Hope Rechord Live 24 and Tearfund Concert

So here is my first blog post of 2017, the end of 2016 was hectic for me, I don't know how it was for you if it was busy, joyful, stressful or heart wrenching. The end of the year for me was a mixture of all of the above for me.

In midst of some of the more challenging things I went through Sarah and I welcomed our first daughter Hope Isla Baker. I also accepted a job at The Rainbow Project as the project coordinator. I will be starting next week. The project supports asylum seekers and refugees in Nottingham. 

I am continuing to do some music, I recently did some recording with Kate Auburn a singer songwriter in Nottingham, I also played a show last week at The Lion in Basford. 

Coming up though I will be off to Scotland for a couple of exciting things that i will be part of. The first is on 1st Feb I will be playing in Dundee to raise money for Tearfund's Cambodia project. I am excited to partner with the United Free Church and their commitment to this particular project with Tearfund. 

View fullsize

After playing in Dundee I will be off to Glasgow to work with Rechord again and be involved in their Live 24 event which is a 24 hour live stream of worship music featuring some of their artists and a few guests too. It will definitely be worth tuning in to the live stream, and engaging with Rechord through social media and supporting their ministry. 

View fullsize

Thank you for all your support, whether you follow me online, have bought any of my music, been to see my live, or you are just curious and find yourself reading this blog. 

Rechord Announcement

This is Rechord's latest news!

Great gigs in Scotland

View fullsize

Green Room , Perth. 1st Oct.

View fullsize

Rechord, Glasgow

I had a brilliant time in Scotland, all the gigs went well, they were so much fun, I met some great people and shared some amazing stories and chat. I also finished up some recordng of electric guitars for a song "The Pursuit" and recorded a video too. 

Songwriting

I've recently been songwriting and working on some worship songs. Themes of love, hope and struggle have been coming out. I'm excited. I'm also working with someone else on some songs. It's been a really good process. Watch this space for more  

Cleverly Done

When I was performing recently at Warwick Folk Club i met Chris Cleverly whose guitar playing and soft soothing voice had me gripped! Great night, thanks for the songs Chris

Chris' website

and his music

Indie Music Dimension Anniversary

Check them out

Indie Music Dimension

Last Minute Gig Announcement

Last minute announcement, I am playing tonight at 6pm at Nottingham's Night Market, come along for a great evening together

A Musical Home

We are currently renting off some friends and they have a very musical home with lots of guitars, sadly left handed so I can't do much with them. There are mandolins, a lute, percussion instruments and a piano. I have enjoyed attempting to play the piano. 

Its great being surrounded by musical instruments, and the music room has pictures of David (our friend) playing in various bands that he used to be in.

A Collection Of Folk: Wish You All The Best

Here is a video from my November performance at A Collection Of Folk, watch the other artists which includes clients from the workshops run by Lupus Albus or jump straight into to my song "Wish You All The Best"

I was so glad to hear A Collection Of Folk will continue to host their monthly gigs at St Giles in the fields on Denmark Street. I wish them all the very best!

Song by Song: Laisser Passer and Heritage

Laisser Passer started out with a simple guitar loop and keyboard loop which then we built around. It was not much at the start but Davis gave some flavour to it with horns, bass, beats and more. We tracked a guitar riff to guide the session guitarist.

Heritage started with some beats and bass lines. We built a series of loops for verses and choruses. This was later worked on by Cissa. I also recorded the backing vocals. It was really nice working on this song.

Photo by eclipseart/iStock / Getty Images

Song by song: Trone de grace and Alleluia

Trone de grace: was an old song of Bernards that he wanted to rework, slow down and chill out. We tracked him live singing and playing on keys to give us a guide. Davis tracked some drums and bass, I added some swells and guitar. The rest fell nicely in to place after. It was great tracking all the harmonies. We tracked the sax as well in Bernards house.

Alleluia was another remake of an old song. Bernard wanted something quite simple, we tracked some guitar and electric piano. I was able to add some electric guitars on top of the structure we had. Bernard took this to a studio to add vocals, more keys and layers.

Photo by suprunvitaly/iStock / Getty Images

Connexion by Cissa

Check out "Connexion" by Cissa 

I helped record and produce a number of tracks for Senegalese singer Cissa, who is avery talented songwriter and musician. Check out my song by song blogs over the next few days for some behind the scenes chat about the songs we worked on together. 

Photo by Peeter Viisimaa/iStock / Getty Images

Song by song: Voyage and Samm Katt

Voyage came about from a melody Bernard and in mind for guitar. He tracked a synth guitar and I added a real acoustic underneath it. I also added electric guitars. Davis tracked the drums with Addictive. The drum break was recorded by me as well with Honore, who played Djembe, Talking Drum and some other percussion for the break. It was a really funky tune, Davis and bernard made the horns sections as well. 

Same Katt was my first ever reggae tune. Bernard has a real creative mind, he had lots of ideas for sounds, melodies for all of the songs, but this one in particular he had an idea for the strings. So we looked around my samples for ages before getting the right sound. I played electric guitars on the track and some acoustic too. Davis made the beats, another session player added the cracking bass line. Later Cissa worked with Trinity a dutch band on the song to add the flute and the english vocals. We added synths, organs and lots of sounds to this. We tracked some real djembe as well which was cool

Photo by iacona/iStock / Getty Images

Sam Hailes Reviews The New Day Ep

Adam Baker - Mr Baker’s The New Day EP created a significant stir in the social media spheres I move in. After hearing the 7 track EP I understood why. There’s bucket loads of beauty, honesty and joy here. The best compliment I could give Adam is his music has universal appeal. It was a pleasure to discover his music this year.

I love this review thanks Sam Hailes. This Ep is available online at 

adambaker.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-day-ep

Hunter House Gig

I am coming to Scotland and performing a very special intimate concert in East Kilbride's Hunter House.  Its going to be a great night. I hope many of you can come out. It will have been a year since my last gig in Scotland, which was in Glasgow in Costa Coffee during the New Scottish Arts Wee Coffee House Tour. So it should be really fun, reconnecting with you guys and sharing some new songs.

Tickets are on sale for £6 which includes a coffee and a cake http://www.calderwoodbaptist.co.uk/AcousticCoffee.aspx