Hello and sorry!!!

I'm saying hello and apologising as I haven't written for ages! Turns out I had food poisoning for an entire year!! I know you're thinking "Huh? Surely not!?!?" and I say "Yes, indeed!" I felt soooo ill for so long, I was getting bored and started frowning. It made me a little nuts and very very tired so sorry for being rubbish with the blogging. I hope you can forgive me! I went on this amazing machine that was developed by NASA that measures resistance in your body and figures out what's wrong with you as well as recommending ways to sort it out. It discovered the food poisoning as well as everything I'm allergic to along with an ancient ankle injury I picked up playing netball years ago. It's unbelievable! I've been taking supplements, am feeling so much better and sometimes have too much energy again which is nice for me! Not so good for my neighbours! Misery guts next door has moved out by the way. Think my general happiness had something to do with it!! This also means I can scratch him off my New Years' resolutions list from my previous blog as I won't see him again! Hurrah!! Anyway, I still managed to do a few gigs whilst crook and thought I'd give you an update!

If you checked out the "News" page, you would've seen that I performed at "Rietta and Friends" last month. I was seriously on duty that night as I was doing BVs for Rietta, played a couple of my own tunes (Maybe Today and Come Back To Me) and sang a duet with Ri. Non stop!! We had a great time and I met some lovely new people so was very happy! I'll put a link to the duet we performed below so you can check it out!

Walk Away

I've also been in the studio with The Soul Coalition. We had a wonderfully relaxed day of recording and I can't wait to hear the final result! Alan, Dave, Darren and Holger played amazingly as ever and Simon Pratt and his team at Alchemea did a great job of setting up and engineering for us. We were looked ater very well! I'll let you know when the final mixes are done but in the meantime, check out some photos from the day. I'm such a tourist!! Right, I have lots of songs to learn. I must also speak Italian today as I'm very behind in my practice. I will be fluent so I can retire to the hills of Tuscany!! This will be achieved if I don't watch the French Open... Must work!! Ha ha! We'll see! I hope this finds you all well and I will write again soon! Promise. Mxxx

Happy New Year everyone!!!

       I hope you had a great night and I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!! As you know, I spent New Year in Cape Town with Chicane. It was a really fun and eventful gig; There were several stage invasions, I made a few new friends who wanted me to sneak them into England in my suitcase and a lady appeared from nowhere, ran onto the stage screaming "I LOVE YOU!!!" and kissed me full on the lips...for a long time... Then she ran off and disappeared into the crowd! It wasn't that bad actually! I see where men are coming from now! It was a good night, I was even less rock and roll than usual as I only drank water (!!???!!) and we had fun! I managed to film a little during "Poppiholla" as one of the invasions was happening. Check it out below.

The next day, we went up Table Mountain! I'm a tourist so bought a mug from the souvenir shop and had a hot chocolate in the clouds! Mmmmmm..... I would upload photos but the visibility was so poor up there, it was like being in the title sequence of Highway To Heaven!! Was freezing so we didn't see much wildlife but we did manage to spot the hind legs of a Dassie (They're related to elephants but look nothing like them!) tucked away in the bushes! It was cute but don't feed them as they get hooked and turn nasty apparently!

Home now and happy as my back is killing from all the flying I've done recently. A bit of Alexander technique is required! Go here: Jane Gregory, to check out my fantastic teacher's website! She's lovely, sorted my back out brilliantly and reminds me a bit of Uma Thurman!

2011 was a good year with lots of fun, ups, downs, surprises, endings and new beginnings and experiences and I hope 2012 will be even better for all of us! I'd like to thank you for your support, messages, words of encouragement and for reading my silly blogs all year! I really do appreciate it! :-) I've ordered my annual David Beckham calendar for the kitchen and bought a new diary so I'm officially ready to start the year! I hope you all have a great 2012! Will write soon! Mxxx

A few New Year's resolutions before I go...

1) I will eat before 2pm so I don't feel unwell. Breakfast would help.

2) I will unpack my suitcase as soon as I get back from tour. I pack so much stuff (I need options!!) so it's laborious but must be done!

3) I will not show the local butcher my post-pedicure feet. No matter how insistent he is!

4) I will return to The Motherland (Wolverhampton) more often to see my lovely family and breathe in the refreshing Midlands air!

5) I will remember that yoghurt (even a big tub of Dr Oetker's Mango, Passionfruit and Papaya) is NOT a meal.

6) I will be more compassionate and loving towards others. Even the mean people... Including my miserable neighbour who hasn't cracked a smile in all the years I've lived next door to him even when I smile and say hello to him in the hallway! Misery. (That one may need a bit of work!)

