The Lights Have All Gone Down.....

Hi Folks,

First of all thanks to everyone who came and saw us at the Style & Winch a few weeks ago. It was great to catch up with a few people I've not seen for quite a while.

It's been an intense and full on year for the Lovedays, from IPO Festivals to Chart ambitions etc. and we've all enjoyed taking the music to new places and higher levels. There have been quite a few rumours, some quite bizarre, over the past week about the future. People have been talking to me as if one of us have died! The truth is we are taking the rest of the year off. Beyond that, no decision has been made.

The upside of this, is that it gives Ben a chance to focus and promote his solo material, which I have banged on to him about releasing since I heard it last year. There is a new website where you can download the new album called "Echobox", check out future dates and news.
Ben Jones Echobox

Sam will still be gigging with the Geoff Everett band, Dean will be learning to play even faster and I'm off to Las Vegas to work as an Elvis impersonator.


To everyone who has donated thier time, money, blood & tears - THANKYOU.


"Let's light a candle before our love disapears"

Paul



photo by Phil Dillon

Lounge On The Farm 2010

Yet again I have had the opportunity to support my local festival Lounge On The Farm. This year The Lovedays hit the main stage on Saturday. Any misgivings anyone, including myself, may have had about transferring the raw energy and musicality of the band to a large stage was instantly swept aside as we launched into The House Of Cards. For an early slot we drew a huge crowd, who clearly enjoyed it.

I returned to the festival on Sunday to watch Audio Karma and loads of people stopped me to chat about how much they enjoyed our set. Thank you to everyone who came to see us.

After Audio Karma I managed to see Phil Jupitas & his comedy all-stars pack out the Playhouse tent, one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. The sun has set on another great festival, and with so many other local festivals not happening I can only hope LOTF 2011 will go ahead.
The Lovedays will be returning to their roots at The Style & Winch in Maidstone this Friday, followed by The Forum in Tunbridge Wells the following Wednesday (22nd July).

Hope to see you in the next couple of weeks,

Paul.

Storming The City

Wow!!! For those who weren't there you may have missed one of the best ever Lovedays gigs!

Monday Like It's Friday is held once a month at Peter Parkers Rock & Roll Club in Denmark St. Shelly & Val scour the country looking for good bands & put A&R departments to shame with what I've seen so far.
The evening kicked off with the fantastic voice of Danny Apple then we were entertained by BB3, a brilliant band who were finalists in the Live & Unsigned competition. For their last song they were joined on bass by Eva Gardner, bassist for Pink who just happened to be there last night, along with a few other well known faces.
Then it was our turn to hit the stage. It's always hard to judge just how good a gig is but from where I was standing it seemed electric. But I would like to apologise to all those who nearly got a face-full of bass guitar. It was a great way
to kick off our Storm The Charts week and great to see everyone from Kent who helped pack the venue out.

Speaking of Storm The Charts if anyone can help us continue promoting The House Of Cards in any way possible it would be greatly appreciated. It's a mere 49p on Amazon and as a way of saying thankyou, if you register on the mailing list at the Lovedays website you'll receive an MP3 FREE!

Hope to see you all at The Oranges in Ashford this Friday.

Paul

Now is the time....

Remember how we got everyone and his dog to vote for us on the Storm The Charts website. Well now the time had come to get The Lovedays in the charts.

Obviously we don't expect you to buy the song House of Cards all over again, but if there is any way you could persuade others to that would be great. It's available on iTunes & Amazon. Open a window, play it loud and shout at strangers.

Tonight we kick off this Storm The Charts week with a London gig at Peter Parkers Rock & Roll Club in Denmark Street. What used to be Regent Recording Studios buzzes with musical history and excellent air conditioning. It's going to be a night to remember & we hope we can share it with all of you.

Look forward to seeing you,

Paul

The Key To The Trap Door - Trailer

Lovedays Trailer A Preview of the forthcoming documentary

You may have read or heard about the forthcoming Lovedays Documentary.
Called "The Key To The Trap Door" and filmed by the Groovy Uncle AKA Glenn Prangnell, the film charts the journey of The Lovedays from Medway to Mersey.
Keep an eye on the Lovedays website for the Premier!

The Liverpool Shuffle

Photo by Rich Clark

Whilst being a fictional story, the film A Hard Day’s Night is a pretty accurate picture of Beatlemania.

