The Greyest Bits (February 2023)
The Greyest Bits, released on Thursday 2nd February 2023, marks Mike’s 65th birthday. His material draws on family stories and life experiences: a rich personal tapestry that is often poignant, yet always relatable. Mike has never moved far from his roots, living in Gloucestershire and South Worcestershire since he was born in Charlton Kings in 1958. All of the songs were written in the region.
He first sang live in the late 1970s, but was always a reluctant performer, preferring to write and share his music with small groups and friends in more intimate surroundings. Working as an illustrator and journalist as his day job, Mike met and encouraged many musicians in those early days. He started his own marketing and publishing business in 1989, and largely withdrew from the music scene before quitting completely in 1997, when his twin daughters were born.
Sixteen years later he picked up his guitar and found his true voice. Encouraged by a few artists he’d supported through his newspaper columns and blogs, he began to write music again. Returning with a greater depth and sensitivity that comes with maturity, there were some thought-provoking new songs, and re-workings of earlier numbers to match life’s experience too. It took time. The hairline receded, the hair colour changed (naturally), the keys moved up or down. .
There were several self-recorded albums between 2014 and 2019, released on digital platforms, with CDs largely being sold at gigs. Live performances increased as Mike grew in confidence, playing his original material at folk clubs, festivals and other happenings in the Midlands and South West. He also became a popular support act, opening for artists such as O’Hooley & Tidow, Ange Hardy, Steve Ashley, Tir na nOg, Edwina Hayes, Breton ‘power folk’ icon Dom Duff, Canadian indie-folk musician Sarah Jane Scouten, and Reg Meuross. Mike was also a founder member of the ‘Folk Treble’ events in his local area, working with musicians such as Daria Kulesh, Kim Lowings, Colin Pitts and Katie Grace Harris.
Ten years on from a return to the stage, The Greyest Bits is here. The album has laments for long-lost pubs, myths and legends, tales of wartime experiences, songs of faith and hope, memories of childhood, impending fatherhood, letting go and friendships rekindled. The digital version contains six tracks: a CD in presentation pack, combining this new collection with 'Too Soon It's Time To Fly' will be available at live shows..
The pure voice of Katie Grace Harris is featured on ‘The Greyest Bits’ - along with the multi-instrumental talents of Lukas Drinkwater, who also recorded, engineered the album at Polyphonic Recordings in Stroud. It’s been over two years in the making - largely due to the Covid pandemic and the unpredictability of events which life throws at us.
The album can be downloaded from Bandcamp mikeweaver.bandcamp.com/album/the-greyest-bits and can be streamed on Apple Music, Spotify and other digital platforms.
Who knows what the next few years will hold? Mike finds solace through his own writing, playing and performing, and hopes the listener will find words of comfort, kindness, relaxation and peace through his music too. Feedback is always welcome by email
He first sang live in the late 1970s, but was always a reluctant performer, preferring to write and share his music with small groups and friends in more intimate surroundings. Working as an illustrator and journalist as his day job, Mike met and encouraged many musicians in those early days. He started his own marketing and publishing business in 1989, and largely withdrew from the music scene before quitting completely in 1997, when his twin daughters were born.
Sixteen years later he picked up his guitar and found his true voice. Encouraged by a few artists he’d supported through his newspaper columns and blogs, he began to write music again. Returning with a greater depth and sensitivity that comes with maturity, there were some thought-provoking new songs, and re-workings of earlier numbers to match life’s experience too. It took time. The hairline receded, the hair colour changed (naturally), the keys moved up or down. .
There were several self-recorded albums between 2014 and 2019, released on digital platforms, with CDs largely being sold at gigs. Live performances increased as Mike grew in confidence, playing his original material at folk clubs, festivals and other happenings in the Midlands and South West. He also became a popular support act, opening for artists such as O’Hooley & Tidow, Ange Hardy, Steve Ashley, Tir na nOg, Edwina Hayes, Breton ‘power folk’ icon Dom Duff, Canadian indie-folk musician Sarah Jane Scouten, and Reg Meuross. Mike was also a founder member of the ‘Folk Treble’ events in his local area, working with musicians such as Daria Kulesh, Kim Lowings, Colin Pitts and Katie Grace Harris.
