I’ve had to make the very difficult decision to cancel all gigs for the rest of the year. It seems the only sensible thing to do under the circumstances but it’s a right shame as I’d been really looking forward to these live dates … I have been very ill though and still am it seems, so I really have no choice. The odd bug doesn’t usually stop me, but this is something else.

Nevermind! I will recover. Meanwhile, stay tuned as I will have some more news for you soon …

Once again massive apologies but I am cancelling the next Label 5 gig in Frome on Thursday 12th Nov.

I hate to do this but I have no choice due to illness. Hope to be back with you soon!

B

Sorry to have to let you know this a bit late in the day, hopefully no-one will turn up and be disappointed… the gig at Cafe Grounded in Redfield this Tuesday has been cancelled. Mireille (host) tells me this was a decision by the venue.

UPDATE: The Benita Johnson & Company gig @ The Kellaway on 1st Oct is CANCELLED. This is due to licensing issues with the venue which are currently being resolved.

The next BJ & Co gig will be 9th Oct @ The Robins.

We are now also billed to play at The Seven Stars on Sunday 25th Oct.

Between 9 & 10pm on Thursday 8th October I will be being interviewed & playing live on Bristol’s BCFM - the Dave Miles show. I have NO IDEA what he’s going to ask me! But I’ll be sure to play something new for you.

So tune in, turn up … That’s 93.2 by the way!

I would like to say a big thank you to the lovely people who booked me to play at their private party in Bristol last night. Thank you also to the guests for all being really helpful and appreciative. Thanks also to the staff and crew of the Tower Belle for being so understanding and so particularly thoughtful.

I had a great evening and I sincerely hope that you all did too!

Bj

A bit more mixing and then mastering to do! Cashflow issues kicking in now, which has slowed me down - but it won’t be much longer … Thank you for your patience If I was signed already, or loaded, you’d have got it last year!

I need a bit of help with the artwork, so if anyone fancies volunteering a bit of expertise in this area, give me a shout! It would make a great project.

And the band is taking shape now too which is fabulous. All Benita Johnson gigs for the time being are solo until I start plastering “plus BAND” on my listings! Again, not too long to wait for that either, hopefully.

To be fair, unless I’m very lucky, I doubt there will be huge fanfairs announcing any of this, so keep checking back for news. One day soon …

Last night I was fortunate enough to be able to step in last minute as support for Gavin Thorpe at his gig at the Folk House in Bristol. It was a great night, really well attended and a lovely atmosphere.
Gavin has an interesting story (if I have any details wrong, I hope I am corrected): he’s a local guy, got signed by Atlantic only a couple of years ago, went off to America, recorded the album - everything looked really good…. but Atlantic shelved it and released some bloke called James Blunt (?) around about the same time … hmm… hard luck! I quite like Blunty-boy in small doses, but after seeing Gavin Thorpe live last night, I have to say GT is better!
Just goes to show … !
Anyway go check out www.myspace.com/gavinthorpemusic and give him your support. I still have 2 of his songs stuck in my head, Idiot and Out of Place - he has a great voice, a nice personality and is a pretty good songwriter to boot.
No, I don’t do this for everyone

B

sO, TONIGHT (15th April) I play a benefit gig in Bath, for The Big Issue. For anyone who doesn’t know what that is - it’s a magazine that’s published specifically for homeless people to sell on the streets so they can earn a bit of cash for themselves - and then the rest goes back into printing the mag. . . I call that a GoOd ThinG … so tonight is about raising awareness and raising cash - and having a good time listening to some fantastic LiVe MuSic! It’s all being set up by another singer-songwriter Leanne Walsh, from Bath (myspace.com/leannewalshmusic) and there are some other fabulous people playing besides myself. It’s at St James’ Wine Vaults, St James Sq, Bath 8.30pm if you wanna check it out! …
I am really chuffed to be a part of this event, for 2 reasons 1) I have some idea of what it’s like to be homeless myself - and now work with homeless people in my other job! 2) One of the first gigs I ever played was a benefit gig for The B.I. right back when it was quite a new thing … so it all seems to make sense to me.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that anything that can happen to one person, could happen to us all … we might all be unique, but we’re not so very different. At bottom, we all just want and need the same basic things - and we all have a responsibility to each other; we don’t all exist in individual me-sized bubbles immune & seperate from the things that affect other folks… sounds like a depressing thought - but it shouldn’t be! Just try to do one little thing today that makes a positive difference to someone else’s life, and one day when you need it, you’ll get it back … … you could start by buying a Big Issue - or coming to this gig
Be well. Be happy Take care.

Well, the album’s nearly done now I just need a band to make it live.

I need the following:

KEYS / SYNTH, ELECTRIC GUITAR (LEAD & RHYTHM), DRUMS, FEMALE BACKING VOCALS, CELLO, BANJO

I am very serious about this folks. Not scary serious or anything - just: it’s gonna happen.

The album material itself is not your typical singer/songwriter stuff and there’s a lot of really varied influences in there. It’s definitely Alternative - but could almost be Mainstream at the same time. There’s bits of folk, country, rock, jazz and funk. Also, besides the album songs, I’ve a whole back catalogue of stuff and new stuff I’m writing all the time which can all be developed and could keep us in business for some time to come… It’s fair to say that if you’re a straight-up Rock guitarist or a dedicated Jazz fan, this may not be the project for you: as it is much more diverse than that!

Anyone who is interested should contact me with “BAND” in the subject line, and we’ll go from there. If it seems like we’re on the same page, I can send you some sample tracks and you can see if it’s for you.

Bj