Landed In London
Hello,
This comes to you from London where I've been enjoying my socks off for over a week now. We've had some great days of weather, in fact all last week was hot, sunny and not a cloud to be found. The city was still buzzing from this summer's events; the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the 2012 Olympics followed by the Paralympics. The season has been billed as The Great British Summer and if last week was any indication, it has been that. The Paralympics wrapped up with large closing ceremony this past Sunday and brought The Great British Summer to a close.
I've been rehearsing with Mark Knopfler and the boys, getting ready for a tour with Bob Dylan that will begin the first week in October and run through November. It's a second helping of the tour we did with Bob last year except this time we'll bring it to North America. Rehearsals have been great and I'm looking forward to taking the stage again with this amazing bunch of musicians and friends.
Of course the bonus of rehearsing in the mother country is the lashings of London Pride Ale and fabulous food the city has to offer. I'll be out to Brick Lane in the east end for a curry tonight. There are loads of good places just near where we are staying including Nando's specialising in broiled and spicy chicken slathered in peri-peri sauce. Not sure what's in that sauce but it is wonderfully hot and delicious. Also stopped in at Poppie's Fish and Chips. You'd be amazed how hard it is to find good fish and chips in London. Poppie's is it and they even have mushy peas... not that easily found in the southern part of England. And... had a wonderful meal at Jamie Oliver's restaurant on Threadneedle Street.
I wanted to let you know about a new album that's come out by my pal Mel Deal. I don't even know where to begin telling you about him although I've mentioned him in these notes before. Mel is one of the finest guitar players around and was a protege of jazz legend Jimmy Raney. What Mel doesn't know about guitar is probably not worth bothering with. We're very fortunate in Nashville, a city full of brilliant guitar players, the have Mel Deal. He's the go-to guy when you want to learn how the big boys do it. I've studied with Mel and can tell you that he knows exactly what he's doing and I'm proud to call him my pal as well. The name of his record is Mel-o Guitar. 15 beautiful standards performed solo, just Mel, his fingers and his great talent. This has been getting a lot of spins by me and seems to work in all kind of settings. Check out Mel's website at:
www.MelDeal.com where you can hear some of the cuts.
I'll be writing some Notes From The Road once the tour gets going and can't wait to get started.
So for now...so long,
Richard