I have decided to take my e mail letter The Braunston Bugle online in blog format, so any feedback, as ever, is appreciated. It’s been a busy summer!

After the glorious June we had here, July was largely a washout and on top of that I managed to get a dose of Swine Flu which took until August to disappear, though it did give me a chance of get intimate with the Ashes test series and in particular enjoy the wit and wisdom of David 'Bumble' Lloyd on Sky Sports.

Serves me right for thinking I was man enough to brave the excesses of a festival - albeit a fairly tame one -  three days after I thought I'd recovered my health! The Larmer Tree site obviously holds some magical memories for me as an event location - it's where The Big Chill tentatively inched its way back into contention after a year off in the wake of Norfolk's baptism of fire which was the 1996 Gala. The Larmer Tree Gardens, designed by Pitt Rivers was the perfect home for The Big Chill, and was the venue for its golden years, as it grew from just under 1000 people over five years to a point where the gardens couldn't contain the numbers any more. I was looking forward to The Larmer Tree Music Festival, although it has always been very different to The Big Chill, but oddly had put together a line up this year that was closer to my heart than all the other festivals. What a shame, then, that Thursday was such a wash out in the end after a pleasant drive down in decent weather. By the time Richard Thompson took to the stage, my waterproofs, after four hours or so of belting rain had become anything but waterproof and I was beginning to shiver uncontrollably so I got back to the car and decided to head. After a three hour drive, I just about managed to fall into bed - and didn't move from there for four days. 

WOMAD at least offered the kids and myself a dry Saturday, before the rains came in and soaked everyone on Sunday. You may be getting the impression that I've turned into some kind of festival lightweight these days, but I was merely keen to avoid another relapse. This time, we got the tent up in good time and beat a hasty retreat to a cosy Northamptonshire fireside, althought it meant missing the live incarnation of Ethiopiques, which I was looking forward to. At least I got to see Jim Moray in fine fettle, though to be introduced as "the saviour of folk" by a rather ingratiating Radio 3 compere live on air didn't do him any favours at all.

I was to run into Jim again a week later as the Lawrence caravan rolled down the M5 and into not so sunny Sidmouth for the Folk Week. I had been booked to Dj at the Silent Disco - the first time the festival had dared book such a cutting edge attraction, and certainly my own debut too at the concept, though I had been tempted to book a Silent Disco a few years before at The Big Chill, and we arrived to find that we'd just missed a deluge the day before and the sloping campsite resembled a trench in the battle of the Somme in places. At least the Bulverton Marquee was a short trudge up the hill and now that I carry mp3's and a computer to DJ from, the uphill walk could have been worse. The Bulverton again held happy memories for me, having curated and compered its inaugural year in 1991, a honour which actually earned me a mention in the Fifty Years Of Sidmouth Folk Festival book, though they omitted to mention that the spirit of rave was in the air in that year, and the likes of Edward II and Barely Works, two seminal roots bands that I had mentored to some degree in my time at Cooking Vinyl, had both turned the tent into little short of a rave with their high energy sets, egged on by my whistle (I stopped short of the glowsticks). Anyway, I digress. The programmer of the Bulverton, a certain Joanie Crump I believe, had invited me to come and contest a DJ showdown of the silent type with Jim Moray when we'd both been enjoying post Folk Awards drinks last February, and despite my reservations, it worked brilliantly. First off, Jim Causley (some people may know Jim's work from my repeated DJ plays of his version of 'The Lollipop Man') took on the illustrious Eliza Carthy, and it was a treat to witness Eliza dropping such gems as 'Trail Of The Lonesome Pine' only for Jim to hit back with some of the campest gay classics around. Anyone for 'Gimme a Man After Midnight' and 'It's Raining Men' in the same set? Perfect folk fodder of course;) 

Next I was up against Jim Moray, a man I had deeply admired all year for his superb album 'Low Culture'. Jim had clearly put a lot - and I mean a lot - of time into this set in his studio, mashing up the likes of Seth Lakeman with Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean' , Adam and The Ants 'Stand And Deliver', Lily Allen's 'Ldn' and a whole host of stuff which I'm probably too old to recognise, though  'I Kissed a Girl' did sound somewhat familiar, mashed up a melodeon jig, or with Martin Carthy, Richard and Linda Thompson' 'I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight' and a whole host of samples from the annals of folk history - it was all fair game for Jim's devilish mind. This set really was a mix and match work of art which no doubt required a whole range of studio trickery to assemble, and in the aftermath, I've concluded that nothing would be more appropriate than to invite Jim to come and play it out through a proper sound system instead of the rather limiting medium of headphones, just as soon as I can find the right context. Perhaps I'll have a word with the good folks at Festinho about next September.

