So we recently played on the Jimmy Kimmel show in Los Angeles, and it aired last night. It seems to be a pretty big deal over here, which is nice, and Mr Kimmel seemed like a good guy. Fun times. Here’s some videos!

It’s been ages since I posted an update, apologies for that. But then I suppose the good news is that I have loads to say. Well, “good news”, I guess that depends on your point of view. How about I just shut up and get on with it?

We have torn up the west coast of this continent and then driven through the wilds of northwestern Canada, via Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg and more. The night before last we made our way back to the USA, via a border crossing that went smoothly (apart from the bit where they confiscated all our lemons; the humanity!), and right now I’m on a day off in Milwaukee, recovering from a great night in the legendary Triple Rock in Minneapolis. The shows have been great, everything is running smoothly, and it’s almost a shame to note that the end of this tour is looming.

Speaking of this tour, lots of shows have been sold out, which is lovely. Looking forwards, the last 3 shows are all gone, and many of the others are close. A word to the wise – if you’re planning on driving a long way to one of these gigs, get your tickets before you set out because a lot of them are selling out on the day. Also, if you’re anywhere near Quebec city, please have a look at this and get involved!

Turning our gaze to the UK and Europe, there have been some shows selling out there too – London, Manchester and Birmingham are gone, the others (especially Glasgow) are getting very close. The Hannover show has now moved to a different (bigger) venue, Faust, all original tickets still valid. Other shows are selling like hot cakes! I’m also pleased to announce that, for the mainland European dates, good friends and Xtra Mile buddies The Xcerts will be opening all the shows. Check em out.

Finally, on the subject of shows, the tickets for Wembley (still can’t quite believe I’m writing that) have been selling really fast as well. We’ve set up an application now on Facebook which means you can buy them direct there. The app is here. We’ll be announcing details of the other acts playing as soon as we can, sit tight people!

Next up… I recently produced my good friend Jay’s new record, a.k.a. Beans On Toast. Producing was a first for me and I had a blast, I’m actually really proud of the record in a weird way. It’s coming out through Xtra Mile on December 1st, but Jay has started making and posting some (awesome) videos for the songs. Here’s Blowjob For The Blues.

Finally, the video for the next single, “Wessex Boy”, is finally here. Check it out!

Well, here it is. 13th April 2012, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, live at Wembley Arena, London, England. More details on the line-up (it’ll be an all-dayer type affair) and tickets and all the rest coming soon.

Also, 21st November will see the release of “The Second Three Years“, complete with 22 tracks which are not on recent albums (covers, rarities, live material and the rest). And on 28th November, we’ll be releasing “Wessex Boy” as a single, details coming soon.

That’s enough big news for today. I’m slightly dazed by it all, but happy. See you all soon.

I’ve been fighting a cold for the last few days of this US tour, and it seems like, despite my best efforts, I’ve lost. The show in Denver last night was off the scale in terms of the awesome crowd, but there’s no disguising the fact that my voice totally collapsed in on itself under a torrent of coughing and snot. So it is, with a heavy heart, that I have to announce that we’re pulling tonight’s show in Albuquerque.

The good guys in Andrew Jackson Jihad and Into It Over It will still be playing a show at the Launchpad, it’ll be $5 on the door. Ticket holders for the original show will be refunded. I will do everything in my power to make it back here again as soon as possible for a make-up show. I now have two days to get my pathetic body back in shape for the Phoenix show; all other shows on the tour are good to go as planned.

I don’t want to wallow too publicly in my self-pity here, but there really are few words to adequately describe how fucking useless I feel when this kind of thing happens. I feel like an appendix, fit to be cut out and discarded. My deepest apologies to anyone disappointed, I’ll make it up to you.

Hello from Austin TX. Since my youthful indiscretion of writing silly songs about Texas before I knew anything about the place (see “Nashville Tennessee”), and since getting my Texas tattoo at SXSW a few years back, I’ve grown to love this place. A lot. Like, if I was going to move to this country (which I well might some day) I’d move to Austin. It’s sad we’re only here for the one day. So: time to make it count!

In other news (and hence this blog post), the powers that be have decided that the song “Wessex Boy” is going to be a single at the end of this year. That’s great news, I love the song, and it’s about my hometown, Winchester. One problem though: we’re not actually going to be in Winchester between now and the end of the year, which makes shooting a video there impossible. And yet, a video for that song which doesn’t feature the city would be, well, just  bit odd.

So! As per usual, a slightly last-minute, frantic but fun plan has come together. It so happens that Winchester is one of the few cities (if not the only one… any legal experts reading this?) where you can busk without a license, thanks to an ancient byelaw. My good friend Mr Ben Morse, who has made plenty of videos for me before, is going to be putting together a busking expedition in the old city next Sunday, 9th October. If you’re the kind of person who busks, who has an acoustic guitar and sings, and who generally likes to get stuck in to things in life, then please do get in touch by emailing this address: wessexboyvideo@gmail.com. Ben asked if you can send your full name and a pic of yourself to that email, and he’ll get the rest sorted out, send you the chords to the song, and all other details, and so on.

As per usual, many thanks for your help in all things, friends.