As I checked into the hotel of the same name I had a pretty hectic schedule ahead of me, vaguely reminiscent of those mad days of 64. After a whistle stop to Beat Wear to buy some clothes, I met the guys and headed off to our first stop, The Cavern Pub for our first set of the day. A year on from our first appearance makes me realise how the band has developed over the past year. Gigs, rehearsals & recording have tightened us up to within a feeler gauge’s width. Time for a quick change of clothes and another windy Phil Dillon shoot followed by some more stuff for the documentary.

Then we commandeer 3 taxis and head off to Strawberry Fields for an acoustic set, the locals and tourists love it and midway through playing, I’m struck by the absurdity and pure joy of what I’m doing. After it’s all been captured by Glenn & Phil we head of back into the City centre for some beer/food/sleep (delete as appropriate.)

All too soon it’s time for another change of clothes; I managed to get through four shirts, three suits and two tee shirts, and head off, Hofner in hand to the Cavern. With Cameras rolling and snapping, David Bash introduces us and bang! We’re off. Last year we blew away the place, this year we perform like we own it and chuck in McCartney’s Live & Let Die. After the second encore, we mange to get back to the dressing room and reflect on what has been another fantastic IPO festival.
A big thank you to everyone who came to see us, including the Lovedays Kent Posse.
I’d also like to thank and give my undying love to Suzie for taking such great care of me.



This Thursday, Earls with the mighty Rich Clarke, bring it on!!!!

Getting ready for Liverpool

Here we are in the Lovedays bunker, 60ft underground. In the event of a nuclear war, you can rest assured we will be releasing the first album after the fallout passes.
Today however, we are getting together in preperation for Sunday's appearences at the IPO festival Liverpool. Rehearsing doesn't come easy to us but here goes....
We run through some of the new songs from the album and iron out the wrinkles, put a set together and sort out some of the arrangements for Sunday. It's not all glam rock yer know!

Paul McCartney once said about a Beatles reunion "You can't reheat a soufflé". So it is with a little trepidation that we will be heading back to Liddypool to try and generate the same excitement, passion & venom that punctuated last years gig. Extra pressure will be abound as it's the centrepiece of The Lovedays documentary; expectation loves to be dissapointed. All we can do is what we always deliver, our heart & souls into every performance where ever it is.

So Sir Paul, if it's true in cooking, ergo it's true in life?
I'll let you know Sunday night.

Sure play a mean pool ball

More Classic Phil Dillon here

The Lovedays live at The Sweeps Festival Rochester

http://www.youtube.com/user/Graysbrooke

Check out the link for The Lovedays videos and loads more Medway gold!

May Bank Holiday

Rochester Castle is the jewel of Medways Crown, oozing history from the battlements.
With this in mind, we took to the stage on Friday, facing a sell crowd, and "got medieval on their ass" Apparently Charles Dickins' Ghost hangs around the castle, maybe he turned off the stage lights just before we performed "When the lights go out" ?
Thank you to everyone who turned out to see us, and a big welcome to all the new fans who spoke to us afterwards.

Work on the Lovedays documentary continues, but for those who can't wait the fabulous Groovy Uncle has put up some footage of Friday night playing "Red Letter Day"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-10sv_KGl1M&feature=youtube_gdata

Apologies to everyone who turned up at 8pm on Sunday to see us at the Babylon Lounge, the timings were changed at very short notice by the venue.




Rochester Sweeps Festival
Photo by Anna Oates

April Update

Wow, it's been rollercoaster month for the Lovedays. We've made it through to the top 40 of the Storm The Charts campaign, had a fun photo session with the magic lens of Phil Dillon, confirmed for the Lounge On The Farm festival and had the new album showcased on BBC radio, Heart FM and beyond.
Keep an eye on the website as there is more news on the way.

It's a big Lovedays weekend, The Sweeps festival in Rochester tonight and the Babylon live lounge in Maidstone on Sunday. Hope to see you there.


Paul






Photo by Anna Oates

Round Two - Storm The Charts

Few, that was fun!

I'd like to thank everyone who threw themselves into the Storm The Charts round two, I know many of you were busy emailing, forum posting, facebooking & tweeting right up until midnight last night.
We have an amazing following of friends and we appreciate all your hard work.

There has been some question from other bands how we made so many votes, let me explain how we did it.

