Check out the new improved Listen and Watch page - where you'll find 5 tracks from the recent BBC session, 6 from the Unplugged EP, and 6 from the Let It Out EP. The BBC and Unplugged ones are available to download at Soundcloud, for zero pennies. Peace.

Yes. Whilst not all is lost - things have been moving slowly of late. But never fear, the most recent session on Radio Wales has spawned all sorts of ideas for a new recording which will be in the actual works, and not just the metaphorical ones VERY SOON. The eyes are on the plan, and we're sticking to the prize.

Just a few things relating to the gig at the Regal Room in Hammersmith last Thursday...
A full video of the ENTIRE gig can be found at The Regal Room's webcast channel (check it out regularly for new acts - they host them every week). To find me, you'll be wanting to skip to about 1:18 on Part 1 (for Green & Blue, All Things Come To Pass, and Empty/Full), and around 0:44 on Part 2 (for Everything You Can, In Time, and More Fool You).
Also, check out the other acts: Sally Archer, Jazz Davies and Tony Moore. At about 0:23 on Part 2 there is just one song (not enough) by the very talented soundman for the evening - Modeste Hugues. Amazing. Check him out.
And finally, thanks to Brad Inglis of UBPICS for his stunning photography (shame about my face). I'll chuck another couple in the Photos page...

Of course you have to master the Valleys pronunciation of 'Year' to truly appreciate the poetic genius of the above, but never mind...
And really I should have waffled on 01.01.11 if I was planning to waffle at all, but I felt the need to clarify that I didn't in fact, spontaneously combust at the stroke of midnight and a New Year due to a terrible, and shameful chocolate and champagne habit. Christmas was good.
Also, as a result of my performance at the Blues Rock Club at the Globe, Cardiff (whilst in the throes of a horrendous post-Boxing Day chocolate and champagne comedown) I have been furnished with not one, but TWO live videos. One is on the Tube of You and features myself singing a blues classic 'Hoochie Coochie Gal' with Mojo Jim and the Muddy Wulfs (one of the best band names ever?), and can be found on my LISTEN AND WATCH page. The other, is a Facebook affair of my solo renditiopn of 'Stormy Weather', which I am in the process of attempting to obtain for a similar purpose.
And finally, Mr Steve Gilmore (of filling up the Not-A-Blog with reviews fame) was gracious enough to list me as one of the 'Movers and Shakers' (in his opinion, not in historical fact) of the music of 2010. And he also included Green and Blue as a 'Track of the Year (Exceptional, Highly Recommended, Must Have)'. Wasn't that nice of him? His blog: REBEL RIFFS

Or... my live session on BBC Radio Wales' Evening Show - whichever you prefer.

So, I popped along to the BBC in Cardiff last Monday to do a live session (5 tracks and an interview). That's what I was expecting. What, in reality, happened was that I spent a good 3 hours chatting and generally having a grand time with the wonderful (and officially sexy) Mr Alan Thompson. So much so, that I genuinely had no idea which bits were actually broadcast.
Luckily, producer Terry 'Eeeeemmmmm' Lewis ran me off a copy so I could obtain said idea. And because I'm all about caring and sharing I've put it on the Multimedia page, just for you.
Do have a listen chaps, there's even a cover (ssssh) of If I Fell, in tribute to John Lennon and this Wednesday being the 30th anniversary of his passing. Sob sob sob.

Regarding....The Peoples/People's/Peoples' Music Awards (with the magically disappearing/reappearing apostrophe!) 'The People' of course, in my case, meaning you! Yes, YOU! I'm in the Best Female Solo Artist and Folk/Jazz/Classical/World categories (suitably random, I thought...). If you have a small number of seconds available to you to use on voting for me in either or both of these - please head over to my profile on the website... Thanking ye kindly! Apparently there's been a bit of cheating going on, so I could probably use a tad more voting more than usual!

PMA website

Also - check out my new Links page (to fantastic and sexy musicians), and also the Gigs, which I TRY to keep updated. I do, honest. Really I do. Stop looking at me like that.

Interestingly, my song Dirty Little Secret has come runner up in the 2010 We Are Listening Songwriter Award...Interesting, because I don't actually remember entering it, but NEVER MIND! I am told that it ranked 'Good' (i.e. 4 out of 5) for Lyric, Melody, Chord Progression, and Vocals... 'Excellent' (i.e. 5 out of 5) for Artistic Merit, and 'Fair' (i.e. 3 out of 5) for Commercial Viability. And I wouldn't have it any other way. And there is my gold star, for being a good little songwriter, and such.

Yay.

Yes, so my summer (if you can thus refer to the season of distinctly unsummerlike weather we have just experienced) has been filled like a deep fill pizza with some other projects and interesting things, which I may or may not ramble at length about in the future. Just to keep things oiled and groovy though, here is another review by the divine Steve Gilmore, this time of Green and Blue (the acoustic version).

