Gigs number 2 :)

Hello peeps! :)

I'm back with the 2nd instalment of the recent gig blog thing.

Ok now where were we?...

Ah yes.

After Folkstation I had a nice gig at the Woodvale. I say 'nice' because it's a good place to play. It's kind of like practice. - I don't mean that in a bad way - I just mean that people are sort of listening, and sort of not. It's kind of in between a concert and a pub gig. Anyway - I did my 2 hour set. Actually I think I did 2 and half hours - and I felt it the next day. :-S

Here's a photo taken by a friend called Ben (hope it's OK to use it!) at the Woodvale...

Then the next day I woke up feeling very tired with a croaky voice...and I had two gigs to do. :-S

The first one was a really lovely little festival called 'FONStival' - the FONS standing for 'Friends Of Niton School'. A lady asked me to play there after seeing me perform on the Acoustic Stage at the IW Festival. She has a lovely little girl who also sings and plays the guitar. Maybe a duet is in order! :)

Then later in the evening I went out to perform at Dimbola Lodge. It's a lovely place and I met some great people. Dimbola Lodge was home to the Victorian photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron...here's the website if you're interested in having a look...
http://www.dimbola.co.uk/

I performed at a gig called 'Home Made 2' along with two other acts - Michael Champion and Hosanna Rhythms. It was Vaguely Sunny's 150th gig so it felt a bit special to play there... :)
Here's a pre-event article... http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/music/150-for-vaguely-sunny-33748.aspx
(Do you think they're running out of pictures? Lol)

I felt especially lucky to play at Dimbola because of its history. Tennyson would have been to Dimbola many times, so Lady felt very much at home there. ;)

I'm afraid I don't have any pics from those two events as Donna wasn't there. Lol.

TTFN,

Hollyxxxxx

Some gigs. :)

Hi everyone! :)

Thought it was about time I did a quick update to say 'hi' and to let you know what I've been up to recently. :)

Hmm...now where were we?!...Ah yes...

The last gig I seem to have written about was the IW Festival...and that seems like ages ago now. Next up was a gig organised by Vaguely Sunny and Nichola Bailey for Ryde Arts Festival. - It was held in a lovely little cafe called Missy J's. There were 5 acts playing altogether. - It was lovely meeting other musicians - and they were all really nice. It was a really intimate gig - I think there were only about 36 tickets available! But it was really different and quirky. :)

Here are a couple of pics...(ta Donna! ;))

The venue!

Some person plinking around before her set.

The lads' set + intimate audience.

Next up after that was Folkstation! :) Folkstation is a little folk festival set up by Oila Woighers at Havenstreet - a really lovely old railway station. We were exceedingly lucky with the weather (brilliant sunshine). There was a lovely chilled out atmosphere too. I did a 45 minute set and I really enjoyed it. I felt a tad nervous which was a bit annoying, but everyone seemed really friendly so I chilled out a bit after a few songs. It was a really hot day and the lights on the stage made it even more hot too. :-S

Here's our local paper's article (mini version) - they did a big piece about it in the actual paper...

http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/all-aboard-for-folkstation-33691.aspx

And I had a really nice little sentence bit!!!...It said...

Island singer Holly Kirby was a particular highlight, drawing one of the biggest crowds of the weekend.

Hehe!!! How cool!!! :D

And I also had a really nice bit in The Gazette as well...

Next up was Holly Kirby, who at only 18 (actually 19 but we'll let them off :P) is fast becoming famous for her lyrical style and soulful clear voice. Her latest CD 'AWoman You Don't Know' is particularly memorable and her voice has been compared to Joni Mitchell's.

Bit cool!!!! :D :8D (That's a blushing face. Lol)

I also have a few more to write about, but I'll come back to those because this post will be quite big if I do them here. :)

TTFN!

Hollyxxxxx

Image

I've always had a thing about image. - Well, not a thing about it. - Fascinated by it really.

I experimented with it a bit in my video 'Who Are You?'

The words of the song are about discovering who you are, your acceptance of that person, and acceptance from others. And as well as urging the listener to do the same, I was sort of pushing the boundaries a bit...wanting to know if they'd still accept me if I messed around with my hair/face.

And the comments were really interesting. I think I got one comment that said "creepy"...and there were a lot of really nice positive comments about the message of the song. The "creepy" comment was interesting. - Sometimes when we come across things which are very 'different' to us, we kind of block them out or label them as 'a bit weird' because it makes us feel uncomfortable. But people change, and I think as we grow older, we become more accepting. New ideas are refreshing and anything which challenges us to think differently is good.

