The Olympics have overtaken London, and the Little Room team are cheering for Great Britain  – and the USA, of course…. Gabriel is shouting loudest for the USA!

A quick update on musical things for you all.

Phil Baggaley has been putting the final finishing touches to the new recordings which will form the basis of Rosie Meek’s new EP, soon to be released through Open Road Music. They are still basking in the success of their Isle Of Wight festival appearance this summer, and have nearly dried out their clothes and musical instruments.

David Clifton’s new EP, Old Sea Road, is now manufactured and ready for release on September 1st. It will be available as a limited edition CD/EP by mail order, and for download on iTunes as well as here on the Little Room site.

David also played guitar for Julia Fordham’s sell-out run of shows in London. Julia will be back soon if you missed her this time round. Judith Owen made special guest appearances, with one memorable highlight being a jazz rendition of Spinal Tap’s favourite song…..you can guess which one… with Derek Smalls on bass (….Harry Shearer, Judith’s husband, who was in town) Judith sang sultry and hilarious lead vocals.

And on the subject of the Olympics, David’s cousin (James Pickford…drummer and percussionist) made an appearance in the outstanding opening ceremony, appearing around the world to a billion people or so for three close-up seconds!

What We Did On Our Holidays…..Esther went to France with the family, but didn’t meet up with Katie, who was also in France (Marseilles) recording more dance tracks before travelling back to Hong Kong; Phil Baggaley is up in the wilds of wonderful Scotland; Andy Piercy is in France after heading up the morning band at HTB Focus week; Charlotte packed buckets and spades (and the girl’s favourite princess dresses for her two daughters) and headed for the beach to make sandcastles; David was playing sparkly Gretsch guitar for Andy at the Focus week, and is now travelling in England; Mr. Don is being highly creative in Devon; Paul is off to Wales, and we are waiting for postcards from Ellice, Ian and Adrian. And we are all waiting for some more sun!

The Little Room team, helpers and assistants wish you all the very best of holiday fun.

Gabriel, Sarah, Adrienne, Cameron, Anne, George and David.

Welcome to summer, with some of the strangest and most challenging weather causing problems on both sides of the Atlantic and elsewhere. Fires in Colorado, excessive heat and storms in Washington, a new temperature record set in Knoxville Tennessee (105F), severe flooding, high winds and storms in England.

Phil Baggaley played the Isle Of Wight Festival with Rosie Meeks, getting a great reception from a receptive crowd who were cheerful, despite the floods and seas of mud. Watch out for more dates and details of their forthcoming concerts on the Open Road website (see Phil’s page and the links tab).

David Clifton’s new EP, titled Old Sea Road, is currently in production in the USA and is scheduled for release on the 1^st September. Watch out for the EP/CD launch gigs (solo concerts and also with The Sonic Sunspots) late August and early September. He is also playing three shows with Julia Fordham at The Pheasantry, The Kings Road, Chelsea, London, on the 17^th, 20^th and 21^st July.

Ellice is putting finishing touches to vocal harmonies on songs for her forthcoming EP which is scheduled for an Autumn release. A big thank you to everyone who has downloaded her introductory first release on Little Room, and who e-mailed us to wish her well and say how much they are enjoying it. Please keep spreading the word and tell your friends where to find her music, as well as sending the link to her page via Facebook and Twtter.

Charlotte Parmiter’s English folk song album is still being worked on, using the latest technology to make perfect the very best of her live recordings, which have been transferred from an MP3 player. It will be worth waiting for. Watch this page for more news.

And finally, here is a quote from Henry James for you:

“….summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

Ellice’s new introductory song and YouTube video, ‘I Wanted To Believe You’ have been getting a great response; a big thank you to everyone who has downloaded the track and visited her profile page. Her new EP is currently being recorded and produced in Hereford, and we will be announcing the release date soon.

In other news….

David Clifton’s forthcoming five track EP is being mixed this week in Kodak Tennessee, titled ‘Old Sea Road’, and it will include new compositions as well as a beautiful rendition of the Somerset folk song, ‘The Water Is Wide’ and one of his Celtic mandolin instrumentals. It will be released in both download and CD format later this month, and will also be available on iTunes.

Phil Baggaley is rehearsing with Rosie Meeks ready for their summer dates which will include an appearance at the Isle Of Wight festival. They are also working on new recordings. You can find out more about their summer schedule on the Open Road Music website.

Today is the day!

Ellice’s new free download is released today, the 25th of May. I Wanted To Believe You is a superb introduction to her unique and passionate sound. Written by Paul Kingston and produced by Nick Fisher and Paul, it is the first song from the new set of recordings currently in production. No hype, no pretentions, simply a great performance and beautiful delivery of a heart-felt song. Ellice is emerging as an exciting new artist with a stunning voice, and she is here to stay.

Watch Ellice’s New Video (Click Here)

Coming soon! An introduction to Ellice….

On Friday the 25th of May we will be releasing a song to introduce you to Ellice’s music. It will be a free download of her first recording for Little Room, ‘I Wanted To Believe You’. There is also an accompanying video which will be released simultaneously on our YouTube channel.