Ten years on from a return to the stage, The Greyest Bits is here. The album has laments for long-lost pubs, myths and legends, tales of wartime experiences, songs of faith and hope, memories of childhood, impending fatherhood, letting go and friendships rekindled. The digital version contains six tracks: a CD in presentation pack, combining this new collection with 'Too Soon It's Time To Fly' will be available at live shows..
The pure voice of Katie Grace Harris is featured on ‘The Greyest Bits’ - along with the multi-instrumental talents of Lukas Drinkwater, who also recorded, engineered the album at Polyphonic Recordings in Stroud. It’s been over two years in the making - largely due to the Covid pandemic and the unpredictability of events which life throws at us.
The album can be downloaded from Bandcamp mikeweaver.bandcamp.com/album/the-greyest-bits and can be streamed on Apple Music, Spotify and other digital platforms.
Who knows what the next few years will hold? Mike finds solace through his own writing, playing and performing, and hopes the listener will find words of comfort, kindness, relaxation and peace through his music too. Feedback is always welcome by email
Too Soon It's Time To Fly (September 2020)
The world changed dramatically and without warning in 2020, and many of us were left reflecting upon what had gone before - tempered with the realisation that life might never be the same again.
Somewhat improbably, I found myself immersed in a state of unexpected calm, underlined with a feeling that time really does move more quickly as we take one more step towards the great unknown. Too soon, it's time to fly.
I'd already written two new songs: firstly, Balcarras Road - which is a journey back to my childhood and nature walks we took from Charlton Kings' infants and junior schools, getting on for fifty years ago. Heart of Reunion - the second new composition - is a shimmering tune inspired by becoming re-acquainted with valued and near forgotten pals from those days, and the joy that shared memories can bring. Ties never broken, just loosened.
The time seemed right to blend these musical bedfellows with some previously unreleased material, and songs re-worked to reflect upon the shifting patterns of my life.
In March I lost Daisy, my constant canine companion of thirteen years. Chasing Squirrels remembers the simple shared pleasures of a symbiotic relationship that will never be forgotten, but frequently lamented. Century Caught is a song I wrote back in 2014, which imagines how a house might view the generations of lives lived within its walls, and its eventual return to nature. Ashes to ashes, and all that.
The Richness In You was written in 1996, when I discovered I was to become a father. I didn't realise then that I was to share the pleasurable parenting of twins - nor did I imagine what fine, caring and compassionate young ladies they would grow up to be. They first flew the nest in 2015 - to study at universities in Lancashire and Gloucestershire. It was for Megan and Alice that I then wrote Pembrokeshire Fair. Five years later, equipped with impressive respective degrees in Korean and English Literature, they boldly moved to Asia to take up teaching positions at a Primary School in Korea. A re-worked version of their parting song brings the album to a fitting close.
Finally, I would like to thank Lukas Drinkwater for helping me to bring these songs to life at his Polyphonic Recording studio. I'm indebted to his skill as a producer, musician and engineer - but also to his musical intuition. I wanted to retain the live feel of my previous recordings, with more polish and depth through the addition of additional instruments. Lukas helped me to reach this goal - and then some. Check out Lukas's own music by visiting his website www.lukasdrinkwater.com
Too Soon It's Time To Fly can be downloaded and streamed from the usual digital platforms and Bandcamp (£5.00)- where you can also order a physical CD (£7.00 inc P&P in the UK): mikeweaver.bandcamp.com. CDs will also be available at my gigs, and you can also order by using the Contact Form on this website.
Somewhat improbably, I found myself immersed in a state of unexpected calm, underlined with a feeling that time really does move more quickly as we take one more step towards the great unknown. Too soon, it's time to fly.
I'd already written two new songs: firstly, Balcarras Road - which is a journey back to my childhood and nature walks we took from Charlton Kings' infants and junior schools, getting on for fifty years ago. Heart of Reunion - the second new composition - is a shimmering tune inspired by becoming re-acquainted with valued and near forgotten pals from those days, and the joy that shared memories can bring. Ties never broken, just loosened.
The time seemed right to blend these musical bedfellows with some previously unreleased material, and songs re-worked to reflect upon the shifting patterns of my life.
