2013 & the final gig of the year.....

.....and what a year! I think I'm one the few who'll be sad to see the end of 2013!

 I've played in some most spectacular venues such as The British Museum's Parthenon Gallery as part of their blockbuster Pompeii exhibition, I've played and talked at the University of Cambridge (with a bit of help!) at their Museum of Classical Archeology, I've even shared the stage with the fabulous Mary Beard!

On top of playing at You Bloom in Dublin, Heffers Classics Festival, headlining the Boileroom for the belated launch party for 'River Man', and finishing off the video for 'River Man' on one of the coldest weekends of the year! That's not the mention the little personal things like moving house and finally passing my driving test! However, all good things come to an end, and to celebrate with a little Christmas cheer I'll be playing my last gig of 2013 at The George in Alton for Coops Acoustic session. A nice little local one after a very busy year!

Now what to do for 2014......year of the PhD?

Festival of Idea, Heffers & River Man book

Wow! What a fabulous couple of days! Absolutely brilliant gig at the musuem of classical archeology for the Festival of Ideas. Really interesting and insightful evening, I loved being able to get into the nitty gritty of each song, and it was so wonderful to be so well received. Thank you so much to everyone who attended, and to Susanne for being my host and organising the event (and to Jenny!).

Some of you were asking where you can buy the accompanying River Man book from. The link is here, you can also download it from the iTunes Store (Anna Neale - River Man) 

http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/3606891-river-man

A huge thank you also to Heffers for inviting me to play at their brilliant classics festival today. What an event, such lovely people and a great reception. Thank you to all who watched, and bought the album! I hope you enjoy it! 

Anna x

Festival of Ideas show this Friday!

This Friday I'll be performing as part of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas at Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge from 7.30pm. It's a free intimate event where Susanne & I will be talking about the album & the classical ideas behind it in depth. There's also wine so don't miss it! 

When

Nov 01, 2013

from 07:30 PM to 09:00 PM

Where

Museum of Classical Archaeology

Contact Name

museum-education@classics.cam.ac.uk

Contact Phone

+44 (0)1223 330402

River Man at Heffers

 As part of their Classics Festival, you can now buy River Man CD's from Heffers Bookstores in Cambridge in the Classics department. I'll be there at some point in the afternoon on the 1st November before my Festival of Ideas show to perform a few songs from the album and sign any CD's.

Anna x

Festival of Ideas & Heffers Classics Festival

This November I have a couple of very exciting, and unusual, shows coming up. The first will be on the 1st November from 7.30pm at the Museum of Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge as part of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas. Museum curator Dr. Susanne Tuner and I will be delving into the murky ancient past through the medium of music and modern day songwriting. We'll be looking at the tensions between the modern and the ancient world in an intimate unplugged evening, complete with wine! You'll get to hear all of 'River Man' stripped back to it's original format and a little more about the songs and the inspiration behind them, including a new song! The event is free although ticketed, for more information and to book a place:

http://www.cam.ac.uk/festival-of-ideas/whats-on/event-highlights-at-cambridge-museums

The second show will be on the 2nd November, 10am - 6pm at the Heffers Classics Festival also in Cambridge. Throughout the day I'll be performing songs from 'River Man' and doing my usual 'goddess' impression.....The festival features many prominent Classics experts including the lovely Mary Beard, David Stuttard (fab Roman at the British Museum gig back in May!) and Caroline Lawrence. I in my geek mode am ridiculously excited and looking forward to bringing some modern day musical interpretation to the field. Tickets are £30 and more information can be found here:

http://heffersclassics.wordpress.com/heffers-classics-festival-2013/

Anna

Where was I?

