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A Year To Forget, Announcement, Christmas, Corona, Covid, England, European Tour, Festivals, Germany, Great Britain, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Lockdown, London, New Years Eve, Pandemic, Pandemie, Pat Kenneally, Preview, Puron, Reschedule, Review, Rosalie Cunningham, Rosco Levee, Season's Greetings, Shutdown, Southend high street, The New Cross Inn, Tourdates, Two Hearts Music Group, UK, United Kingdom, Update, wandering minstrel
As we approach the end of this utterly bizarre year I realise I haven’t sent out one of these since Covid was just an obscure news story happening halfway across the globe. I suppose this is my Christmas round robin letter to those of you wondering what i’ve been doing all year (and to those of you who don’t give a toss too!) We started the year off with a fantastic run of UK shows and an a tremendously exciting calendar to look forward to – tours and festivals aplenty and studio dates booked to record a new album. As the pandemic developed these engagements began dropping like flies and the outlook was getting bleaker and bleaker…As i’m sure many of you have had to do too, i’ve tried to find ways to stay creative amidst the air of disappointment and uncertainty. Although the album recording had to be put back, it’s now well underway and inspiring me to keep my chin up and look to the future. I think it’s perhaps my best work yet (if I do say so myself!) and I cannot wait to share it with you.
Rosalie Cunningham: Memories in gray & white
The obvious lockdown restrictions, plus the added complication of having a band dotted all over the UK, meant getting together to play has been impossible. Rosco and I, however, have been stuck with each other in our home studio, which has certainly had it’s benefits! You may know him for his guitar virtuosity, but during lockdown he also taught himself to play the drums. After much rehearsal and encouragement, he agreed to take on drumming duties on my new album and what a marvellous job he has done! The rest is being painstakingly put together by yours truly at home, bar a couple of guest musician spots. I am actually rather glad i’ve had more time to work on the songs. I tend to go down rabbit holes with them and can lose days just trying to find that right bass line or guitar sound, so this time has allowed me to indulge myself fully in that respect. Last month, being absolutely sick of not performing, we decided to put together a trio to play some of the recently opened ‘safe’ venues (limited capacity, seated, table service etc…) We played 2 sold out shows at The New Cross Inn in London to wonderfully warm and receptive crowds, all things considered. It was a such joy to be playing once again! Now, of course, the fun police have put most of the country in ‘tier 3’ and all such events are cancelled for the foreseeable future… BUT, once things open up again we will be back booking any gigs we can. I urge you to catch this new stripped down incarnation of the Rosalie Cunningham band before things go back to normal and the 5 piece rock extravaganza returns. The songs have taken on completely new arrangements and the intimate vibe really lets them shine. It’s myself on acoustic guitar, Rosco on guitar swathed in psychedelic effects and new recruit Pat Kenneally on drums AND keyboards. Yes, you heard. At the SAME TIME.
Some of you may have seen my announcement about a European tour in Feb 2021. Well… that’s not happening now. Our agent tried her best to reschedule the dates for Autumn 2021 but the backlog of countless bands desperately trying to reschedule tours has made booking anything like a logistically feasible tour almost impossible. We have finally managed to put something together in…. wait for it… Feb/March 2022. Something to look forward to I suppose! We are still technically on the 2021 bill for all the festivals we missed this year. I just hope they are able to go ahead or you may find me busking on Southend high street pretty soon. I may have to bring back the wandering minstrel.
Well, that’s my piece. I hope you’ve all been keeping on throughout this madness and that I get to see some of you next year. In the meantime, I wish you all a very merry christmas full of weird grandma booze and too much chocolate.
Stockings full of love,
Rosalie x
Seasons greetings!
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