December Lizard

Somebody's put a paper hat on the cat and she's not happy...

Dearest mailing list subscriber,

Welcome to my final mail out of the year, thanks for being a part of this reptilian community, I really appreciate it.

MOST PRESSING INFO:

My final tourdates of the year are this week!

TOMORROW (THURSDAY) -SHEFFIELD Cafe no. 9 No support-2 Gecko sets JUST 6 TICKETS LEFT HERE

THIS SUNDAY-EXETER Phoenix Support from Essy Sparrow TICKETS HERE

A LOOK BACK ON 2025

For me this has been the year of my new album ‘The Big Picture’, my first album in 5 years.

Recording an album is always a huge undertaking, but this time I really pushed the boat out, working with Mercury prize nominated engineer Shuta Shinoda and a glorious cast of musicians, including strings and horns to give the songs the sonic scope I thought they deserved. I got the support of the fantastic musical charity Help Musicians alongside a massive crowdfunding campaign to get the project across the line.

In March finally the album was released into the world , into the streaming services of course but also on CD and a stunning gatefold Vinyl version (a proper big picture). The gorgeous artwork by Indonesian artist Galih Putra contains so many rich details like a renaissance painting era Where’s Wally.

I celebrated the album coming out with ALBUM CAKE and some special release parties in London, Salford and home to the Tamworth Two pigs Malmesbury!

The album gained some lovely reviews and features including from Clash Magazine, The Morning Star newspaper, Noctis Magazine & Earmilk.

I then had a packed festival season including my ninth Glastonbury festival, my festival debut in Romania and an absolute treat of a show at Green Man festival.

I then embarked on THE BIG PICTURE tour-which I am due to finish this Sunday in Exeter. This tour has gone all the way up to Scotland and back down again. I’ve played an actual medieval tower in Canterbury, an antiques shop in Hastings, a living room in Liverpool and the first full band Gecko show in a over a decade in Hoxton on the same road that the album was recorded in. In Bristol my musical bff Chris Read joined me on a baby grand piano and I’ve had a ridiculously talented cast of support acts across the dates.

Thanks so much to everyone who’s made it along to a show whether you travelled from CANADA* or the show was at your ACTUAL HOUSE**. It feels like a tough time to get the word out about things atm and so I am so grateful to have you dearest mailing list subscriber here. In an ever changing algorithmic landscape it’s reassuring to have this old mailing list here-and so great to see so many of you in person at the shows!

Apologies to those further afield who TBP tour has not yet reached.

Have you seen TBP music videos:

It’s You (That I Find)

The Tamworth Two

Take a Look Around

THE GREAT BIG BUG SHOW on tour 2026

Me and the poet Simon Mole’s brand new family show will be touring in 2026. We had a blast with it this Autumn including performances at the iconic NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM! Expect a woodlice based game show, a ROCKING ladybird song and a star turn from an interrupting fly. Bring your little crew.

Here’s where we’ll be next:

17 Feb The Great Big Bug Show Norwich Theatre - 12pm & 2pm Tickets

19 Feb The Great Big Bug Show artsdepot, North London - 11am & 2pm Tickets

21 Feb The Great Big Bug Show Norden Farm, Maidenhead - 11.30am & 2pm Tickets

28 Feb The Great Big Bug Show Half Moon Theatre, East London 11am & 2pm Tickets

1 March The Great Big Bug Show Hat Factory Arts Centre, Luton - 11.30am & 2pm Tickets

More dates to come!

FROM THE LIZARD ARCHIVES

As it’s December it has to be my two festive offerings to the seasonal canon:

THAT TIME OF YEAR

12! Years ago now I decided it was high time I wrote a Xmas song, directed by Chris Hugall we turned our Gecko rehearsal room into a Yuletide emporium.

LAST CHRISTMAS SUNG BY A SAD BIRD

During lockdown I briefly became a sad bird and created this -my avian magnum opus.

ALBUM DEEP DIVE -TRACK EIGHT -BOWLING IN MADISON

I wrote ‘Bowling in Madison’ back in 2020. During lockdown I got more into playing piano, and playing keys in the middle of live stream sets. So this was one song that came out of that. I liked the idea of writing a song that was a series of Facebook messages from a long lost friend. The idea of getting a bowling team back together just seemed to fit the narrative. A nice small story about getting back to the glory days. I don’t know much about Madison, Wisconsin but the word just fitted perfectly into the song. I hope to one day play this song in a bowling alley there.

For the album recording I played the keys line on both the grand piano and a Fender Rhodes at Hackney Road and the two parts merge together. We then also got Phil Veacock to build up chords on the Sax by playing each part individually, for me it creates a wonderful almost synth like pad sound but with the build up of individual breaths that make it sound unmistakably human. The production is super sparse with just some bass high up on the neck played by Si Cole tying it together.

Whatever this time of year means to you I hope you have a rejuvenating time.

All the yuletide lizard love

Gecko
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*True

**Also true