Albert Freeman

Bassist in Wilful Missing

Great Northern Wine afterthoughts no.2

Apr 122011

Our gig last week at Great Northern Wine was one of our favourites to date. It was just over a year after our first gig there. The first one was good, but the second was a whole load better, in more ways than one. The audience were…well, amazing, and that’s what made the gig extra special for us. If you were there, thanks a million. We’ve never been treated to such a good reception. Great Northern Wine recorded part of our set, and some of these videos are on Youtube. Here’s the first:

Emma and Mark have a wonderful thing going there at Great Northern Wine, and long may it continue. A special mention must also go to Ian of Dales Automation for doing a fantastic job of the lighting. And last but not least, thanks as ever to Graham Smout for doing the sound.

Doing a double set always involves more practice, for obvious reasons. But our recent practices have been made more productive now that we have regular rehearsal space at Kala Sangam. We’ve got no more gigs now until June, but we’re looking forward the month’s arrival, as we have four gigs booked.

Here’s what we played at Great Northern Wine last week:

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Mar 152011

The Grand in Clitheroe really is an amazing place. It used to be a cinema, and it’s been redeveloped as an arts venue and recording studio. Last week we played there, supporting The Urban Folk Quartet. We had a look around the recording studio in the basement after we played. What an amazing set-up they have. It really is impressive.

The sound on stage was great too. It really does make a difference to have such a good PA with such good monitoring, and such expert people running the sound desk.

photo by Graham Smout

It was lovely to see some familiar faces in the audience, and to make some new friends too. Thanks very much to everybody who bought our Vast Atlantic CD that night, and who had such kind words to say to us.

We were well impressed by Paloma of The Urban Folk Quartet assiduously practising before their gig. She must have spent a good hour in the dressing room playing her fiddle before they went on. And it shows. That’s how you get really good. And they were really good.

This is what we played in our support set:
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The Old School Tea Room afterthoughts

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Mar 112011

photo by Ruth Viqueira

A two course meal, and a two course Wilful Missing in Hebden, near Grassington. It’s a lovely little place, The Old School Tea Room. Albert was actually daft enough to ask what it was before becoming a tea room…

It’s compact and bijou with a really nice atmosphere. Thanks to all of those who came along for this one. It was full to capacity. A special big thanks must go to the Bakers, who came all the way from Gloucestershire. They had first heard us on Folk Radio UK, looked us up online, and decided to have a holiday in Yorkshire to co-incide with our gig. Folk Radio is definitely worth a listen. You’ll hear all sorts on there.

Wilful Missing at The Old School Tea Room

photo by Graham Smout

Thanks to Maggie and co. for putting us on. We made another new friend at The Old School Tea Room too: Mimsey the cat, a friendly feline with an cute sticky out tongue trick.

We playing a slightly pared down set, with Ruth on cajon rather than full kit.

We started after the main course, with puddings being eaten between our sets.

As we did a double set, we got lots of songs in. This is a full list of what we played:

The Basement (York) afterthoughts

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Feb 062011

If the river Ouse had been just a few inches higher, last night’s gig at The Basement in York might not have gone ahead. The stage was being dismantled as we departed at the night’s end, in preparation for the high water point in the early hours of this morning.

There was hardly a moment’s breath in the evening’s entertainment, with fine performances before us from Caitlin Burchett, The Woven Project and Broken Ground. Interestingly, 3 of the 4 acts started their set with a cover; we started with our version of Neil McSweeney‘s ‘London Road’. Despite this being our first gig for yonks we didn’t feel too rusty, and thought we played quite well. We certainly enjoyed it. If you were there, did you have a good night? Thanks a million for all those of you who were there, we hope to be back in York later in the year.

Wilful Missing at The Basement, photo by Graham Smout

This is what we played:

London Road
Don’t Be Scared 48
Cry For The City
Constitution Failed
The Waltz
Postcode Lottery
Wilful Missing
I Am Clay
Powerful Pill
Caught Between Seasons

date of gig: Saturday 5th February 2011

Escher Flight video

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Dec 182010

As we mentioned earlier this week, we have just released the Loose Ends EP, including newly remastered (and in some cases remixed or even partially re-recorded) versions of songs dating from 2005 to 2007. We also now have a video for Escher Flight, the second song on the EP.

http://vimeo.com/17930902

Albert put the video together using photos taken between 2006 and 2010. The video reflects the band members who are on the recording, rather than our currently line-up. This is why Ruth, who has been a rock on drums since 2008, is absent from the video. The six band members featured in this video have actually never all played in Wilful Missing at the same time! In this video we have current members Sam Kipling, Sam Lawrence, Albert Freeman and Rhys Kelly, and former members Jonny Newell and Sarah Smout.

Some of the photos were taken by us. However, most of the photos were taken by Marie Dodds, Dave Preston and Graham Smout, to whom we offer our thanks.

The above video is from the new Wilful Missing channel on Vimeo. The same video is also on Youtube.

