YES!!! :D

Hello there! :)

How is everyone? It's been a little while since I've done a post, as I've had a busy week!

Now, where do I start?...Ok...

On Friday (May 21st) I had a gig at the Woodvale. - It was a very enjoyable gig, as it always is down there, but a few things went wrong...for example... we had a lot of feedback from the equipment. It's probably our fault because we're novices, but it's very frustrating. Then it goes away, and you don't really know why it's gone away. Anyhow - that was a bit annoying. And then at the end of the second set, my music stand decided to give up, throwing all of my music on to the floor...hm. Luckily it was at the end and I only had about three more songs to go, so I just picked the three up and got on with it. Then at the end a lovely man came up to me and said that he'd been watching me on YouTube for a while and had come all the way from Germany to the Woodvale to watch me! :-O So the gig had some really cool bits! And also some not so cool bits (stand etc.)! Lol.

The next day I was up bright and early (after falling into bed at about 1am - eek!) to go to Platform One for the Wight Noize industry showcase. It was a bit scary, but the judges said some lovely things about my voice, words, image...which was really cool - and I made it onto the shortlist for the Acoustic Stage at the IW Festival! Which is cool. I'm just waiting to hear a bit more from them about that. :)

And then on Sunday I went out to Ventnor to do a bit of filming...well...I wasn't doing the filming, I was being filmed for a promo vid for Ventnor Fringe Festival. (http://www.vfringe.co.uk/) It was lots of fun. :D They were making a set of little videos in the style of La Blogotheque's Take Away Shows.

( http://www.blogotheque.net/spip.php?page=cae_all&lang=en )

One of the recordings involved me walking into a cafe full of people whilst singing Beautiful Deceit - which was very fun! :D Hopefully you'll be able to see them at some point.

Then I had my driving lesson on Monday, and I was shockingly terrible, or terribly shocking...as my test is looooming... :-S I also went into Newport to sort out some extra bits and bobs for the album launch...

Then on Tuesday...

ALBUM LAUNCH!

I woke up in the morning and felt very very nervous and also pretty tired...Violet kept waking me up in the night as she wasn't very well. :-S Then I got my set list prepared and organised things for the evening...

In the afternoon Mum and I went up to the Quay Arts for the soundcheck and met a duck who was on his travels. The duck, whose name was Xeno, filmed the performance in the evening, which was very kind of him. :)

After the soundcheck Mum and I whizzed home and I quickly got changed for the evening and had something to eat. Then we whizzed back to the Quay and I tried to calm down a bit whilst feeling very nervous...

Then the bell rang for the audience to come upstairs and take their seats. I hid behind the wings and spied on the audience coming into the theatre. - As I watched more and more people come in, I felt less and less nervous, and more excited! It was such a cool feeling. Then Stuart, the brilliant sound/lighting man introduced me and I went onto the stage. All of the seats were filled and there were some people standing too!!! I was like :-O

I had such a brilliant time. It's the first time in ages that I've felt so comfortable on the stage. Actually, I think it's the first time ever. There have been times before that have come close...but this was a different feeling. I felt comfortable on the stage, and I also felt comfortable being me. I'm a bit of a wally, and generally I feel a bit embarrassed for being a bit of a wally, but on Tuesday it felt like people were accepting me for my wallyishness and laughing at me in a good way, rather than in a bad way. And I had some lovely, lovely feedback from people (not the screechy noise kind!). In the break and at the end, people were queueing to talk to me and for me to sign things!!! That's never happened before! Lol.

We have some pictures from the evening too. - I do believe that the aforementioned Xeno took some, and we also have some courtesy of Donna...I shall put them on Facebook and come back and put a link on here. :) Here's one of them just for now...

Waffle hands! Lol. :)

TTFN! :)

Lots of love from a very happy Hollyxoxoxoxoxox

P.S - I'd just like to say an ENORMOUSLY HUGELY MASSIVE THANK YOU! To Vic of Vaguely Sunny promotions who helped me so much - and also to the lovely Xeno (who in fact is a human, and not a duck!) Larry and Trevor and Uncle Tim and Wolfgang and the Tassie Gang - for always being there - I couldn't have done it without you. :) xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Howdy :)

Helloooo everyone :)

Just a quick update...

Things are getting quite busy at the mo - I've got a few things in a row later on this month...starting on Friday actually!

I'm at the Woodvale again on Friday, May 21st, singing out a mixture of originals and covers. :) Then on May 22nd I've got an 'industry showcase' thingy. - I've entered the competition 'Wight Noize'...the prize is a chance to play on the main stage at the festival, which would be incredible!...Here's a little bit about it from our local Island news blog...

http://ventnorblog.com/2010/04/07/wight-noize-2010-competition-launched/

And then on Sunday I may be shooting a little video for the Ventnor Fringe Festival...

http://www.vfringe.co.uk/

Which will be rather cool. :)

Then on Monday I'm driving...Tuesday...now what's on Tuesday.........

Oh yes.

ALBUM LAUNCH! Woo!

I'm going to call Quay Arts in a mo to check the ticket sales out. :) I'm also planning a few quirky things for the actual evening to make it a bit more...interactive. Lol.

And then I've got a little bit of a rest (performance wise) before the IW Festival. :)

Now I'd better go and call Quay Arts...

TTFN xxxxx

A trip to London...

