Positively Beautiful - Lewis Taylor News
 
Issue Five: Staying Stoned
 
 
Positively Beautiful, The News
 
It's been a while since the newsletter's been put out, but Issue Five is here now with the same excitement about Lewis' Stoned | Part One, some LT news, and some discussion about the Third Annual Lewis Taylor Fan Convention coming up in August this year. Read on!
 
Our Newsletter's Purpose
 
The Positively Beautiful newsletter brings you real news of Lewis Taylor and what he's up to. For the fans and by the fans, along with - wherever appropriate and possible - official confirmation and/or input from Lewis' camp. One thing's for sure - if you see news here it's real, not rumour!
 
We aim to provide for fans pertinent information, previews and reviews of all things Lewis Taylor, over time. News will always be confirmed before it appears here, or definite possibilities clearly stated if they're unconfirmed. If you have an opinion, however, about a Lewis gig, have an album review, related links, comments, suggestions or questions, send them along! This newsletter is truly for the fans and by the fans - we want to know what you'd like to see here, and we welcome contributions appropriate to the spirit of this newsletter.
 
Something that Positively Beautiful would like to initiate along the way is a Question & Answer section about and/or for Lewis. We offer no guarantees at all in connection with any Q & A - but if you do have questions feel free to send them along. We'll do our best to get you the real answers, with input from Lewis himself if possible.
 
 
A Message from Slow Reality to Fans
 
Positively Beautiful has heard from Slow Reality that they're aware that things seem quiet at the moment and they want fans to know that work is being done behind the scenes which - as soon as things are finalized - fans will be the first to know about. They also took this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support.
 
 
Lewis Covers Japan's 'Ghost' for 'Calcium Kid' Film
 
More excellent news from Slow Reality: Lewis was asked to cover the Japan track 'Ghost' for the film 'Calcium Kid', which is due to be released in October this year. At this time some extra work is being done on the track to bring it in line with the rest of the tracks in the film, but Slow Reality has said that as soon as they have a finished version - which will be soon! - they will send the track to Hadena to put on the lewistaylormusic.com website for everyone to hear. Keep an eye out for when it happens!
 
 
Lewis to Play With the Finley Quaye Band
 
In Finley's own words...
 
Great news. The band will be rehearsing for the first tour of the uk in a while. The line up for the band is fantastic. Good news personally. The line up changed during 'Vanguard' where I went with those that were turned on by working with me; as long you can play your instrument as part of a group and enjoy yourself you can play in our group, that's my philosophy with the band. I will do my best to write great songs and I will insist that real musicians work better and are healthier in general in comparison to computers. The line up changed and we went from moving around the planet like the Wailers or the Drifters to Spinal Tap, Guns and Roses, the Rolling Stones or Brian Wilson. Now, I am looking forward with this new album 'Much More Than Much Love' to the next couple of years with a mixture of the crucial elements of the old band and the vital elements of the last tour that we did, which was great.

drums: everliving Carl Robinson
guitars: Chris Campbell and Hawe Gondwe. Tom Greenwood and Mik Whitnal will guest here and there. there are also Winston De Landro and Steve Wellington as subs.
bass: Matt Taylor
keys and vocal: Lewis Taylor
horns from: Roddy etc.. of kick horns and also Jake Jakus, Buttons, Winston Rose and Colin graham.
percussion and reasoning: Winston Lewis.
lead vox and guitars: me.

here we come....
 
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Editor's Note: Here they come indeed! Having heard the forthcoming single - 'Dice' - from the new album, I am very excited to report that if all of what's to come is as fantastic as this track and another - 'Something to Say' - that I've heard, Finley Quaye fans are going to absolutely love this album! Positive, uplifting vibe with a fresh, mature sound... the same full-bodied music you can count on from Finley Quaye and Finley's voice is sounding stronger than ever. Be ready for the planned release of Finley Quaye's 'Much More Than Much Loveon September 1, 2003, and keep an eye out for those upcoming UK tour dates. Access the Finley Quaye site at http://www.finleyquaye.com/.
 
 
Lewis Recently Seen and Heard
 
The most excellent Kashmir Klub, where Lewis has played a few times, has had to move out of their usual location. Before the KK left, however, they had a last-night with many of the wonderful artists who've played there over time. Included in that group was our own Lewis Taylor, playing his acoustic version of 'Song'. From all reports the man sounded as brilliant as ever, even impromptu in the midst of his party time (no surprise, really).
 
