A Visit to Abbey Road and the Albert Hall
Plus your favorite new t-shirt and some great new music!
So, if you wanna hear about my visit to Abbey Road Studios and the Royal Albert Hall… well, I don’t blame you. But first, I want to sell you something.
This is the moment in the podcast where you fast forward. Don’t do that. This is actually kinda cool and you might enjoy it!
Well Kept Secret has partnered with the good people at Oxford Pennant to collaborate on our first piece of merch… ever! It’s a t-shirt, but it’s likely the most comfortable t-shirt you’ll ever own. To represent New Orleans, it’s black and gold. To represent my personal taste, it’s printed on the highest quality Comfort Colors shirts. If you know, you know.
Anyway, the name of this company has always been a tongue-in-cheek saying… it always seems like the best things in life are well kept secrets, doesn’t it? I wanted this shirt to be simple, direct… and inspire questions and conversation. That way, you can be my publicist. See how easy this is?
The initial “first pressing” of this one is 35 shirts. I did not hand number them, though now I’m thinking that would’ve been funny. I will, however, hand pack them and drop them at the delightful post office here in the Bywater. They are $25, which is pretty much a break-even price when you put all of these details in. Expect only the best from Well Kept Secret.
They are available here, now.
CLICK TO BUY ONE OF THESE COOL SHIRTS TODAY!
Now, back to our regularly scheduled newsletter.
Some people travel to Mecca or the Western Wall or Bodh Gaya. Last week, I made a pilgrimage of my own… to Abbey Road Studios in London. My Instagram followers saw all of this first, as I was just too giddy to wait to share it. What else can be said about this place, honestly? If you could just sign up for a tour, I’d have done it years ago. This time, I was hooked up handsomely by Pedro Segundo (Jon Cleary’s outstanding percussionist) and Daniela Sicilia (a house engineer at the studio). I want to thank them for this… it was truly a dream come true to be let in the gates, welcomed through the doors and given a full tour and chance to ask questions.
Here are some photos from the visit:
The real reason I made the quick trip over was to see my client, the inimitable Jon Cleary, play the Royal Albert Hall as special guest of Bonnie Raitt. Now, photos and videos were strictly forbidden during the show, but I did manage to get a shot of Jon during soundcheck that really captured the whole “vibe” of the evening:
Hard to beat that!
Jon is currently on tour with Bonnie until July, when his band joins and they bring The Bywater Sessions to the UK and Europe. If you haven’t given his new LP a spin, you should! Click here.
While I was in London, Well Kept Secret also announced a new project and a new partnership!
First, we welcomed Silver Synthetic to the fold by reissuing their single The Door, remixed by A Place to Bury Strangers. They’re one of my favorite New Orleans bands and I’m proud to be working with them. Check them out!
Also, with the gracious assistance of the crew at NPR’s World Cafe, we released Gold Connections - Live at World Cafe, taken from their appearance on the nationally syndicated public radio show on February 12 of this year.
These are two of my favorite bands in town and I’m honored to work with them! As always, thank you for reading and listening and supporting!
Could you please keep one of your cool T-shirts for me? I'll buy it when you come to Tokyo in September!