What a strange week it’s been. As well as being mentioned in last week’s Popbitch (fame at last), I’m pleased to say that this morning I woke up to discover I’ve been nominated twice in this year’s NME Awards. Whether incongruously or not, I still feel like the underdog in the music industry with what I do and the way I go about it. Being mentioned in something like this (best Solo Act and best Blog, natch) feels subversive to me. The awards are open for voting, and I’ll encourage you all to go vote for me now. On the extreme outside chance of me winning, awesomeness would descend upon the world for three reasons: (1) I’d feel very chuffed and my mum would be proud. (2) I think it would represent a blow for the underdog, the uncool, the non-mainstream. (3) I’d be *officially* better than Kanye West. Ha! So, please do go vote, and press gang your friends, colleagues and family members into doing the same. One more time, here’s the link: http://www.nme.com/awardsvote

In show news, I’ll be hitting Bournemouth Old Fire Station on February 21st. More than half the tickets have gone, so if you’re coming, go get yours now. Also, I’m stoked to say that the excellent Jim Lockey & The Solemn Suns will be opening for me n the boys on the February run of shows. Check them out now, learn the words, get down the front early!

I’ve also recently posted a run of European shows with my good friends Social Distortion. Thusfar we have shows in Germany, Holland and France, but there are more to be announced soon, so keep watching the gigs page. Also, there are a ton of European and UK festival appearances to be announced shortly, and more US shows. So everyone be cool, OK?

In the studio today. Everything has been flying by, in a good way. Chris T-T, Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo and others have breezed through to add their talents to the mix. I think we’ll be done recording in the next few days, which is exciting. Then it’s just down to Tristan to mix the damn thing (rather him than me!). I have an album title settled now, though I’m not yet allowed to share it. Everything’s coming together nicely.

Week two in the studio dawns with much to be satisfied with. We made much quicker progress in the first week than we were expecting in the end, finishing up all drums, bass, piano and electric guitars, as well as nailing the atheist gospel choir thing. This morning my good friend Franz Nikolay came in to play accordion, and we’ve started in on the vocals now, which is always the most nerve-wracking part of the process for me, personally. But we’re nearly 3 songs down already, so we’re making good time.

The album, incidentally, is due for release in the early summer. I can’t be more specific than that just yet, the people who organise these things are, well, organising them. I have an album title in mind, but it’s currently being checked out by legal people to make sure it’s OK for me to use. We’re working on 15 songs; I doubt that all of them will make the album proper (though it’s tempting). Everything sounds really strong right now.

Other business. My friend Tony organises fund-raising for a bowel cancer charity, Support Your Bowel. I donated them a signed guitar at the end of last year, which they are raffling off, with the proceeds going to this worthy cause. You can buy tickets right here.

Finally, after my Christmas cover of a song by old friends Reuben, Jamie, their singer, has responded in spectacular style by posting a fantastic cover of one of my tunes. Enjoy.

This morning the band and I loaded our gear into a studio in north London. We’ll be here for the next few weeks, with producer Tristan Ivemy, working on album #4. I’ve been writing songs since we finished “Poetry”, we’ve been rehearsing them on the road, and we spent a while in Oxford in pre-production, fine tuning every last detail. It now feels like we’re truly ready to start laying things down. I feel excited, confident, slightly pressured, and many things more. Time alone will tell where this record is going, but I’ve got a good feeling.

A quick bit of crowd-sourcing now. I’m on the lookout for a brass band – either Salvation Army, or maybe Colliery style, very soft, English sounding – to play a short piece for the album. If anyone has any ins on this, please do get in touch (email address to the right side of this blog). London-based is very much preferable, but I’m open to suggestions. Thanks.

Right, I’m going to go and check on drum sounds. I’ll update more as time goes by. Wish me luck!

Well, 2011. Twenty eleven? Two thousand and eleven? Who knows. We still don’t even have a plausible name for the decade yet, dammit. Anyway, I digress. Last year was ace. We finished off with a shindig in Darlington, from which I am still recovering. Come Monday the band and I are heading into the rehearsal studio for a week to finalize arrangements for the new album, and the following week we’ll be starting to lay stuff down. I’m excited and confident, it really feels like things are coming together and the time is right. Watch this space for updates. For now, here’s the final part of the US tour diary. Enjoy.

So the snow got one final shot in, and made it impossible for me to get o Val D’Isere to play my last show before Christmas, which was a kick in the gut because I had planned to spend a long weekend out there as some holiday time as well. The good news, though, is that it looks now like if I’d made it to the Alps I wouldn’t ever have got back to the UK again. Small mercies.

These little trying times aside, it’s been a fantastic year, and I’m settling down to be in one place for a while now. I’m working hard at writing, finishing off material for the new album and preparing for studio time, which starts in the new year. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and new year.

Well, the UK tour is done and dusted. It was a hell of a run, despite the hiccups. Thanks again to Ed Harcourt, Dive Dive, the crew, and of course everyone at the shows. Brixton in particular was a special, special night for me. Not one I’ll be forgetting for a long time. It feels now like the cycle for Poetry Of The Deed has bee  completed, and I’m more than ready to be heading into the studio in January to make me a new album; which is convenient, because that’s the plan. To celebrate, here’s a massive blog with tons and tons of information all in one go!

