Week 26 – #FrankOnTour (with Lewis Watson)

Firstly, the ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’ album is released on iTunes in less than an hour!! It includes all 52 songs from #OneSongaWeek as well as a Chord and Lyric book for Guitar (in PDF format) so you can learn to play them all!

Secondly, Tickets for my headline tour (with a full band) in September/October can be found here.

Thirdly (and speaking of tour), between June 2nd and June 21st I hit the road with Mister Lewis Watson, and instead of writing lots of cheesy words about how nice everyone was/what a lovely time we had, I thought I’d post some pictures (with some captions)…

From Edinburgh to Newport w/Laura from #TeamFrank

Back at EV Arts Club (for the 2nd time in a few weeks).

Lewis in Liverpooooooool.

Hoarding in Hotels.

Meeting faces in Carlisle.

Miss Shannon Saunders in Dunfermline.

Aberdeen. Started with £10, finished with fiddy!

Lewis unplugged (somewhere north of Birmingham).

#LadsLadsLads (day off).

My face (in coffee) smells nice.

Back in Stockton. No smashed windows this time.

Thespians in Sheffield.

Bride of Chucky.

Lots (and lots) of faces.

The ‘Lewis Watson Tour’ Table Football Trophy.

#TeamSaunders .vs. #TeamWatson

Pete Powering On.

Apple juice and motorways.

Hebden Bridge (is a real place).

Multi storey Car-Parking Champion 2013.

Post-show Waga’s in Bath.

Busking (on a day off) in Brizzle.

Golf (is good for the soul).

Small white mocha (if you’re asking).

Exeter (was sweaty).

Yet another Weatherspoons breakfast.

Left-of-centre.

Lewis’ hometown show in Oxford.

Good people. Good times.

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Week 25 – Messy Heads, Messy Houses and Teenage Dirtbags…

Greetings, #OneBlogaWeek-folk!

My head’s a bit of a mess (and my house is no better) so I’m going to keep this weeks blog short and sweet.

Firstly, if you missed the announcement about tour then tickets are on sale now. Click here for last weeks blog (which has all the links in).

Speaking of tour, my jaunt round the country with Lewis Watson came to an end last weekend.  It’s been bags of fun and I was really sad to see it end but I was also looking forward to the prospect of a few days at home and a chance to gather my thoughts…

…if only!!

On the surface this week has been reasonably chilled (photo shoot, interviews, rehearsals and a trip home for my Mums birthday) but behind the scenes it’s been beyond frustrating.  I won’t bore you with the gory details but most of it concerns the release of the #LondonEyeEP and ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’ album, which will now be packaged differently and released on different days…

01.07.13 – #LondonEyeEP will be released on www.LondonEyeEP.co.uk

08.07.13 – The ‘All of #OneSongaWeek‘ album (52 tracks + Chord/Lyric Book) released on iTunes.  £16.99 (or less with ‘complete my album’).

Teenage Dirtbag – Cover for Dropout UK

A month or so ago me and the gang recorded a cover of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus for Dropout UK and it went live last week.  Not only did it get a wonderful response from you lot, but Brendan (the singer/writer in Wheatus) also said some lovely things.  Watch it here:

This Time Last Year:

I wrote a song about the man from YouTube (who lost the plot over a picture/lyric video).  Ended up being one of my favourite songs of last year (and making it’s way on to the ‘Best of’)!  Read the blog here:

Week 24 – #FrankOnTour #TicketsOnSale

Greetings #OneBlogaWeek crew!!

How are we? Hope this finds you well…

It’s 3:37am on the penultimate night of the Lewis Watson tour and I’m writing this from the Belfry Hotel in Oxford.  We’ve just got back from Lewis’ auntie’s pub and everyone’s gone to bed… apart from me and Andy (who’s sat next to me on his laptop working away like a trooper).

Here’s a photo from about an hour ago (before we left ‘pub-land’ for the all too serious world of ‘hotel and work-land’)…

From (top) left to (bottom) right we have:

Pete ‘Power On‘ Smith, Rob ‘Andre‘ Austin, Adam (seeing) Double, Andy ‘see it off‘ Knox, Greg ‘I’m locked in the van’ Hilson, Sophie ‘Koppaberg‘ Watts, Shannon ‘my I’s C U I C U but U don’t C me‘ Saunders , Lewis ‘be yourself‘ Watson …and yours truly.

