A Chris Conway solo songs set is a unique show - "Songs of Love & Peace & Outer Space" is his slogan and that sums it up well. His songs are like films, with a magical quality, each song drawing you into it's spell. Some funny, some touching.

Think David Crosby or James Taylor on a journey taking in Ireland, a jazz club, and Outer Space (you need to hear The Alien Jellyfish Song!). Add to this his multi-instrumental wizardry on guitar, piano, kalimba, Irish tin, twin & low whistles and even theremin, entertaining chat and a soulful voice to die for.

He has released 10 CDs of his own songs and 10 more in collaborations.

He's played with the cream of the UK folk and folk/rock scene.
He is a part of Vikki Clayton's band, and she has recorded two of his songs. He has played Cropredy Festival twice playing to 20,000 people, and the Edinburgh Fringe 5 times. He has toured with ex-Monkees Peter Tork, played with members of Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention as well as Martin Carthy, Sally Barker, Pete Morton, Cathy Lesurf, & Tommy Emmanuel and Talvin Singh.

He has opened for legends...
Bob Geldof, Roy Wood, Richie Havens, Frances Black, Country Joe McDonald, Jefferson Starship and Arthur Brown, Dean Friedman amongst others at packed houses.

Also check out Chris Conway & Dan Britton - a duo who pack quite a punch - think Waterboys, Van Morrison, David Crosby, Ray Charles, & Planxty all mixed up.

The Musician, Leicester - Dec 15th
It was a mellow gig at the Musician - a little quieter than some recently because so many people had gone down with a bug - plus the weather - we had about 25 ardent fans :-) My old comapdre from the Strom Thieves Dave Everitt opened with a great solo set - I joined him on one track for a song Geordie I first heard him sing 20 years ago.
Then I did one long set with Neil Segrott on bass and Neil Rabjohn on cajon drum with Dave joining us later. It was very special to play with Dave again - we hadn't played together for maybe 5 years - we have so much musical history it was great blending our sound again.

Set - The Wishing Tree, Letters In Time, Lifespell, Starting Over, Let Me Be, Carousel, Long Days Waiting, Easier Said Than Done, Something You Don't Know (Dave), Alien Jellyfish Song, Three Headed Girl, I Put A Spell On You
Photos of the gig can be seen here

The Criterion - Leicester - Dec 3rd
Was very chuffed to get a great crowd at The Criterion to see my solo songs set. unfortunately I had the headache from hell and it just wouldn't go away so focussing was a bit of an issue. I chatted a lot to the crowd which went down well. I sang some songs I haven't sung ina while - Green Clothes, Same Shore, etc... plus some of the new ones from Time Traveller... I sang 2 covers - It's Getting Better and Make Your Own Kind Of Music (both Cass Elliot hits)
Chuffed I was to sell 6 CDs

Songs For Dreamers Cover Art Card
So many folks have said they love the cover art on my album Songs For Dreamers

Well you can buy a card of it by the artist herself - Beckett Gladney - plus check out the other wonderful stuff in her Etsy store. HERE

Gig reports
Birstall British Legion Acoustic Club slot - Nov 20th
Played a 30min songs set at this club in November - my first song set in a month or so - what a nice crowd - went down a storm plus I sold 10 CDs!! Govannen ceilidh caller Maca was there too and sang a song in the floor spots.

set - Proud Of You, Alien Salad Abduction, Lifespell, Bobby Caseys (low whistle tune), The Wishing Tree, Forget About You, Rainbow Real (tin whistles tune), Alien Jellyfish Song, Make Your Own Kind Of Music

Farside 2 @ Aperitivo, Leicester - 30th Nov
Another mellow 30minute set where I was joined by Tim Sketchley on glackenspiel. - I also jammed on flutes and kalimba with the excellent Grace & The Magic Roots band.

set - Let Me Be, Carousel, Science Fiction Eyes, Lifespell, Green Clothes, The Wishing Tree.

Oh no - I just heard that Jackie Leven has passed away. I mastered his albums in recent years and will miss our conversations, our "witty" exchanges and his codified messages explaining how to stitch albums together from various sources. I opened for him once and was delighted to record theremin on an track of his. He was always very complementary about my music onstage and off and actively helped me get heard by his record company. He also included my Wake Me Up When It's Over song as a bonus track on one of his albums.
A great songwriter, musician, storyteller, listener, and a lovely man
- I shall miss him.

Time Traveller features a generous sixteen Conway compositions. A romantic, an un-reconstituted hippie with a predilection for science fiction (the album’s title and ‘Science Fiction Eyes’ are a bit of a giveaway), and in many ways an artist and composer of the old school, I can imagine Conway clocking into the Brill Building, in 60s New York, and churning out Top Thirty material by the yard before heading out for a spot of lunch with Goffin and King (in a parallel universe maybe, eh, Chris?). Did I mention he was prolific?

Time Traveller is a gorgeous collection of songs – entertaining, amusing, romantic (of course) and genuinely uplifting, thanks to the heart and soul he puts into it all (and articulately so). It’s probably way too mellow, infused with a surfeit of harmonious chords and choruses, and altogether too positive for those (and I believe they do exist) who like a bit of edge, a dose of cynicism and some discord in their leisure listening. But for me this will do very nicely.

Though singing and writing a little in his college days CC's singer-songwriting came of age when he joined The Storm Thives - a trio of singer-songwriters. Comparisons were made to CSN and other west coast groups. They recorded a number of albums and some of CCs work with them is collected on his Storming CD.

Whilst with The Storm Thieves CC looked into solo performing and recording, setting his stall out with Sounds Like Rain CD which got international distribution.
Early influences were definitely David Crosby, also John Sebastian, Jesse Colin Young, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Celtic influences from Alan Stivell making a kind of US west coast- meets-Celtic sound. He formed his own band Chris Conway & The Talking Fish.

He then toured Germany 6 times with singer-writer Roger Pugh. On that tour he met Vikki Clayton who drafted him into her band, playing Cropredy Festival twice to 20,000 people, and getting him to record on 2 of her albums including 2 of his songs. Earth Rising was a big CC album with Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker and a host of other guests on it.

Other CDs followed - a live one, which demostrated his humourous banter on record, and the twin releases My Mind's Island and Alien Salad Abduction - the latter reflecting his interest in Filk Music.

5 years went by before Chris returned to making an album of new songs in the studio with the release of Close the Circle in 2006. Following this up in 2008 with Songs for Dreamers. In 2010 he released an In Concert DVD and taken from this a live greatest hits album Live & Peace & Outer Space. In 2011 he returned to the studio to release Time Traveller.

Through all this time his duo with singer-songwriter Dan Britton has continued and remains his busiest song-based live act. They have recorded 2 CDs and 1 DVD, played Edinburgh Fringe twice and are a terrific duo with a big band sound.