First up, show news. I still have three gigs left this year – one in Stockholm, Sweden (16th December), one in Val D’Isere (17th December), and one in Darlington on New Year’s Eve (now sold out, yay!). Come check them out, any questions just ask. I’m also pleased to announce three new shows for next year:

• 16th February 2011 – Aberdeen, The Lemon Tree (rescheduled from December, all original tickets still valid, Sold Out)
• 18th February 2011 – London, The Borderline, NME Awards show (tickets onsale from here at 9am tomorrow – they’ll go fast).
• 20th February 2011 – Exeter, The Lemon Grove (rescheduled from December, all original tickets still valid, Sold Out)

Looking ahead beyond those dates, we’re currently planning an onslaught for next year that will take me all over the UK (twice), Europe, the USA, Australia and beyond. As soon as we have dates being confirmed they’ll be up here. Thing slightly depend on how long recording the new album takes. Thanks for being patient.

Next up, I’m pleased to say I finally got round to posting up the lyrics to the songs on the new EP – you’ll find them under the Lyrics tab above (duh). Enjoy.

Onwards to some recommendations for you. First of all, the wonderful Grace Petrie and I shared a stage together at Glastonbury this year. Her website is now up and running and well worth a look. Check it. Also, my old friend Barry is now working for a homeless charity in Surrey who are ace and deserve your attention and support – Amber can be found here.

And then there’s a plethora of video stuff for you all to watch. First of all, back in October I played at Fest 9 in Gainesville Florida and had a thoroughly amazing time. The full set is now up to be watched online right here, and I’d heartily recommend it – it was one of my favourite shows of the year, and even includes a cameo from Fat Mike. Then I did a little interview and acoustic session for the O2 Academy Youtube channel, which you can check out by following those links. And to wrap up for today, here’s the latest installment of the US tour diary (the penultimate one, I promise):

Well shit. I’ve had a great run of luck recently, arguably the last few years, and I’m grateful for it. And while I’m having this bitch and moan, please don’t think I’m being unappreciative of my fortune or the support people show me. But hopefully you’ll forgive me for thinking that I’ve pissed off some deity or other recently, because my run of luck on this tour has not been spectacular.

After two shows of battling voice problems and general cold-induced sickness, I feel like a pile of arse today and the doctor says no shows for me. So with a heavy heart I have to regretfully announce that today’s show in Exeter at the Lemon Grove is being postponed. Fucking fuck fuck. Massive apologies to everyone, it really breaks my heart when this shit happens. We are going to reschedule the show ASAP and all tickets will still be valid, so please hang onto them. We’ll be announcing the new date as soon as is humanly possible.

I’ve now got 2 days laid up pumping myself full of fruit, water and sleep, so all being well the shows in Leicester, Liverpool and London are all still 100% on. Sorry everyone, I hate letting people down.

FTHQ to the people of earth: the new EP, Rock & Roll, is officially out in the UK as of today. Hurrah! It’s in shops (like this one) and on iTunes. For people in the rest of the world, it’ll be out on iTunes as of tomorrow. This is exciting news for me, and I’d hope for you too!

The UK tour rolls on apace, good times had by all in Preston, Sheffield and Oxford, and tonight we’re in Cambridge. New songs going over well (as far as I can tell!), mass singalongs for the oldies, what more could a poor English boy want for? And just to top it off, here’s part 3 of the USA tour diary. Enjoy.

In what critics have dubbed the “Snow Gods vs Frank Turner Tour 2010″, I have some news. The Aberdeen show, as noted below, was postponed, which was a serious bummer; the good news is we should be announcing the rescheduled show in the next day or two (February sometime). Glasgow last night was a blast, it was great to see so many people braving the weather. Sympathy and commiserations to those who couldn’t make it to the show. It’s a real dilemma for me – postponing till a time when everyone can get to the show is tempting, but then there are all the people at the shows already, plus it’s financially devastating for me to be on tour and not playing. In the end, I think playing last night was the right decision, at the end of the day the weather is (alas) beyond my control.

And so we move on to Sheffield. Sheffield tomorrow is definitely happening. I am aware that there are people who won’t be able to make it to the gig because of the snow, and I certainly don’t encourage people to make a journey that puts them in any danger. But the show must go on for the reasons stated above. Also, if there are people who haven’t had tickets delivered yet, never fear, they will have a full list of ticket holders on the door, just bring your credit card and / or booking reference and you’ll get in just fine.

Finally, just briefly, a note for people in Stockholm. I’m pleased to say that I’ll be playing the Bandit Rock Party on December 16th at Harry B James in Stockholm. Details will soon be up at this link. Until then..

Argh, shit, fuck, piss and nonsense. After my optimism yesterday, fate cackled over her hand and dealt a series of cruel blows. The tour bus, due to pick us up in Oxford yesterday afternoon, got stuck in snow on the way to get us and didn’t get there until 2am (at which point the driver has to sleep for 8 hours). Then we have to get to Newcastle (easier said than done) to get equipment and crew members, and then finally to Aberdeen… and the roads up there got closed again. In the end my tour manager made the decision that there was no practical and safe way for us to get to Aberdeen for the show.

So, in a development that brings me out in a rash of irritation, we have decided to postpone the show tonight. I’m fucking gutted, and can probably never stop apologizing about it. Everyone should hold onto their tickets, we’ll be rescheduling as soon as possible (probably February) and all tickets will be valid.

Also, we’re now on our way to Glasgow, and we will 100% definitely still be doing the show there tomorrow night. Sorry everyone.