Category Archives: news

If you need help just ask

August 18, 2015news, philosophyhouse concerts, Steve Barkman guitarLuke

We are getting used to consuming instant, ready-mix, rehash entertainment, Like a river flowing out of wide screens, Endless Home Box Office films and series deliver violence, sex, and psychotic fantasies of the highest production value but devoid of any real nourishment.

HOME ENTERTAINMENT WITHOUT THE BOX OR THE OFFICE
Who has the gumption to ask for simple, live original music played in their own space? It’s direct and intimate, and without the general craziness we have come to see as normal in canned corporate entertainment.

Update: Live show coming up at Scarecrow on Sept 3rd

IN-HOUSE ENTERTAINMENT
In my last post, I offered to play in-house gigs, To prove that there can be a viable house concert circuit here.

desertrd WHY?
NZ has an area as big as Great Britain inhabited by 20 times fewer souls.

Yet we act as if we live in a country that has a huge population. Consequently most gigs are in venues way bigger than called for.

The cost of putting on such shows often outweighs the returns.

The average venue gets such small turnouts that you could literally invite the audience back to your own living room. So why not do just that?

START WITH ME! Book a house concert

coffee Ed says: here is a button then… Booking fee buys a coffee and secures the date which is subject to confirmation.

Click button to buy me a coffee and talk to me about a houseparty $4 (NZD) at your place Call me 021 025 92919. Just tell me what’s involved and I will tell you what I can do. At this stage its experimental so lets feel it out. Email me with your request and some details. lukehurleymusic@gmail.com

new_sb Thanks again for the huge help with the new SB guitar to replace the stolen one. Soon I will no longer be famous for having lost a guitar but famous for having friends who replaced it! Thanks to y’all

REALLY APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT SO FAR and

Many thanks to Siobhan & Bernard Demeester, Geoff Wiklund, WonderWebs, Larry Freilich, William Paynter, Jeremy Belcher, John Buckeridge, Darren Bayliss, Penny Cliffin, Nick – Stone Arrow Jewellery, Gordon Becket, Gregor Cameron, Glen Molesworth, Corene Higgins, Derek Butland, John Payne, Andrew Nash, Alysson Parker, Jason Kemp, Lance Flavell, Anthony Skeggs, Taylored Artwork, Julz, Duncan Gillies, Nicholas Tufillaro, Richard Trotman, Elizabeth O’Connor, Leon Earl, David Parker and last but not least my amazing big hearted brother Paul.

So please keep me in mind for a gathering and see if I can compete with Game of Thrones. Ha ha!

If you are a guitarist and would like Steve Barkman to make you a guitar, or repair or restore one, then I would highly recommend him.   Address: 15 Dickson St, Macandrew Bay 9014, Dunedin Phone: 03-476 1463 (021) 180 6249   If you want to help more directly, please use the buttons below to make a supporting donation towards the guitar.

Steve Barkman card

Make a donation towards guitar

If anything is raised above the target it will go towards Steve repairing my other guitars and recording the new album. You will be emailed directly by Paypal P.S click on red buttons if you make a mistake & need to deduct amounts from the shopping cart.

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SB 12 is now ready

July 28, 2015news, philosophySteve Barkman guitarLuke

It is with great pleasure that I can report that Steve Barkman has completed work on a replacement for my 12-string guitar. You will (remember when) _the last one got stolen_ ages ago and the media got involved trying to find it. For a long time now I have been answering the same question over and over: “Did you ever find it?”  We finally have a solution, and it is a brand spanking new Mk3.

The old Mk1 reached a point where I had played it so much it was totally gone, and Steve had to cannibalise it for bits and pieces to make the Mk2. Which ended up getting nicked.  The new one is exquisite, and just waiting for me to pay the price.  After the last one got stolen, I received much support which kept me going. I used what I had to pay for a new neck on my six-string Takoma.

This was the only guitar I had which I could use for gigs, and I still use it to this day, but now my signature instrument is ready and I can get back to normal. I can’t tell you what a relief it is, since this comes at the time when I am due to record a new album.   My studios of choice are Roundhead and Eieio in Te Puke.   So! The plan is simple:  1. Purchase the new SB 12. This will be easy if I get the kind of support I got last time.  2. Record the next album (yes – new songs coming!).

