Hello, we hope this blog finds you well.
Apologies for a very delayed blog but at last here is one... finally.
After a year of little but covid and no gigs let alone venues to play we have something to say... wahey..
We are excited that we are going to be on the front page of the music website Reverbnationon 10th November for 1 week with
' One Man Woman '.
We scored 7.5/10 on Crowd Reviews which warrents the exposure.
Well chuffed!
Have a wonderful New Year and may it be a future we need, kindness, empathy and humanity for all on earth.
Love to all
x x x
The past 6 months have been a bit eye opening. Diagnosed with cervical cancer in March, I faced 6 treatments of chemotherapy to keep me alive. Potential side affects are a better option than death in any case.
Our wonderful hot summer 2018, I was going through it but also making the most of it at the same time which is essential for the brain and spirit.
I am so lucky that my Husband and darling young children have been so strong, supportive grown up and fantastic over all of this.
My Mum, Brother, Sister in law's, Kelly, Shane, Sylvie, Dave I thank you for your love and concern for me.
NHS, cancer support team, Mcmillan, you made me feel so much better. I will volunteer to work with you guys if you would have me.
I now wait for my final scan mid October to see if the chemo has worked, then I can get back to the studio, finish the album,get gigging again and write more songs.
I apologise for not saying anything sooner but I had no words. Onwards and upwards is the title of the album and that is exactly where I am.
If anyone is going through this please feel free to ask me anything.
Much love
Melissa xx
P.S a few words:-
Got no hair, lashes, brows, pubes, arm hair, any hair, leg, pit, lip, tit,arse.
Hot, cold, blood, sweat, gravy, egg, sleep-no, awake- yes, wet, hot ,cold, shivers, clammy, big wee, no wee,big poo, no poo,can't poo, neck ache,no ache,dull ache, godness sake,feel sick, not sick, pritt stick
With "Always Be With You " now completed Yipee !!!
We are nearly finished with " Why ". Many thanks to Jerry Sharpe who has agreed to play bass again for us on this track.
The live version of " Why " can be heard here with Jerry, recorded at the JT festival Andover back in 2009.
The way it sounds now is fantastic as we have the added bonus of Ric and his sax, along with all the backing vocals, Dave's guitars and of course the wonderful Dave Amey and his genius drumming.......
We should be finished next week and then start recording " Onwards And Upwards " again with Jerry on bass.
The single "Always Be With You" is really starting to take shape. This is going to be the first single from the album "Onwards And Upwards".
Dave has added his drums.... 
Then a bit of mixing... 
Ric added the clarinet, Melissa added flute, keyboard and guide vocal. A bit more mixing was done on Thursday 30th May then Dave Wilkes put down the guitar part on 6th June and the very excited mini backing singers sang their little socks off.
.... 
A bit more mixing needs to be done before the lead vocal is sung, then tweaking and mixing, then we should be just about there ....We hope it to be all done and dusted with bells on by mid June.
Spring is in the air and we are finally getting back to the studio in the next fortnight to record " Lagoon" also known as " Always be with you ". This will be followed by all the other tracks to the album but this song is a biggie, new and not yet recorded in any format so we are very excited to get this one done.
Rick has been practising his clarinet and both Dave's have worked hard to bring this song to life. With the aid of two very small backing singers this song is going to be a corker.
We just need a good bass player to round it off but if we don't get one then Boris the keyboard will have to suffice, he has a good tone and rarely makes mistakes.
We are very pleased to say that good old Dave is back in the band and we are meeting potential bass players next week. ( Thats me on the left and Dave on the right )
We also will be looking to go into the studio to record another EP. All new songs.. Exciting times are coming for us.
All to be revealed very soon.
All our love to dear Dave Amey who sadly lost his wife last week while on holiday celebrating their wedding anniversary.
Our thoughts, love and support are with you dear friend.
We are still on the lookout for a good drummer and bass player.
There seems to be a national shortage of them.
Any good drummers and bass players in the Southampton area that like the music, please contact us and we can have a chat
We had a great gig at the good old King Alfred on Sunday. It was just the three of us ( Dave - guitars, Ric - sax, clarinet and myself ) but the people were there and we had a great time. Ric dangled a mic, jobby wot notts and things over us for my new song and it came out ok. The fact you can hear people in the pub, playing pool and talking is basically the point of the song ( they did stop after a few seconds to listen though ).
I hope you like it and more of my live new song recordings are coming soon.....
