Woosh! Now that Glastonbury and Larmer Tree Festivals are becoming memory I have time to reflect and enjoy them 2nd time round…

It was a real privelage to be part of the show on the Poetry & Words stage at Glasto. My sets went down really well so my thanks to the audiences for playing their part in helping me warm up the stage for the poets each day. Thanks also to the audience, musicians and organisers at the Fluffy Rock (you know who you are!) for graciously allowing me to prance about and muddy your stage too. I had a great time. A very special acknowledgement also goes out to the guy who sold me the hat those live pics just wouldn’t have been the same without it!!

Fond memories of Larmer Tree festival are now lodging themselves in my grey matter too. New friends. Some incredible and inspiring poetry experiences I hadn’t thought possible. Well received performances at The Social and the lyrical Lostwoods stage. Dancing in the rain to the music on the main stage… And the Social audience members each and every one who shook off their friday fatigue and lent their voices to me on request – I salute you. Thank you.

Fantastic! Heading to Glastonbury with the early-birds this weekend and not a cloud in the sky! Not-a-one! Yea verily
Should you know anyone who’s going be sure to let them know to look out for some impromptu sets from me at various caf’s about the place… I’ll also be warming up the stage for the poets at the Poetry&Words stage in Theatre and Circus ffi: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/areas/theatre-and-circus/poetryandwords
It’s all on the Gigs page anyways…
Oh and come and say hi if you see me
bye for now

The mailbox on this site has now been fixed. Apologies to anyone this has inconvenienced. I will now get your emails without issue.

… and here’s hoping it’s a good one

Thanks for stopping by the site! All quiet on the Gigs front for the moment – I’ll keep you posted…! Please take time to browse the Free Stuff, check out the Store and if you need to Get In Touch please note until you hear otherwise it’s best to use the following email address: benitajohnson76@yahoo.co.uk as site contact seems to be down. I’ll let you know when it’s back online.

That’s all for now. Take care everyone and start as you mean to go on

Anyone heard of JEBO? Well you shoulda. Their Debut and Second albums were produced by ex Island Records’ John Burns and Real World Studios’ Ben Findlay. They are perhaps the most exciting musical thing emerging from Bristol (2nd to myself ) and THEY ARE PLAYING AT THE THUNDERBOLT FOR A MERE £5 TOMORROW NIGHT ……… AND SO AM I!
For info about the venue and directions etc go to: www.thethunderbolt.net
look up JEBO on Facebook and YouTube…
and come down to the Bolt tomorrow drink some nice real beer or whatever you fancy, park yourself on a nice comfy sofa and e.n.j.o.y………. mm

Alas I won’t be on time to get booked for a floor-spot at tonight’s gig in Seend – due to an altercation this evening with a bicycle thief!! Malcolm will have started the night already and it would be unreasonable of me to expect him to fit me in now as the night is already well-subscribed. I’m staying here to set traps for thieves …. Hmm.

Here’s a bit of an update with full details of gigs coming up. Busy week this week!

Firstly I’ll be playing at The Steamboat in Ipswich this Thursday as part of their regular songwriters night. I’ll be promoting the album and copies will of course be available on the night. So if you happen to be from Ipswich or know anyone who is please spread the word

This Saturday I’ll be playing a solo acoustic set at The Seven Stars in Bristol. Music starts at 3pm and my set will probably be around 4pm though sometimes this can be subject to last minute changes on the day. Other acts billed are:  

Jerry Turner
Christian Walsh
Sam Scott

This Sunday afternoon I’ll also be playing for Oxjam, a charity event. The gig is an all day songwriters event taking place on the boat “Under The Stars” moored up on the harbourside, opposite the Waterfront cafe/bar. Lots of top local talent will be playing. My set is billed to be at 4:30pm so please stop by if you’re passing. A full programme of events and details can be found on Oxjams Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117801778277295 

That’s all for now. Whatever you’re doing, have good times  and don’t forget to tune in to Radio Bristol – they’re still playing my tunes!

Lots of exciting stuff happening at the moment!

If you’re out & about in Bristol this Saturday you could do worse than to check out BrisFest in the city centre at around 4pm – I will be “busking for Oxjam” until about 5pm so please come along and show some support – it’s all for charity

I’ve been writing a lot of late and this has resulted in some new solo set pieces and also the development of new band-oriented material as well as some new work underway with the poetry/music collaboration. This is all good as it promises sustainment for these projects that might otherwise appear to be a short-term thing. The band is going through personnel changes at present so it feels good to be writing with the remaining members. We are currently looking for someone to play additional acoustic / electric guitar so if anyone’s interested please drop me a line. Once we’re fully staffed we can get out there gigging again – which is really all we want to do

Another rather excellent gig is coming up for me in Bristol on 14th October too, at The Thunderbolt Shockingly that’s not as far in the future as it sounds, so put it in your diaries… I’ll be supporting JEBO. If you haven’t heard of these fellas look them up on tinternet!  The band has just finished mixing the new album with ex-Island Records producer John Burns (Jethro Tull, Genesis and John Martyn) and Real Worlds Ben Findlay. They are really making waves and it promises to be a top night

Talking of albums, many thanks to those of you who have parted with your hard-earned cash and ordered copies of “You Should Know…” And it’s sooo nice to note such positive feedback I’ve been getting as well! If you haven’t got yourself a copy yet just get yourself over to the STORE page and order one. Might make an ideal early Christmas present for someone You can hear a sneak preview of a few tracks to give you an idea on my myspace page too if it helps…

And to top it all off, I’m chuffed as well to have been nominated for BBC Radio Bristol’s playlist during the month of October! Tracks from the album will soon be hitting the airwaves across the city and I can’t wait …. !!

Well, Venue Magazine have delivered on their promise and provided a review of my album “You Should Know” in their last issue. If you didn’t get to read it, don’t worry you didn’t miss much really. I’m not ungrateful, it’s not bad. And certainly I don’t expect to righteously garner glowing review after glowing review.  Music, afterall, like all art comes down to a matter of taste. I know that I can put on what I think is my best show with my best work and less than half the room may like it. That’s cool – I’ll take that chance just to reach the portion of the audience that do. I guess perhaps I’m perplexed. I have been compared a lot over the years to the likes of Alanis Morisette, Joni Mitchell and Dido. I cannot fathom why. And so predictably I’ve again been confronted with the very un-original comparisons with those same apparitions. For one thing the reviewer seems to feel that You Should Know owes it’s title to an Alanis song .. er, hello? that’s my title track luv! And also it’s meant by way of an introduction – this being a debut album an’ all. Where the hell did Alanis come in?

sigh. .  . well, there’s some meaningful critique in there which I’ll take on board to some extent – this is what I look for in a review, alongside a few helpful sound-bytes if I’m lucky and a bit of PR. Therefore, though I remain genuinely befuddled by the somewhat sweeping comparisons made, I will happily take the following:

“there is an overall quality here that defies nit-picking”

Ta!

I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s heard me live or on cd / on air who they think I could be likened / compared to. Ideas anyone? Post a comment or send me a message If you agree with Venue – tell me why! If you have other suggestions, these will be happily received! x Bj

If you’re superstitious I guess You’ll skip it, especially considering the weather we’ve been having and the fact the venue’s called The Thunderbolt perhaps ….? !

But the daring will find me, the band, Jack Bird and a nice young fella called Jacob Ainsley taking to the stage just the same So dig out your rabbits-foot, cross your fingers and come on down to Totterdowns finest live venue and grab a pint and a pew (literally!) … Details are on the Gigs page.