NXNE showcase
From 13th until 17th June I'll be in Toronto for NXNE. I'll be
performing live at my showcase on 16th (Sat.) at 9pm at The Central, 603 Markham Street. It looks like being a great NXNE, with lots of new bands and the Flaming Lips headlining. On Wednesday June 13th at 2:15 pm local time I'll be on a radio show called Rock Talk in Toronto. Past guests have included Ray Davies, Al Kooper, Nick Lowe, Judy Collins, Nile Rodgers, Dave Stewart, Andy Kim, Barenaked Ladies and many, many more.  Love aloneI've been writing a few more songs lately, still on the Buddhist theme. Love alone by thejackstaffordfoundation  Luna bar, Agropoli
 NXNEI've been accepted for Canada's NXNE again this year. It's a five-day live music and film festival and music conference in Toronto. I last played in 2010 and had an amazing time. It runs from June 11th until June 17th. http://nxne.com/  Ayurveda the musical
I'm currently living in the countryside in the south of Italy near Agropoli writing my next album... a musical... about Ayurveda, the Indian science of life. It's going well.
 Amsterdam
 Collaborating...I've been working on a lot of new songs in these wintery months and will start to put them out there for collaboration. All ideas and style are welcome. Just let yourself go! Here's the first one. Our temperament determines our fate (Saṃsāra) by thejackstaffordfoundation (or on Kompoz.com, which is a collaborative website that's a bit more organised than soundcloud, showing files. You need to upload MP3s. Free convertor available at download.com or use itunes to convert) http://kompoz.com/p/30681  Perdifumo
 The Troubadour ChroniclesI have put my songs from the last couple of years on the road into one big album. Yes, one album. 110 songs. It's over 5 hours! So you might want to put it on when you have a quiet night... and then slowly fall asleep. I'd like to thank all the musicians and producers who helped me make this - particularly Kevin Wesley William, Chris Leggerie, Andreas Langhorn, Patrick Fergus, Jasmine Wynants, Ro Halfhide, Emma Hill, Alec Genton, Rory Blahzl, Maria Rosaria della Pepa and Simon Wallace. And of course the people I met on my travels. People who inspired me, gave me a place to stay, and came to the shows. Without whom I wouldn't have anything to write about or anyone to sing to. I've made it free to download so that money isn't a barrier to my music reaching you - but please make a donation if you can. And if you get to the end of it, please let me know your top 12 tracks. I'd like to put out a more easily digestable 'Best of'. Buona fortuna!!!!  Photo by Judithdekker.nl DOWNLOAD ALBUM (There are 33 videos too. Click the links to view) 1. Every day's a joy (video) 2. Rise of the renunciate (video) 3. Debt train 4. IKEA 5. Dreams of plenty 6. Daytime TV 7. Mortgage on mind 8. Job applications 9. Cold cold world 10. Viva la revolucion 11. A cruel beginning to my decline and inevitable death 12. Work eat shit sleep 13. Dear shareholder (video) 14. City life 15. Soulseller 16. Every moment matters (video) 17. Killing the kids (Jamie Oliver Blues) 18. ADD (video) 19. Mother feeder and the homecoming kid (video) 20. The sorrow of Gaia 21. The stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones 22. The US economy 23. Another dead man in Afghanistan (video) 24. A day out in Detroit 25. The ballad of Jolie Holland (video) 26. The cabin song 27. Super easy classic rock (video) 28. Renee Vancouver 29. Mel Gibson’s mind 30. Mr Pleasure Man (video) 31. Ode to the lonely stoner 32. Eindhoven: City of light 33. Song to Woody (video) 34. Vanessa & Sebastian 35. Gay OK (video) 36. The art of conversation 37. Five years on (video) 38. Nick Helderman and the immortals 39. Dance for me 40. The waiting game 41. All-knowing girl 42. Girl with the perfect posture 43. The law of diminishing marginal returns 44. Why are they like the way they are? 45. My leaving was a long time coming 46. I want you to fail (video) 47. A journey (The Blair Crusades) 48. The end of the farce 49. Loneliness of the bank CEO 50. Gordon Brown Blues 51. Anywhere but here 52. After the Olympics has gone 53. The trial of toni terry 54. Tales at the end 55. Strange times 56. The obituary of Will Perrin 57. Nights like these 58. Sleep 59. Making my life too hard (video) 60. Bored in Camden (video) 61. Music for a mountain top 62. Peace of mind 63. Letters from a long arm 64. Athens' streets 65. On the train to Rome 66. The Italians 67. I didn't sleep so good (video) 68. The Marie Cubi House Band 69. Wifi? (video/video) 70. The water's on song (video) 71. Cold cure blues 72. Curse of standards 73. Oath of abstinence 74. TV in my mind 75. It is dangerous out there (video) 76. Oh Christchurch 77. Takaka hill 78. The city' s not the same without you (video) 79. The buskers (video) 80. Save the developers 81. The quoll 82. Maria (video) 83. Good life on the road 84. East timor song 85. Peace and love (video) 86. Under the stars (video) 87. Coffee lover (video) 88. Dumpster diving date (video) 89. Queensland rail 90. Troubadour (video) 91. Jailbait 92. Plastic sea 93. Dog's life 94. 