Today, I venture into the part of my world that is music, and I wanna blog about an artist that is very special to me, and should be to you too :)
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| From a 2012 video shoot for "Light Love". Photo by Amy Maidment. |
As a music promoter, I come across insane amounts of talented up&coming artists, and every now and then one of them vibrates in a frequency that makes you gasp and want to hear more and more and more. That was the case with the artist I'm gonna tell you about today; Jamie Abbott.
I first came across him when he started out as a solo artist a few years ago (I can't even remember how long ago!), and something about his gravelly voice, style of music and diary-like lyrics made him stand out from the crowd. The first ever song of his that I fell in love with is called "Yellow Pages", and describes how he's seen a girl on the train, has become smitten with her and hopes that she has noticed him too and that they'll meet again ("I keep staring out the window pane hoping that she'll come by. Hoping that she's guessed my name and looked me up in the yellow pages."). That was it for me! I had to figure out who this guy was that had not yet been corrupted by the cynicism of the modern dating world. It seemed almost to good to be real. A good guy?! I thought they died out decades ago. At least it seemed so to me at the time - a time that also happened to coincide with the time I was going through a very tough breakup.
Through a series of coincidences and sensible decisions I have been fortunate enough to work with this amazingly talented artist on several occasions, including when he has been to Norway to tour frequently since 2010. It is so much fun to see him develop as an artist and to watch his fan base grow with every gig he does. It is a great feeling to be able to promote the kind of artists that people keep emailing you to bring back to Norway even months after their last tour.
Here's a little video from his mini tour of Northern Norway in 2011 :D
As time goes by, more and more people have become aware of his talent, and he's recently released a smashing EP (though with the bonus tracks it's more like an album) produced by the grammy winning legend Kipper (Gary Numan, Sting). On it, a few tracks stand out to me, including the (perfectly produced (!!!) ) Postcard Perfect, and the title track "Light Love", who's (beautiful) video you can watch here:
If you're in the UK at the moment, you might be lucky enough to go and check out Jamie Abbott live in your home town. As one of very few artists, he's been selected to go on a tour of Caffe Nero's' this summer, and he's traveling up and down the country as we speak. I really wish I could be there to support him (and to have awesome coffee and brownies several times a day ;D ), but what can you do...? I'm sure we'll be able to convince him to come back to Norway for a new tour soon. Hmm... Now that I think of it... If you want Jamie to come to your town, village or house to play a gig - get in touch with me (or him), and I'll see what I can do ;) (Here I go again with my spontaneous ideas :p )
Now, I'm not gonna rave on much more about Abbott, other than to leave you with a little secret that I've concluded with over the years of knowing him: Jupp, he truly is a good guy! One of the best. Breaking news: Good guys might be an endangered species, but they've not yet died out ;) And when they create music like this, they're worth your time to follow and listen to.
xxx
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