I've never really gone through the whole - I'm going to experiment with my image - stage. And I want to desperately. When I was seven or eight I had really long blonde hair down to my waist. Then I wanted to have it cut. So I had it cut all short. Bit like a boy really. And when you're a young child, you don't wear make up or anything, so I got called 'mate' and 'nip' quite a lot. Then I grew it again and about seven years later I had it cut short again, and really didn't like it. It's like the seven year itch, but with hair. Lol. And if that rule applies, I'm due to get fed up and cut it again soon. I was planning on doing it just before I go to Uni, because then people wouldn't have seen me with long hair. But I don't know...

I'm not a very confident person and I think you've got to be a really brave, strong person to do experiment with how you look. I'm getting better as I get older, but I still have this annoying little worry inside me about what other people think...and I'm writing songs about it not mattering!

The other day I got an email from someone telling me that I should eat less and get back to the weight I was before. At first I was really upset and angry, but I don't really feel that now. I've had it before...and 'hurting don't come easy to the scarred'. ;) And if I did get back to the weight I was 'before' - whenever that was - I'd have to put on weight. I'm quite tall (5'10") and for the past few years I've been hovering around the 11 stone mark. My BMI came right in the middle of the 'healthy weight' category, but I made it my new year's resolution to lose weight by exercising more. I don't eat a great deal, but singing and making videos doesn't burn many calories. So, now I do more exercise. And I currently weigh 9 stone 11 pounds. I've probably just broken all of the womanly rules by stating my weight, but it doesn't really bother me. It's about how you feel, rather than the number, and I feel OK. I'd like to tone up a bit, but I'm working on it.

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be about my hair and weight. It was meant to be about image and how people are portrayed.

I'll just leave you with this video. I'm now embarrassed of this video, as I am with all my old ones, but never mind...the message is still valid I think...

TTFNxxxxx

Phoebe

Hello everyone :)

I thought I'd better introduce you to the latest member of our family. Her name is Phoebe. Yes, I've given it a name because I'm really cool. ;)

I HAVE A CAR!!!

How cool!!! :D

She's a little Ford Fiesta Finesse. (Hence a name beginning with an 'F' sound too.) I got her yesterday. Dad drove her back from the owner's house, with me in the passenger's seat, then we got petrol and I bought an air freshener. Lol. I felt I had to. Not because it was smelly, but it's the kind of thing you buy for a car, and I hadn't had to buy anything for a car before. I also bought a little bear for the dashboard, but he's a bit big for the dashboard really, so I strapped him into the back seat. (Don't say anything.)

After getting the petrol, we drove to a place where I could have a little potter around and get used to the car. And that was fine. I think Dad was a bit worried about getting in the car with me though. And the drive home kind of reinforced the reason to worry. I drove Dad home. It's only about three roads/five minutes away. But in that time I managed to stall twice and put the windscreen wipers on nearly every time I meant to use the indicators. One stall was when I was just setting off, so that wasn't too bad. No one was around. Then one was on the drive at home. Ooooops. Then we got home and had a little chat and after that I drove Dad and I down to the beach and around some roads and stuff, and I was fine then, and I felt more comfortable. It's really just getting used to things in the car, the clutch, indicators etc....they were on the other side in the car that I learnt in. ;)

Then after that I dropped Dad home and drove to the beach again to surprise Ben. He was pretty surprised. Lol. :) I think he was a bit nervous about me driving to start with, but he said he trusts me. We're WELL rebellious really, speeding and everything *cough cough*...here's a conversation to prove it...

Holly: "It's hard to believe we're only doing 25mph!" (In a 30mph limit)
Ben: "Yes, it feels much faster!"

Hahaha. :)

It's a really strange feeling suddenly having this freedom. When I was driving on my own last night, I put a CD on and felt like I was in my own little bubble (I was still concentrating and everything, but you know what I mean)...I felt comfortable driving.

The other day I went into HMV and bought Suzanne Vega's latest album - 'Close-Up, Vol 1, Love Songs' and also, 'Retrospective' which is her 'best of' album. I had a listen to the Close Up one straight away - (highly recommend it by the way!) but I thought - I know - I'll save Retrospective and make it the first CD I play when I get a car. I already knew the songs on it, but it's good to have them all on one CD. I didn't know when I'd be getting a car at that time, but I knew/hoped it wouldn't be too far away. If it took longer than a couple of weeks I don't think I could've resisted opening it. But as it happens, it didn't take too long, so I put the CD on and found myself driving along to 'Small Blue Thing'. :)

I'll put up a few photos later. I did take a couple earlier, but they're a bit naff.

Edit:

OK, here's a photo of her. :)

She's so coooool. :) We're still getting used to each other at the mo, but having fun doing it. :)

TTFN xxxxx