Release!

June Newsletter

Dear friends,

I have just arrived back home after last Friday’s album launch for Au Revoir Tristesse at the National Concert Hall, Dublin. It was a beautiful night and a fitting way to send this, my eighth studio album into the wild. The concert was recorded so there may be a live album at some point.

The album is currently riding high as the top classical guitar album on Bandcamp and is available on all streaming platforms (including in high resolution on Apple Classical) and on Vinyl and CD from your local independent record store or direct from Bohemia Records.

I performed two pieces for Sean Rocks on RTE’s flagship arts show, Arena. Listen back here.

I also did BBC’s Classical Connections and Saturday with John Toal which you can listen to here and here.

I’ve released two more videos from the album, La mer, son rythme incessant (The sea, its incessant rhythm) and La lune, aimable et tranquille (The moon, kind and quiet) both filmed at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris.

There are two more videos to come which I’ll release in the coming weeks. If you want to be the first to see them, sign up to my Patreon page where they are posted a couple of weeks ahead of Youtube.

Speaking of Patreon, recent posts there include an exclusive live version of Valley of Tears from last Friday’s National Concert Hall show (the only song of the night!), advance screenings of the videos and a brace of four recently discovered demos from 2003 of songs I wrote for the second tenspeedracer album - inclusing early versions of songs from A Murder of Crows. You can sign up for only 5 Euro per month to access all this and everything else on the site.

Finally, for the guitarists among you, I’ve published the complete guitar score for Au Revoir Tristesse which you can download along with all my sheet music here.

Thanks to all who came out to see me last week and to all who have bought, downloaded and streamed the music so far. Please do share it if you like it.

I really see this album as a companion piece to LUCIA and although it is an album of solo guitar music, I feel like it's the most successful I've ever been in getting the music in my head onto record.

I hope it brings you some respite and sanctuary from the Tristesse that is all around us these days.

Joe.