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'We Could Have, We Should Have, We Didn't'

Reposting this here as it has words.

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'We Could Have, We Should Have, We Didn't' from 2008. Perhaps my sixth album, recorded in Southampton, Brighton, Bristol and County Cork over one rather chaotic but very productive summer with many friends. Several of the songs were written with @k_mcclement and she played beautiful guitar and piano and of course sang wonderfully on everything. Lawry @birdengine sang on anything I could get him on around this time, @samagramsam played signature electric guitar, at Penflick in Brighton Lewis Shaw played drums and Daniel Clark brought the fuzzy bass along too. Later at home in Ireland I put this physical thing together and included in each copy one crow feather from my growing collection. I washed dozens in the bath and the scent of dusty, musty strangeness has somehow never left me. Last summer at a falconry display near Stuttgart a large northern raven flew low above my head and there it was again. I asked the falconer about the particular and peculiar smell of crows and he replied with the explanation that they weren’t like us. True enough. ‘We Could Have, We Should Have, We Didn’t’ is an excessive messy collection but I like the looseness. 14 songs, covers of @lizgreenmusic and @sonsofnoelandadrian , long things with lots of guitar solos, backwards vocals, slow drums, birdsong everywhere and much bravado. But listening to it by chance today I was surprised how it kind of clomps along and I'm fond of the momentum and the naive energy of the thing. I didn’t really know how to put it all together so I put it all together and moved to Berlin. #thegreatpark #woodlandrecordings #wecouldhaveweshouldhavewedidnt #kristinmcclement #homerecording #tractor #diylabel

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Tour Diary, Concerts Stephen Tour Diary, Concerts Stephen

September 2020 - songs and set lists from the concerts

A quick note about this entry - I spent an hour or two and wrote a long post here but somehow closed the browser without saving so lost it all. Right now I’m posting the set lists for those that asked and some choice recordings from each night that I have and will follow with more words about each night and more photos, videos, etc when I get the energy to write it all out again. Bah.

Anyway, I just came back from some shows and they went like this:

Lindwurm, Hannover 03/09/20

i was in the north before the fall
the royal canal
down down down
lover o lover
deserter
barbara allen (traditional)
super good advice
fold culinary
song for a coalman
carrion call
so long song

we could have, we should have, we didn’t
we swam a little song

Prinz Willy, Kiel 04/09/20

when i was away
the royal canal
down down down 
lover o lover
deserter
a carrion call
fold culinary

i do wrong
barbara allen (traditional)
song for a coalman
song for fee
super good advice
from the willows by the weir
so long song

we swam a little song

Kulturschlachterei, Rendsburg 05/09/20

when i was away
the royal canal
down down down
i was in the north before the fall
lover o lover
pure black coal
fold culinary

song for a coalman
make each other anew
super good advice
barbara allen (traditional)
polly vaughan (traditional)
so long song

Garden Concert, Rostock 06/09/20

when i was away
the royal canal
down down down
i do wrong
pure black coal
fold culinary
lover o lover
make each other anew
it don’t stop the bleeding
super good advice
so long song

when i was single (traditional)
we swam a little song

Rostock, photo by https://www.instagram.com/alex_ottoxo

Alice, Copenhagen 07/09/20

it don’t stop the bleeding
the royal canal
down down down
i do wrong
pure black coal
fold culinary
lover o lover
deserter
when i was away
make each other anew
super good advice
polly vaughan (traditional)
so long song

we swam a little song

Copenhagen, photo by https://www.instagram.com/__leilu___

Tonfink, Lübeck 08/09/20

song for fee
the royal canal
down down down
lover o lover
deserter
delia (song by blind willie mctell)

when i was away
i do wrong
winter (song by the diamond family archive)
we could have, we should have, we didn’t
super good advice
so long song

fold culinary
we swam a little song

Wohlerspark, Hamburg 11/09/20

when i was away
the royal canal
down down down
lover o lover
i do wrong
pure black coal
fold culinary
we could have, we should have, we didn’t
winter (song by the diamond family archive)
super good advice
paper birds
so long song

song for fee

Hamburg, photo by https://www.instagram.com/janina.rrr

Fotostudio Gezett, Berlin 12/09/20

when i was away
the royal canal
down down down
i do wrong
pure black coal
fold culinary
lover o lover
deserter
polly vaughan (traditional)
we could have, we should have, we didn’t
super good advice
pretty peggy-o (traditional)
so long song

Berlin, photo by https://www.instagram.com/gerald.zoerner

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