Hi all,

A little quite on the music front the next couple of months due to the big house move (I'm surrounded by so many boxes I've actually started dreaming about them.....) but don't worry, lots of exciting things coming up in November including Heffers Classics Fest and Cambridge Universities 'Festival of Ideas'. I shall keep you up dated as and when, for now, enjoy your summer and I'll see you on stage soon,

Anna x

Ox-Fest

After the excitement of You Bloom, Dublin last week (what a night!) I'm pleased to announce that I'll be performing at Ox-Fest next Sunday, 13th, in the giant ti-pi at 4.20pm. It looks like a fabulous family day out of some great live music and activities, come along!

 

www.ox-fest.com

A night out in Pompeii, a belated blog.....

Sarah Longes 2013

The end of academic year and trying to find somewhere to live (yes, still!) have all conspired to delay this post that I've been meaning to do for the last month! It's rather frightening that our rather fabulous gig at The British Museum was a month ago!! But, what a gig! A spectacular setting, a really buzzing, warm and friendly atmosphere (one Tweet read 'I wish the British Museum was like this all the time!') and a wonderful audience all made for a show that none of us will forget.

British Museum 2013

 For one night The British Museum was turned into a Roman town, with a forum, and Roman street sellers dotted around the courtyard and galleries for 'Up Late in Pompeii'. We were very privileged to be able to play songs from 'River Man' in The Parthenon Gallery. We received a wonderful response from a very attentive audience and staff! I also had a bit of fun 'doing my Roman thing' around the museum with the other 'Romans' (as you can see from below!)! 

Sarah Longes 2013

 

 

 

I'd like to say a huge thank you to the band for joining me, all the staff at the BM who were some of the most helpful road crew I've ever had! Also to Dan, Jenny, and Paul Roberts for inviting us to play, and to Sarah Longes for some of the fab photos you can see here.

If you haven't had a chance to visit the exhibition 'Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum' (go! It's amazing!) then you can get right inside the action with 'Pompeii Live' showing at cinemas on the 18th June.

Again, again!

Up late in Pompeii: a night out in the Bay of Naples

Up late in Pompeii: a night out in the Bay of Naples - The British Museum

This Friday, 10th May, the band and I will be performing as part of a very special event at The British Museum in London! The museum is being turned into a Roman town as part of their spectacular 'Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum' exhibition.  The event is free and we'll be on at 6.40pm-7pm, 7.40pm-8pm in the Parthenon gallery, Room 18. The Guardian's chief arts writer Charlotte Higgins will also be in the gallery in between sets giving us all some tips on a Latin love life! One not to be missed!

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar/event_detail.aspx?eventId=241&title=Up%20late%20in%20Pompeii:%20a%20night%20out%20in%20the%20Bay%20of%20Naples&eventType=Special%20event

#uplateinpompeii

@britishmuseum

@annanealemusic

Boileroom, Museum of Classical Archaeology & CB2

The belated 'River Man' album launch was at The Boileroom in Guildford on the 19th. It was a fabulous night and a lot of fun. We were joined by the enigmatic Nick Tann, local band Reed Maxfield who took over with some great energy and the rather lush Union Starr. I'm still singing 'This is the Time' and was reveling in the 90's sound with my pint of cider by the end of the night (and I didn't need to be helped out the venue, bonus these days!). The audience were great and we very much appreciated their efforts at the Latin sing along in our 'dodgy cover', Guildford you've been the best at that so far! Thanks to Tomodo for the photos.

This Friday the band and I headed up to Cambridge for a very special performance at the Museum of Classical Archeology, part of Cambridge University. A spectacular setting surrounded by all those Greek/Roman casts, I felt right at home, once I'd got past the nerves (yes, nerves, haven't had those for a good few years now!). We were joined by the lovely Mary Beard, Professor of Classics, who gave an insightful and engaging talk on Roman life and women in Roman society. She expanded beautifully on the meaning of the songs (Mary, you're welcome to pick up a tambourine and join in any day, you'd make a great 'rock chick', especially with those shoes.....I was quite jealous of those......).