In March I lost Daisy, my constant canine companion of thirteen years. Chasing Squirrels remembers the simple shared pleasures of a symbiotic relationship that will never be forgotten, but frequently lamented. Century Caught is a song I wrote back in 2014, which imagines how a house might view the generations of lives lived within its walls, and its eventual return to nature. Ashes to ashes, and all that.
The Richness In You was written in 1996, when I discovered I was to become a father. I didn't realise then that I was to share the pleasurable parenting of twins - nor did I imagine what fine, caring and compassionate young ladies they would grow up to be. They first flew the nest in 2015 - to study at universities in Lancashire and Gloucestershire. It was for Megan and Alice that I then wrote Pembrokeshire Fair. Five years later, equipped with impressive respective degrees in Korean and English Literature, they boldly moved to Asia to take up teaching positions at a Primary School in Korea. A re-worked version of their parting song brings the album to a fitting close.
Finally, I would like to thank Lukas Drinkwater for helping me to bring these songs to life at his Polyphonic Recording studio. I'm indebted to his skill as a producer, musician and engineer - but also to his musical intuition. I wanted to retain the live feel of my previous recordings, with more polish and depth through the addition of additional instruments. Lukas helped me to reach this goal - and then some. Check out Lukas's own music by visiting his website www.lukasdrinkwater.com
Too Soon It's Time To Fly can be downloaded and streamed from the usual digital platforms and Bandcamp (£5.00)- where you can also order a physical CD (£7.00 inc P&P in the UK): mikeweaver.bandcamp.com. CDs will also be available at my gigs, and you can also order by using the Contact Form on this website.
A Moment In Time (September 2019)
A Moment In Time (September 30th 2019) is a collection of twelve songs and tunes from Worcestershire-based singer-songwriter Mike Weaver.
“The album was inspired by walks with my dog, family and valued friends, reflections on childhood, and the transition of life from middle age into something none of us are quite prepared for, said Mike. “Well trodden paths, and roads not taken. Uncharted routes left behind.
“My mother always said than time passed more quickly as you got older, and as I look back I realise how right she was - and I wonder where those carefree, treasured days have all gone.
“As I approached sixty years old, I found myself wanting to hold those shining moments forever. Memories which seem as clear decades later as they were the minute after they passed. Moments in Time - and this album captures some of mine. From bumpy rides in my father’s old Austin A40, through voyages of discovery into the Cotswold hills, to my children making their own way in the world, and songs inspired by books I read as a teenager”
Also on this album is a re-working of an earlier song - From Here To Africa (a deeply spiritual message from one who has no particular faith) which features on the physical CD only.
To hear Finding Hilcot and The Church Is Coming Down from the album (played live on radio Winchcombe) go to the Hear My Music page (click on the orange text).
The twelve-track digital album (which was recorded live at Mike's home) can be downloaded for £7.99 from iTunes and other sales sites. To order a copy of the CD, please let us know your requirements by using the Contact Form - we'll get back to you with a price including postage to your area.
“The album was inspired by walks with my dog, family and valued friends, reflections on childhood, and the transition of life from middle age into something none of us are quite prepared for, said Mike. “Well trodden paths, and roads not taken. Uncharted routes left behind.
“My mother always said than time passed more quickly as you got older, and as I look back I realise how right she was - and I wonder where those carefree, treasured days have all gone.
“As I approached sixty years old, I found myself wanting to hold those shining moments forever. Memories which seem as clear decades later as they were the minute after they passed. Moments in Time - and this album captures some of mine. From bumpy rides in my father’s old Austin A40, through voyages of discovery into the Cotswold hills, to my children making their own way in the world, and songs inspired by books I read as a teenager”
Also on this album is a re-working of an earlier song - From Here To Africa (a deeply spiritual message from one who has no particular faith) which features on the physical CD only.
To hear Finding Hilcot and The Church Is Coming Down from the album (played live on radio Winchcombe) go to the Hear My Music page (click on the orange text).
The twelve-track digital album (which was recorded live at Mike's home) can be downloaded for £7.99 from iTunes and other sales sites. To order a copy of the CD, please let us know your requirements by using the Contact Form - we'll get back to you with a price including postage to your area.
