So there you are - some people have voiced doubts that it was actually going to happened and I've been a bit less than confident at times but here it is - you can actually buy it online at www.southerndomestic.co.uk and several people already have. They may even have been listening to it over breakfast this morning - or should that be breakfastses to quote my book (Butlins / Blood Pressure Eric page 132). I only hope everyone likes it after all this.
Sorry to keep plugging the new website - but actually, no I'm not sorry. I'm quite proud of it even though I've had a nasty email from a person called Kriss Bell who is no longer on my mailing list. He felt the need to inform me that everybody in the North knows that I'm only in it for the money. I'm doing a shit job if I am and I must be more stupid than I ever thought I was. More stupid even than Kriss Bell. I wonder if he's got a job. If I was a plumber or a designer or an engineer or a shopkeeper it would be quite OK to be in it for the money, but because I'm a musician I'm supposed to do it for love alone. Well fuck that - I've spent half my working life in abject poverty trying to exercise the right to earn a living doing something I believe in. One day I'll drive through a puddle in my Bentley and splash him.
So I hope anyone who wants to will find the Southern Domestic Factory Shop and enjoyable online shopping experience and all that old bollocks and I look forward to the album going double asbestos in no time at all.

Now I should tell you all about the gigs with The Rutles and The Magic Band. I loved the 100 Club gigs with The Rutles. We've all got to know each other now so it was very easy going. The first night was a bit less easy going for me personally because I was introduced to Andrew Innes and Martin Duffy from Primal Scream just before I went on. I love Primal Scream so I wanted to make sure I played as well as I could - not that I'd ever do less than the best I can. Afterwards Andrew Innes said my guitar playing was like Syd Barrat. I'm that pleased I can hardly get through doors.
On the second night I was manning (great verb) the merchandising stall before I played. I was busy being in it for the money right up until I went on - I had to excuse myself and leave the stall in the charge of a member of the audience. It was even better than the first night. I was such a warmth from the audience - being onstage has never been better. I even did an encore - something I don't really like to do normally. I had to do an encore because my daughter, Luci, arrived just as I finished the set so I had to do one more for her anyway. Oh, and England lost the football too.

When I got the call about opening for The Magic Band I could hardly speak. Even without Captain Beefheart it's a bit impressive - I grew up with Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - their records helped to shape my life. I don't know whether or not they're an influence but even though what I do doesn't sound anything like them I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't sound like I do without them. We looked up their website and got worried because they looked a bit scary. I've always had the impression anyway that anyone who played with Beefheart had to be extra-terrestial at the very least. In the event they were really nice people. Rockette Morton turned out to be a fine southern gentleman from South Carolina. He said 'hi, I'm Rockette,' and shook my hand. Then he explained that he had to get back to the hotel for a beauty sleep. 'At my age I need a lot of beauty sleep' he said.
Gary Lucas recalled seeing the Stiff Tour at the Bottomline in New York. If I'd known he wes there... but of course that was a good year and a half before he played on Ice Cream For Crow so it probably wouldn't have made much difference to me. I talked to John French (Drumbo) about Strictly Personal and felt completely awestruck in their presence. I would have liked to have questioned them closely about the making of Trout Mask Replica, Clear Spot, The Spotlight Kid, Doc At The Radar Station etc etc... but it wouldn't have been fair. And anyway I was too scared.
They seemed to get really concentrated before they went on - I think that's the only way with that music. It's very complicated - it comes adrift on a sea of organised dischords. They played numbers from all the albums. John French sang some of them and others they did instrumentally with him playing drums and the other drummer standing at the back. They were very good. They managed to sound exactly like The Magic Band even though this line-up is an amalgamation of Magic Band members spanning twenty years or so. I thought they might come across like a tribute band or a museum piece but they sounded alive and happening right now. It was a complete thrill doing the gigs with them.
In Nottingham I explained to the audience early on in my set that if I'd come to see The Magic Band I wouldn't give a fuck about the support so I knew how they were feeling. But the set went better and better and I left the stage to great applause. Another gig that I enjoyed hugely. I did most of the set on five strings having broken a string on both of my guitars - Rockette said it showed I was a professional, he said I'd whooped the audience up really good for them. I think that's one of the high points of my career. I just keep blowing my own trumpet on this site. I'd better stop before everyone gets pissed off with me.

I suppose I should be talking about the finer points of Bungalow Hi but I can't think of anything to say without spouting a computer-load of microsoft gibberish at the moment. I'm compiling the lyrics and some details about the recording which I'm going to try and put up as soon as possible. But knowing me it could take weeks. The best thing you can do is buy a copy - it doesn't cost much and the postage is ridiculously cheap. And after all - I am only in it for the money. Everyone in the north knows that!