It’s been such an incredible few weeks and I’m more than just a bit sad that it’s all coming to an end, but I’m buoyed by the fact that my own headline tour has just been announced and tickets are now on sale!

In case you missed yesterdays Twitter/Facebook blitz, here are the dates:

VIP Tickets
Cost £20, are available from my online shop and include:

– A cup of tea.
– Entrance to soundcheck.
– A meet and greet before the show / before doors open.
– A ticket to the show itself!
– Exclusive #FrankOnTour VIP wristband (unavailable to buy).
– Tour poster (signed during the meet and greet if you like).
– 50% discount on any other merch (using your VIP wristband).

Here’s the link: http://frankhamilton.bigcartel.com/product/vip-tickets-frankontour

General Tickets
Cost either £7, £7.50 or £8 (see flyer for details), depending on the venue.  Here are a list of dates – click on them for ticket links.

September    
Fri 20 – UK, Newcastle, the Cluny 2
Sat 21 – UK, Glasgow, The Arches
Sun 22 – UK, Preston, 53 Degrees
Mon 23 – UK, Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
Wed 25 – UK, Sheffield, Plug
Thu 26 – UK, Manchester, Sound Control
Fri 27  – UK, Leeds, The Cockpit 3
Sat 28 – UK, Stoke, The Sugarmill   
Sun 29 – UK, Cambridge, Junction 2
October    
Tue 01 – UK, Norwich, Waterfront
Wed 02 – UK, Birmingham, The Institute
Thu 03 – UK, London, The Garage
Sat 05 – UK, Bristol, Thekla
Sun 06 – UK, Guildford, Boileroom
Mon 07 – UK, Brighton, Komedia Studio
Tue 08 – UK, Southampton, Joiners
Thu 10 – UK, Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach

…and that concludes this weeks #OneBlogaWeek.  Tune in next week for all the gossip on the Levvis tour and some more details on the #LondonEyeEP and ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’ album.

 

This Time Last Year:

Feels like a decade ago! I’d just played at the Jack Wills Varsity with Gabs Aplin, Emily and the Woods and Nathan Ball before getting drunk on Jack Daniels, eating an undercooked burger and throwing up for 15 hours straight…

Week 24 of #OneSongaWeek also happened (just about).  Here’s the blog and here’s the song (which I actually really like, even though it might never see an album).

Week 23 – #LondonEyeEP & ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’ album.

Greetings from somewhere between Yeovil and Exeter!

Time is tight and wifi is scarce, so here’s the plan for this week’s blog:

• #LondonEyeEP release news.
• ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’ album release news.
• Chord & Lyric Book(s).
• My next headline tour (announced on Wednesday 19th June)!
• VIP Tickets.

Without further ado…

#LondonEyeEP & ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’:
After much confusion (and subsequent deliberation) I’m delighted to announce that the #LondonEyeEP will be out very soon, but not how you (or I) might have expected…

Long story short we’ve not been allowed to release the full thing as a DVD style video online (which was the plan since day 1), so we’ve had to think outside the box…

Firstly, the #LondonEyeEP will be available to watch (for free) on LondonEyeEP.co.uk (which is currently being built).

Secondly, the #LondonEyeEP will be available from iTunes as part of the ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’ album package, which is out on July 1st.  Here’s a breakdown of what that includes:

– ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’ album – The complete 52 song collection.
– Chord & lyric book (in PDF format) for all instruments.
– Chord & lyric book (in PDF format) for guitar – with capo’s and stuff.
– The complete #LondonEyeEP (DVD style video, as intended).

In addition to this the tracks from the #LondonEyeEP will be available as individual music videos (I wanted all 4 songs in 1 video but that isn’t allowed – apparently it’s too long for a ‘music video’ and too short for a ‘film/documentary’) and the chord and lyric books will also be available as separate items from iTunes eBook store (though this may take a few weeks to sort out).

For those who already own some of the #OneSongaWeek tracks we’ve asked for there to be a ‘complete my album’ option, which should allow you to pick up the remaining songs, both chord & lyric books AND the full #LondonEyeEP for a reduced rate (which is nice)!

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER TOUR!!
My next headline tour will be announced in less than 24 hours and I couldn’t be more excited about it.  The dates are nicely spread out (geographically) and we’re visiting a few places we didn’t get to visit last time, so I’m hoping everyone in England, Scotland and Wales who wants to come will be able to do just that!  As for Australia, America, Ireland, Germany and the rest of you, please accept my sincere apologies and know that it WILL happen at some point.  Good things come to those who wait (and all that jazz).

