OUT TODAY!
It’s about breaking patterns of overwhelm and over giving…..where do we find space? How do we keep our hearts open? What do we carry from our ancestors?
I loved fitting the words into this one….like a jigsaw!
Mixed by Gethin John and mastered by @hafod_mastering
Drums and vocals @iolodrums and Beth Whelan. Artwork @rawleyclay
Dream team! We are all proud 🥳
More singles on their way from ‘Soon Comes The Sun’
New album 2026
Link in bio
This is the All I Need Is Success band for the big, greatest hits gig 22nd August (some £8 tickets still available in bio).
To be able to play songs from all of my 9 albums, I needed musicians who can play multiple genres.
So like Charles Xavier, I put together a band of outsider mavericks and I found people who can play: indie, musicals, synth pop, funk, country, folk, yacht rock, ballads and modern R&B. They have been rehearsing since March… and they are ready.
Yes I have two drummers on every song for my greatest hits gig 22nd August (ticket link in bio)- it’s my special day after all. Here they are yesterday setting the groove for ‘The Ride Of Your Life’ and hitting the Big band drum pattern at end of ‘Leader of the Chain Gang’ which had two drum parts on the record so I can now finally do it live. It’s a leave no prisoners type of show!
🍂 Hydref! 🍂
For anyone feeling the winter drawing near, here’s the view from my studio right now - a riot of autumn colour. 🥰
I planted this beech hedge twenty years ago and it makes a stunning screen for my studio all year round.
Ffodus iawn cael stiwdio rhywle mor brydferth a naturiol.
#drums #drumteacher #drumstudio
@coed_rural_art_space@coedweddings
I avoid being political on instagram - look away now if you don’t like it! 🗳️🤷🏻♂️😆
But if there is an appropriate day, it’s today.
(Yn Gymraeg isod.)
This is the first general election where voters are required to show photo ID, and I object on principle.
Voter fraud is astonishingly low in the UK;
voters without Photo ID are statistically much more likely to be from minority demographic or disadvantaged backgrounds;
and critically, they would be far less likely to have voted for the conservative government that passed this law.
The Photo ID legislation is an unnecessary and flagrant suppression of democratic rights.
So I asked at the desk if I could vote without my photo ID;
filled in a comments form;
and burned my polling card outside as a gesture of solidarity to those (anywhere in the world) whose democratic voices are suppressed.
Huge shout out to the polling station officials, who were impeccably courteous and respectful throughout.
Back to pictures of drums tomorrow. 😉 😘
Mae’n fraint aruthrol cael pleidlais;
ac mae’r fraint honno wedi ei chadw heddiw rhag dorreth o bobl - hyd at ddwy filiwn o’r etholaeth - sydd heb ddogfen swyddogol ac arni lun.
Bydd neb sy’n fy nabod yn synnu i glywed fod llywodraeth geidwadol yn wrthyn ifi. Mae symyd ffiniau a mynnu ar ID â llun dim ond yn enghraifftiau o feddylfryd y torïaid - eu bwriad mewn pŵer yw eu gwasanaethu eu hunain a’u tebyg, ar draul unrhywun saif yn eu ffordd.
Mwynhewch daro eich pleidlais heddiw! 🥳🥰
🍃 Peak Wildflowers at the Studio! 🌺 Scruffy? Or stunning?
At this time of year, the area around the studio looks either messy or magical, depending on your point of view. 😉
Birds are rearing chicks right now; there are beehives behind the hedge; pollen is flowing and some flowers are setting seeds already - check out the eight-foot-tall beauties in one of these pics!
As long as you can still find your way to the studio 😄 I’m happy to leave the shrubbery another month or so before we give the place a ‘tidy up’ and trim things back.
Mae’n teimlo fel haf nawr! Mae’r gwrych o amgylch y stiwdio yn fawreddog, llawn dop o flodau a gwenyn - a dim bwriad i’w dorri@n ôl eto. 🐝 😍
@coed_rural_art_space@coedweddings wildflowers #eightfootplants #hedgelaying #SpaceForNature #NoMowMayAndJuneAndMaybeJuly #drumstudio #drumlessons
Freelancer Fridays: 1. beech hedge newsflash 🌱 2. Sleepy Weasels’ second set comin’ right up 3. in-ears, sticks & cowbell - and a secret weapon in a cloth bag 😎
Penwythnos braf i fod mas yn chware.
🌳😊🌱😎🎵😁
@live.loungecardiff@seftobass #vicfirth #shureiems @yamahadrumsofficial@sabian_uk@lppercussion (they made the secret weapon😉)
Last night:
six sets,
five hours of playing,
(there must have been four of <something>?!🤔),
three different venues
with two bands -
one fun evening! 🤩🤘🏻🥳
1. One and a half drum kits and a modest percussion rig to distribute round town 🥁
2. Heading out of the beautiful @coed_rural_art_space towards the carnage of #SaturdayNightInCardiff 🫣
3. Pocketful of badass @clipperteas ginger goodness to keep the cold at bay 😮💨
4. Going acoustic with my gorgeous @lppercussion bongos for Jammy & the Dodgers @jammyharrismusicuk@dnelsonmusic 🪘
5. Singalong Moment Uno, @philharmoniccardiff
6. Singalong Moment Dos, @brewhousecardiff
7. Singalong Moment Tres, finishing the night at @live.loungecardiff
8. The good looking lads of @jukebox_uk - @alun_wyn_aubrey , @ed_vintage_guitarsandamps and special guest singer @keithtrendell 📸
9. The inside of my eyelids at 2:30am. 💤
Wy’n ffodus ar y naw cael y fath amrywiaeth a phrysurdeb yn fy ngwaith - hyd yn oed pan fo’n golygu rhedeg rhwng un sioe a’r nesa! 🤪🙏🏻😁
🌱 🌤️ So NOW it’s spring at the studio! 🥰🌱
🎥 #Birdsong from the studio steps
📷 Banks bursting into life
📷 First buds open on the newly laid #hedge
📷 Cheeky #dandelion popping up through the new stones outside
📷 And the real benchmark: first lesson taught with doors open and in shirt sleeves!
(I’da worn a nicer shirt if I knew.👕🤷🏻♂️😆)
“Nawr lanciau rhoddwn glod,
y mae’r gwanwyn wedi dod,
a’r gaeaf a’r oerni aeth (kinda) heibio…” 🤞🏻😁
Falch o deimlo’r dyddie’n ymestyn. 😍
