Halloween tale.

Morning Strumpets, Here`s something Grace and Hal came up with yesterday on their first day off from school. I think it`s rather splendid. CAUTION: It`s very scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Till the next one, learn something scary. Mark.

I know you, Let`s go dancing.

Evening Strumpets, Here`s a couple of new songs, one from the Charmers, and the other a solo thing still very much in it`s early stages inspired by Hal getting into bed with us after he`d had a bad dream the other night. Any feedback for either of them would be greatly appreciated.

listen to ‘I know you’ on Audioboo

Let`s go dancing. Till the next one, learn something new. Mark

The Nephrons, might just be back.

Evening Strumpets, So for a while now, Me and Carl have been writing stuff which we feel might be not best suited to the Charmers, but which is still worth playing to our friends for their opinion. I was also coming up to my 200th YT vid, I know where does the time go my little Strumplings, which i wanted to make sure was going to be something a bit special. And then it dawned on me. Mark D. Carl and myself have been playing loud and enjoyable stuff together since we were 12. we didn`t know it until we were in our early thirties, but we were destined to be a band called The Nephrons (The nodule in the kidneys which makes urine, which meant we were basically taking the piss). Then My beautiful wife bought me a banjo, coincidentally a year after Andy had decided to learn the instrument, and me and Carl got talking, and the next thing you know, Andy is teaching me how to write a blog, and The Alice Charmers were born, and well you get the idea. Here`s the point, The Nephrons are back! And they`ve got a new member. Here`s my 200th YT vid, and it is with great pride that I let you know that The Nephrons are back, and they`re about to take over the world.....but they`ll have to be home by 7pm, cos they`ve got kids! Til the next one, learn somehing new, Mark

Those lying genes.

Evening strumpets, Here`s a work in progress, which is still in the chuck sounds at and see what sticks stage. I`m also writing a regular column for an online magazine which I will hopefully be able to post a tab for below.

listen to ‘lying king’ on Audioboo

http://www.exne.co.uk/mark-davies/
 

http://www.exne.co.uk/mark-davies/ There`s quite a few articles there. Hope to have a decent computer soon, so should be able to post more stuff. Thanks for sticking with me. Till the next one, learn something new, Mark..

Marmalade au Marsellaise

Morning Strumpets, It`s been too long hasn`t it, honest I have my reasons, mostly associated with trying to get to grips with a laptop which quite obviously hates the very air that i breathe so would rather commit computer suicide than allow my fingers to type anything of interest into it and be saved. But I`ll be damned if it won`t allow me to share this insanely glorious piece of charmers fun with you. Unfortunately the audioboo link won`t allow it to be more than five minutes, but take my word, it ends faster, and as per Carl`s requirement, a bit like Nirvana! I particularly love Andy`s French in a German accent. playing in a band with your mates? It doesn`t get any better.

listen to ‘marmalade au marsellaise!’ on Audioboo

Till the next one, learn something new, Mark.

Going Logo.

Afternoon Strumpets, The other night we discussed what we could do to promote The Charmers. Carl came up with a couple of images, and Andy set about doing the complicated computer tomfoolery adapting them for the `Boronization (as in made like it was from Boro) required. The clever fella came up with this. Then, the honorary strumpet Mike Platts (Honorary, because of the support he has given me over the past couple of years, and also because he introduced me to my wife) had a little tinkle with it whilst he was, admittedly, a little drunk and came up with this. I like them both. We`re going to be making T-shirts soon (i have photographic proof that the first one has been done). Blimey. Till the next one, learn something new, Mark.

The Sun was shining.

Morning Strumpets, The Alice Charmers played a set at The Sun Inn as part of a tribute night to a local living legend Andy X. Andy`s been playing one man gigs for the past thirty years in and around Teesside, and to say he is a big supporter of other brave chaps who get up on a stage and bare their souls, mainly to indifference, is like saying Ayers Rock is a pebble. It was a bizarre night. We were in the middle of Torrential storms (well torrential for over here anyway, Some of the Overseas Strumpets would probably have been out in deckchairs) and the beginning of Euro 2012. The room filled up nicely, although mainly down one side, which was a bonus because me camera was on the other side of the room. Other acts on that night included Jimmy Howes, singing a couple of songs, one of which was about choosing to live on a deserted island alone, before discovering "I`m a celebrity" is being filmed there....so he sets his gorillas and spiders onto them. Andy Landscape who sang a song about his enjoyment of picking cans up from the street and collecting them. He came armed with props, a bag full of cans which he triumphantly kicked into the "audience" at the end of his performance. Carl Eaton who is a writer of melodic beautiful songs regarding matters of love and loss, and finished off with a song about Gravy and the effect it has on the end result of enjoying oneself in a one handed way (ahem). and Steve McCormick, who it turns out is my wifes optician in his day job. Andy did a couple of his songs, The Boiler song, The York song, Gordon the Goldfish (my favourite) and then it was up to us to play. Apologies for the length of the vid, i can`t seem to cut it down, and it misses Great north Strum and Longlands from the end. It`s out there for you`s to see though. Please feel free to leave a comment. It`s really brilliant playing with your mates. All that and the best pint of Bass in the Country. Till the next one, learn something new, Mark.

Ragamuffin Blues

Afternoon Strumpets,

Here`s something I was messing about on the banjo with, but felt it`s true home was on the guitar.  Really enjoyable to play, and hopefully as much fun to listen to.  Please let me know.

listen to ‘Ragamuffin blues’ on Audioboo

Till the next one learn something new.

Mark.

Hide and Seek.

Morning Strumpets, I`ve been given the pleasure of having a week off with the kids, whilst Louise has been at work. We`ve spent most of the week having adventures in a strange land called the "North east English Summer". But today,as is the norm, it was Grey and drizzly. Grace has been writing a little short film, like she used to, and she myself and Hal spent most of the morning rehearsing what she had written. This afternoon we filmed it. Harry does all of his own stunts, and there`s even a bit of Pixar in there......honest (ahem, walks away looking to the sky whistling a well known tune in the American South". keep watching after the end "Credits" There`s a Blooper reel! So Ladies and Gentlemen, here as a GNS exclusive is "D-Kids on the Peril of Hide and Seek. Featuring Pixar) Till the next one learn something new, Mark.

To Heaven and back again

Evening Strumpets, I`ve kind of found a tune, but getting it out into the open can sometimes be a bit tricky. it wouldn`t be the first time I`ve written something which is too difficult for me to play. Great north Strum being a prime example. This is where, if you`re made of the stuff of insanity which is brollied beneath the generic term "creative", you drive your partners/families/friends nuttier than squirrel faeces. Because you will not stop until you find it properly. And you repeat the same fricken thing over and over and over and over till it makes Pye look like a lightweight. I`ve done this too many times and left the instrument only to have completely forgotten what i`d been playing, the day after. So I`ve recorded me doing the aforementioned psychotic tendency to give you an idea what it must be like to be a "non Mark" Davies at these times. They truly are so patient with me. This may lead to something it may not. The words " Take me to Heaven and back again, Take me, I know there`ll be reckoning, Take me to heaven and back again, I know that it`s beckoning. so please come by and..repeat" stuck to it. I actually like it. There might even be an E Flat in there which is the banjo equivalent of a fart in a frogsuit, but what the hey. At least i won`t forget it.

listen to ‘to heaven and back again’ on Audioboo

Till the next one, learn something new, Mark.