LATEST NEWS 

Out of Furlough!

After so many month with no rehearsals or gigs, the Fridges are finally coming out of the deep freeze!   Our first rehearsal face to face this Friday 28th May.   We've managed to keep in pretty good contact during lockdown, developing song parts via MP3s and a few zoom calls, and a clutch of new songs has appeared, ready for the band to develop.   And, some Festivals seem pretty likely up ahead, unless there are any last minute covid hiccups and we are all plunged back in the deep freeze again?  Anyway, fingers cross and watch this space for some pics of our regathering!    

Resilience CD launched! (May 1st 2020)

 Some screenshots of the wallet artwork from our latest CD Resilience, published early 2020.   Featuring musicians from the Fridge Mechanics band, as well as guest musicians.  Click on the images below to see more details.  

The CD was recorded last November 2019 at J&J Studios in Easton, Bristol in the excellent hands of engineer Patrick Philips, and mastered by Pete Maher in London.  It is being sold for £5 at all our gigs (all postponed for now due to the virus, but whenever they are rescheduled) or by sending £5 to Paypal (have credit/debit card ready.  £1 will be added to cover postage, please contact enquiries@barry-lane-songwriter.org.uk to enquire about posting overseas)   

The CD is also available for streaming from Google Play here.  and 

<<CLICK IMAGES FOR LARGER  VERSION >>

 Here are some sample tracks:  Books about Death followed by Nailhouse from the CD;    

 Thanks to all the musicians, engineers and friends who contributed toward making this CD possible, not least of all all of you who support our music at gigs.   

Watch!
Why not visit our new Watch section to see some more videos of the band performing at various festivals and clubs. Including, some older sessions of Barry performing with various retired members of the Fridge Mechanics at the now closed Valindra Open Mic in 2015.  Some great instrumental playing from Jamie Hill and James Anderson.  Also, videos of the band performing at Keynsham Music Festival 2019 and our Kino sessions Xmas Bash 2019.  

What gigs 2020?
We were looking forward to some of our favourite gigs in 2020, but we all know what happened next.  It's hard to believe our last gig was Dec 7th 2019 at the Cafe Kino in North Bristol.  It's been tough for all performers in all genres;  we have all missed rehearsing and performing, the energy and community, so much.  For the Fridges, we have managed to keep the band spirit alive with a few snatched rehearsals between lockdowns in Autumn 2020,  otherwise sharing MP3 files of new songs, new ideas for parts and the occasional zoom call.  We will be ok for later in 2021, but the old saying is true;  you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.  We have all I think emerged from the 'lost year' of 2020 really valuing eachother more as musicians, and really valuing our common creative energy.

A new CD in 2022?
Creating music and lyrics is always an amazing experience and new songs have continued to arrive over the past few years, despite lockdown .  Our last CD was Resilience made in November 2019, and we are looking toward recording another CD in January/February 2022 at J&J Studios, Bristol, in the sure hands of master-engineer Patrick Philips.  We hope to invite  our usual musical suspects, plus some special guests.  Really looking forward to it, and more news as it unfolds.  Watch this space!

Animations and Videos

 IF I HAD THAT SHIRT VIDEO - SONGSHEET #1

I have always been fascinated by the possibilities of integrating visual imagery with music and over the years have sometimes used films and slides when performing some of my songs.  Some of you will know The Shirt Song, a song I wrote about a tramp I used to see gazing longingly at a shirt in a shop window in Saville Row, London.  The song is all about dreaming and wishing and I always imagined a cartoon o r animation to bring this story to life.  In 2015, I hired an Australian animator Durand Greig http://is.gd/hG2KsV to interpret the song for us.  He did a wonderful job, there is a still from it on this page.  You can play it on this page, also here is a Youtube link to it if you want to view it full screen;  https://youtu.be/WJ8YlSxt-M8  Hope you enjoy it!  Let me know?  Leave some comments on YouTube!  I like the idea of sharing songs like this, with lyrics and images combined with a recording, so this will be Songsheet #1 of a series I will publish on Youtube this year.  I will be asking some other animators to produce some more interpretations of the songs we do.

NAILHOUSE - SONGSHEET #2
Some of you will have heard a new song, Nailhouse, we performed last December at the Cafe Kino and at the Square Club in Clifton.  This song is about Chinese people who refuse to move their homes when a motorway or office block is bu ilt, s o the authorities build them around their houses, until they eventually flamethrow or bully them out.  Their homes are called Nailhouses because they are 'nailed' to the ground.  I was moved and fascinated by the images of Nailhouses on Google, so I wrote a song about it.  A film maker called Diana Taylor, in Clifton, Bristol UK http://is.gd/0Lam7K heard us performing this song, and has made a film based on the song lyrics and story of Nailhouses.  The film is an apt and powerful interpretation of the lyrics and music.  We are proud to present this song, and Diana's moving film.

 

A CD of new and regular songs recorded with Dutch concert cellist Mieke de Laure in December 2014.  Sung and played by Barry Lane with guest appearances from the Fridge Mechanics band. Available as a CD or individual tracks via Paypal for £5 from the STORE (please have credit card ready)  listen to demo tracks from the CD HERE Cover artwork by Sarah Parkinson. Calligraphy Mollie Meagre www.molliemeagre.co.uk

DIDN'T WE DREAM Barry Lane and the Fridge Mechanics Available as a CD or individual tracks via Paypal for £5 from the STORE (please have credit card ready)  listen to demo tracks from the CD HERE    Cover artwork conceived and designed by Barry Lane and Sarah Parkinson.