To be among the first know where I’m visiting and where you can get tickets, sign up to the mailing list here, join #TeamFrank here or keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday!

VIP TICKETS:
I’m also excited to announce that for the first time ever I’ll be releasing a (very) limited number of VIP tickets for the shows.   This will include a cup of tea, entrance to soundcheck, a meet and greet before doors open, some exclusive merchandise and of course a ticket to the show itself.

Once again, these VIP ticket things will be very limited, so make sure you’re on the mailing list and/or are part of #TeamFrank to be in with a chance of scoring one. FYI they’ll be on sale from the online shop from Friday onwards ( www.frankhamilton.bigcartel.com ) x

 

This Time Last Year:
Waterloo/Guildford.  Read the blog here.

Week 22 – #FrankOnTour (with Lucy Spraggan)

Greetings from the M1 South bound! How are things?!

Couple of key bits of information before we crack on with this (or should I say last) weeks blog…

1) The #LondonEyeEP and ‘All of #OneSongaWeek’ album (52 track download with a chord/lyric book) are released on July 1st! We’ll get stuck into the finer details in next weeks blog but for now here’s an interview with some words / more info.

2) I’ll be announcing another headline tour (with full band) in about a week!!  Needless to say I’m ridiculously excited about it (especially about the London date, which falls the night before my birthday).  Keep your eyes on Facebook and Twitter or make sure you’re on the mailing list if you’d like to be among the first know!

3) #TeamFrank was born less than 2 weeks ago and there are now over 150 of you from a variety of places (some of which I’ve never heard of) between London, LA and Sydney!

Several #TeamFrank folk have already attended recent shows to help out with mailing list and flyering duties (in exchange for free tickets and some goodies) and one even drove me from Edinburgh to Newport (from the Spraggan tour to the Watson tour)!  HUGE love and thanks go to Laura, Josh (and friends), Katie, Jack, Abi, Leona and anyone else I’ve forgotten.

For those who missed the last blog, you can join #TeamFrank by emailing teamfrank@live.co.uk and read a copy of the first #TeamFrank newsletter here.

Life on tour with Lucy Spraggan…. was, put simply, an absolute blast!

At the start I was a bit nervous.  I’d never done a support tour before and had just finished my own one (with a band, where people came to see me and sing my songs) before joining Lucy’s (without a band, where no-one was there to see me and hardly anyone knew my songs), but in reality I needn’t have worried at all…

They say that an artists fan base is often a lot like the artist themselves and in this case it was completely true.  Lucy and her team (Ben the tour manager, Matt the bassist and Alex the drummer) are about as genuine, decent and banterful as it gets and the crowds were exactly the same.  Stoke, York and Newcastle were all amazing, much like Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

All in all I was made to feel very welcome.  #TeamSpraggan let me travel in the van to keep costs down, Jonathan from DF concerts and the various venues/soundmen were great and everyone I met after the shows was bloody lovely.

I won’t waffle on too much but here are some photos:

Safe to say I was a little bit sad when it all finished but there wasn’t much time to mope about… Recent #TeamFrank joinee Laura drove from Newcastle to Edinburgh and then took me and all my stuff across three countries, arriving in Newport last Sunday to start the Lewis Watson tour (which I’ll talk about next week)!!

 

This Time Last Year:

Week 22 of #OneSongaWeek: ‘This Is England and I know I’ll stay forever… put up with you like I do with the weather”.

Read the blog here and see the video (which started the ball rolling for week 25’s  song!) below…

Week 21 – #TeamFrank

Bank Holiday Monday. 1:41am.

So far my bank holiday weekend has consisted of tidying the house, organising paperwork, cleaning floors (& ceilings) and drinking cups of tea.  I feel like I’ve not really made the most of the sunshine but since Saturday and Sunday were my last free days before I go away on tour again, I figured I should spend them wisely (and not fritter them away with whiskey on Clapham Common).

Some quiet time at home has also done wonders for my head, which has felt a bit all over the place recently (nothing new there, then).  Being busy / living day-to-day is great and I wouldn’t swap it for anything, but I’m glad that this weekend has finally afforded me some time to sit down and reflect on everything that’s happened, everything that’s happening and everything that’s yet to happen.

