Hi everyone….thought I would write a note and get up to dates with things as they progress.
June saw us doing some European festivals that were stunning shows, great crowds and great weather.
In the last week of June, Becka and I flew to LA and I was the “Artist in Residence” for a week at the Musicians Institute. There I did a couple of performances, one with the Dan Gilbert and a few of the other teachers. Dan set the week up and it was fantastic. I gave seminars and taught private lessons and it was an experience I really enjoyed.
Then it was on to Finland and Russia for a few shows that were incredible. I had never been to Russia and the crowds were beyond expectation and people warm and they loved the music.
In the break after the last leg to Russia and Finland, Becka and I took some time and went to the Mountains and did some riding. Michael and Neil met us up there and we spent a day in the mountains and then rode down to Atlanta to catch one of the last Rush gigs of the tour. I hope to post some pics of the ride to myspace in a few days.
Steve Wilson had met us in Atlanta and we came back to Tampa and went into the RedRoom and recorded guitars for his upcoming solo release,”Insurgentes”. The tracks came out fantastic and the album should be out in November with a download version, then a hard copy version to follow.
The first weeks of August were spent writing new tracks for my next solo album and rehearsing the band lineup of the solo show. The lineup is Mark Prator on drums and Dave Wehner on bass. These two names some of you will recognize as we have been working together for years. Mark and Dave are an outstanding rhythm section.
The end of August I flew to Chicago and did a support set solo for the Flower Kings, it was a great night and I really enjoyed meeting all kinds of new friends.
September saw more writing and rehearsing, then the last couple weeks have been spent getting back in shape for the Porcupine Tree DVD tour. We are digging deep into the back catalogue for the filming, so there was quite a bit of work to be done as the set list is almost double what we normally tackle.
At the moment, I am in the rehearsal room in London, the crew is loading in and today it begins. This is going to be a fantastic set of shows and we are all excited to get back together and and play again.
Our support acts for the tour will be Pure Reason Revolution and Oceansize, two bands I highly recommend checking out, we have toured with them in the past and always love working with them. The last Oceansize album, “Frames”, is one of my favorite releases of last year.
Well, all for now…more as the tour progresses…..all the best…JW