See http://www.kashmirklub.com/ for news, archives and pictures from the last night and many other fantastic evenings from the past. Make sure to join the KK mailing list while you're at the site so you'll be first to hear when they return at their new venue. We'll leave this now with some comments from the Kashmir Krew from their Kalendar area, onsite. We'll miss you while you're moving, KK!
 
"Thank you to all the artists and audience on Saturday (17/05/03) for the most incredible night of magic and music, there will be highlights of that night coming soon in the archives.

The Kashmir Klub is closed for the Summer, however, we will return in a new venue in the Autumn. Please join the email list, check back here regularly for updates and watch out for KASHMIR GOLD on the live page.

Make Music, Make Love
The Kashmir Krew xx"
 
 
'What's The Word' Returns to Radio in July - Lots of Lewis as Usual
 
News from Chris Heath
 
What's The Word Returns
 
'What's The Word' returns to London's radios in July. If you're not in London, you can listen on the web!
 
To find out more, email: whatstheword@btopenworld.com
 
More soul, funk, jazz and groove than you can shake a stick at, and (obviously) plenty of LT as ever.
 
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Chris Heath is the What's The Word presenter whose interview with Lewis can be found on the Audibles page of the lewistaylormusic.com site. If you haven't heard the What's The Word show yet, be sure to check them out in July - they do play a lot of Lewis and other excellent music, generally along with a special hour-long focus on UK artists only. Fab!
 
While you're at the lewistaylormusic.com site, make sure to check the Visuals page for many pictures of Lewis and band in action during recent months, as well as some excellent music videos from past tour footage. You can even find a video clip of Elton John plugging Stoned | Part One on television.
 
 
Third Annual Lewis Taylor Fan Convention - Planning Begins
 
As many - if not most - fans know by now, every year there's an annual 'convention' of fans meeting in London, UK. August 2003 marks the third such gathering and promises to be a lot of fun with old friends meeting up once again and new friends joining in. Last year's convention saw LT fans meeting on August 20, 2002 for drinks and dinner, and attending afterwards a specially arranged gig at the Noble Rot Club, with Lewis and band playing. Anyone who couldn't make it missed out on an absolutely amazing day, from all reports.
 
You can see pictures and news online about the first two conventions at the following links:
 
First Annual (2001): http://fanclub.lewistaylormusic.com/convention.html
Second Annual (2002): http://fanclub.lewistaylormusic.com/convention2.html
 
As he has in the past our friend and fellow LT fan, Soren Kristensen, is willing to take on the main organizational duties of the convention this year, and he has a few things to say at this point....
 
"Don't be put off by the word "convention" - it's just a chance to meet some of the people you know from the internet in real life. Think about it: hanging out with cool people from all over the world sounds a little less sad and nerdy than always having to say, "this guy I know, from the internet....". I've met 20+ people this way now, and they've all been the nicest people you could imagine.
 
I will gladly try and organize this event, but I have only one major priority: That when setting the date, we take into account the plans of people who are coming in from other countries. The longer you travel, the more important your wishes are. In plain language that means that since Kendra (from NY) would be most happy about the first weekend of August (1st to 3rd), I think we should try to go for that.
 
What we've done before, which seemed to work OK, is to set up three or so different meeting places during the same day, so that depending on time, money, other plans etc. etc., you could meet us for coffee, dinner, at a club, or all three. For this to work properly, we'd like as much input as possible from the locals regarding places to go to, live acts to see in the evening, stuff like that.
 
Needless to say, should Lewis decide to "reappear" some time around August, we would of course reconsider everything."
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
Thanks Soren!
 
There are so many people who might want to take part that it can be a bit difficult to make sure everyone gets the news & is able to have their personal thoughts, needs and wishes considered; that's why Positively Beautiful believes that the newsletter would be a perfect vehicle to spread the word and poll the masses for input.
 
If you want to have a say in what happens at/for the 3rd Annual Lewis Taylor Convention this year, please email your thoughts/suggestions/ideas to positivelybeautiful@telus.net with 'convention' in the subject line. We will pass these emails on to Soren and then publish the possibilities and plans in forthcoming newsletters.
 
If anyone would like to get involved in the organization of the event along with Soren, please step forward! Obviously, the more and better the input, the better the convention is going to be for all who attend.
 