After a pre-record for Cambridge 105fm, the evening saw a stripped down performance at CB2 for Night of the Artisans. Due to the constraints of the venue it was just Adam, Ed and myself, but we had a great time playing around with the arrangements of the songs and vamping things up a bit (amazing what a bit of wine does.....). We were lucky enough to meet the very talented Gideon Conn who gave me one of my favorite gifts so far, a rather stunning black and white drawing of me on stage. One to go on the wall of the new house.

This Friday I'll be performing at Rhythm on the River in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, followed by The British Museum!!

River Man Video

2 years in the planning, 3 days of extreme weather, with various other issues delaying bits here and there, but finally, we're here and I'm so proud of what we have achieved!

I'd like to say a special thank you to Henry and Rae at Flickerhead Films, without whom, this wouldn't have been possible. To Kent Film Office for making the process a lot easier and allowing us free reign of the county and it's beautiful beaches. Paul Henry our 'Charong', Jali Fily Cissokho, the kids who were pretty well behaved considering it was so hot that day, Sheena Holliday, Stephen Coltrane who spent hours perfecting this with Henry and Shinade.

Ladies and gents, the River Man video: http://youtu.be/5nRXVqn9U1A

River Man Album Launch!

It's a been a long time coming but we finally have a date to celebrate the release of 'River Man'!

On the 19th April, the band and I, along with special guests Union Starr, Jali Fily Cissokho, Reed Maxfield and Nick Tann will be taking over The Boileroom in Guidlford for the night!

It's going to be a wonderful night of music from around the world, and we'll be joined but another very special surprise guest who'll be announced nearer the date! Show will kick off from 7.30pm. Get your tickets quickly before they sell out!

http://theboileroom.net/listings/info/tst_live_union_starr_and_anna_neale

Anna Neale and Mary Beard visit Pompeii - Cambridge 26th April

Blog from the University of Cambridge Museums site on our forthcoming gig:

Anna Neale and Mary Beard visit Pompeii

The Museum of Classical Archaeology is usually in the business of making the Greek and Roman world visible. But on Friday April 26th the Museum is going to be striking out into the world of contemporary music in order to make the ancient world audible.

In an hour’s double act with Professor Mary Beard, Anna Neale is going to be singing numbers from her recent album ‘River Man’.

‘River Man’ is a collection of songs influenced by the life, times, loves and legacy of Pompeii. It chronicles universal themes of love and knowledge, as relevant today as they ever were, and takes the listener on an epic musical odyssey through Roman history. Anna’s aim is to make these themes reverberate around the gallery’s galaxy of images bringing back to life these resonant presences from the classical past.

Come and reinhabit the ancient world – 1.30pm to 2.30 pm, Friday 26 April, Museum of Classical Archaeology.

Free entrance.

Robin Osborne, Director, Museum of Classical Archaeology

http://camunivmuseums.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/anna-neale-and-mary-beard-visit-pompeii/

River Man Video Part 2

Well, it was certainly cold (according to the headline on the Express that day the 'Coldest Winter Freeze of the Year') but we survived five hours fully exposed to the northerly wind making our transition to the underworld scene pretty dramatic. I'm very glad I invested in several pairs of thermals! It was all well worth it though, we have some stunning footage that just wouldn't look the same on a warm(ish, this is the UK) day.

A huge thank you to Henry and Rae Coleman from Flickerhead films, Sheena Holliday, Hannah at the Kent Film Office, Sharon Kelly at Thanet Council, Shinade Sutherland, Paul Henry who also froze to death with me on Botany Bay beach as our ferryman (looking very eerie there!), Iain at the Fayreness Hotel for allowing us to take over part of the bar to warm up and Jenny, our 'landlady' for the weekend.

