight was on time and he
got the the venue in time.... (Photo: Pat Jones)
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19th
June 2011 Had
a great time at Redbourne Folk & Steam Day: rain
threatened but never came. There was beer and
barbeque, lots of good music and a lovely atmosphere.
(Photos courtesy of Stuart Cumberpatch.)
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2nd
May 2011
Went
to see Clive Gregson at the Green Note Folk Club on Monday
2nd May with my friend John Harvey. It was a great gig
in its own right but what made it even better for me was
that Clive asked me if I'd like to sing something with
him. I found myself up on stage singing "Touch
and Go" which was the only Gregson song I could be
relatively sure of remembering most of the words to without
any warning. It's also one of my favourites.
What a lovely thing to happen on a May night in Camden!
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24th
April 2011
Easter
Sunday at Hitchin Folk Club has become a bit of a tradition.
As
usual we shared the evening with Dave Ellis & Boo Howard.
We were all cheered by the news that Maureen, who runs the
club together with her husband Keiron, is doing well
following her liver transplant.
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4th
Jan 2011
For
those of you who didn't attend
Garboldisham Village Hall gig
last
November - or for those of you who
did but could
scarcely believe your
eyes at the amount of talent on view
when Dave Ellis & Boo Howard returned
to the stage at
the end of the evening
for a supergroup rendition of Louden
Wainwright's "Swimming Song" -
here's
a momento of
the occasion!
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3rd
Jan 2011: What
DID members of the Liz Simcock band do over the Christmas
break?
Warwick
just rang up and said pointedly "if you WERE thinking
of putting a "what DID members of the Liz Simcock band
do over the Christmas break?" entry into the news
section, then I've got a good photo you could
use..." So see below for Warwick on a grouse
shoot (not really), as well as a pic of Ian partaking in a
bit of skating on the Cambridgeshire fens (centre).
There's also a great picture of Warwick with Del Boy (one of
our most loyal fans) larking about on the beach in Wells
Next-The-Sea in November which I've been meaning to put it on the website
for ages... As for me, I had a great break at Christmas
staying in Suffolk for a few days but the photos aren't
really suitable for the website: I look far too glamorous in
my walking anorak: we wouldn't want to attract the wrong
sort of viewer to the website, would we? Happy New
Year! Here's to some great music in 2011...

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2nd
Nov 2010
Too long since
I added anything to the news page. Autumn has been
relatively quite quiet from a gig point of view though there
have been some good ones including two venues new to us:
Readifolk and the Farncombe Cavern. The former is a
long-running club where Warwick & I had a great time
despite Ian's absence, and the latter a lovely new venue in
Surrey complete with state-of-the art stage, lighting and
PA. I've written a new song Friday
Night Train Home which is due to have it's first outing
in public in a week's time at Tudor Folk Club. The
other news is that James McMahon has sent in this pic of
some VERY tasteful pink & silver sneakers... thanks
James!
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16th
July 2010
I played my
first solo gig for some time on Saturday: it was at Acoustic
Routes in Cambridge. The audience were incredibly
responsive and persuaded me to play my new song The
Bouzouki and the W3 in public for the first song: I
hadn't planned to do it. It seemed to go down a storm:
I felt like a stand-up comedian as the audience guffawed at
every line and neither they nor I could stop laughing
throughout. You never quite know how a song is
going to work out until you play it in public for the first
time and this couldn't have gone better so thanks to
everyone in the audience! I can't imagine
it will ever go so well again...
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15th
July 2010
Here
are some more sneakers pictures. The ones on the left
are Sharon's. In the middle and on the right you can see Lizzie and HER pink
and silver sneakers. Lizzie is a runner and this is
how much she loves her custom-made running shoes...
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29th Nov 2009
Oh dear
Clive and Robyn seem to have started something. Here
are some more pink & silver sneakers found by James
McMahon (thanks James!). The ones on the left are my
favourites so far.
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25th Oct 2009
Great to get
back into gigging after too long away. We had really
lovely night at Orpington Folk Club on Thursday night.
My favourite bit was when Ted and Ivan lead the audience in
Take Your Glasses To the Bar, which I remember as a rousing
end to every Orpington Folk Club night I've ever
attended. Keep it up lads! Then last night we played
in Staffordshire at Colton Village Hall last night in a gig
put on by my brother David. We shared the evening with
my neice Clare and her group Carita Dolche who sing show songs -
completely different style from me. The audience
seemed to enjoy the blend and the event raised in the region
of £800 for charity. We played my new song The
Chisel, the Plane and the Lathe which was fitting as it
was written for David as a thanks for the beautiful guitar
he made me. Click here
for lyrics.
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  These pics
of some amazing silvery pink sneakers were sent to me by
Clive and Robyn who found them in a shop in Belgium.
They look as if they turn into a pair of pink slippers when
you unzip them: very sophisticated! If anyone else
wants to send any pics of pink and silver sneakers I promise
to put them on the website!
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28 July 2009
I've been
spending the last little while trying to do something about
the dismal state of my giglist. I've had various
promises of gigs for 2010 but the rest of this year is
looking pretty terrible. While I've been hard at work
on the phone and internet trying to sort out some work,
Warwick and Ian have been variously engaged serenading sheep
(Warwick) and charting the English coastline in a canoe
(Ian). Ian's the one in the distance on the right.
Warwick is the one with the long ears on the left.
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28 June 2009
Two
very exciting pieces of news. Firstly my beautiful new
guitar made by my brother is finished. See the New
Guitar page for details. It sounds and looks
beautiful and had it's first public outing on Friday at
Friday Folk. There aren't any photos unfortunately but I'm hoping to have some taken tonight at
Twickfolk..
The other
piece of news is that Warwick's potatoes won 2nd Prize in
the Fakenham & District Horticultural Society
Show! Here he is with his mate Colin and
aforementioned spuds. Well done Warwick!