Anyway, enough about the nonsense in my noggin. Here’s the plan for this weeks blog:

1) #TeamFrank – (it does what it says on the tin).

2) Support Tours – Lucy Spraggan and Lewis Watson.

3) Festivals – From Gloucester to Inverness.

1 – #TeamFrank

If there’s one thing that gets me out of bed on a shit day, it’s the constant stream of loveliness I get sent on Twitter, Facebook, Email, Snapchat and so on and so forth.  It’s pretty obvious that without your support I’d be working in WH Smiths (or somewhere far worse), so I’ve been thinking of ways to bring us all a little bit closer together and get those of you who wish to be actively involved.  Ladies and Gents, I present #TeamFrank

#TeamFrank started out as me, Frank (without the hashtag), until my manager Andy showed up and stuck a ‘team’ in front.  Since then a few more people have entered the fold and their various skill-sets are being utilised for the greater good…

So, if you want to be on #TeamFrank, then you can be (simples)… how involved you are (in #TeamFrank and subsequently my career) is entirely up to you!!

For now, you just need to do one thing.

Copy and paste the following into an email and send it to: teamfrank@live.co.uk

Name:

Nearest Town/City:

Any Other Info/Ideas/Things you’re good at:

NB: Make sure you do this by Friday if you’d like to be involved in the Lewis Watson tour.  The first email to the whole of #TeamFrank will be going out on Saturday!

 

2 – Support Tours

In a few days time I’ll be joining up with Lucy Spraggan for the last 3 shows of her tour in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).  Then on Sunday I’ll be making my way from Edinburgh to Newport to join up with Lewis Watson, who I’ll be on the road with until June 21st (dates and ticket links here)!  I’d never been invited on a support tour prior to last month, so needless to say I’m feeling very lucky/spolit! HUGE thanks to Lucy and Lewis for inviting me along.

 

3 – Festivals

This year I will be singing songs at the following festivals. Click on them for more details:

Saturday 6th July – Barn on the Farm

Saturday 20th July – London Folk Festival

Saturday 27th July – RedFest

Sunday 28th July – Secret Garden Party

Friday 2nd August – Belladrum

This Time Last Year:

I didn’t know it at the time but I’d just penned the unofficial anthem of Euro 2012, ‘Sing for England’ (featuring Mark Grist, Mixy and Year 5 at The Priory Primary School)!  Read all about it here.

Week 20 – #OneBlogaWeek returns!!

3:58am and the birds are singing songs that I don’t know… but I’m not gonna sleep because I just got in from tour and I’m buzzing my little socks off!!

I’m not sure it’s possible to find the words to sum up the last few weeks of my life, but i’ll give it a go…

 

#OneBlogaWeek / Life in general

Before I go on the hunt for adjectives, I’d like to apologise for the lack of #OneBlogaWeek action recently.  I had a funny few weeks after the London Eye EP and didn’t really fancy writing anything… and then when my literary mojo returned I was in the midst of my own tour, Lucy Spraggan‘s tour and pulling 16 hour shifts in a studio.

As you might have gathered, the first few lines of this blog were written at 3:58am on May 4th, less than 6 hours after that unbelievable night at the Borderline and no more than 20 minutes before I fell asleep on the couch.  It’s taken me a while to wake up, but here we are.  Normal service resumed!!

The good news is that everything’s pretty full-on at the moment for a reason. Myself and some of the newer members of #TeamFrank (who you’ll meet soon enough) are plotting landscapes for autumn, winter and beyond and it’s all bloody exciting.

The only real downside is that I haven’t got much time to sit on the couch, drink tea, write blogs and take everything in.

 

#FrankOnTour

So, tour.   Like I said before, I’m finding it hard to find the right words to sum it all up.  Incredible, unreal, nuts, special, mental, insane, beautiful, life-affirming… the list could go on.

This short video (of me walking back onstage for an encore in Birmingham) says it better than I ever could:

 

Cheddar aside, I still can’t get over how many of you left your lovely, warm houses to watch me and the gang play some songs. So much smiling, singing and screaming and SO many of you to meet after every show.  Needless to say I had the best time ever (so thanks for that) and I can’t wait to do it all again soon.

Without further ado, here’s some evidence I’ve gathered (from my phone, friends phones and Youtube) to prove that it wasn’t all just a crazy dream.