7) I will not date and won't even consider dating drummers as you know how that always ends... Or horn players cos that's just bad news... Let's just say musicians... No, that's harsh. Bass players can stay!

8) I will try to remain present and take each moment for what it is.

I'm working on a few of these already. Let's see how I get on! Merry New Year! xXx

Hello everyone!!!

    I hope you're having a lovley, relaxed Christmas. I'm having a great time in The Motherland with my family; chilling out and being silly. The usual. Mom has Sky so I can watch the football and that makes me happy!! Come on The Wolves!!! I haven't eaten too much (Well done me!!) but I did get a little (lot) tipsy on Christmas day (Not very well done me!). I had to go have a lie down... In the middle of the day.... Shame. Back to my Ribena/apple juice drinking self now so it's all good!

     Apologies for not having written for ages. I've been a bit crook and have been singing, singing, singing which is brillant!! Last week I performed on the Coca Cola Christmas Truck tour. The truck looks AMAZING lit up and it was great to look out into the audience and see the joy in everyone's faces, children and adults alike. I was at The O2 for my 2 day stint and met some lovely new people on the gig as well as some crazy Rihanna fans who were on their way to watch her in the arena! I've never had to wear 2 pairs of gloves, 2 jumpers, 2 scarves, my thermal, padded walking socks (Thanks Al! He knows me so well!!) and my coat on a gig before so that was a new experience! Cold, doesn't even come into it! Was fun though! All my bouncing around did help keep my temperature up though! I'll put a video, which was filmed by Derrick who, along with his cute dog, Des, looked after the truck, below so you can check out one of the tunes! I hope you enjoy the rest of the festive season and I will write soon! Promise!!! Mxxx

******* UPDATE!!! *******

Last night when I wrote the above, I was thinking about cake. My Nan (You may remember her whooping and hollering at the end of the video for "Anyway"!?) makes the tastiest cake in the world called "Rub Up". I have it warm with vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmm..... It's really really good. If you had some, you'd be silenced with shock. Anyway, as I was thinking about cake whilst watching football - bad combination, I wasn't fully giving you the love you deserve so am back for more! I'm writing this on my bed, listening to some great music (Weather Report, Yellowjackets and Zakir Hussain. Al hooked me up!! :-D) and looking out at the beautiful blue skies of Wolverhampton. It's nice to be home and still. The air is different up here. It's nice to breathe it in. We are surrounded by fields so that helps! Big change from my main road and telephone box view in London!

I love my family very much. They're good people and we're all very silly so it's always fun being with them! Off to visit my brother, Stefan later so his 8 month old son can dribble on me then try to eat my face. Cute! It's amazing how quickly a week can go by. Back to work soon but it's been a nice break and I've enjoyed every second! I hope you're having a good time too! :-) Right, have to go eat now before I fall over!! Eating before 2pm will be one of my New Year's resolutions for 2012!! Will write soon! Mxxx 

Good evening everyone!!

I am especially happy today! No particular reason. Just happy to be here! I've been learning Chicane tunes in Highbury Fields - which is so beautiful no matter the time of year - today. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and there was the cutest little girl who couldn't decide if sitting on her tricycle, holding onto her Dad or staring at me was top of the agenda so she did all 3! Very sweet! Then I went and bought yoghurt so all is well in the world! I love a yoghurt! Dr. Oetker's Mango, Papaya, Passion Fruit Biopot... Mmmmm.....

I've been doing a lot of varied things of late and wont bore you with it all but: I did a session completely in Spanish for an Italian/South American artist. I had no idea what I was singing - something about clouds and love - but it was much fun! I'd never been to Cream studios before and didn't realise what a long walk it was from the station. I met a lovely old lady at the bus stop who told me I'd just missed the only bus that goes that way (Typical!) and that I had a bit of a walk or 20 mins to wait. I decided to walk and then had to wave at her on her bus for half of its route. I miss her... Got there in the end and can now put "vocals in several languages (as long as I can learn whatever you want phonetically!)" on my CV!

My headline gig at The Robin 2 was AMAZING! The guys did a fantastic job and I'm very grateful to my Mom for all the hard work she put into promoting it. A huge shout out goes to Richie Patterson who stepped into the drum chair with less than a week to go! He did brilliantly and I'm eternally grateful to him for his professionalism, learning the tunes like a demon and for his cheery disposition in the van! I've uploaded "Anyway" onto youtube. Rick plays a great solo after my newly written (Sorry Al!) bridge so even if you don't give 2 hoots about me, you should go check him out! I'll be uploading more tunes in the near future and will let you know when they're live! I was so hot on the gig and my Nan (who you can hear whooping and hollering on the footage!) telling me to tell the venue to get me a fan mid gig was a personal highlight! Felt like I was at a bashment at times and it was great! Love my people!! ANYWAY

I did a wonderful covers gig in East London that finished so early I didn't know what to do with myself! Think I was home in my bed socks at 10 or something which is so weird. 1 set??? I'm so used to the lateness, I was ready to go do another gig! The tunes were more pop/rock so it was a nice change up for me with lots to learn. As you know, I'm a geek so was loving that! Can't get used to those short gigs though. I didn't even break a sweat and you know that ain't right!!