Loose Ends EP

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Dec 132010

Today we are releasing Loose Ends EP. This is not a set of new recordings, but collects 4 old songs dating from 2005 to 2007.

The original versions of these songs were included on the 8-song eponymous Wilful Missing CD that was available at our gigs in 2007 and 2008, but which is no longer available. Of the 8 songs on Wilful Missing, ‘DIY’ was re-recorded for the 2009 Vast Atlantic EP, and 3 others are being re-recorded for release in 2011. We didn’t want the remaining 4 songs to simply gather dust, which is why we have released this Loose Ends EP.

We have remixed and remastered these songs, and in some instances added new parts to the original recordings. We feel they’re a good representation of where we were at in 2007 and also act as a testament to the valuable contributions of former Wilful Missing members. Continue reading »

The origin of our name

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Nov 232010

People often ask why we are called Wilful Missing. Well, our Sam Kipling shares a surname with one Rudyard; Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called Wilful Missing. Simple as that, really.

George Simmers, on his blog devoted to Great War Fiction, has written a piece entitled Kipling, Deserters and Outcasts. There you can read the full poem, as well as George’s interesting thoughts on Rudyard Kipling’s inspiration and motives in writing Wilful Missing.

Just think, if Sam had chosen a different poem, we could equally have been called The Absent-Minded Beggar or The Wet Litany.

First Yorkshire Musician’s Social Media Surgery

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Nov 072010

Last Wednesday 4 of us went along to the Round Foundry in Leeds for the first Yorkshire Social Media Surgery for Musicians. The event had been arranged by John Popham and Rich Huxley of Hope And Social and had been sponsored by Ctrl. Between us we learnt a great deal from the people we spoke to. One of the best things was how willing people were to share their knowledge; people like John, Rich, Helen Harrop and Graham Richards. John has written his own summary of the event on his blog.

Although we’ve already got ourselves spread well over the internet (see sidebar links on this blog), before last week’s session we didn’t actually have…this blog! It was after speaking with Helen, Rich and John about different blogging platforms that we opted for this one. So, thanks to them for all the advice, and also thanks to Rich for inviting us (as well as Gary Stewart and David Henshaw) to do a few acoustic songs at the end of the evening. Here are our 3 songs, as captured by John Popham:

Wilful Missing on Bandcamp / Pay What You Want

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Nov 042010

We are now offering our music to download in a new way. Well, new for us anyway. Our friends Hope and Social have been doing this for ages and we have been inspired by them to follow suit. On our new Bandcamp site, you can set the price for downloads. In fact, you don’t even have to leave this blog; you can simply click on the Music tab above, where you can get our music via an embedded Bandcamp music player.

You can also choose your preferred digital format as well (e.g. 320kbps mp3, FLAC and other formats are available).

For us the most important thing is that people hear and enjoy our music. Our desire for our music to be heard is greater than our desire to be rich. We are immensely proud of the music we make, and the real reward for us is in people listening to it.

If you feel our music has some value to you, then please do pay us what you believe it to be worth to you, and what you can afford to pay. If you’re skint, then have it for free, but if you can afford to give us some money for it, that would be highly welcome.

You can be sure that what you pay via Bandcamp comes straight to us, and will be put towards the next set of recordings, travel money to our gigs, or musical equipment. Any money you can pay is always greatly appreciated.

We have not abandoned CDs and put all our eggs in the digital basket. If you prefer to actually hold a CD in your hand, you can still get these from our official website.

If you believe in an artist and the music they make, please find a way that you can help support them. This might be financially, or might be by spreading the word among friends, or you might have your own ideas about how you can support us. If you have any thoughts on this, please do get in touch. We, and our fellow musicians out there, really do appreciate the support our fans give us.

If you think any of your friends might like Wilful Missing, please do click on one of the Sharing options at the bottom of this page, so they can read this and see why we do things the way we do. Alternatively, you could send them straight to our official website.

Thanks for reading, and more so, for listening.

The Duke & The King afterthoughts

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Oct 312010

I had thought about suggesting a band night out to go and see The Duke & The King when I heard they were coming back to Leeds. Instead, I got the chance to ask the rest of the band if they were available to support at the gig!

And what a good night it turned out to be. The Wardrobe was packed out for The Duke & The King, and there was a reasonably large crowd there early enough to see us. Thanks a million to those of you who were there to see us, and who gave us such a warm reception. If you left the gig with our Vast Atlantic EP, I hope you enjoy it. The Duke & The King were, as expected, marvellous. They do really have something unique going on there.

We came out of hibernation for this gig, as we are currently hard at work recording our album. Our present goal is to complete recording by the end of 2010. We won’t have any more gigs until February 2010 as we draw towards the end of the recording process. You will, however, be hearing from us again before the end of 2010, because we have something else lined up for you…

Wilful Missing (new website)

Albert Freeman

Great Northern Wine afterthoughts no.2

The Old School Tea Room afterthoughts

The Basement (York) afterthoughts

Escher Flight video

Loose Ends EP

The origin of our name

Wilful Missing on Bandcamp / Pay What You Want

The Duke & The King afterthoughts

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