I’ve been gripped by the charitable impulse of late, for some reason. Last weekend saw me marauding around the north of the country – two secret / last minute shows, one in Manchester (which turned into two) and one in Leeds. I’m no saint – the shows were a blast for me as well – but the good news is that we raised some serious cash for a good cause – the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which raises money to fight blood cancers. The cause was suggested by Laura, who organized the Manchester shows, where we raised £1381.98. In Leeds we pulled together roughly £1000 (Felix is still counting the small change, bless him), making for a grand total of at least £2381.98. That made me feel pretty good about both the shows and about the people who came to them.

Continuing down this road, I had a conversation with my friend Claire the other day about the charitable potential of music fans. She works for Alzheimer’s Society, and was being a little skeptical about the whole thing, so a challenge of sorts was raised. We’re aiming to collect £1000 for the Society, using only my online presence. We’re at £300 already, but I want to prove her wrong, as well as raising a load of cash for another incredibly worthy cause. So please do head over here and donate what you can, even if it’s only a fiver. Thanks everyone.

Oh, and to top it all, I performed a brand new song (from the forthcoming album, England Keep My Bones, June 6th!) in Leeds which was filmed and which you can watch right here! Everyone’s a winner.

Back to the more material world of my normal shows, I’m pleased as punch (and slightly overwhelmed) to say that the show in Washington DC in April has now sold out, and quite a few of the other shows on that run are close behind. Thanks America! Also, more of the European shows in June with Social Distortion are selling out too, so get your tickets now. Gig listings are, as ever, in the upcoming gigs section, and there’s a ton of more stuff for the summer that I’ll be announcing soon.

Finally, for today, my old friend Ben (off of TVs Million Dead) is still playing with his mind-shakingly heavy outfit, Pale Horse. They have a new album out, it’s the tits, and you should go here and get a copy yourself. End message!