Baby, it's very very cold outside

Hi all,
I'm currently sitting on the HS1 heading down to Botany Bay for the final part of the River Man video shoot this weekend. Temperature is about 2 degrees, coupled with the 'Thanet wind' I've been told about by the lady at our accommodation, it's more than likely I'll be coming back as a penguin, or in a slab of ice. That or there's more than likely to be some sort of accident with all the fire we're setting up (think hair spray, flammable fabrics). However, if we survive, it will look stunning! Photos to follow, wish us luck! X

R2 Magazines "Best of the Year 2012"

River Man has made it onto R2 (Rock'n'Reel) Magazine "Best of Last Year" list! Check out this months edition for the review in full!

This Friday, Farncombe Music Club!

This Friday I'll playing the first of this years 'River Man' shows at Farncombe Music Club, supporting the very talented Preston Reed. The gig will be St. John's Church, a beautiful and atmospheric location. I'll be performing a very special solo set, featuring many of the songs from the new album, compete with candles, and the new Roman dress which will star in the forthcoming video (well, slightly more Grecian style dress but still lovely, sure the Romans wouldn't mind!). Tickets are on sale now, or you can get discounted tickets from me!

Fatea Magazine Review

Another lovely review! This time from Fatea Magazine, enjoy!

Anna Neale
Album: River Man
Label: Half Full Glass
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.annaneale.net
Anna Neale is a new name to me but a little investigation revealed that she had started her professional career as a singer in " The Commitments " touring band, before becoming a solo artist. She has toured extensively around the world and has played at festivals such as SXSW in Austin, Texas; NEMO in Boston and the Canadian Music Week Festival. Her previous album was "Touch", released in 2010.

Her musical style has been variously described as acoustic rock; folk pop and even, wait for it, sex folk [according to one Canadian writer]. To my ears, Anna inhabits the same general area as the likes of Amy MacDonald and KT Tunstall, with a dash of Kate Bush thrown in for good measure.

There are a number of interesting aspects to this album. Firstly, the recording was sponsored by a commercial enterprise [CMC Consultancy], whose logo appears on the cover of the CD. Secondly, there are some impressive guest performances from Gary Brooker from Procol Harum, Patch Hannan from The Sundays and kora player Jali Fily Cissokho from Senegal. The third interesting thing is that this recording could be loosely described as a "concept album" because it has a central theme relating to the lives of the citizens of Pompeii [which was mostly destroyed in AD 79].The Roman theme is reinforced by the cover art which features pictures of Anna [suitably attired in period costume] taken at the Roman Baths in Bath. Furthermore, Anna will be performing at the British Museum in May 2013 as part of the "Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum" exhibition.

Don't be put off by the mention of the words 'concept album', this is a well-written collection, where all the songs stand up on their own individual merit. Indeed, it is clear that a great deal of effort went into this album, from the excellent performances by Anna and her backing/guest musicians, to the superb production by Jez Larder.

Whilst the songs are mainly acoustic guitar based, they are embellished with strings [Ed Clarke and Katherine Clarke], electric guitar [Paul Williams], bass [Russ Carr] and drums [Adam Aggiss]. However, what makes this album stand out from the crowd are Anna's sublime vocals and the contributions of kora-master Jali Fily Cissokho. Fily is first heard on "Fily's Prayer" [with words taken from The Koran ] which leads into the title track "River Man" [not the Nick Drake song]. This is a stunning track which features Fily's kora and vocals underpinning those of Anna. Indeed, it has a similar feel to Kate Bush's "The Dreaming", a very short sample of which features here.

Fily also adds his kora to the following track "Hungry Ghosts", which also features Gary Brooker on Hammond and some fine bass playing by Russ Carr.

"Listen" features words by Greek lyric poet Sappho [who died around 570 BC,so I guess she won't be around to receive any royalties].

"Light" is a lovely ballad on which Anna displays all her vocal prowess against a delightful backdrop of strings and Paul Williams' guitar. The album closes in fine style with "Try" which again features Gary Brooker on keyboards and the magical kora of Jali Fily Cissokho.

In the sleeve notes, Anna dedicates this album to her two children, in the hope that one day, they will be proud of it.

I feel sure that they will.

Peter Cowley


http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/AnnaNeale.html