Hello everyone :)

I am back and I shall now tell you a bit about London. :)

Day 1

On Monday morning we (Donna and I) set off bright and early and boarded the Red Jet to get us across that little stretch of water. We were a bit excited...naturally...you may be able to tell...
Then when we reached the other side we went to the bus stop - after stopping off for a cuppa on the Southampton Red Jet side.

It's the first time we caught the Greyhound coach...but it was ever so easy. Here we are. :)

Then we got to Victoria Station and it was all very Londonish and exciting. We had been told to meet Tomas in Starbucks so I struggled with my phone, trying to find out exactly

where we were and how we'd get to Starbucks. We couldn't really work it out so we thought we'd just go for it and leave the station. After doing so we saw Starbucks directly opposite us. Hmmm...So we waited there for a bit before going to meet Amanda.

Amanda is a brilliant person. She's got such a presence...it's hard to explain. It's great to be around her...a very refreshing feeling. I wish I'd had more time to talk to her about things.

After meeting Amanda we caught the taxi to Katy's house, which is where we were staying. Katy is really lovely - she was very welcoming and made us feel really comfortable. :)

Carl, who was the DJ at the party, was also staying at Katy's...

Then later on we went out shopping with Amanda for something to wear. We

met Dounia and her lovely Mum too. Dounia is the very talented little girl who was also singing at the party. Shopping with Amanda was really cool and we got some lovely things. :)

In the evening Donna and I went out for a Thai meal. It was reeeeeally yummy. :D

Day 2

On Tuesday we got up and went to go and see Amanda again. Whilst she was at her tango lesson Tomas took us along Sloane Street. - We were going to see the Saatchi Gallery, but when we got there it was closed, so we just had a potter round and Tomas and I went to Subway and had a meatball roll thing. It was YUM. :)

Then we went back to Amanda's and I played some songs to her...we decided that I should perform Beautiful Deceit and Riddles and Rhymes at the party...

At that we went back to Katy's and ordered a yummy takeaway. :)

Day 3

On Wednesday (party day!) we went to the venue for a soundcheck. It was a lovely decommissioned church in Mayfair...

Then we went back to Amanda's to have our hair and make up done, which was really cool. :)

Here's Dounia and I...

Then we made our way to the venue to get ready for the party. :)

Dounia was on before I was - she was brilliant. She has such an amazing voice. Here's one of her videos on YouTube...

Then it was my turn. - I wasn't nervous really - more excited. It seems that once I get nervous I can't get rid of the feeling...but I managed to keep it at bay this time. So I went on and did my songs and then came off again. I got some claps which was good. :)

Then we enjoyed the rest of the party. :)

Amanda and Holly...

Then we went back to Katy's and went to sleep. :)

Day 4

On Thursday morning we both woke up feeling very tired. *Yaaaawn* We went downstairs and had breakfast and a chat before packing our bags, saying our goodbyes and heading home. :)

It was a great adventure...but it's also nice to be home again. :)

TTFN xxxxx

London!

Hello everyone :)

I thought I'd just do a little blog to let you know that I'm going to be away for a few days. Well, I'll be back on Thursday. :)

I'm going up to London to play at a party in Mayfair. It's very exciting. I'll be sure to take some piccies. Donna's going up with me, so that'll be cool. :)

Amanda Eliasch found me on YouTube and enjoyed my music, so she contacted me through my website about playing at her birthday party. I'm really looking forward to it. :) - Being from an Island makes going on to 'THE MAINLAND' quite a big thing. It's funny what that little stretch of water can do...

Anyhow, it's sure to be a bit of an adventure - I'll let you know all about it when I get back. :)

We had a little choir performance today. - They were very good - they made me proud. :) We'll now be working towards the celebration evening at the end of term which will be good.

Also, I've booked my driving test...but I'm not going to tell you when it is. ;) It'll make me even more nervous! Lol. I'll just tell you when I've done it. :P

I hope you're all well and I'll speak to you soon. :)

TTFN and lots of love xxxxxx

The Album Launch & a lack of ideas...

Hellooo there everyone. :)

I'm back with news of my album launch. :)

It will be held at the Quay Arts Centre, on May 25th (a Tuesday evening). Doors are open at 7pm, and the performance starts at 8pm. :) There is a bar (watching you Xeno) and there will be people tearing up tickets and everything. :D Cooool.

You can contact the Box Office on 01983 822490 :) - tickets are £1. :)

http://www.quayarts.org/event.aspx?id=2990 There's the venue's site with my little piccy there. - There should be some more text there shortly. :)

Also, - found out about this lovely write-up on the Bestival website today! How cool is that?!

Local Isle of Wight singer songwriter Holly Kirby has been writing and singing her own songs pretty much as long as she can remember. A gifted musician her folk based songs are beautifully lilting, intelligently written tales of love and loss held together by her wondrously heartbreaking vocals.

Her influences include Joni Mitchell, Loreena McKennitt and Sandy Denny and it’s no exaggeration to say that this young lady is well on her way to becoming as accomplished and successful as any of her heroes.

I think that's mighty lovely. :)

On the video front, I'm currently suffering from...er...video-maker's block. :-S Darren and I have done a trancey tune, and I'm really stuck for ideas. It's so tricky... :-S I'll keep thinking. I really want to get it on YouTube asap, because Darren has done such a great job with the music! Hmmm...

Better get to it!

Lots of love xxxxxxxx