Of course, I was blissfully unaware of all the stuff Jim was playing alongside me until a few days later when Joanie kindly gave me the link to download his tracks. Since then the few people I've given a sneaky listen have all had their heads turned around by it. As the set started, I aimed for a kind of populist middle ground, kicking off with The Proclaimers and The Clash's 'Rock The Casbah', quickly trying to figure out how was the best way you could tell if any of the crowd were dancing to you, other than by studying the pace of their dancing and swaying. The knack, as I quickly learnt, was to play something they could sing along to, and I peeled back my headphones in disbelief to hear 300+ people all singing 'Teddy Bears Picnic' - acapella, naturally - as I realised that we'd created an unlikely Sidmouth anthem. To add a final twist, I climaxed with one of Jim's own tracks - his fab version of XTC's 'All You Pretty Girls' which probably confused the audience who thought they had it sussed which channel each of the DJs were coming through, and the entire audience ended up singing along after Jim's last track finished. It was a hugely exciting session and one of the very best DJ experiences I've ever had. Someone filmed some highlights of the night here.

You may gather from the amount of column inches, as the old school journos say, that my four hours at Sidmouth Folk Week made more of an impact than all the others put together, and you wouldn't be far wrong. The Silent Disco must surely return...After such excitement,  going back to my tent was clearly not an immediate option, so I was then pulled every which way and force fed potent brews of agricultural tasting scrumpy by strangers for what seemed like hours, before my weary head finally hit the pillow. After a night where sleep wasn't easy to come by for many who had been camped a little too close to the revelry that the good folkies of Sidmouth seemed to delight in, Ella's cough started to get progressively worsen and I had a distinct feeling that we wouldn't last the two days or so that we'd planned to be sunning ourselves on Devon beaches while partaking of tasty local ice creams. My fears were proved right, and soon the all too familiar tarmac of the M5 was back in widescreen view as we headed for the green and pleasant lands of Northamptonshire once again.

The Big Chill weekend produced a decent weather weekend, which prompted me to start walking the glorious hills of Herefordshire, an area I have been delighting in for the past twenty years or so, and way before viewing the Eastnor site for the first time and realising that it would make a perfect home for the next phase of Big Chilling. When I did return to the site this year, I found the whole thing a bit overwhelming, overrun as it was by overly made up, rather threatening looking zombies in fancy dress on the first day, and teenage revellers in search of something or other throughout the weekend. It came as blessed relief to get offsite and slump on the green slopes overlooking of Castlemorton Common, just down the road. Ironically, one of the Chill's stalwarts, a Mr Lol Hammond, had been one of the central figures who, almost twenty years ago, had galvanised his posse, Spiral Tribe, to organise - and I use the word loosely - the biggest illegal rave the UK has ever witnessed. Over that long bank holiday weekend, the headline news reports had massively swelled the numbers to such an extent that Tory grandee Michael Howard was obliged to fast-track that wonderful piece of British legislation that has shaped so many lives since - The Criminal Justice Bill. Howard, and many well heeled local residents will be thanking their lucky stars that Twitter didn't exist in those days, otherwise Hammond's reputation for being man responsible for the Criminal Justice Bill would have been even more iconic.

The rest of August was spent over in Paros, with my kids both making their deep sea diving debuts (thanks Helen for organising!) and Ella, in particular, was told that she should pursue it as she did rather well. Paros was pretty windy this August and not really at its best, but we had some fun with the kids and I even ended up playing a late afternoon 'sundowner' at the excellent Rebel Bar on Golden Beach. From Paros, it was back for Braunston for my second August Bank Holiday garden party, with great sets from Newanderthal (Tom Green's new incarnation of Another Fine Day) on the lawn, and Alucidnation and Emily Davies christening my newly converted barn with stunning live sets. Emily's version of 'Time After Time' gave me my best shivers-down-the-spine moment of the musical year, for its stripped bare simplicity and understated delivery, and efficiently loosened up my tear ducts at the same time. 