The Soul Coalition did a WICKED gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire for ICMP on Sunday. Alan had put me under house arrest 3 days prior to the gig as I'd had my travel vaccinations for India and was coming down with a bit of a cold. He calls me a gallivanter which is completely unfounded and I take great umbrage with that statement but I did stay in as my glands were up, I sneezed once and I couldn't let the guys down. There are some great shots online of us doing our thing so go check them out! Everyone was buzzing afterwards and despite having torn a hole in my brand new tights and having to deal with the worst, ignoring his satnav, getting lost, not helping me with my bag taxi driver EVER, I smiled all the way home. We hope to catch you at a gig sometime soon! Keep checking my "Gigs" page for upcoming shows! THE SOUL COALITION

My Mom came down to visit me yesterday and she's the best! So funny without even trying and loving and giving and gorgeous... She brought me a heater - it can get a little breezy in my flat!, food of course and then called me marga!! We had fun! She had to get back to Wolves but my toes are now very toasty!! Thanks Mom! All in all, a good few weeks! I'm off to cook corn on the cob now and learn some more tunes! If I'm not singing, I'm learning! That's probably why I can't remember anyone's name!  My brain is full of lyrics and song forms! Sorry if you're one of those people! I'm working on it! I will write again soon and not leave it so long next time! I'm rubbish I know! Mxxx

Thanks so much to everyone who came to support me and the boys at The Robin 2 on March the 27th. I really appreciate it! We had a great time, the new tunes "Come Back To Me" and "Where Do We Go?" went down really well and it was lovely to look out into the audience and see some familiar and lots of brand new faces!! 

    For those who couldn't make it, I'll be posting videos (filmed by my lovely brothers!) to youtube in the very near future so you can take a look and for those who did make it, you can re-live the joyousness again and again! The guys played so fantastically, I couldn't stop smiling! We didn't manage to get a full band rehearsal before the gig and they still destroyed it! Extra props go out to Francesco who's never played with us before and you never would've known it. He did great!

    It was brilliant to play a home gig and I'd like to thank my family for all their support! Happily, we've been offered a headline slot at The Robin 2 towards the end of the year so watch this space for updates on that!!! Recording is kind of slow but we're getting there. We hope to have the album done by summer and then we can have a huge launch party. Any excuse for a dance eh!!!? Will write soon! Me'sha xxx

Hello everyone!

     I am writing this, watching the athletics and writing a new tune. I'm actually writing 2 at the same time which I started a few days ago. Currently stuck on the bridge. For both... Maybe I've split my song writing powers right down the middle by doing 2 simultaneously and am stuck in limbo forever? I doubt it.

     In true Me'sha fashion, one is upbeat, the other is miserable. Played what I've done so far to Al and he likes them so it's all good! I tend to procrastinate when writing is going well as I don't want the next line I write to be lame, cheesy, trite, obvious and generally ruin it. Washing up is a personal procrastination favourite along with making sure the living room curtains aren't crumpled... On the flip side, when it's going badly, I do my Alexander technique and watch a DVD with a cup of Ribena. It doesn't help the block but it makes me feel better! I will resume in a moment. Once I've emptied the bins...

     In terms of recording my album, I've managed to secure a fantastic line-up including a wonderful collection of drummers. Oh drummers!!!!! Guides start going down tomorrow and I'm excited and nervous about it all at the same time! Will be fun! Time to focus and and stop watching sport on TV! So long! Mxxx

A few hours later.....

     Songs all done! I did procrastinate AMAZINGLY even for me but finally got the job done. Smug mode. I now have too many songs for the album as I only want 9 tracks. I suppose that's a good problem to have though! Recording starts tomorrow after Al and I have watched Andy Murray win The Australian Open... Fingers crossed!! Byeeee!! Xxx  ps I never did get round to emptying the bins. I'll do it tomorrow....x

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

I hope you all had a great night and that you didn't do anything too naughty! I had a lovely time with my people but it's time to get back to work and be serious now... When I was in the bath thinking about what I was going to write, I had lots of resolutions in mind - I won't come out of biscuit, shoe and dim sum rehab, I won't have another 5 minutes in bed, I'll just get up, I won't be so weird about emptying the bin... then I thought forget it. I will just be. Well, I'll try anyway. I've been reading a great book by Deepak Chopra - The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success. It's brilliant! I'm still finding it difficult to apply some of the laws as I need to chill out but it feels great when you see even a small change in yourself. I won't get into it too much now but if you want to find a bit more balance and peace in your life, go check it out. So, no "real" resolutions but I'm fine with that. I hope you all have a wonderful and prosperous 2011! Best wishes, Me'sha xxx

Merry Christmas everyone!!! 