In Other News…

Before I finish off with the ‘this time last year’ section, there are three other bits of news you may or may not be interested in…

1) #TeamFrank will soon be recruiting! Make sure you read next weeks blog if you’d like to be on my team…

2) #OneShopaWeek has had a make-over and now stocks Flaws & Ceilings t-shirts (as modeled below by the lovely @laurenaquilina!), #LondonEyeEP Posters and ‘Songs and Silly Ideas’ tote bags (amongst other things)!  Have a browse here.

3) In live news, I’ve got another tour coming up (stay tuned) but before then I’ll be navigating the UK with Lewis Watson and have also confirmed/announced a few festivals this Summer.

 

This Time Last Year:

I was thinking too much…

Week 13 – #LondonEyeEP [part 2]

Best. Day. Ever.

 

More coming soon x

Week 12 – The #LondonEyeEP

It’s Saturday evening (21:33 to be precise) and in around 12 hours time I’ll be waking up for the most important day of 2013 so far.  The #LondonEyeEP.

It’s been a hectic week of organising, rehearsing and stressing but as I sit here (on the couch, with a cuppa and some chocolate hobnobs) I’m reasonably happy with how everything’s gone so far and I feel like I’m staring Sunday in the face with just about the right mix of excitement and nerves.

Now’s probably the time to tell you a bit more about the plan itself, but first I need to introduce you to the gang, every member of which has my undying love and thanks for giving up their time to be a part of what is essentially a ridiculous idea.  They are, in no particular order:

James Earp – A superb producer and dear friend. In charge of recording audio.
Andy Knox – Friend/manager, without whom this wouldn’t have been possible.
Maddie Cutter – A hugely talented cello player with a penchant for candles.
Sophia Rees – Viola extraordinaire, melody maker and wine taster.
Harry Handyside – A friend of a friend who films/directs amazing things.
Giordano – #OneSongaWeek photographer/behind the scenes camera.
Barbara Benson – #OneSongaWeek videographer/behind the scenes.
Naomi Lake – Extremely talented MUA who worked on the ‘Wet Shoes’ video.
Tom Cumberland – If you have hair he knows what to do with it.

EDF London Eye – They own the London Eye… and they said yes (to the idea)!!
sE Electronics – They make the best microphones, some of which they’ve lent us to use. How lovely 🙂
Topman – Meant well by offering 10 pieces of medium sample sized clothing. I might wear the shoes.

So here’s the plan:
The gang come to mine. I make bacon sandwiches.
We set up/dress up/tune up and rehearse the set once.
We pack everything down.
We get in a car and drive to Lambeth North.
We park the car and carry everything to the London Eye.
We get on the London Eye (at 5:30).
We hope everything works and all being well record a 3/4/5 track EP.
We get off the London Eye (at 6:00).

The plan after that is sketchy.  We’ll see how everyone feels but I like the idea of going to another location and doing the whole thing again (why the hell not, eh?).

It’s now 22:33 and I’m starting to yawn and think about bed… and the more I think about it the more it seems like a really good idea.

Week 11 – My First Ever Show (the 2nd time around)

Apologies (again) for this weeks #OneBlogaWeek arriving late and being somewhat rushed – normal service will resume soon (even though I have absolutely no idea what that is).

Monday’s show was a lot of fun. Thanks SO much to everyone who came out (in the snow) to sing along and make all the hard work worthwhile.  In some ways it felt like my first ever gig (the 2nd time around) and an awful lot of prep went into both the show and the stage.  Needless to say there’s still an awful lot more to be done before tour starts in April but all things considered I was happy enough (for once!) and even managed to crack a smile or two in the taxi home (until my iPhone ran out of battery).

It definitely feels like things have stepped up about a dozen gears since I last put any serious time in with a band (discounting the #OneSongaWeek live show of course).  As well as having a grandfather clock, banner, lamp and vintage TV on stage I now have 2 guitars and a Ukulele at my disposal (instead of the usual, one half-broken guitar) so who knows where we’ll be later this year (A kitchen, working oven/kettle, 17 guitars, 6 Ukuleles and a Harpsichord perhaps?!).

Thanks to Giordano, Alex for the photos and Belle the Pirate & Victoria Morgan for the following YouTube videos…

Flaws & Ceilings featuring the lovely Lauren Aquilina 🙂

…and week 39 of #OneSongaWeek – a song I honestly never thought I’d have the balls to play live. Thanks for helping me through it xx