I write from the tour bus, which is currently parked out the back of The Social in Orlando, Florida, USA. The North American tour is in full swing. We’ve had awesome shows from Connecticut to West Columbia and everywhere in between; most gigs have been sold out. The guys in Andrew Jackson Jihad and IntoItOverIt are tearing it up every night onstage and being thoroughly lovely off it. It feels great to be back in the USA again, I have an awful lot of love for this country. OK I’ll admit it, I missed Denny’s.

Speaking of shows, there’s some good news (for me at least) of sold out venues to report. Vancouver has gone, tonight has gone, and many of the upcoming shows are getting close, so buying tickets now is probably a good idea. Looking further afield, the show in Amsterdam in November has sold out, while both London and Birmingham are days away from joining Manchester in the no-tickets-left aisle. Good times.

Not masses more to report for now, other than the fact that my boys the Sleeping Souls now have their own twitter feed, on which they are posting an alternative view of the tour shennanigans. Right, I’m off to Park Ave CDs for an instore!

I’m guessing everyone knows about the riots in London last month, and more specifically the fire at the PIAS Distribution warehouse. Just in case you don’t, basically the little arsonist fucks succeeded in burning down the warehouse where pretty much every independent UK record label keeps its stock, including Xtra Mile Recordings, my label. Everything was destroyed (more than 3 million records), all back catalogue lost, it was a body-blow for an industry that’s already in a fragile state. Not good, in short.

Thankfully, there is a silver lining to this cloud. The good folks at Xtra Mile, with the help of the people at Pledge Music, have set up a frankly amazing scheme, “Fuck The Fire“. Basically it’s a plan to organise small-scale pressings of old releases, so that, if enough people want it, you can get hold of old items that were destroyed. It means that those smaller or older releases are not lost forever to the flames. As soon as the minimum number of people have pledged to buy a release, it gets manufactured. Simples.

In addition to the bare-faced awesomeness of the plan, if you order something you also get a digital download of a bunch of Xtra Mile rarities (including a quick new song about the riots by yours truly). And on top of that, Xtra Mile and Pledge Music will also be donating a chunk of the proceeds to UK Disaster Relief, who are helping the people made homeless in the riots.

So, it’s all totally ace, in short. The only drawback is that, for now, this is only open to people in the UK; I know, I know, that sucks for everyone else, but we’re working on sorting that out. Updates will follow.

And finally, a link to the website itself: Fuck The Fire.

I’m pretty sure I’ve packed everything. In about 15 minutes it won’t matter much because I’ll be on my way to the airport and headed for Ireland. From there I’m solidly on the road through until Christmas, and quite possibly for the next four months of 2012 as well. Passport, check; wallet, check; guitar, check; toothbrush, check. The rest is trimmings.

Ah yes, Ireland. It’s fun to be spending a little more time south of the border this time round. Tonight I’ll be in Kilkenny for the first time in my life. I’m excited. There’s some slightly annoying news about the Belfast venue – Mandella Hall are experiencing technical difficulties, I’m told, so the show on Saturday has been moved to the Stiff Kitten (venue details here). All original tickets are still valid, and you can still buy yours here if you haven’t got them already.

Also on the subject of Ireland, after much faffing around I can finally and happily confirm that my good friend Mr Ciaran Lenehan will be opening all the shows. Take some time to familiarize yourself with his tunes right here.

Right, I’m heading for the airport. See you all somewhere along the road.

A little bit of nepotism for you on a Monday morning. My little sister is many things – sweet, lovely, tough as nails, charitable of bent and slightly mental. Later this month she is trekking, solo, along the Appalachian Trail in the USA. Closer examination reveals this involves fucking miles, loads of mountains, and possibly bears. Insane. But she’s doing it to raise money for a good cause, Help For Heroes, so why don’t you head on over to her page and make a donation, eh?

Thanks. I am solidly listening to the new Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun record, and you should too.

Well that was one hell of a weekend. The Northampton warm-up show was, though I say so myself, one of my favourite gigs I’d played in quite a while. It was, nevertheless, soon to be topped by Reading & Leeds Festivals, with two shows on each site. They really were a different level for me and my guys, a gear change, if you like. To top it all off, I made friends with the Descendents, thereby completing another life goal.

As Monday rolled around, two things happened. First of all, for people in the UK, the single of “If Ever I Stray” was officially released on iTunes, complete with “Sailor’s Boots” as a brand new B-side. Secondly, the Manchester show from the November UK tour has officially sold out. The rest of the shows on that run (and indeed quite a few from Europe and the USA / Canada) are close behind. Wowzers.

In the aftermath I’ve been hiding in a studio in London working on Jay Beans On Toast‘s new record, as a producer (which is a first). A few days in and we’re nearly done. I’m not sure of the details but it’ll be out on Xtra Mile Records before the end of the year, I’d guess.

One quick point of order. I mentioned, in an interview with the NME at Reading, that I have plans to do a hardcore (ish) band as a side project sometime soon. This is true, but I want to clarify a few things. Firstly, this isn’t anything to do with Million Dead. Secondly, the line-up is set, we have some ideas starting to float around, we’re not, sadly, looking for band members. Thirdly, this isn’t going to be a real, music-releasing going concern until next summer at the earliest. And finally, it’s a project, not a career-shift. What I’m doing now is my main concern. Hope that clears some of the internet rumours up!

I’ll leave you with the news that Boy George allegedly thinks I’m fit (thanks twitter) and this little video from Reading…