 
First Planning - Convention Date: August 1- 3
 
First of all, the date needs to be set in stone so people can start making plans, especially for travel and accomodation. If you're thinking of attending the London, UK convention in August, please email with the following information: where you are travelling from and if August 1-3 works for you, or what dates in August would suit you better. As Soren mentioned in his thoughts above, whoever has to travel furthest for the convention should have their wishes considered first, and at this point August 1-3 is the plan. If we don't hear from you, though, we can't consider your wishes/needs - so let us know! A newsletter in the near future will confirm the date.
 
We can also consider events - such as gigs - that conventioneers might want to attend en masse, so if you know of particular events happening in London in August - especially from August 1 to 3 - please let us know.
 
Again, please send your suggestions, ideas and information for the convention in an email to positivelybeautiful@telus.net, with 'convention' in the subject line.
 
 
Last Minute Addition: Lewistaylormusic.com Forum Down
 
The forum at lewistaylormusic.com has been hacked. Hadena has put a note on the forum access page that the forum has been taken down until further investigation. Although I haven't heard further about the matter today, I imagine the hacker will be identified and dealt with appropriately. Let's hope the forum returns soon, and meantime shame on that party-pooper-hacker! Keep checking back to the forum page at lewistaylormusic.com for further news, and Positively Beautiful will send you updates if/as appropriate.
 
 
Official Lewis News Availability
 
Don't forget to check the home page of the fansite - http://www.lewistaylormusic.com/ . There's a box on the right side of the page where official current and upcoming news is updated by management when appropriate. Currently still in the Official News is the following:
 
Influential industry tome 'Music Week' joins the long list of critics raving about Lewis's October 2002 release 'STONED - PART ONE' following nothing but excellent press and heavyweight support from, amongst others, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, Q, Mojo, Uncut, Radio 1, Kiss FM and Jazz FM radio. No small feat for an independent! All this plus Elton John unexpectedly plugging the album on BBC1 prime time TV. Speaking to camera on Liquid News, Elton suddenly pulled 'Stoned' out of his coat pocket and advised viewers to 'buy this, he is fantastic' before handing a copy to fellow guest Ms Dynamite saying 'I bought this for you'.

Following, Lewis's recent Subterania 'comeback' gig -described in Hit Sheet as 'life-changing...' and described by Jazz Fm as the 'gig of the year' - three more consequetive dates at the Jazz Cafe, London have been added for Monday 20th Jan, through to Wednesday 22nd January.

The album continues to be available 'as recommended listening' nationally through all HMV stores, a major UK retail outlet who have been remarkably supportive of the project.The album will also now be available from all Fopp Shops throughout the UK with other major outlets to follow. The album can also be ordered on-line, including internationally, from www.hmv.co.uk.
 
 
Lewis-Lovers' Links
 
http://www.lewistaylormusic.com/ - Fansite with hugely popular forums... this is the place for Lewis fans to hang out online, and Lewis himself contributes from time to time. Lots of information, mp3s and pictures here. There's even a forum specifically for questions to and answers from Lewis, whenever he is able and/or has inclination to answer.
 
http://fanclub.lewistaylormusic.com/ - Lewis Taylor's Fan Collection. a site for and about Lewis fans. Show your love of and support for Lewis' music by going visible online with all the other fans there - or just have some fun checking out who else loves Lewis' sounds.
 
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Arena/7463/ - The first fansite online; still there, with some recent updating and activity. Lots of great information for Lewis fans to peruse.
 
http://www.soul24-7.com/ - The hugely popular internet radio station with a soul forum to post messages at. Try requesting a Lewis tune by emailing direct to any DJ on-air at studio@soul24-7.com. The more requests received and forum posts made about Lewis, we believe, the more likely the station will get behind The Man and his music!
 
http://www.slowreality.com/ - Lewis' official record company site. The site is currently being built... don't give up checking the link, even if you get a 'holding page' notice; keep checking back because it's still in the plans.
 
http://www.hmv.co.uk/ - Here of course because this is where to purchase Stoned | Part One online!
 
 
Contact Positively Beautiful:
 
All questions, comments, contributions and suggestions are happily received at positivelybeautiful@telus.net. We thank all fans for their valued and interesting contributions to the newsletter.
 
Until our next issue - take care, keep the Lewis faith, and spread the Lewis word! The Legend is back!
 
 
Positively Beautiful
 

 
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