Eliza Gales Interviews

I talk to Eliza Gales about my book Jimi Hendrix: London (MusicPlace)

I also name check Aristotle: Poetics

I wonder if he'll link to me from his blog?

Interview here

Should you research your fiction? No!

A guest post for Write By Night,

Young lovers

Based on a couple I saw on the street yesterday. Almost made me wish I was young again. Almost.

A madman in Church

A new poem in the new issue of The Stone Hobo. 

Forgetting myself

I was going through a draw of old poems when I came across this self portrait. I can't remember doing it, I don't believe I ever did anything in this style ever again. I can't remember why I did it.
I can recognise the time of my life it represents: when I worked as a silk-screenprinter in World's End, the bottom rung of Chelsea's King's Road. Another memory of that time survives in the poem I wrote about a colleague who had the misfortune to be schizophrenic.

Guitar Magick

A friend, let us call him The Animated Man, shared this link to Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing. It's intriguing in itself, even if, as one sourpuss in the comments there remarks, the Captain was not much of a guitar player himself. It's also a prompt to clear up a misapprehension about the indisputably excellent guitarist, Robert Johnson.

Hear My Train a Comin’: Hendrix Hits London,

I finally made it to Hear My Train a Comin’: Hendrix Hits London, the exhibition at The Hospital Club on Endell Street in Covent Garden. Curated by EMP of Seattle, it celebrates Jimi Hendrix's time in London from September 1966 to June 1967 to mark what would have been the year of his seventieth birthday. On display are some of the best photographs from the time (I know I've seen them all) and artwork in the shape of record sleeves and posters, some of which I had never seen before. There are also videos installed showing interviews with contemporaries such as Robert Wyatt and Chris Squires as well as enthusiasts such as the great Bootsy Collins. Tickets from £5 from here. Residents of the London Borough of Camden are admitted free on Tuesday with proof of address. Until August 31st

My book Jimi Hendrix London is on sale there too. 

Jimi Hendrix: London (MusicPlace)