ben marwood is practically a sellout

hello, good netpeople,

i hold in my hand the last ten copies of This Is Not What You Had Planned to ever be sent the shops. the well, she runneth dry finally, and no more are to be pressed. evidently it will still be available digitally forevermore, but in terms of buying CDs from the likes of Amazon, HMV et al, if you want to own one, best make your move now.

i see this as both a small victory, and a small shame at the same time. demand finally outstripping supply makes me feel like a popular sellout, but also the idea that people will want it on CD and not be able to get hold of it, especially as i'm about to head out on tour, is a shame.

to all who sailed in her..

b. x

centromatic for the people

Hi all

At my jetlagged best, all I can currently offer you in terms of words of wisdom is a hearty "hnrggggggggh", but whilst I cross my fingers in silent prayer that tonight I might improve on last night's four hours of sleep to cap off the previous day's three and a half, along the way convincing my brain that Florida was (and is) warmer than this.. er.. I've lost my train of thought.

AH RIGHT. Centromatic. Everyone's (read: my) favourite blues-folk-country-rock drawlin' Texans have decided to give away twenty-four songs from their ridiculously huge back catalogue spanning a humungitude of albums. One of those words is made up.

Typically, demand for this was so high that the yousendit link is constantly expiring due to it breaking the bandwidth limits, perhaps no surprise at 206MB a pop. Still, this blog right here seems to have a working link, so have at it..

I'll be back when i've collected my thoughts in a manner more befitting someone who can not only read and write, but do them both at the same time..

b. x

Singalong is new to Q

Hi all

Hello from Tampa, and halftime in the Real Madrid vs. Barca champions league match. I've retired from the beating, beating sun to watch some good ol' fashioned soccerball, and am thoroughly enjoying the downtime right now before the UK tour with Frank. So far during my stay i have seen no less than two insects featured on the Top 10 List Of Insects You Wouldn't Want To Be Stung By, which by my reckoning is a good holiday.

My girlfriend is currently sat on the bed not far away faux-dictating a blog entry in which I'm in love with the topless, sweaty and reasonably spare-tyred man we saw running around the park earlier where we were out walking. It's pretty distracting, and barely even the truth.

ANYWAY i digress. To celebrate my absence from the UK, new single 'Singalong' has been added to Q radio's New To Q playlist, and can now be heard at random on the very same station if you're a resident of the UK mainland.

Stay well!

b. x

May 2nd is national Singalong day

Heyheyhey,

So we're midway through April and time is running down - just a few (three!) weeks now until I leave for the Frank Turner tour and to celebrate, Xtra Mile are giving 'Singalong' a push and releasing it as a single on May 2nd as a digital download. Obviously, it's out already as part of the album so if you're reading this and you have the album, well done you. The idea, though, is to bring me to a new set of ears, such as the lovely blogsite The Ruckus who ran a little piece on it here.

There have been some questions raised regarding my show at Cathedral Crypt in Liverpool, as it's not escaped some people's attention that I'm not officially listed as a support. I've been reliably informed that I am, and if that changes i'll let you know. I'll be there in any event. Maybe I should gig in the car park.

In other fantastic news, I notice I somehow broke the 3,000 listeners barrier on last.fm this week. Thanks to all who continue to recommend and promote what I do. Your musical taste is highly questionable, but your soul is sparkly. Believe. Seriously though, it took me five years to get the first 2,000, and the next 1,000 follows in three months. It's the power of the album..

Meanwhile, if you can't get out and catch me on the Turner tour, I fully recommend you instead go and see Oxygen Thief when he plays near you. His debut album Destroy It Yourself is out May 9th on my label, Broken Tail Records, and he will shortly be calling at the following sexy venues:

MAY

2nd BIRMINGHAM Adam & Eve
3rd OXFORD Café Tarifa
4th BRISTOL Mother's Ruin
5th BRIGHTON The Cobber's Thumb
6th KINGSTON Banquet Records instore, 6pm
8th CHELTENHAM Trees On Fire all dayer @ Frog & Fiddle
13th KINGSTON The Cricketer's
21st DUBLIN Tower Records instore, 3pm
27th BRISTOL Croft (w/Chris T-T)
28th DEVIZES The Lamb

JUNE
2nd KIDDERMINSTER The Swan
4th PLYMOUTH Jack Chams

That's it for now, but you'll be hearing some more from me shortly..

b. x

Spring: Sprung

I know it's incredibly English, but isn't it nice to not be a frozen, shivering iceblock just for once? There were times in November, December and January (and I guess February) when I thought the only way I'd ever experience a temperature above fifteen degrees Celsius again was if I'd gotten on a damn plane.