The Others (February 2016)
The Others (published February 2016) got its name because the album contains a variety of songs for, whatever reason, (even I'm not sure) were left unfinished for a good many years. Some have been tinkered with for decades, lyrics re-written and keys changed to suit an ageing voice.
By and large they were 'the others' that I have kept returning to.
There is also some new material, inspired by life's changes as the sixth decade approaches, with hope that a light still shines for us all as the world appears to grow ever darker.
Please note: owing to a pressing error, on some copies of the CD Pembrokeshire Fair appears as track 8, not as track 10 as stated on the sleeve. The rest of the running order is the same. Many apologies for this mistake!
By and large they were 'the others' that I have kept returning to.
There is also some new material, inspired by life's changes as the sixth decade approaches, with hope that a light still shines for us all as the world appears to grow ever darker.
Please note: owing to a pressing error, on some copies of the CD Pembrokeshire Fair appears as track 8, not as track 10 as stated on the sleeve. The rest of the running order is the same. Many apologies for this mistake!
Life And Times is a rites of passage song, written at the end of the 1970s. It was an era when my friends and I began to cross the threshold into the sense and sensibility of adulthood. With the new found status of being able to order a drink legally came the sobering realisation that we were all moving on. Life was never quite going to be the same again. Some of us didn't make it very far beyond the school gates: tragedy cut short the lives of several contemporaries, and now the first of the old gang has left us too. So it is fitting that Life And Times should finally be recorded in 2015. In memory of Paul Summerbell.
Just Don't Bother Me draws its inspiration from a bar in Arizona, circa 2010. Searing heat outside - in front a long, low wooden porch with a natty sprinkler system misting thirsty incomers with ice-cold water. It actually had swing doors, like those swaggered through by John Wayne, and inside were loud voices, plenty of checked shirts, the air thick with cigarette smoke and the clink of cold beer bottles. Not as tough as the bars of the Wild West, but enough of a rough edge about it to evoke memories of times gone by, Working girls and idle men with too much time on their hands - and perhaps one lost soul who cared more than he ought to. Maybe.
We are all getting older. Even as you read these words, the present becomes the past. Some of us are lucky enough to grow old together, others not so fortunate. As we tut at the elderly couple shuffling through the shopping centre and blocking our way, or fumbling to find the right change in the queue at the supermarket, we know nothing of their former selves. We don't even reflect upon the joys, or the sadness they have shared together. Blue Is A Name gently observes what might have been, or remains undiscovered, in the lives of others entering the twilight zone. The voice of one man looking back, and forward.
I wrote a childrens' story a few years ago (see written work page and feel free to purchase a copy!). At the end of the book, the main character Iona, now grown up into a level-headed young woman, returns to her Hebridean home with her daughter - crossing the dark waters on the ferry from the mainland. Return To Inishmae is the moment's theme tune. (PS: Gather I Must - one of my most popular songs - also draws inspiration from my book 'Claws').
I first met my wife in the late 1970s, when we were both very young. Obviously! Circumstances meant we both moved on to make separate lives, but by quirk of fate, we were drawn together again many years later. Nell and Mirror of My Soul are both songs I wrote at that point in our history - approaching Christmas time in 1995. I always felt they were very personal: consequently they have only been played once each in public, on special occasions. It's high time they had an airing.
One of my daughters made a cutting observation about folk music a few years back. "All folk songs are about wars, trees, or sailors leaving their sweethearts ." She Wants To Go Out Dancing ticks a few boxes then. The 1939-1945 war changed domestic life as we'd known it in Britain forever. Returning to peacetime for a solider, sailor or airman cannot have been easy. These were the days of making do and mending, maintaining a stiff upper lip and just getting on with life. As it were. Not so easy for most of the few, as reflected in this song.
The English Biscuit is simply a tribute to what the English do best. Plain, honest and presentable, Although I have to own up to a penchant for shortbread - and admit that possibly the finest biscuit known to man comes from Abernethy. But then I do have Scottish blood.
Little Lady Lies is based on a drunken tale told to me one night circa 1980 by a girl who lived in a rural garrison town. The local lasses all aimed to hook up with a charismatic Tommy, but on balance were highly unlikely to enjoy much more than a brief encounter. As they say, you can take the girl out of the Cotswolds, but.... (Add suitable cliche here).