For nearly two years The Lovedays have played as many gigs as possible usually for no money, all over the UK and beyond. We've turned up at jam nights wherever possible, to perform a couple of songs, hustled into festivals, supported local initiatives like the fabulous Medway Eyes, encouraged new talent The Soundcasters & Scott Brunger, hassled radio stations, A&R departments and every unsigned band organisation you can think of. We've recorded two self funded albums and an EP which we have self promoted tirelessly. We've spent hundreds of hours building up a web presence, mailing lists, and contacting venues, promoters and punters.
Out of all the many people who we've played to, worked for, plagued, assisted and thrown ourseves at;-

Some of them voted.

It's as easy as that.

So other detractors, instead of worrying about how many votes we achieved, maybe the question should be "how can I get some more?"

Onwards and upwards to round 3, the hard work has only just begun.

Paul

Vote Lovedays to Storm The Charts

I know many of you have already voted and shared this link, thank you so much to each and everyone of you.

You can vote for The Lovedays here
http://bit.ly/angnkT

Storm the Charts is an attempt to get an unsigned artist to Number 1.
At a time where it is getting more and more difficult to be heard by the music industry, this is an opportunity to give an artist a chance to get the recognition they deserve and for you, the listeners, to send a warning shot to record companies who are stuck in a cycle of crying over file-sharing, rather than address the short comings of their ability to run a business.

This isn't something I'm saying lightly either, my brief flirtings with the industry have shown an inefficiancy that would make local councils blush.

Neither is this something new, debate has gone on for the past 48 years as to whether DECCA were right to not sign The Beatles, but the true arogance lays in a sentance of the now infamous rejection letter- "guitar groups are on the way out".
Oh how the major labels sniggered and shook their heads when new comers Island Records signed an unknown reggae artist, "It will never sell". Bob Marley's album Legend remains the best selling reggae album of all time.
It could be said that each of these labels underestimated thier respective artist, but equally, I would argue they have underestimated the talent for listening.
Think of the most famous number one record of all time, c'mon, you know the one, it heads up all those lists on TV & magazines that do the 100 best Number 1's of all time and we get to revel in Kate Thornton's opinion on music. It wasn't just through DJ Kenny Everett's championing of the song that got a reluctant EMI to release it, the reaction from the listeners gave us 9 weeks of Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of the charts.

I can't stress enough how vital listeners, gig goers & record buyers are to what we do. But at the risk of upsetting a few Zen masters, maybe it's in the answer to this ancient question.

Q- If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

A- It doesn't matter.











Enjoy discovering some new music, and if you like what we do, you have the power!

Much Love,

Paul

Babylon Live - Easter Sunday

A quick look at the history books sees some big names who came to perform in Maidstone:- Adam Faith, Billy Fury, Cilla Black, The Herd, Traffic, The Tremeloes, even The Who.
Whilst current big artists are banished to de-humanising stadia & Festivals sponsered by credit card companies, the County Town has yet again been given an opportunity to create a vibrant medium sized music venue to complement the established live scene in pubs, Pizza Express & Hazlit Theatre.
Over the years many attempts have been made to do this, Trader Jacks which morphed into The Union bar to name just one. There are lots of boring and contrasting theories as to why these places come and go, most obvious are multiple-channel TV, the Internet & escalating drink prices, all conspiring to keep us on our sofas.
The Babylon Live Bar is one which I hope can beat the form book, the staff are friendly, musicians & punters are made to feel welcome and there is a real vibe in this venue that something special is possible.
We played our hearts out to a packed crowd there on Sunday and have been invited back to headline on the 2nd May. Thank you to everyone who came & supported us. Extra big Kudos to Phil Dillon for capturing us at this event.
It would be great if we could get behind this venue and have something to be proud of in Maidstone & make it somewhere that everyone wants to perform.
WHO knows, just maybe.......

New Official Lovedays Website

www.thelovedays.net

Hi everyone,
The Lovedays have a spanking new website where you can find all the latest news & gig dates.

Also the the Lovedays Store contains the latest album "House Of Cards" on CD & as a download.

After being out of print since the last copies where snapped up at last years Cavern gig, The Lovedays first album is also available as a download along with the Red Letter Day EP.

If that doesn't tempt you than we also have photography by the marvelous Phil Dillon.

On the gig front we will be at the Zebra Bar in Maidstone on Sunday 4th April, come along and dance away the chocolate.

Hope to see you soon,

Paul.