34 years old and a birthday at sea (video) 95. Riportarla a casa 96. You can't say no to love 97. Sailing 98. I'm not sea sick, just sick of the sea 99. Gulf of Carpentaria 100. The model 101. The searcher (video) 102. Bad for good 103. Big fish, little pool 104. Liberate Libya (video) 105. Mohamed Bouazizi 106. Revolutions 2011 (video) 107. Letting go 108. Let there be light 109. Love is happiness 110. Son of a gun I have to say I'm pleased with it! Of course I'd change a lot if I had time... but then I have the feeling I'll never get it out. Maybe I'll do some revised issues in the future. It's rough around the edges and I should re-record some of it, but as it is it has a nice story arc, and you can see how my playing changes over the travels, which would be lost if I re-recorded. And with the songwriting, the transition from sardonic to spiritual. I'm definitely a different person than when I started travelling... more interested in meditation, well-being and other people. I'm taking a break from travelling now because when you're on the road it's very difficult to be productive. I'm working on a new album about Ayurveda, have three film ideas, make some music videos, and want to apply to festivals. As well as trying to get some assistance from music companies to make life easier, so I'm putting some effort into that as well. As always you can follow updates on the blog or go back over the last 3 years if you really truly have nothing else to do! I toured Europe, North America, New Zealand and South-east asia. There's still lots of places still to go and all to go back to. Here's a map of the chronicles (people who've visited me, not people I've visited) with website hits for last year:   Christmas albumHappy New Year!!!! I hope you had a Merry Christmas. I was in the South of Italy with my girlfriend's family for my first Italian Christmas. It was an experience! They know how to get it on. One big singalong. Then I had my second musical Christmas, coming over to England on 28th for another Christmas dinner and another jam. With my brother Simon this time, who was visiting from the States. He's a fantastic harmonica player and has already played on lots of my albums. For this year's Christmas album I recorded a few of the songs I played at shows in 2011. Simply, on the laptop with Simon. It's just a bit of fun. Hope you enjoy them. 1. Love is the drug - ROXY MUSIC [2:08] 2. Dancing queen - ABBA [2:14] 3. Live it up - MENTAL AS ANYTHING [1:50] 4. Rawhide - NED WASHINGTON [2:06] 5. Work song - NATHANIEL ADDERLEY, OSCAR BROWN JR. [3:52] FREE DOWNLOAD I've nothing planned for this year. Let's just see what happens. I'm sure good things will come. I hope for you too!  Merry Christmas
I'm in the south of Italy near Salerno with Maria and her family for a real Italian Christmas. The sun is shining, the pasta is bright and the pope is on TV. They're mad for the nativity here. Every house has a scale model of the Jesus and Mary show. I was in Napoli a few days ago and there's a whole street that sells just nativity kits. It's a real industry. It's nice to kick back and take a break from travel and music. After the last show in Germany I went via Amsterdam to Gent to watch the 6-day cycling for my father's 65th. Then lost my passport in Brussels (travel stamps and all) and had to go back to England to get a new one. Then Salerno for a week, Amsterdam for a week, and then back here. It's to england on Wednesday for another Christmas (my brother's back from Austin with his family to) and new year. Next year I have zero planned, which is a great feeling. Just the chance to explore the interests I've collected on my travels. There's a new Buddhist temple in Rome with a retreat going on so I can sit still there for a week. Whatever makes you happy hey ;) And I've found an Ayurvedic doctor in Rome where I can get a Panchakarma for another week. It's expensive but worth it. I have become obsessed with ayurveda and spend all my time reading textbooks about it. It's like discovering the musical scales of life when before I'd been tapping random keys.  Cologne The after-party downstairs in the kitchen after a lovely show last night in Cologne. Elke hosted me and did a fantastic job. A great end to my German week.  Waltrop David hosted me in the community house he lives in on a farm outside Dortmund. A lot of people made it out to the middle of nowhere. Thanks for coming!  
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Jack Stafford is a nomadic troubadour. He has been roaming the world since 2009, writing narrative folk songs about people, politics and places he visits. And then playing them in the next country in the troubadour tradition. Once he has enough songs he records an album in each territory. This collection is called 'The Troubadour Chronicles'.
600 shows, 120 songs, 40 countries, 8 albums... one big adventure. Update: Jack is now back travelling in Europe and playing house concerts. |
