the no.5 album launch - a rogue's gallery

the release of the 'no.5' album is almost upon us. we've started getting the reviews in, and they're good so far. very good in fact. Q said the album was 'bewitching, exquisite and skeletal', gave it 4 stars, and selected 'stonefruit' as #24 in its chart of top 50 downloads for the month of april. maverick described the hobopop collective as 'one of the greatest groups in the current music scene'.

to celebrate, we're giving away that one track ('stonefruit') as a free download from the hoboshop, for one week only (01st to 07th march). please help yourself and tell your friends, we'd be delighted for heaps of people to hear it.

in the meantime, and in the spirit of celebration, we launched the album with what must have been one of the best hobopop collective shows we've ever had the pleasure to play, back where we recorded the album at contact in manchester. along with the usual suspects...

kirsty mcgee - vocals, guitars, mandolin

mat martin - banjos, tenor guitar, ukulele, vocal

rob turner - drums, percussion, watering can, washboard

nick blacka - double bass











we were happy to welcome some new and not-so-new faces to the fold...

clive mellor - harmonica extraordinaire, as heard on no.5

will lenton (caulbearers) - saxophones

pascal makonese - m'bira and vocal

steven finn (opening act and hobopop guest) - bottleneck and resonator guitars, harmonica, feet and vocals










and some awesome behind-the-scenes help...

julia roy-williams - jeweller, creator of the 5 pendants, brooches and key-rings, and admirable merch lady

ibrar 'ibs' haque - live sound engineer











we'd like to thank all these people very sincerely. they are all beautiful.




http://www.kirstymcgee.com
http://www.facebook.com/kirstymcgeemusic
http://kirstymcgee.bandcamp.com
http://www.hobopop.com

a UK tour, CDs in the post, special offers...

we just did our first show of the year, a low-key affair with our good friends at debt records in manchester. it was a great bill - we opened up as a duo, as a warm up before celtic connections next week, followed by the extraordinary paddy steer on his one-man noise machine, and topped off with a generous helping of louis barrabas and the bedlam six. it's great to be on bills like this with like-minded people who all sound so different, but come from the same place...

we're excited to get back out on the road (tour dates below). rehearsals with the band began in earnest this week, and we've been writing setlists etc...

our CDs finally came. loads of them. the mailout went out a day or two ago to all the people who were at the recording in october. they do look great, and feel fantastic, too - rough card, slimline gatefold. it was worth the wait this snow caused us. we've had a bit of feedback already, via twitter and facebook etc. people seem to like it a lot, which is always nice.

the plans are coming together for the show in glasgow at the weekend. as it's an album preview show we will be playing the album through from start to finish at the classic grand on saturday 16th january, from 7.30. we have ruth notman and john smith on the bill, too. we're happy to be back at celtic connections again - it's our favourite uk festival.

as we've already said, the CDs will be available for one night only at that show, where we're also planning some nice collaborations for you. they then go back into hiding until the official launch at contact on february 27th.

incidentally, steven finn has agreed to come up and open the album launch on the 27th, which we're really excited about... and contact are very generously offering HALF PRICE TICKETS to all their shows this season if you book early enough. book for ours before january 26th to benefit!


we have also finally announced our tour dates for the spring. you can see them on myspace and on the website, and there's a facebook event for the whole thing, so you can invite any friends you think would enjoy the shows. the dates are listed at the bottom of this post, too. our new tour posters and flyers are in now, and they look great. you should be seeing them around soon...

in the meantime we've been working on the artwork for the free download reissue of 'honeysuckle', to be released on the same day as 'No.5' (15.03.10). we're using an early sketch by manchester artist peter seal for the cover art of the lost album 'little things' from 2000, which was never released. we'll be including one track from 'little things' as a bonus in the download, too.

we've been writing and commissioning, too. not songs, but articles, for our week as guest editors of the sprialearth folk music website. we're working up a collection of artist-generated content for you - more details to come...

finally we need to check in once again on the wall of 5, as it continues to grow at an alarming rate. we're still accepting square jpg photos of the number 5 (any interpretation) to info@hobopop.com. the best ones win downloads...

no.5 spring tour 2010
all shows are by the kirsty mcgee duo except where stated)

january
08th - fuel, withington, manchester - debt records presents
16th - glasgow - celtic connections - 0141 3538000 (hobopop collective)

february
27th - manchester - contact theatre - 0161 2740600 (hobopop collective)

march
04th - boldron, teesdale - village hall - 01833 638210
05th - sedburgh, cumbria - people's hall - 015396 20788
06th - hallbankgate, cumbria - lacy thompson hall - 016977 46856
07th - penton, cumbria - nicholforest hall - 01228 577305
20th - rennington, northumberland - village hall - 01665 577185
21st - threlkeld, cumbria - public rooms - 01768 779038
25th - bellingham, yorks - BAA club - 07788 804784
26th - northwich - harlequin theatre - 01565 733197
27th - glossop - lift global music club - 01457 853821(hobopop collective)