For the past couple of weeks since my last blog I've mostly been working on the release of the Oxygen Thief debut album called Destroy It Yourself, which is out on the Broken Tail Records imprint on 9th May 2011 under licence, as ever, to Josaka. This is the last BTR release for the forseeable future; Jay and Paul recently departed leaving me at the helm, and with the sudden upturn in my fortunes regarding the album, the FT tour and future plans (as well as the life I have to lead) I simply can't devote the time I used to be able to.

That said, there's an outside chance of future BTR releases from the likes of Quiet Quiet Band but for now, this is it, and it's a fantastic way to sign off, ironically with the biggest release yet. It's the first long-player Broken Tail have ever been willing to put our (er.. now my) name to, and OT is the hardest working, most proactive musician we have ever encountered. I'll have more news on that soon.

In the meantime, I'm still considering tour merch and working on new material. After the Turner tour I have another recording session to book, and then a few weeks after is 2000 Trees and a hometown show in Reading.

You, meanwhile, can enjoy the temperature.

b. x

South Street reminder..

Hi all,

Just a quick reminder, I'm playing South Street Arts Centre in Reading tomorrow (saturday 12th) as part of Josaka birthday, sandwiched between SixNationState and Mr Fogg on one side, and MidiMidis and Lights on the other. It's like old school vs new school with me as the referee. An old school one.

Come on down, doors are 7ish and I'm expected on shortly after 8.45pm with a 25 minute set, so it'll be a mad dash through The Hits. Though I do have new material, it's unlike to feature heavily, other than perhaps 'We Are No Longer Twenty-Five', which isn't in my good books this week. Me and Jamie (well, Jamie) put down the drum track for it last weekend at White House, and I left with six takes to choose from and I want bits of three. I've spent the last few days staring at a screen full of drum sounds and wondering how on earth I'm going to make it work.

But, I'm sure in the end it'll work, even if it does mean my next studio session will be the kind of hair-tearing stressfest normally reserved for exams.

Anyway, enough about that, I'll tell you more about it when it's relevant.

See you soon

b. x

with apologies to Brighton and Norwich

hey all

i know i'm supposed to do my research before i declare my tour dates, but it turns out i don't always manage it. a combination of an advert in the NME and my own dear Mum advise me that I'm not with Frank Turner at Brighton's Great Escape Festival, nor am I at Playfest in Norwich. I believe I'm still playing Liverpool's Sound City That's what I get for taking my tour dates from Frank's gig page without checking.

Also, the rescheduled all-dayer Christmas party for This Is Not Revolution Rock at The Peel in Kingston on 2nd April has also been scuppered, and so is off again. No word as to when this will be rescheduled, but I'm playing twice at the Hippodrome (first for the under-18s and then the legally-adult) in May with Frank so come on down then instead.

The complete gig list is, then:

MARCH

12 READING Josaka Birthday @ 21 South Street

MAY (w/Frank & Franz)

09 STOCKTON ARC

10 DUNDEE Doghouse

11 DUNFERMLINE P J Molloy's

13 NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms SOLD OUT

14 LANCASTER Library SOLD OUT

15 CHESTER Telford's Warehouse SOLD OUT

16 LEEDS Brudenell SOLD OUT

18 MANCHESTER Night & Day Cafe SOLD OUT

19 LIVERPOOL Sound City - Cathedral Crypt

20 STOKE Sugarmill SOLD OUT

22 WOLVERHAMPTON Slade Rooms SOLD OUT

23 GLOUCESTER Guildhall SOLD OUT

24 BRISTOL St George's SOLD OUT

25 BATH Komedia

26 KINGSTON New Slang

27 CAMBRIDGE St Paul's Church SOLD OUT

29 PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms SOLD OUT

30 WINCHESTER Railway Inn SOLD OUT

JULY

15 CHELTENHAM 2000 Trees Festival

Finally, the last of the reviews have trickled in for Outside There's A Curse (but more on that later), including a great review from Rocksound which this month includes a couple of free CDs and a picture of Dave Grohl on just about every page. A snip at £3.99, and a mighty happy Ben

See you soon

b. x