I think it's rather lovely and reviews which I think describe my music well should surely be shared with anyone whose eyeballs grace this page? Again, I hath plonked it in the Blog area for you to view at your leisure...and here it is on Steve's page: REBEL RIFFS

The photo, incidentally, was taken at the Sex, Wales and Anarchy Fesitval in the Coal Exchange last Saturday (a damn fine collection of weird and wonderful music, and poetry and everything you could dream of - which I HIGHLY recommend).

'Not at all what I was expecting, but I'm not sure now what I was expecting from Maddie...'

A delightful sentence from the new review of Dirty Little Secret, by Steve Gilmore of RebelRiffs. Read it now on the Blog page.

In its original setting over at RebelRiffs

Or video, for those of you that have safely joined me in this new world of technology. A video, to be any kind of exact at all, made by a very good friend of mine, of 'Green & Blue', performed by myself and Phil Rashleigh on double bass, during our set at Sounds on the Downs, a very Greenpeace, Fairtrade, Organic and generally wonderful student festival held on Nottingham University campus (my one time home!). Unfortunately my roaring has made pretty light work of any sound quality you might have hoped for, but it's still watchable, and quite interesting! Avert thine eyes to the Multimedia page to see what everyone's (read: I'm) talking about!

Here's what our diminutive friend and cameraman said about it:
'The University of Nottingham's Sounds on the Downs festival, though somewhat dampened this year by the, err, damp British summer still had plenty of room for some fantastic musicians, including upcoming Welsh acoustic musician, the charming and talented Maddie Jones - accompanied by the man who can play anything with 4 strings (and sometimes more) Phil Rashleigh.'

Youtube link to video

'Let It Out' is now available on iTunes and Amazon, as well as CD! There are links for all three shiny methods of acquisition on the Purchase  page!

Marmite. But that's irrelevant. Relevant things, on the other hand, include some great gigs: my recent London sets included The Luxe on June 6th (always a great atmosphere), jamming with ICMP students at Powers in Kilburn (scarily talented bunch, and a great venue), and topped off with Ronnie Scott's! Ronnie's was an ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT night; my good friend and fantasmagorical percussionist Mike Newman joined me for my set, and we were not only asked to play again at the end of the night, but also to come back for another go in the future! The other acts were brilliant, (I'll pop some links up to their sites when I find them...), as was the venue (obviously) and the rather splendid crowd. And I've now sung in the same room as Etta James. WIN.
I've also got an exciting one coming up - at Colston Hall in Bristol. Details are on the Shows page, but I'll reinforce... a good crowd at this one would be BRILLIANT. It's a very recent development, having unsigned acts in the lobby, and I'd like to prove that I'm worth it (Loreal and all that...). You'll also have the visual and audio pleasure of the wonderful Mike Newman, and also the amazing Phil Rashleigh on double bass and electric bass. It's an all-singing, all-dancing (well, sort of) extravaganza! 16th July. Do it. Go on.

So basically, I've been involved with three competitions over the last few months: ViperMusic's 'Songwriter' and 'Axe Factor' competitions, based in Bristol, and the national 'Live & Unsigned Competition. As things currently stand, I was lucky enough to win the 'Songwriter' Competition, resulting in some nice friendly Bristol-based management, and am in the semi-final of their 'Axe Factor' competition. I went through the first round of auditions for Live and Unsigned, and last weekend, through the Regional Final for the South-West to the Area Final for London and the South-West. Phew!

The semi-final of the 'Axe Factor' is taking place on 26th May in the King's Head, Bedminster Down, Bristol (see link below).

The Area final of Live and Unsigned takes place on the 2nd of May, in the Beck Theatre in Middlesex (see link). You can also contact me for tickets (at £7.50 each) for this show if you'd like to come along! The majority of the panel are Radio 1 DJs, so it'll be excellent exposure whatever happens!

ViperMusic website
'Axe Factor' Facebook Group
Live and Unsigned website

It's finally finished! After rather a while of drum rolls that didn't quite end with a cymbal crash...it's FINALLY here. The cymbal crash in this case is a 6 track E.P. of originals, recorded with The Jones O'Connor Group (a fantastic group of musicians from Cardiff, check out their website below). The track listing is: You, Dirty Little Secret, Green & Blue, Empty/Full, Cabaret, In Time. These recordings are done in a way you've never heard live (or possibly expected...). If your fancy has been sufficiently tickled, have a peep at the Purchase page for a link to buy the CD, or if you wait a week or three, they'll be on the old iTunes. To try before you buy (ha!) join the mailing list on the Home page where you'll get a preview of the sneakiest kind.

http://www.jonesoconnorgroup.co.uk/