TEA-BREAK OVER, BACK ON YOUR HEADS

But before we begin – There's a brief blog about the UK book tour on the Blog page. I'll be putting together something more diary/journal-like for the USA tour.
BUT USA BOOK TOUR 2025
This reminds me of the first time I went on tour in the States, disjointed, exhausting but fun, visiting the West Coast for the first time, a minibus full of wide-eyed northerners along with Eve Libertine and a heap of borrowed equipment.
It would be lovely to have you as an audience for these small events, since part of the thing will be having a conversation / Q & A about whatever you fancy talking about, be it Marcel Duchamp's Urinal, climate catastrophe, Burnley FC or Elon Musk. I've never done this before, – not like this, anyway. Should be fascinating. I've been to lots of book readings and I'm usually struck by the formality of it all – so hopefully these events won't be like that, they'll be loose and entertaining. I will bring jokes to fill the silences.
MARCH
Sun 23 – The P.I.T., Brooklyn, NY • Details
Tue 25 – Arts At The Armory, Somerville, MA • Details
Wed 26 – The Word Is Change, Brooklyn, NY • Venue website
Thu 27 – Wooden Shoe, Philadelphia, PA • Venue website
Fri 28 – Arden Gild Hall, Arden, DE • Free ticket details
Sat 29 – Red Emmas, Baltimore, MD • Details
Sun 30 – Small Friend Books & Records, Richmond, VA • Bookstore website
Mon 31 – The Beautiful Idea, Charlottesville, WV • Venue Facebook page
APRIL
Tue 1 – Taylor Books, Charleston, WV • Venue website
Thu 3 – Firestorm Books, Asheville, NC • Event details
Fri 4 – Community Books, Stone Mountain, GA • Venue Instagram
Sun 6 – Park Avenue CDs, Orlando, FL • Venue website
Wed 9 – Pegasus Books, Berkeley, CA • Venue website
Fri 11 – Bound Together, San Francisco, CA • Venue Instagram
Sun 13 – Northtown Books, Arcata, CA • Venue website
Mon 14 – Interzone, Corvallis, OR • Venue website
Tue 15 – Last Word Books, Olympia, WA • Venue website
Wed 16 – Left Bank Books, Seattle, WA • Venue website

The book is a collaboration with designer/typesetter Christian Brett, who has worked recently with Penny Rimbaud, Sleaford Mods and Killing Joke. But possibly more relevant is the fact that I sit next to him for every Burnley FC home match. He's a sweary curmudgeon and his design and typesetting for the book is incredible.

Click here to order your copy of the record.
Commoners are also working on new songs and ideas including a collaboration with Jeremy Deller and Paraorchestra as part of Bradford 25, a filmed performance with artist SIMONE BENNETT and a large-scale immersive day at Brierfield's Queen Street Mill with the brilliant RICKARD SISTERS.
More details of all these collaborations when I get them.
I'm enjoying getting stuck into the songwriting, even though most of the lyrics are John's (I really love and value writing lyrics!). I'm loving messing around with all sorts of different styles. Often at the start of a musical project – especially with theatre work – there's a loose template of style and instrumentation that is dictated by the play/project. So for Red Ladder's 'Mother Courage', I composed music around instruments that felt traditional and could be carried and moved along with Mother Courage's wagon... accordion, clarinet, percussion.
With 'Speedo Mick' it's all very open, moving from power ballad to ska knees-up to acapella harmonies.
More about the musical here.
Later this year I'll be working with artist LUCY BERGMAN and a group of young local people to create an installation for the Museum's outside space, a place to discover and listen and find stuff out.
More on this as it develops.



Busking in Paris, 1980