Chaos. Utter Chaos.
Oh, it's not that bad. Just a few last minute lineup rearrangements, that's all...
Hello friends! Yes, yes, this newsletter is coming to you very late in the day, I know. I’m sorry. We’ve had quite the weekend here at OneTrackMinds HQ as often happens in the final days before a show. Rarely, these days, do we have the luxury of approaching a show without something going slightly wrong, and I suppose we can take some comfort in that fact as we prep for next week’s shows with not one, but TWO, of our confirmed1 line-up having informed us that they can, in fact, no longer make it…
Those of you who know me well - or perhaps those of you who have just witnessed my own peculiar brand of amped-up nervous energy manifesting as mild grumpiness on stage during an OneTrackMinds show - will appreciate that I’m not always the best in a crisis (not that having two guests pull out of a five-guest lineup is really a crisis under any real circumstances, but everything is relative I suppose). And so it has been over the weekend as we2 have flapped around trying to rustle up two replacement guests with little over a week’s notice.
Thankfully - to misquote John Lennon3 - we have gotten by with a little help from our friends, after a series of beautifully written appeals for assistance were sent via email from my good friend Mr. Adam Shakinovsky to a whole array of past OneTrackMinds storytellers, who responded to our distress signal with a quite staggering list of suggestions for last-minute replacement storytellers. We are swimming in a sea of kindness and generosity, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who helped us out.
All of which is to say, everything is fine, there’s nothing to worry about, we’ve still got five storytellers for next Tuesday and five storytellers for next Wednesday, calm your boots Kristian, take a chill pill.
So, who are they, these last-minute storytelling saviours?
First up, (hat tip to Kobi Prempeh), the multi-disciplinary artist Hannah Marshall, who’ll be joining us at Wilton's Music Hall on March 27th.
Hannah is a London-based British conceptual artist, and founder of the experimental art studio H+. Her work intersects architecture, science and sound, and a look through her instagram account - which is a pretty incredible art project on its own merits - will give you some idea of what to expect next Wednesday. When we asked her to do the show (on Friday evening!), she replied with a ‘full-body yes’, which is certainly encouraging. It certainly helped pull me out of my ‘full-body sulk’, and we can’t wait to hear her tell her story about a song that changed her life.
Joining Hannah on March 27th is the journalist and author Harriet Gibsone.
Harriet is the author of Is This Ok?: One Woman’s Search For Connection Online, which was published in hardback last year (and which comes out in paperback in April, and which you can buy from our Bookshop). It’s one of my favourite books of last year, and I’m not the only one - Sara Pascoe called it ‘very funny and deeply moving’, while Bob Mortimer said it was ‘a delight - very real and very entertaining’. Real, funny, entertaining, moving - that’s basically a four word description of OneTrackMinds. Harriet sounds like a perfect guest then - huge thanks to Michael Cragg for connecting us.
So we’re in good shape - perhaps in even better shape than we were! And certainly, we’re set up for two fantastic nights of storytelling and music on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. You won’t want to miss it. If you’ve not booked your tickets yet, don’t delay - they’re selling fast. And don’t forget to use the code OTMCast to get top-price tickets for just £11.
Other things to tell you about this week:
The New York Times have a list of 22 of the funniest books since Catch-22 which should provide you with some inspiration if you’re looking for a funny read for the Easter holidays. And John Warner at The Biblioracle Substack supplements that list with a few more recommendations of his own -
Stewart Lee has long been a Holy Grail OneTrackMinds guest. After reading his most recent piece in The Observer this weekend, we’re even more determined than ever to get him on the show. This is saying something, given how much I love him and his work, but I think this piece is one of the best things he’s ever written.
Folk Music fans - you’ll enjoy this. Singer-songwriter Sam Lee has a new album out, and it’s a delight. It’s called songdreaming, and it’s gorgeous. Take five minutes out of your day (well, it’s evening now isn’t it Kristian?), and listen to this.
Our friend Nell Frizzell writes in The Guardian about a recent run in with a less-than-ideal radio station playlist during a visit to the doctors. It reminded me of the time I underwent an operation for a (mercifully benign) skin cancer on my face, and the surgeon put on a CD compilation of James Bond theme tunes. I wish I was kidding. I was lying with my head less than a meter away from a plate full of scalpels, while a masked woman cut huge chunks of flesh from my cheek, while Live and Let Die, A View to A Kill and A Licence To Kill played in succession…
Right then, that’ll do! We’ll be back next week with a last minute update ahead of our shows on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully, it will be blissfully free of any further lineup changes. May you all have a happy and stress free week. See you soon.
KB.
Ha!
To be fair, the only one who has been flapping has been me. Adam has been the picture of zen-like calm and positive thinking throughout, which is just one of the many reasons why I love him.
or Paul McCartney. Credit where it’s due.
These speakers sound great!