FANZEYEVIEW
Clare Free http://www.clarefree.co.uk/ free ep download
Hello Folks!
It feels like my feet haven't touched the ground this month. Its been crazy, in a good way of course and thank goodness I now have a PR guy to work with which helps a lot! With the new album coming out in March there have been loads of interviews to do plus a bunch of great gigs. The first review for Dust and Bones has just been published- I'm really pleased with it, if you would like to read it the link is here
Its now confirmed that I'm doing some dates in Belgium in April so if you have friends over there let them know I'm coming!!
Here's where I'm playin
g over the next couple of months, as things can change please check with the venue before setting off... There are some great gigs coming up this month, I hope to see you at one of the them.
MAY 2012
May 24th The Cinnamon Club, The Bowdon Rooms, The Firs, Bowdon, Altrincham, Cheshire,WA14 2TQ Solo Link
May 31st Miller's Snooker Club, 20 Diamond Avenue, Kirkby-In- Ashfield, Nottingham, NG17 7GR Band
There's a video taken by Ian Harbour, of the version we do of the Thrill Is Gone, I thought you might like it so here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKJH3K_v6to
Have a great month, and as ever, if you'd rather not hear from me let me know!
All the best
Clare Free
Winner of the WRC "Best Acoustic Performance of 2011" Award Finalist in 2011 for both the British Blues Awards and The People's Music Awards
www.clarefree.co.uk
It feels like my feet haven't touched the ground this month. Its been crazy, in a good way of course and thank goodness I now have a PR guy to work with which helps a lot! With the new album coming out in March there have been loads of interviews to do plus a bunch of great gigs. The first review for Dust and Bones has just been published- I'm really pleased with it, if you would like to read it the link is here
Its now confirmed that I'm doing some dates in Belgium in April so if you have friends over there let them know I'm coming!!
Here's where I'm playin
g over the next couple of months, as things can change please check with the venue before setting off... There are some great gigs coming up this month, I hope to see you at one of the them.
MAY 2012
May 24th The Cinnamon Club, The Bowdon Rooms, The Firs, Bowdon, Altrincham, Cheshire,WA14 2TQ Solo Link
May 31st Miller's Snooker Club, 20 Diamond Avenue, Kirkby-In- Ashfield, Nottingham, NG17 7GR Band
There's a video taken by Ian Harbour, of the version we do of the Thrill Is Gone, I thought you might like it so here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKJH3K_v6to
Have a great month, and as ever, if you'd rather not hear from me let me know!
All the best
Clare Free
Winner of the WRC "Best Acoustic Performance of 2011" Award Finalist in 2011 for both the British Blues Awards and The People's Music Awards
www.clarefree.co.uk
http://guitarinternational.com/wpmu/2010/10/21/interview-with-u-k-blues-sensation-clare-free/
Buy CD Here http://www.clarefree.co.uk/musicbuy-cd/
Bio
I'm a guitarist, singer and songwriter. I took up piano when I was 12 and wrote my first song within one year. My piano teacher didn't approve of my tendency to re-write classical pieces and improvise music in the style of some of the best known classics but despite my tutor’s lack of enthusiasm I wrote and improvised music at every opportunity. As a teenager I played a variety of instruments including flute, saxophone and piano until I took up guitar when I was 17.
My first guitar, which cost just £25, was falling apart, but it opened a great many more song writing doors than piano. Now I could write songs that sounded like the rock music that I was such an avid fan of. I started to play in college bands, none of which were very good but they offered experience that was to be useful a few years down the road. Soon I began going to blues jams and rapidly became a very good blues player.
Within two years I had become a regular at some of the best blues jams in the country and had formed a blues band called Misdemeanor (I played alongside Matt Schofield and Constance Redgrave/Maurice McElroy of the Spikedrivers in this band.) The band saw some success and I was invited to do a number of radio and magazine interviews. Misdemeanor split in 1999 when I was offered a recording contract for my own work. I was lucky enough to play at the 100 Club, London with Joan Baby in 1999.
By this time I was living with Dino Baptiste who played keyboards with Dana Gillespie. Dana invited me to join her on a 10 date tour of Mumbi in India, then later I went with Dana to play for three weeks at the Mustique Blues Festival in the Carribean. In this playground for the rich and famous, I had the opportunity to jam with the world famous violin player Nigel Kennedy and Rolf Harris. Both in India, and in the Caribbean, some of the shows were broadcast live on television. I also was invited to join Larry Garner on the main stage at the Lugano Blues Festival in Switzerland in front of around 7,000 people.
All the while I was writing and recording my own blues and rock material and gigging with my own band. In 2001 I joined a 9 piece soul band called 99lbs which was a tribute to the music of Anne Peebles. I played with this band until the birth of my son in 2004.
My passion for singing and song writing has led me in recent years to write two full albums of music for children. I was forced to take a couple of years off from live playing due to illness but I'm now fully recovered and more determined than ever to make great music. During my time off, I went back to my own writing roots and writing songs that were draw not just on blues but also on a wide range of rock, folk and country influences. An album of my new material, which is a mix of blues, rock and country, and is being recorded during autumn 2009 and is due for release in early 2010.
My first guitar, which cost just £25, was falling apart, but it opened a great many more song writing doors than piano. Now I could write songs that sounded like the rock music that I was such an avid fan of. I started to play in college bands, none of which were very good but they offered experience that was to be useful a few years down the road. Soon I began going to blues jams and rapidly became a very good blues player.
Within two years I had become a regular at some of the best blues jams in the country and had formed a blues band called Misdemeanor (I played alongside Matt Schofield and Constance Redgrave/Maurice McElroy of the Spikedrivers in this band.) The band saw some success and I was invited to do a number of radio and magazine interviews. Misdemeanor split in 1999 when I was offered a recording contract for my own work. I was lucky enough to play at the 100 Club, London with Joan Baby in 1999.
By this time I was living with Dino Baptiste who played keyboards with Dana Gillespie. Dana invited me to join her on a 10 date tour of Mumbi in India, then later I went with Dana to play for three weeks at the Mustique Blues Festival in the Carribean. In this playground for the rich and famous, I had the opportunity to jam with the world famous violin player Nigel Kennedy and Rolf Harris. Both in India, and in the Caribbean, some of the shows were broadcast live on television. I also was invited to join Larry Garner on the main stage at the Lugano Blues Festival in Switzerland in front of around 7,000 people.
All the while I was writing and recording my own blues and rock material and gigging with my own band. In 2001 I joined a 9 piece soul band called 99lbs which was a tribute to the music of Anne Peebles. I played with this band until the birth of my son in 2004.
My passion for singing and song writing has led me in recent years to write two full albums of music for children. I was forced to take a couple of years off from live playing due to illness but I'm now fully recovered and more determined than ever to make great music. During my time off, I went back to my own writing roots and writing songs that were draw not just on blues but also on a wide range of rock, folk and country influences. An album of my new material, which is a mix of blues, rock and country, and is being recorded during autumn 2009 and is due for release in early 2010.
