hi, sinead here.    i've been silent for a while so i thought i
should let you know whats been going on and what i think i will be
doing over the next while.    some of you probably know i have been
doing a small number of acoustic shows during the summer.     like
last year, i have been playing with steve cooney (gtrs) and kieran
kiely (gtr, kybds, whistle, flute) and we have really really enjoyed
ourselves.     some of the venues have been really beautiful and this
weekend just gone (aug 15/16/17) i was in holland, firstly, for the
pinkpop classic gathering, followed by a show in the paradiso in
amsterdam.    next night we were in antwerp at a beautiful open air
arena in a park in the suburbs and it was a kind of magical evening.
for a change, i did a solo version of the old song 'troy', with me
playing electric guitar, in amsterdam and antwerp and it seemed to go
down well.    funny thing is that troy was the first ever hit that i
had when it was released as a single in holland in, i think, 1987.
as far as i remember it got to no 3 in the charts at the time which
was amazing cos the song was about six minutes long.    the song
always seemed to have a special connection with the netherlands and
certainly in amsterdam and also in belgium the following night the
audiences reacted really well when i played it.
there is just one more show to do and that is in grief en see in
switzerland on sept. 4.    in some ways i will be sorry but i also
want to spend plenty of time with my children, like i did during the
summer, cos they will be starting back at school in early september.
i did a vocal last week in a studio in dublin for a re recording of
my song this is to mother you.     the idea came up cos i was
approached by the gems charity organisation in new york which
concentrates on helping and supporting young girls in nth america who
have become the victims of child trafficking, especially for sexual
purposes.    gems helps to rescue the girls, provides safe homes for
them, arranges counselling to help them take control of their
traumatic experiences and helps them with education and training
opportunities.    it also provides programmes to enable law
enforcement people to reach a greater understanding of the victims of
child trafficking.    anyway, the gems people thought this is to
mother you would be a particularly appropriate song to musically
spearhead a campaign to raise awareness, and funds, for their
work.    they were also interested in two other vocalists being on
the track so we suggested mary j blige and santigold as collaborators
and, thankfully, both were really enthusiastic and will be doing
their vocals in new york in the next couple of weeks.    the new
version of the song is produced by doc mckinney and ali shaheed from
tribe called quest.    i think it sounds great.     keep an eye out
for news about when it will be available for download.
what else;  i have been writing and co writing and demoing new songs
and i am really anxious to get on with making the next record.    a
few people have heard some of the demos and seem to be very excited
about them, maybe in the next couple of months we might make two or
three of them available for streaming on the site.      anyway, i am
hoping the record will be made and mixed by the end of this year, at
the latest, and that way we will be able to get it out on sale,
download and physical, sometime in spring of 2010.    and who knows,
at that time and afterwards, i might be out on tour with a full band
doing electric and acoustic stuff.
i am also going through some recordings from the live sets i have
been doing during the summer and i will probably have a couple of
those things up on the website for streaming and/or download over the
next couple of weeks.     i know everybody likes to hear 'extra' bits
and pieces so i am going to try to have stuff flowing through the
site over the next while.
once again, thank you all for your support and interest in what i do,
i enjoyed all the shows during the summer, i am excited to be on the
verge of recording new material and i just hope that everybody will
like it.     look after yourselves.