Tony Gillam
Tony Gillam
- writer and musician
NEWS AND UPDATES
24 April 2024
Spring Flings, Tibetan skeleton dancers and a few songs at Captain's Bar
I've recently got back from a musical trip to Newcastle and Edinburgh. You can read all about my adventures in my latest blogpost.
I've also added some more of my lyrics to my song lyrics page and, after an enjoyable gig on Sunday, I'm looking forward to a little flurry of gigs this spring and summer.
20 March 2024
Dorchester Dulcimer Weekend
Just got back from the amazing Dorchester Dulcimer Weekend. You can read all about it in my latest blog post.
Image courtesy of Ross Gooding
(Diffraction Image Ltd)
6 March 2024
Upcoming Gigs 2024
As spring arrives I'm delighted to report I've got a number of gigs coming up over the next few months. The Dorchester Dulcimer Weekend is a mixture of live performances and workshops, collaborating with fellow dulcimer players. The three Worcester gigs are live shows in three of my favourite venues. I hope you're able to join me for some of these exciting events:
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MAR 16th/17th DORCHESTER Dorchester Dulcimer Weekend Shire Hall Saturday afternoon workshop (4pm), Saturday evening gig (7pm) and Sunday afternoon gig (2pm.)
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APR 21st WORCESTER Sociable Beer Company (Sunday afternoon gig, starts at 3pm)
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MAY 10th WORCESTER TripelB Belgian Beer Cafe Friday evening gig (starts at 7.30pm)
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AUG 1st WORCESTER Culture Cafe, Swan Theatre (Thursday afternoon gig, 1pm-3pm)
I4 January 2024
Happy New Year!
My writing year has got off to a good start with the publication of one of my feature articles in the January/February issue of Songlines magazine. Letting the Light In is a piece in which I interview Scottish singer-songwriter Karine Polwart about her latest project as artist-in-residence for Scotland Unwrapped, a year long celebration of Scottish music and spoken word at Kings Place in London. And, in case you're wondering what else I've been up to in recent months, I've done a kind of review of my 2023 on my blog, which I've called Four seasons in one blog post.
15 November 2023
Didn't we have ourselves some kind of a summer?
As David Cassidy put it in 1972, "Didn't we have ourselves some kind of a summer / Didn't we have ourselves some kind of a time..." I've been so busy with musical and writing projects - not to mention a bit of gallivanting - that, for the past several months, I've been neglecting my website, social media and blog. Time to redress all of that. Here on the website, I've added a new page called Song lyrics. This is in response to a few people who have asked me about the lyrics to some of my songs, either because they're curious about what I'm singing about, - (aren't we all?) - or because they'd like to do me the great honour of 'covering' one of my songs. So, I've created a page for song lyrics and have started the ball rolling by adding the words to a couple of my songs, (more to follow.) Meanwhile, I'm planning a series of blog posts in which I'll be catching up with myself in terms of some of the great music, books and events I've been enjoying in 2023. And, if you're a Facebook user, keep an eye on my Tony Gillam Music Facebook page for some exciting news about some new musical adventures planned for 2024.
3 August 2023
First review of my new album, 'In the Emptiness'
After a busy few weeks of live shows, including appearances at Worcester's Fringe Festival and Malvern Rocks Festival of Music, I'm delighted that the first review of my new album In the Emptiness has just been published in SLAP Magazine (Supporting Live Arts and Performance.) I couldn't wish for a more thoughtful and appreciative review from the kind reviewer at SLAP Magazine. You you can read in full here.
