Last week Sir George Martin was in Los Angeles promoting his new and last album - In My Life - that he produced with his son Giles.
Giles is in Velvet Jones who are my label mates on Iron/BMG in Canada.

The album has been getting mixed reviews but I think that most of it is really cool. It's better if you don't know who you're listening to if you want to give the singers the chance they deserve.
Come Together and A Hard Day's Night are my favourites.
Friends And Lovers was also the theme for Under Milk Wood which Dee Long and I worked on with Sir George back at Air Studios in London.

We've started another Survey asking you to pick your favourite song from my album One Moment in Time.
State of Mind is the current leader in your votes - Vote Here

My promotion tour of Canada is coming together and I should be on the East coast in November...stay tuned.

Here is a review by Tiiu Shelley of the Bluebird North showcase in Toronto last month:

Blue Bird North
The Big Room - Toronto, ON
September 23, 1998

It's time for The Songwriter's Association of Canada's Blue Bird North
gathering (for lack of a better word!). An informal jam session between
singer/songwriters put before an audience. I've never been to a Blue
Bird North before, but it promises to be a blast.

The multi-talented, ever-entertaining Larry Gowan is our host for the
evening and right from the beginning it's apparent that it's going to be a
night full of talent and humour. The evening will consist of two sets,
with three songwriters, plus the host (of course!). Each songwriter
performs three of his/her songs. These songs are often very personal
and tonight is a night when we get to hear the story behind the song. The
object of the entire evening is to give the audience, which consists of
those who are songwriters, performers, etc, as well as those of us who are
simply interested in music in general, an insight into what it takes to
write a song. The great thing about having all these different artists
on stage at the one time is that we, the audience, get to see them all
interact together, producing entertaining and often humourous results!


Along with our host, tonight's performers are Erin Benjamin, Jason Fowler,
Rachel Kane, John Jones, Blair Packham, and Ken Dirschl. We are treated
to a mixture of styles as Benjamin has a folk-ish, blues-ish sound, Kane,
while also a folk singer, has a unique sound of her own, and Fowler, has
more of a country sound. The second set sees the pop-rock sound of Jones,
a Grammy award winning producer, along with Packham, who is primarily a
songwriter but sounds great in his own right, and Dirschl, also pop-rock
but again, a slightly different sound than Jones or Packham. Gowan,
present in both sets, has an often theatrical pop-rock sound. All great
performers on their own but together they sound amazing!


Two main themes were stressed during this particular Blue Bird. One, the
various ways of going about writing a song and how no one style is better
than another, and two, the importance of using your audience as a sounding
board and playing your songs, live, in their rawest forms. With this in
mind, each artist talked about how they personally go about writing songs,
often debating amongst each other why they like a particular style, be it
with or without a collaborator, or be it writing lyrics before music or
vice versa. Artists such as Kane, do it both ways, saying it depends on
the song and what ultimately comes to you first. With respect to trying
out new material we heard some brand new songs from everybody. Jones
recently released a solo album (a first for him!), as did Benjamin, Kane,
and Fowler. Dirschl is pushing his new demo, Packham is constantly
writing new material, while Gowan is hitting the studio to record a new
album in January.

All in all, it was a great night. Blue Bird North certainly gives those
of us not in the business some insight into what it actually takes to be a
successful singer/songwriter. Those in the business get the opportunity
to witness how others go about what they do. It's entertaining for all
and I'll definitely be at the next one!