If you feel like supporting the cause I won’t get in your way! I am not ashamed to ask for help in an industry where we are expected to give 99% of our material away with no way of profiting*.   So you see… if the biz don’t work – and it clearly clearly doesn’t – then the best next option is to hold out my tiny hand and smile nicely and promise to make you a lovely, lovely album and play at yours any time you please! Call me now!! 021 025 929 19.

Anyone who donates $50 or more (buttons below) gets the first release of the new songs.  I’m also thinking about holding a group guitar workshop and hopefully a concert or two. Let me know what you want. I’m working on the new album but need the new guitar to make the sound the best it can be.

Thanks for the huge support and encouragement in the past, but please keep doing it, ’cause I really need to pay off this guitar. Once it is in my hands I will be able to reply to, “Did you ever find your guitar?” with, “No, but this one is WAY better!”

You will be emailed directly by Paypal P.S click on red buttons if you make a mistake & need to deduct amounts from the shopping cart.

Donate $5 (NZD)

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Donate $200 (NZD)

Update: 10 August. Thanks to those of you who have made donations or bought more music in the store. As of today you /we have raised ~~67%~~ 74% of the cost of the guitar. A few more donations would be welcome to pay off the last ~~33%~~ 26% thanks.

*ED notes: The true cost of streaming: Spotify paid Kiwi band with five-star reviews and 90,000 streams just $130

Summary below – but read the full article.

“Local band She’s So Rad earned multiple 5-star reviews for their album Tango and have two songs on A-rotate on Hauraki.
• Yet they’ve only sold a total of 20 physical CDs and 50 digital albums.
• They have had 90,000 songs streamed on Spotify, earning them $130
• Toy says: “It’s just much worse than we expected. I expected it to be bad, but this far surpasses it.”

How About That Then

May 26, 2015news, philosophyLuke

The good news is that the St James Auckland is open again.
The bad news is it closes in March 2016 for three years while a 39 story apartment block gets built next to it.

That gives us a little window to do shows there. Go have a look. The doors are open daily and you are invited to walk around (and a cafe has setup.)

“How about that then?”
Reminds me of when my son was heading for the grand old age of one and he was still not talking. Then all of a sudden he blurts out in perfect English

“How about that then”.

DYLAN THOMAS IN AMERICA
Dylan called his fans ardents .
He was a poet with the following of an A list rock star
He was based in a tiny extremely conservative village in Wales..
When invited to tour the US his wife encouraged him to court the “gullible Americans” and bring home some much needed money
At home when not writing he liked to loll around in the bath sucking on boiled sweets or hang out with his buddies sinking vast amounts of alcohol

Imagine the contrast of touring America , being hailed as a genius and performing in the best places well paid and surrounded by worshipful beautiful people.
You would think that this would be a good time to let the old habits go ,wake up and smell the coffee and embrace a rosy future
Nah!
He preferred instead to drink whenever possible, generally squander all his money and get involved in absurd romances
He returned home penniless
O dear.
Strange how many people follow the same pattern in the face of success
Why so many artists foul their own nests when presented with the “big time”?
I guess it just don’t seem real
Cause in fact it isn’t
It crumbles in the first little huff and puff

THE COST OF ART
My father was a surgeon and in his spare time an abstract painter
He considered himself a painter first and a surgeon second
Its an expensive career. Quality art materials cost a FORTUNE
He only got the best.
He was tortured by doubt and worry but there was no doubt he had something.
I own one oil of his and the Eastern Southland Gallery in Gore has most of the rest of his work.
A large body of his work was destroyed in a fire recently.
Thousands of hours work and HUGE expense and intense application all up in smoke
The record of most of his work is lost forever

JUST PLAY LIKE A BASTARD

Which reminds me of an experience I had in Grafton St Dublin Ireland -the home of my father (he was born in Cork and studied in Dublin)

This guy comes up to me and gives me a 50 Euro note.
He invited me to join him and his friends for dinner in a place close by
When I got there he told me to put my amp on the bar and start playing
I played for hours and people streamed thru the place
The people he introduced me to were obviously onto it and successful in their various fields
Who was this guy and how did he have the authority to take the place over?
The staff didn’t bat an eyelid about me playing in this place that had never had live music before

At the end of this extraordinary night we had a chat and I told these guys my big plan for “making it” in Ireland
They just stared at me like I was a total imbecile “You don’t need to talk shit to us” they said
And followed up with the best advice ever.
“Play!”
“Just play like a bastard”
“Forget about selling anything> Just play!”