14 June 2023
New album 'In the Emptiness' released
My new album is finally released (on CD, digital download and streaming.) In the Emptiness (like its 2018 predecessor Lazy Oceanography) is a ten-track album bringing together another collection of my original songs and tunes. This time, though, the mountain dulcimer is even more in the foreground. I'm very proud of the new album, and am currently promoting it on local radio and live at local venues. For more up-to-date details follow Tony Gillam Music on Facebook.: www.facebook.com/TonyGillamMusic
5 May 2023
Songlines magazine's website features my interview with Wardruna frontman Einar Selvik
I'm delighted to see that Songlines magazine are featuring my 2021 interview with Wardruna's Einar Selvik in the 'from the archive' section of their website. Einar was a charming and thoughtful man to interview and he's a remarkable singer and musician. you can read my full article here: https://www.songlines.co.uk/features/kravik-lyre-musical-instrument-guide-with-wardruna-s-einar-selvik
21 April 2023
Creativity, Wellbeing and Mental Health Practice book reaches 15.6K readers
It's five years now since the publication of my book Creativity, Wellbeing and Mental Health Practice but I was taken aback recently to learn that it's now been read by over 15, 000 readers. Find out more in my latest blogpost: https://tonygillam.blogspot.com/2023/04/five-years-and-fifteen-thousand-readers.html
23 February 2023
Music and mental health article in Resurgence magazine
I’m very proud that Resurgence magazine has published my article ‘How Did We Get Here?’ in the March/April issue, out now. The article is about the relationship between music and mental health and is focused on singer-songwriter Lizzy Hardingham whose album ‘How Did We Get Here?’ was released last year. Since I interviewed Lizzy in October she’s continued to tour and went on to win the FATEA Innovative Project of the Year 2022 award. You can read my full article here, find out more about Lizzy’s music here and learn more about Resurgence magazine here.
14 February 2023
Songwriters’ Showcase
Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of being the featured guest songwriter on Black Country Xtra’s ‘Songwriters’ Showcase,’ with Black Country Radio presenter Billy Spakemon. It’s not often a songwriter gets the chance to play six numbers on the radio, to chat about songwriting and to choose a few of the records that influenced their music. Billy was a delightful and charming host and I got to play guitar and dulcimer unplugged in the intimate setting of the Black Country Radio studios in the heart of the West Midlands. You can listen to the whole show, for a limited time, by clicking here: https://www.blackcountryradio.co.uk/.../songwriters.../
30 January 2023
In my latest blog post I explore the joys and perils of solo festival-going, revisiting some of the memorable moments of 2022 and looking forward to the year that lies ahead.
19 December 2022
I’m excited about a new collaborative project to bring music to a community who may not easily access live music. My friends Mike Braccia and Lesley Clayton (who, together, are the acoustic duo Second Chance) have invited me to work with them on a new initiative called Second Chance Community. Building on a series of Zoom meet-ups called Second Chance Studio, Mike and Lesley have decided to organise a number of live events in their local community of Wordsley. For those who don’t know, Wordsley is in the West Midlands and - I think I’m right in saying - is one of several ‘urban villages’ just north of the River Stour, that forms the historic border with the county of Worcestershire.
The first of the 'Second Chance Community' sessions will be live at Wordsley Community Centre on 12 January 2023 at 10am (with an entrance fee of just £2.00.) As well as live acoustic music by Second Chance and myself, the idea is to also include live interviews with featured musicians, singer-songwriters and authors. And it looks like I’m their special guest star in January so we hope to see you there!
5 December 2022
I've just posted a new post on my Passengers in Time blog. John Buchan and a different pair of shoes discusses how prescient the writer of The Thirty-Nine Steps was when it came to "the amateurs and the second-rate" who govern us.
27 November 2022
I've just posted a new post on my Travels with my Dulcimer blog. A revelation in Stratford tells of my discovery of the existence of a thing called a microcamper. You can find all my blogs by clicking on the Blog page link above.
25 November 2022
The big news here is that I've finally got round to creating and publishing this shiny new website. I hope you like it. Many thanks to Mike Braccia for technical help, and to Phil Richards, Dan Landrum and Mike for some of the pictures. I hope you like the website. Please feel free to take a look around and, if you have any comments or queries, feel free to make contact.