Patricia Hammond

Well I have to say I’m pretty happy that all these subscriptions are going to be disappearing. Who ever reads them? Every time I’ve had an email from some clothing company or whatever saying “WE DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU!” I’ve muttered “You have no idea who I am, so go away”.

I’ve always been uncomfortable that in my website, the “unsubscribe” box is really hard to find (I don’t know where it is, so how could you?!) so maybe this is for the best! I was once a very keen blogger, when I was paid to do one while under management and contract (http://thecanadiannightingale.blogspot.co.uk/) and I would keep this one going too but for the possibility of fines under the General Data Protection Regulations! I downloaded two “plugins” to comply with regulations but then what? I’m not a tech wizard and they clearly expect that I am. So there they sit, unused.

I do have some exciting future projects; next month I will be recording a 32-track CD to go with my forthcoming book “She Wrote the Songs” which is about the particular and important contribution women made to domestic, or parlour song, focusing on the 1830s to the 1950s. Some AMAZING, INSPIRING stories and gorgeous tunes. Really surprising stuff. This will come out in late summer, all being well. The book will be published by Valley Press, and the CD was meant to go inside the book but taxes being different for books and CDs, unfortunately they will have to be sold separately. I’ll sell them together at gigs though! Trust me, these songs are fascinating, and really really excellent. Andrea Kmecova and I have performed them far and wide in preparation.

Also Matt and I will be making a recording of what we call the “Ditties Project” or “Songs of the Olden Time”. You can see a playlist on Youtube HERE! Many many songs that are part of the fabric of this country but seldom performed.

There is also a REALLY EXCITING appearance in a major film which I cannot talk about yet, that is set to be out later this year or early next (all I’ll say is I’m wearing green feathers); and for this last commemorative year of the First World War, there are a raft of appearances. Hopefully you’ll hear us sometime soon on In Tune, talking about these! In the meantime I’ve listed them on the “Gigs” link as best I can. I’ll put more details and links as I go along. There are several pop-up appearances not confirmed yet. Do not hesitate to CONTACT ME if you’d like to know anything!

I’ve also been doing a fair amount of atmospheric session work lately, with tracks like this one:

And final credit sequences for documentaries like this one:

Well, in short, there is a lot happening, and a lot going to happen! Because of GDPR, I won’t be sending out messages like this one, however DO subscribe to my YouTube channel, and be sure to hit the little red bell icon on the subscribe button, and you’ll be able to see things there, and if you’d like to, do keep in touch in other ways, do send me a message when you’re wondering what’s going on. Send me a message now if you’d like me to personally email you (individually!) to tell you when the book is out, and thank you for subscribing!! It’s been lovely to have had the privilege of communicating with you!