I write from Rostock. Not been to this part of the world before – former GDR areas always fascinate me. It seems crazy (and sightly worrying) to me how quickly the sufferings of communism are fading out of popular consciousness. It’s worth taking time to remember, it’s only been 20 years or so. As usual, people here seem delightful. I’m looking forward to playing. It’s good to be back in the swing of touring again after a mad trip to Ireland for the TV show “Other Voices” on my day off, during which the bastarding fucknuts at British Airways contrived to lose my guitar (got it back eventually) and make me miss my flight to Hamburg. Grr.

In happier news, some points of interest! Firstly, I’m happy to say that “Wessex Boy” is record of the week on the Greg James show on BBC Radio 1 this week, which is great news. Also, the show in Heidelberg has now sold out. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, standing tickets for Wembley are also sold out. Which is just bonkers, actually. Happily, there are still a ton of tickets left in the rest of the venue, and we’ll be announcing more supports (alongside Mr Bragg) very soon.

Next, a quick heads up. The good people at Farida guitars are in the process of making a limited run of signature acoustics with my input and name on the headstock. There will be 25 of them, and they’ll be out and about next year. I’ve been playing the prototype recently, and it’s a beautiful instrument. More details on this coming soon.

Finally, some bits and pieces of video for you. Firstly, here’s a tour trailer for you, a teaser of all the stuff that the great Greg Nolan has been working on on this tour. Secondly, here’s me covering a tune by my friend and peer, Mr Tim Barry. And finally, here’s us playing live at Crossing Border Festival in Den Haag last month.