When my twin daughters spread their wings and went off to university in September 2015, I reflected upon our family life in the first eighteeen years and underlined the happy holidays we spent in West Wales. Pembrokeshire Fair attempts to put into words those magical images captured on camera. You can check out some of those 'holiday snaps' (as my late mother called them) in a YouTube video on the 'Hear My Music' page. This song is also available as a single (downloadable for a most reasonable 79p from iTunes).
Envy's Doorway is a little piece of incidental music, dedicated to the homeless youngsters of Dublin. A good friend of mine ran off to Ireland when she was just 14 years old - and spent hopeless nights in the doorway of an 'Envy' fashion store. A lonely tune: traffic passes by, wheels thrashing through puddles. Passing huddled figures unnoticed. All was well in the end for her - but others now crouch in her place. (CD bonus track: this tune is not featured on the digital album).
One of the first songs I wrote was Never Been To London. I was a fresh faced man in my twenties, heading from Swindon to London on a train - counting my blessings while was seated next to a middle aged couple who were busying themselves with copies of 'The Puzzler', Thermos flasks and generally becoming excited by unwrapping sandwiches which they must surely have prepared for themselves. "Ooh - this one's cheese!" "Mine's ham!!" and so on. Not so lucky were the people immediately behind me - who were being subjected to a major earbashing by a young woman boasting of the sophisticated lifestyle she led in the metropolis. The girl disembarked at Reading. As the train moved off, I heard a long-suffering voice say "I bet she's never been to London." (CD bonus track: this song is not featured on the digital album).
I grew up in the Cheltenham suburb of Charlton Kings. Near the modest close where I lived was a rather intriguing enclave of neo-Georgian houses known as Ledmores. It was here that temporary employees of GCHQ were accommodated. Most were American families - and their children were sent to the village junior school, to be educated alongside the local kids. There were a few incidents when my alien classmates disappeared from school unheralded, never to be seen again. Parents despatched elswhere in the interests of diplomacy - or were they? I read an article a few years ago about a young man who was deported after living in this country for donkeys' years, and had been bumbling along as a civil servant like countless others. Neither his wife, nor his child, had any incling that he was trading secrets - or in the employ of an enemy state or states unknown. The Taste Of Freedom is the fanciful story of an unknown spy, and his struggle to rationalise his self-inflicted circumstances. (CD bonus track: this song is not featured on the digital album).
Finally. When. For the simple reason that as the world's spirit seems to grow colder, there is one emotion stronger than any fear, threat or intimidation from those who seek to disturb our peace. Love - in all its forms. Whatever happens, those who seek to destroy, divert, disrupt and deter cannot deny that we have loved and will always love. Love is the strength that we all share. Whatever our beliefs or creeds - we all love. And that is what will see us through. May your God always be with you.
Just Don't Bother Me draws its inspiration from a bar in Arizona, circa 2010. Searing heat outside - in front a long, low wooden porch with a natty sprinkler system misting thirsty incomers with ice-cold water. It actually had swing doors, like those swaggered through by John Wayne, and inside were loud voices, plenty of checked shirts, the air thick with cigarette smoke and the clink of cold beer bottles. Not as tough as the bars of the Wild West, but enough of a rough edge about it to evoke memories of times gone by, Working girls and idle men with too much time on their hands - and perhaps one lost soul who cared more than he ought to. Maybe.
We are all getting older. Even as you read these words, the present becomes the past. Some of us are lucky enough to grow old together, others not so fortunate. As we tut at the elderly couple shuffling through the shopping centre and blocking our way, or fumbling to find the right change in the queue at the supermarket, we know nothing of their former selves. We don't even reflect upon the joys, or the sadness they have shared together. Blue Is A Name gently observes what might have been, or remains undiscovered, in the lives of others entering the twilight zone. The voice of one man looking back, and forward.
I wrote a childrens' story a few years ago (see written work page and feel free to purchase a copy!). At the end of the book, the main character Iona, now grown up into a level-headed young woman, returns to her Hebridean home with her daughter - crossing the dark waters on the ferry from the mainland. Return To Inishmae is the moment's theme tune. (PS: Gather I Must - one of my most popular songs - also draws inspiration from my book 'Claws').