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28st Feb 2009
Some
very exciting developments off stage in the last couple of
weeks. Firstly and most exciting is that I've
commissioned my brother David Simcock to make me a
guitar. He's been making things in wood since he
was knee high to a footstool and I've known about his
talents as a craftsman for years. I had failed to
notice, however, that he has been turning into a master guitar-maker until I visited him a few weeks ago and fell in
love with one of his lovely acoustic guitars. This is
it. It sounds and looks beautiful a nd he's
agreed to make one for me. I've
added a new page to the website for anybody who's interested
in seeing it take shape: David's sending me photos of each
stage of the process. The
other exciting development is that I've bought a new
concertina ALREADY! Since I can only play about two
tunes (with lots of wrong notes) this might seem somewhat
premature but sadly the one I bought originally turned out
to be pretty ropey so I've forked out rather a lot more and
bought a refurbished Lachenal which is much better.
Just got to learn how to play it now!
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1st
Feb 2009
Just
back from a week in Norfolk spent trying to write songs and
get to grips with the new concertina I've just bought.
Never played one before and it's quite a challenge. At
the rate I'm improving I'll probably be introducing it into
the act in about 2012! I came home only one new song: Blow
Me Home, written on the mandola which I'm trying to
start using more. Click here
for lyrics, though they may change as I'm not completely
sure it's finished yet: might need a middle 8. (So that's
two new songs since Beachcomber: the first was Walk
These Blues Away which I've just started adding into
setlists.)
The
week started well with a support for The
Churchfitters who yet again generously shared their
300-strong audience with us in what has become a yearly
fundraiser for ME (Myalgic
Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). We played a 35 minute set and
enjoyed every minute of it.
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11th Jan 2009
Great
gig at Acoustic Routes in Cambridge last night: lovely
venue, great audience.
I felt
completely at home with the
new red wall too: just like my kitchen!
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26th
Dec 2008
Here
are a few pics should have put on the website...
Photos by Pat Jones.
Below
right:
My turtle impression at The Hoy at Anchor Folk
Club in August 2008.
Below
left: with Adrian Black on clarinet at
Wattisfield.
Below
middle: Playing "Cromer Pier" ON
Cromer Pier.
Bottom
left: having fish & chips on the beach
before playing at the Red Lion in Manningtree
way back in September 07.
Bottom
Right:
soundchecking later.

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15th
Sep 2008
The
new album Beachcomber will be available from 15th
September 2008. See albums
for track listings.
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Click
here for earlier news
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