And so, as September sidled in, and the nights got noticeably shorter, it was on to Festinho, without doubt the best festival this summer. Simon Strick, the main man had invited me to programme a folk stage, which I had named the Harvest Stage and had managed to book a good variety of live acts including Dollboy, The Shadow Orchestra, The Owl Service, Newanderthal, Maukin Causley, Leisure Society, Nancy Wallace, Ted Barnes and Spiro. After a slow start on Friday evening when not many people were on site (and many missed a surprise appearance by Ulrich Schnauss alongside Kirsty Hawkshaw), things really got going on Saturday and every performer punched above their weight.

Emily Davies was in blistering form again and made up for her disappointment with being omitted from the printed programme by delivering a heartfelt set, cut short by one song in rather spectacular fashion when she had the unwelcome attention of a wasp, exploring and then stinging the inside of her mouth mid song!  Given the shock and discomfort of such an experience, I have to say that she was rather dignified in the circumstances and received an ovation and made her mark in the process. 

Nancy Wallace, performing in front of her local fan club as well as her parents,  didn’t buckle under pressure and showed again that she's a rather special folk talent. The wonderful Leisure Society packed out the tent and proved why they are one of the most talked about bands around at the moment. I notice that even Brian Eno has come out singing their praises in a recent talk he gave, and their album 'The Sleeper' is living up to its name, as people gradually discover its unfolding Myriad charms.   One of the many highlights for me was an excellent set by Music from The Penguin Cafe, who I had booked for the Harvest Stage but were moved to the main stage as their tech spec was too demanding for a relatively small space. Arthur Jeffes has taken up the mantle left by his late father and band founder Simon Jeffes and should ensure that his father’s music lives on in the future. Familiar melodies wafted over the lawns on a bright sunny Sunday afternoon as a new generation of young Penguins dialled into some of the best and quirkiest tunes written in the last couple of decades. If you haven't heard anything by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, (and I'm sure you'll know 'Music For a Found Harmonium' and 'Telephone and Rubber Band' even if you suspect you don't) it's an absolute must. Check out 'Concert Programme' to hear them at their best.

So here we are in mid October and a busy few weeks are ahead. On Saturday 24th October I'm playing at being a gig promoter for the night - not something I want to do on a regular basis as I've always believed that it's a quick and easy way to lose your shirt. In this case, my love of the band Bellowhead is already well documented, so I won't labour the point other than to say that they're probably the best live band in the UK right now and have patented a sound totally unlike any other. If you can't make it to the fabulous Leamington Assembly, then try and catch them around the country on tour next week. 

At the beginning of November I'm off to the Seychelles at the invitation of my friend, St Petersburg radio DJ and mover and shaker Samir Askerov, who asked me to assist with programming for his new Ocean Beat project at the Coral Strand Hotel, and I may just squeeze in an AV set too. The Seychelles is one place I never thought I'd visit so I'm looking forward to hearing some great music in an idyllic setting.

After returning to the UK, I'm delighted to be bringing The Swingle Singers to my village for a gig at All Saints Church. Their new album ' Ferris Wheels' is about to come out (the launch is in London next week) and features some deft production of covers by quite an array of artists - Nick Drake, Bjork, Joni Mitchell, Beatles, Beach Boys, Green Day and Stevie Wonder, to name a few. I'm so looking forward to this..numbers are strictly limited so mail me if you'd like to come!  Oh, and Emily Davies is supporting too.

Musical pick of the month is the excellent new album 'Hyperboreans’ by Jackie Oates, sister of Jim Moray and one of the best new female voices to emerge from the UK folk scene. Also worthy of mention is the excellent free Froots cover mounted CD 'Looking For a New England'. Then of course, there are the superb Beatles remasters.

I have mixed feelings about The Big Chill's recent sale and the demise of the Chillfest company that ran its festivals, one and half years on from leaving the organisation and I have posted my thoughts on this blog after being asked by 'Record Of The Day to pen a 'comment piece. Meanwhile, work goes on in planning my next project. More on that soon, but in the meantime I gave my first post Big Chill interview for the Argentinian website ADream Music and also gave them an exclusive two hour mix....

Finally, my Chilled By Nature album ‘Under One Sun’ is now available again for the first time since early 2008. Check the iTunes store for downloads.

Pete x

New Galleries :

Braunston autumn sunrise

Festinho 2009

Summer Garden