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The New CD...

HOW IT ALL STARTED .....

Who's in the picture? First the back row from left to right: Crun, Mike, James and the redoubtable Billy (Sparkle) Blake. Now the front row: Rose Walter, Mike Tobin, Joel Blake, David Evans, Lucy and Jordan Blake and Billy's wife, Judith.

It all began four years ago and took shape around the re-gathering of the Stackridge Clans. So there we all were - assessing what had happened, what went wrong, what was good, what was bad, what we'd done in between, and where we wanted to go from here. And in particular, whether we wanted to go anywhere together. Even if we did, could we make it work? Now, that's a very great deal to chew on all at once. So we took our time.

Looking at Stackridge present, one observation was manifestly unavoidable. There were new characters, some little, some very large and some perfectly formed, who waltzed in and out of the new picture often unannounced and uninvited. This is Ruth Evans dressed as a fairy - the only way to celebrate your 18th birthday.

They usually had a great deal of their own to say on all sorts of topics - not just about Stackridge.
(Not surprising, this, when you come to think about it.) Here is Crun being hugged by gorgeous daughter, Holly.

So Mr. James Warren, that great exponent of the 20th century art-form, the popular song, took this seething, contradictory mixture of old and new, with its Delphic underlying 'shall we - shan't we' conundrum away to his ivory tower and a whole pile of new songs began to emerge from his fertile imagination. Certainly, these were 'Stackridge' songs, but a Stackridge that had grown up, matured and moved on.

In the meantime, it's very difficult to silence Mr. Crun Walter, so we didn't even bother to try. Mr. Walter had a great deal to say about everything and most of what he had to say was very funny indeed, so we all laughed a lot.

Now, there is one thing that can definitely be said about Mr. Mike Evans; he can make a meal out of pretty well anything. In the general run of things, he has far too much to say and doesn't know when to stop, so we don't take too much notice.

It's a different matter when he has a violin in his hands. Using a little native Stackridgean cunning, we encouraged him to do his talking through his violin.

The results are well worth hearing on the new CD.

WHAT IS IT CALLED ?

So there you have it. We sowed the seeds, and new Stackridge with its renewed relationships is the plant that grew. All that was left was the highly animated discussion to hit upon a title for the new CD that wasn't too weird, rude or abstruse. We will draw a diplomatic veil over that. Suffice to say, at the end of a long day, we all agreed. The new Stackridge CD is called:

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND

because, when all is said and done, we haven't had as much fun together in a long time as in the preparation of this tasty dish for your delectation. We hope that you will enjoy listening to it as much as we have enjoyed making it.

This page was updated on October 17th 2000 by Jennie Evans