Download The first Lovedays album

The first Lovedays album titled "The Lovedays" is now available for download at The Lovedays shop

http://thelovedays.bandzoogle.com/shop.cfm

Also available is the new album "House Of Cards" and "The Paisley Polker Dot Picnic Party" compilation featuring top Medway bands plus the title track written by Ben Jones with a certain Lovedays bassist and a hoard of local talent.

The new official website is also graced by the diamond lens of Mr Phil Dillon.







The Lovedays

Festivals and New Website

New official web site for The Lovedays!
http://thelovedays.bandzoogle.com/home.cfm


Friday 19th March 2010

THE LOVEDAYS TO PLAY IPO LIVERPOOL 2010

The Lovedays have been confirmed to perform at the prestigious International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool again this year.

Appearing on the 30th May for two performances at The Cavern Pub and Club respectively, the band join a handpicked line-up of the finest pop bands in the UK
Curated by David Bash, who included the band in the top 5 of his 2009 top 100 list, the festival runs between May 25th and June 1st.

For more details, go to www.internationalpopoverthrow.com/


THE LOVEDAYS HEADLINE FRIDAY @ THE SWEEPS FESTIVAL - MEDWAY ROCKS

The Lovedays have proudly accepted the invitation to headline the friday night of The Rochester Sweeps Festival this year.

With the historic Rochester Castle Gardens as the setting, the "Medway Rocks" night will also feature The Flowing and Lupen Crook.

Tickets can be purchased in advance from Medway Visitor Information Centre, 95 High Street, Rochester, Kent ME1 1LX.

Telephone 01634 843666.

Another Packed Night

A big thank you to everyone who braved the vile Kentish weather and packed out the Eagle last night. We all had a great time and it was amazing to play to such a big crowd.

For those who haven't been able to make this weeks gigs, the new album "House Of Cards" is available on the Medway Eyes website.

We are looking at April for the new album to be available on iTunes. Red Letter Day, When The Lights Go Out & Stop are currently available to download from the Paisley Polka Dot Picnic Party Album, along with the title track of the same name written and sung by Ben Jones with Paul Moss on the bass.

More news as it happens!

House Of Cards available online

Hi Folks,

Just a quick one to let you know that you can now buy the Lovedays new album House Of Cards by visiting The Medway Eyes and pressing the big friendly Buy Now button.

Sorry it took us a few days to sort this out, but we were just too busy grooving to the album and we wore our little legs out.

Bye for now,

Medway Eyes x

The Lovdays Live

This Thursday (25th Feb) The Lovedays will be playing songs from the new album House Of Cards at The Eagle Tavern in Rochester.
The album will be available for sale there for a mere £10 english pounds.

We would also like to apologise to all those who were missed out of the sponsership list. We are looking at a way to rectify this.

Look forward to seeing you all on Thursday.

Thank You

It was about a year ago, while I was in Florida that I got a call from Ben asking if I could sit in with The Lovedays for a gig in Maidstone. Very jet lagged and with about an hour to learn the set we hit the stage and the rest, as they say is history.
What a year it's been!
We've been joined by the amazing talent that is Dean Whale, monumental gigs at The Cavern, The Water Rats and IPO New York, peppered with dates on the local circuit.
We've recorded in the wonderful Ranscombe Studio with Jim Riley, an album of which we are all very proud of.
I can't think of a better way to cap it all off than last nights launch party at The Barge. It was great to see you all & share the music, so wonderfully written and delivered by Ben Jones and performed with my good friends Sam & Dean.

Thank You.

Paul

Tonight - House Of Cards

The new album from The Lovedays, "House of Cards", will be launched on to the public
on Saturday 20th February at The Barge, Gillingham, a sight of past Lovedays glories.

The 13 track long player, the 2nd from the group, was produced by Lovedays front man and songwriter, Ben Jones, and recorded at Ranscombe Studios, Rochester with Mr. Jim Riley.

The night will kick off at 8:30pm with special guest Phil Dillon, and the album will be available!

All are welcome, its free entry, SPREAD THE WORD!

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the Lovedays Blog.

It’s been decreed by the Lovedays Council to let everyone know what we’re up to, hence The Lovedays blog is born!
It’s an exciting time, our 2nd album, titled “House Of Cards” is launched this Saturday, 20th February at The Barge in Gillingham, ME7 2QY.
The Lovedays will be performing songs from the new album and support comes from the 5th Loveday “Phil Dillon”. It all kicks off at 8:30 but it may be wise to get there early. The album will be on sale for £10.

Hope to see you all there and will keep you posted on all the exciting news we have coming soon.