Voila!
That’s it folks
The greatest thing a musician can do is just play sing write
Nothing can replace the live here and now
Never mind the bollocks
Just play!

If you want me to play for you just call me 021 0259195 and I will come and play like a bastard at yours

Keep safe

Everything we do is part of the art

April 2, 2015news, philosophy, Song StoriesLuke

There is a Billy Apple exhibition on in Auckland
My friend Clive rates him highly
Clive pointed out to me that everything we do is part of the art
The artist himself is a brand and everything he does makes up that brand
The thing I really like about Billy is this …that the artist himself IS the art
So everything he does is relevant
There is no real point in trying to hide behind a thin veneer of bling
Mr Apple takes it to extremes

But I suggest a moderate version of his stye
Just be honest and not afraid to expose the sensitive issues
Fact is an artist is not a superhero
He is just creating art and in doing so he IS the art
His weakness can be turned into strengths
Like in the Tesla car.
The huge extra weight of the battery gives the car incomparable traction and stability
You can’t roll it in a standard roll test
There is the line “My strength is made perfect in weakness”
Love that line
Where does it come from?

Got some great feedback from Potato Sack Perry
He advises me to write regular blogs and to talk about ME
Yay
I would love to do that
Here goes!

For years I have had a problem with sitting down and writing songs.
I know I can do it but I prefer to work on my feet as it were and play constantly to discover all kinds of riffs and ideas
The music develops this way but what about the lyrics?
Not so good for developing lyrics
I really need to apply the seat of my pants to the seat of the chair
That’s what I am doing right now and its not too painful

I wanna write a song about MS anyone out there with information on this disease?
Have you heard of BID FOR A BETTER LIFE?
I have been asked to submit a song for this cause

Thanks for getting in touch Patrick
OF COURSE I REMEMBER YOU
Could I ever forget? Ha ha
You also have been a big inspiration to me
I loved your insights and your stories
Especially the one about the Top Guns party
Can we tell it to the people? Its a great story.

You see? It works
I asked for feedback from my last blog and I got it
I now ask for even more so that we can really start to roll this blog
Tell me if there is anything I can do for you
People used to say that ALL the time
You don’t hear that so often these days

I wanna post up the lyrics of my songs and the chords
Just give the music away
Why not?
Elon Musk gives everything away and he’s a billionaire as a result
The more you give the more you get to give more

Tallk soon
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE write in

What a gravy train

March 16, 2015news, videoLuke

Last night my good friend Nev Copland gave me a very expensive ticket to the Eagles at Mt Smart. A highlight was when the crowd chimed in on Hotel California and seemed to know every word of it.

The ticket prices were insane. I had no idea that the showbiz world had managed to schmoooze so much hard earned bread out of ardent punters. Would you pay 700 plus for a ticket? Even a cheap seat was close to 150.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing.
The Eagles are no doubt gifted musicians but their management is pure genius in being able to persuade 70 thousand people to pay HUNDREDS each for a ticket 6 months in advance.

What a gravy train! All costs returned and a MASSIVE profit IN ADVANCE. Two nights could return close to 20 million excluding merchandise and sponsorships etc. It’s nuts.

It don’t take Einstein to work out that there is something overshadowing music here.

I think I will apply for a job like that. Let you know how I get on.

Anyone got the chords to Hotel California? I understand there is plenty of room there. Book me in please.

Want to say a big thanks to ~~Jonathan G~~ for making videos of my songs. If you have time have a look at his work. ~~Here they are below.~~ Update: Unfortunately Jonathan’s channel and clips seem to have disappeared.

Two Degrees (Out)

Japanese Overdrive

Pascals Song

Auld Lang Syne

Fait accompli (studio version)

First Civilian

Still not a lot of work out there so am keen to play at yours. Any excuse is ok. Just throw a NO REASON AT ALL PARTY and I come play for you. Originals only but I will do you a cover of Hotel California for a donation of 20 million in advance to give me six months to learn the song.

Seriously tho, if you require my services please text me/phone 02102592919 and I will come play for you. Teach you my songs. Read you stories. Anything.Conditions apply. Ha ha.

Anyway – I have to go but I ask of you to PLEASE give us some feedback. Really want to write this blog frequently and if you respond then its gonna give me the input I need to keep cranking

Have an awesome day then write in and tell me about it.

Bye for now

Luke

Luke Hurley

original music