Better late than never!

Soooo, this week has been pretty grim. I ended up in hospital on Monday with the worst IBD flare-up I've had so far.

The annoying thing is that I know exactly what tends to make my symptoms worse: stress, drinking, irregular meals, eating whatever's available at odd hours, having no real routine. In other words: being a musician.

Free beers on the rider? Sounds great. Pre-show pizza with the band? Absolutely. That weird nervous feeling in your stomach before a gig? That's in there too. A lot of the things that make touring and playing shows fun are also the things that my body really doesn't thank me for.

I've known this for a while, but it's surprisingly easy to convince yourself that you'll sort it out later. This week was a bit of a wake-up call. Having a doctor basically tell you, "If you want to stop feeling like this, something has to change," tends to focus the mind.

The thing that really got me was having to cancel a gig. I hate letting people down, and I hate missing out on doing the thing I love because I've ignored the boring stuff that keeps me healthy enough to do it.

I think I've become quite good at pretending I'm fine, carrying on regardless, and treating my health as something I'll deal with after the next show, the next release, the next whatever. But if I want to keep making music for a long time, I probably need to start acting like that matters.

So that's the plan. Less treating my body like an afterthought. More looking after myself so I can keep doing this for years to come 🙂

Starting at the beginning of the month, I was lucky enough to play FOCUS Wales, which was honestly one of the highlights of my year so far. The opportunity came about thanks to the wonderful Megan Lee, who I met when I played Wrexham back in February. She invited me to join her showcase, taking part in a Nashville-style writers' round alongside some brilliant artists.

One of the joys of festivals like FOCUS is discovering new music. I was sat next to His His during the round and later caught their full-band set, which absolutely blew me away. There was also a strong northern contingent flying the flag, including some of my favourites: Ceitidh Mac, Robyn Errico and Memphis Gerald.

As for new discoveries, Sunglaciers, Two-Man Giant Squid, Muri and Rakel were all standouts. Rakel's set in a church was so beautiful it had me in tears. A fantastic festival, loads of brilliant music, and a real privilege to be part of it.

Later in the month, I had the pleasure of supporting my good friend June Holland on the opening night of her tour at The Globe. Joined by Charlie Floyd, who I've somehow never managed to see live before, it made for a brilliant evening of music.

I really don't get to play many solo gigs these days, but I love them for the creative freedom they offer. I get to test new ideas, experiment a little, and, on this occasion, even try my hand at audience participation! They've also become my preferred testing ground for new songs before I bring them to the band, so I'm starting to fall back in love with playing solo.

June was, unsurprisingly, incredible, and the whole night was a great reminder of why I love playing these more intimate shows.

We’re busy cooking up EP number 2 in Polestar Studios

This collection of songs really feels like a turning point for the HP project, cementing the alt-Americana direction we've been gradually moving towards and giving the project its clearest identity yet. I’m beyond excited to share it with you!

That said, I'm not going to give everything away just yet. I'll be dropping the occasional teaser, demo snippet, and studio secret in future newsletters, but for now you'll have to join me in the age-old tradition of waiting impatiently for new music.

For all upcoming shows, check my website here