I first met my wife in the late 1970s, when we were both very young. Obviously! Circumstances meant we both moved on to make separate lives, but by quirk of fate, we were drawn together again many years later. Nell and Mirror of My Soul are both songs I wrote at that point in our history - approaching Christmas time in 1995. I always felt they were very personal: consequently they have only been played once each in public, on special occasions. It's high time they had an airing.
One of my daughters made a cutting observation about folk music a few years back. "All folk songs are about wars, trees, or sailors leaving their sweethearts ." She Wants To Go Out Dancing ticks a few boxes then. The 1939-1945 war changed domestic life as we'd known it in Britain forever. Returning to peacetime for a solider, sailor or airman cannot have been easy. These were the days of making do and mending, maintaining a stiff upper lip and just getting on with life. As it were. Not so easy for most of the few, as reflected in this song.
The English Biscuit is simply a tribute to what the English do best. Plain, honest and presentable, Although I have to own up to a penchant for shortbread - and admit that possibly the finest biscuit known to man comes from Abernethy. But then I do have Scottish blood.
Little Lady Lies is based on a drunken tale told to me one night circa 1980 by a girl who lived in a rural garrison town. The local lasses all aimed to hook up with a charismatic Tommy, but on balance were highly unlikely to enjoy much more than a brief encounter. As they say, you can take the girl out of the Cotswolds, but.... (Add suitable cliche here).
When my twin daughters spread their wings and went off to university in September 2015, I reflected upon our family life in the first eighteeen years and underlined the happy holidays we spent in West Wales. Pembrokeshire Fair attempts to put into words those magical images captured on camera. You can check out some of those 'holiday snaps' (as my late mother called them) in a YouTube video on the 'Hear My Music' page. This song is also available as a single (downloadable for a most reasonable 79p from iTunes).
Envy's Doorway is a little piece of incidental music, dedicated to the homeless youngsters of Dublin. A good friend of mine ran off to Ireland when she was just 14 years old - and spent hopeless nights in the doorway of an 'Envy' fashion store. A lonely tune: traffic passes by, wheels thrashing through puddles. Passing huddled figures unnoticed. All was well in the end for her - but others now crouch in her place. (CD bonus track: this tune is not featured on the digital album).
One of the first songs I wrote was Never Been To London. I was a fresh faced man in my twenties, heading from Swindon to London on a train - counting my blessings while was seated next to a middle aged couple who were busying themselves with copies of 'The Puzzler', Thermos flasks and generally becoming excited by unwrapping sandwiches which they must surely have prepared for themselves. "Ooh - this one's cheese!" "Mine's ham!!" and so on. Not so lucky were the people immediately behind me - who were being subjected to a major earbashing by a young woman boasting of the sophisticated lifestyle she led in the metropolis. The girl disembarked at Reading. As the train moved off, I heard a long-suffering voice say "I bet she's never been to London." (CD bonus track: this song is not featured on the digital album).
I grew up in the Cheltenham suburb of Charlton Kings. Near the modest close where I lived was a rather intriguing enclave of neo-Georgian houses known as Ledmores. It was here that temporary employees of GCHQ were accommodated. Most were American families - and their children were sent to the village junior school, to be educated alongside the local kids. There were a few incidents when my alien classmates disappeared from school unheralded, never to be seen again. Parents despatched elswhere in the interests of diplomacy - or were they? I read an article a few years ago about a young man who was deported after living in this country for donkeys' years, and had been bumbling along as a civil servant like countless others. Neither his wife, nor his child, had any incling that he was trading secrets - or in the employ of an enemy state or states unknown. The Taste Of Freedom is the fanciful story of an unknown spy, and his struggle to rationalise his self-inflicted circumstances. (CD bonus track: this song is not featured on the digital album).
Finally. When. For the simple reason that as the world's spirit seems to grow colder, there is one emotion stronger than any fear, threat or intimidation from those who seek to disturb our peace. Love - in all its forms. Whatever happens, those who seek to destroy, divert, disrupt and deter cannot deny that we have loved and will always love. Love is the strength that we all share. Whatever our beliefs or creeds - we all love. And that is what will see us through. May your God always be with you.