april
03rd - bury - the met - 0161 7612216 (hobopop trio)
04th - penrith - plug and play theatre - 01768 867845
08th - durham - gala theatre - 0191 3324041 (hobopop trio)
09th - arlington - arts centre - 01635 244246 (hobopop trio)
10th - king’s lynn - arts centre - 01553 764864 (hobopop trio)
11th - camden, london - forge venue - 0207 3837808 (hobopop trio)
13th - amberley, sussex - the black horse - 01798 875476
16th - reeth, yorkshire - memorial hall - 01748 884759
17th - house concert, hebden bridge - oats royd barn (booking by invitation - please call 01422 881436 or email for info)
18th - bolton - the no name - email for info
20th - banbury - take thyme cafe - 01295 711444
21st - biddulph, north staffs - up in arms concerts - 01782 514896 (hobopop trio)
22nd - swansea - the chattery - 01792 473276
23rd - hornblotten, somerset - village hall - email for info
24th - torquay - the blue walnut - 01803 605995
25th - birmingham - kitchen garden cafe - 0121 4434725
27th - new milton - forest arts centre - 01425 619983
28th - islington, london - the old queen's head - http://www.themagpiesnest.co.uk
29th - bromsgrove - folk club -01572 833227
30th - fareham - ashcroft arts centre - 01329 223100

may
20th - bournemouth - centre stage - 01202 707498
21st - worth matravers, dorset - the square and compass - 01929 439229

no.5 release timelines - previews, shows and date.

we just wanted to check in before christmas to give you the latest news on the 'no.5' project and to say we hope you'll all have a good time over the holidays. our winter tour in germany and holland was fantastic - we made a lot of new friends and saw some amazing places.

we're really happy about the way the new album is sounding, and the feedback from the few people to have heard it in the industry is very positive indeed - the CDs are in production right now, and we can't wait to get them out there. but we will have to wait a bit... here's the timescale for 5 related activities. those of you who have been following us on twitter or facebook will be aware of some of this already, but here it all is in one place:


january 11th - we'll be sending out the pre-release copies of the album to those of you who came to the show, a full two months in advance of release.
january 16th - album preview show at celtic connections festival. we're at the classic grand in glasgow from 7.30. your only chance to buy the album before the launch. also on the bill are ruth notman and john smith - tickets are £12.50 and available from the box office on 01413538000.
february 27th - official album launch show at contact, manchester - the place where it all started. tickets will go quickly, but they're on sale already to those in the know. support for this show is still to be announced. the box office number is 01612740600
march 04th - the tour begins, which will stretch through to may. more details on the website soon.
march 15th - 'no.5' is fnally released to the shops, download sites and all the other places you'd expect to find it.

we hope you'll be able to join us for one or more of these events, in one way or another.

in the meantime we're still accepting entries to our 'wall of 5' competition to win music. simply send your photo of a 5 to info@hobopop.com and we'll add it to the ever growing wall, which you can see is at least twice the size it was when it last made an appearance here. the best entries will win download codes for the album of their choice.

speaking of downloads we now have a lovely new shop that sells downloads and cds all together from one place. some of you have already visited (thank you). we're delighted to finally be able to offer our free and paid downloads from one place, in a choice of formats with artwork attached etc. we're now geared up for worldwide postage too, and anyone who buys a cd from us now gets the option of an immediate download of that same album, so they can start listening straight away!

we'll be posting our spring tour dates online very soon, and hoping to see some of you on the road before too long. we'll check back in with the details as soon as we can.


http://www.kirstymcgee.com
http://www.facebook.com/kirstymcgeemusic
http://kirstymcgee.bandcamp.com
http://www.hobopop.com

tracklisting, artwork and shows

so this is everyone's first glance at the cover of our new record - in fact it's the first time we've bothered to isolate it from the general design to have a look ourselves. as usual it's plain and simple. we like it that way. the subtlety is in the proposed packaging - we are steering completely clear of plasic this time. it should look and feel great.

it's great running your own label - you can design your own album covers too.

you can also set the tracklisting for your albums, and that's what we've been doing these last few weeks. listening to the mixes in all conceivable orders, wondering which tracks stay in, which go out, etc... and we've finally settled on a running order for the album, which we can reveal now.

1. omaha
2. alibi blues
3. last orders
4. sandman
5. bliss
6. the last one to understand
7. stonefruit
8. dust devils
9. faith
video - bonecrusher

as we mentioned before, the album is about half and half songs from the kansas sessions and new songs, plus this new version of 'bliss' from the first album (we're still working on plans for a reissue of that album, more soon...) featuring chris cundy's saxello playing. the new songs have a lovely dark energy to them - we're still really enjoying the combinations of guests all over the record.

we're looking at a release around march-time right now (subject to all the changes these things invariably go through), with the advance copies for show attendees going out in january.

if you can’t wait for march next year to get your copy of ‘no.5’ (we know how hard waiting can be...) we have some solutions to offer. we hope to be taking pre-orders from the hoboshop from sometime in february, and we’ll be making copies available for ONE NIGHT ONLY at glasgow’s celtic connections festival on SATURDAY, JANUARY 16th. we’re delighted to announce that we'll be having an early album launch party there with the full hobopop collective (plus a guest from the album) and people in the audience will be able to grab copies around six weeks before they become commercially available.

those of you who can't make scotland in january will be happy to hear that we're looking at a special launch show in manchester nearer the time of release, and a full uk tour through march and april 2010 - dates will be up on the website before the end of the year.

finally, we are also happy to announce that the no.5 jewellery from wonderhaus is now available to buy online, just in time for christmas. you can get bold and stylish 5 pendants, brooches and key-rings from their site at etsy.com - we’re still working on the currency issue, but you can use any UK credit or debit card to pay in dollars. you won’t be able to get these anywhere else until next year’s shows. these are limited to 1,000 pieces, and judging by the uptake at the recording last month they might not last long...

we're in europe on tour right now. our first show tonight in germany. we'll be having to do as much as we can of the listening back to the masters and signing off the artwork from motorway service stations around the continent. we'll look forward to seeing some of you when we get back.