    I hope you're all enjoying the festive season!!! I'm back in the Motherland and having much fun with my family!!! Naturally, I packed waaaaay too much stuff (including Bambi, presents, my huge handbag which didn't look that big in the shop... and a few pairs of shoes....) but my lovely brother, Stefan was a gent and carried it from the station, to his car, out of the car (where it fell over cos it's a tad front heavy..!!) into Mom's and up the stairs for me. Bless him. He's very strong!!! He did have a small lie down afterwards but I reckon that was due to the epic journey we had from down South...

    I haven't eaten too much which is good and I've played "Let's roll the lip balm along the table and catch it with the Mr Men DVDs that Aunty Me'sha bought me" with my 1 year old niece. Very cute!! She got lots of Christmas presents but my Body Shop Passionberry lip balm was the highlight! Children.

   Writing this and channel surfing with Mom. We're watching US Open Classics and Spartacus at the same time. The words "Is that soup or shit?", were just uttered in reference to someone being drowned in brown stuff by Kirk Douglas!! She is HILARIOUS! Love my Mom!!

   Right, before the rambling begins, I will sign off. For some reason, I feel like blogs have to be some kind of epic masterpiece. This is not the case my friends! I just wanted to say hi and Merry Christmas! Also, I need a coffee. I hope you're all well and that you're wrapped up warm. It's minus 11 in The Midlands! My back doesn't like it. Will write soon! Mxxx

Hello everyone!

   Welcome to my blog! I will endeavour to be interesting... I'm writing this in my living room whilst watching the snooker (I'm a boy!) and wearing a jumper that Noodles gave to me. Think he wants it back now though. It fits beautifully! It is very chilly and my toes do not enjoy it but I am from The Midlands and have experienced much more severe weather conditions than this in my time so will struggle on! The fact that I'm only 120 miles South of Wolverhampton is neither here nor there. It's cold up North!

   I just read in the asos magazine (being a regular Premier shopper, I get it in the post for free!! Is that something to be proud of? I haven't decided yet.) that having a gap in your teeth is fashionable!!?? The world has finally come round to my way of thinking. I'm not sure about all those people who go to the dentist to create a gap in their teeth in order to follow said fashion though. That's a bit too far! Victims!! What will they do when gaps are no longer in fashion?? Cry. That's what.

     I love the gap (or diastema!) in my teeth. Strangers often come up to me and tell me that I'm either going to make a lot of money - still waiting for that one. The money must be lost somewhere in the ether! - or that I'm a little bit randy... Frankly, since they're strangers, I find this a terribly rude thing to say on first meeting. You can't assume that from looking at my teeth! Besides, I'm a good girl!

   The asos article said "The gap tooth girls all share the sexist "flaw"." Naturally. I would like to thank my parents. They both have small gaps and mine is huge but I don't mind it! Oh, apart from when idiot people come up to me and ask if I've lost a tooth......????? "Yes, I was born with one extra tooth which, on discovering it was surplus to requirements, gallantly wiggled its way out of my mouth, making sure to look back and check everything was symmetrical, leaving me with an unfortunate gap in my teeth..." Doofuses. The only problems arise when I eat something hot and I burn my gap - pain like you wouldn't believe! - or when you're 12 and you're bored in maths at school and you get your pen stuck in it. For real. I nearly had to call for assistance. Biting into apples is a joy as you can clearly see the shape of my teeth which obviously has to be shown to the nearest person to me. That's usually Alan. He loves it...!

     Speaking of Alan, I'll be going into rehearsals with the boys this Thursday in preparation for the album recording!! I'm excited but scared all at the same time! Rehearsals are fun!! I bring cheese puffs, Darren brings half his fridge, Dave brings a million pedals and Al always lends me his good lead, bless him. They're all such lovely people. It's like we're just hanging out and then we happen to break out into song every now and then! The new tunes, "Come Back To Me" and Where Do We Go?", are sounding great and I can't wait to get started! I will let you know how we get on.

    Right, I have to go and cook. I can't live off cereal, yoghurt and Ribena for the rest of my days! I hope you're all having a nice, restful Sunday! Will write soon! Me'sha xxx