Dear Friends,

Arriving in the United Kingdom yesterday, I made my way to the lovely city of Bristol which will be “home” for the next week or so.

It was lovely to rest up and catch up Saturday with the warm Bashir family, who have hosted my tours here in Bristol each June for the last 3 years. Every time I visit their home and am exposed to their family’s collective passion for adventure, I am inspired. They surf, sing, travel, camp, garden, climb trees and goodness only knows what else! Last year they rekindled interests in me to put “fencing lessons” and the “purchase of a saxophone” on my list of things to do in the near future. This year, after just one day of discussion with them about their recent family vacations, they’ve motivated me to add “snorkeling over a coral reef” to my list of ever growing goals.

One step at a time – no time for saxophones, snorkeling or fencing lessons right now – I’m here in Bristol to sing and haven’t wasted any time getting down to it! This morning was an early start with a 7:30 am interview and live performance on Trevor Fry’s Sunday Morning BBC Bristol show. (Click the link to hear the songs and interview – sharp notes and all – starting at 1:25.34) “Salam/Shalom” and “Rhythm of Surrender” were my chosen selections to croak out at such an early hour over radio airwaves. It always feels so good to start the day with a song or two – even before morning tea and toast.

Peace,
davie

Dear Friends,

Hope all are well.

Well ~ suitcases are being packed, guitar strings being changed, flight itineraries are being printed and I’m even giving myself a fresh new haircut as I prepare to embark upon another musical tour this Saturday June 5th.

Once again I will be visiting the United Kingdom (specifically, the lovely British city of Bristol) for a series of programs in schools, as well as a few shows at local mosques, churches and synagogues. Friends and supports in the Bristol area can view my exact itinerary on the main page of this site. Many of the venues are closed to the public, but if you see the name of a school or venue you recognize where a son, daughter, niece or nephew you have may study, give the school a call and see if they mind you tagging along.

In other news:

The new Enter Into Peace website is very close to completion (I’m tweaking it daily), will be launched shortly and will showcase my work quite differently than this current site.

It has always been personally uncomfortable for me to embrace how “artist focused” the music industry is, wishing it were much more “music focused”. When I began sharing my music, I opted to present it with more emphasis on it’s content than on myself as the artist behind it. Over the past few years I have felt my integrity in that effort slide somewhat – especially with all the self-absorbed publicity platforms available on the world-wide-web. A little Photoshop here, a little Wikipedia there, a little auto-tune over the whole thing and BAM – instant celebrity! It happens sometimes that we simple songwriters get so caught up in photo shoots, PR and interviews that we don’t write, record or grow enough artistically or as people.

The new Enter Into Peace website (no longer wharnsby.com) is my way of taking a small step backward, while also taking a giant leap forward. Enter Into Peace has grown as an “Arts Initiative” over the years, just as I feel I too have grown as an artist. As a result, the new site will not simply be my personal preening platform, but it will be the musical community garden I cultivate with some dear friends ~ talented artists from around the world who share my passion for using music as a tool for positive social change.

Many of you may already know that Idris Phillips is a full-time colleague of mine through Enter Into Peace. Many of you may also be aware of my work with other artists like Zain Bhikha and the late Dale Marcell. The new Enter Into Peace will also showcase the work of some other dear friends of mine in various corners of the world who are making wonderful music and who are just darn nice folks.

I am most excited to be a part of this Artists Collective and anxious to see what sorts of music may be harvested from our collaborative work.

For now, I must run back to my packing and rehearsing.
Peace,
Davie

PS – Oh yeah – FB has now been un-blocked by the Pakistani Communications Powers That Be, but on the advice of Tsquare, I’ve decided not to deactivate FB…for now anyway.

An amazing ten days in the United Kingdom sharing some valuable time with 12 talented young artists from Ilford (East London), has come to a close. The Art of Creative Expression was initially conceptualized and developed as a one-day course by my singer/songwriter friend Zain Bhikha in South Africa, giving talented young people the chance to look at themselves and our world in new ways – then express their views artistically.

In 2008 Zain and I combined our resources and ideas, enhancing the program to 5 days of experimentation with writing, painting, drama, photography and media analysis. The motivational series of intimate workshops aimed at using artistic expression as a tool for positive social change was offered in the East London borough of Redbridge (last February 2009) and feedback was tremendous!

This year, with the help of writer and Cambridge PhD student Amina Nawaz the program was honed in further to include even more drama and deeper writing exercises. Our sessions in Ilford March 1st to 5th were simply phenomenal. The workshops are hard to explain, as they are not simply “classes” Zain, Amina or I “teach” about the “art of creative expression”. They include highly interactive experiences pushing all of us out of our mundane comfort zones to assess ourselves and our lives as we develop our preferred mediums of creative expression. A website will be developed over the coming months to explain more about the program, showcase the artistic expressions of artists who have been involved and take this movement for social change through artistic expression globally.

Young artists in Hounslow (West London) UK keep an eye on this website for the next Art Of Creative Expression series being offered in your neighbourhood this coming April/May 2010.

My time in England was topped off (absolute icing on the cake!) with a performance experience I shall never forget.

The Inspire Conference (held in Hounslow UK March 6th, 2010) gave me the opportunity of performing on stage along-side the talented and gracious Helen Andrews. It felt so wonderful to strum and harmonize with such a delightful artist who writes such beautiful music. Helen (now a resident of Malta) and I performed “Hold The Stage” together, then also shared her song “Sleep Well” before concluding with a medley of two cover-songs “Beguiling Eyes” (by Stephen Fearing) and “Both Sides Now” (by Joni Mitchell).

Back home now in Pakistan I will be in studio over the next few weeks working on some new songs….with breaks throughout my days for gardening, chai and some playtime with my daughter, naturally.

- singing for my supper,
dawud

Tremendously warm thanks to all those who came out to Costa Coffee in downtown Ilford, UK last Friday night to share some songs, conversation and a cup of tea with me. Thanks also to the hard working cafe staff who made sure we were all happy, hydrated and hyperactively jacked on our favourite caffeinated beverages!

Visiting Ilford for week this March to offer an Art Of Create Expression program with Amina Nawaz (hosted by the local city council) we thought we’d set up a last minute free-show, just for the sake of bring people together at a Friday night rush-hour to sing and enjoy each other’s company. Who of thought we’d end up with such a crowd — including a blushing bride-to-be and her lady friends out for a Hen Night before tying the proverbial knot the next day!

Costa Coffee agreed to host the performance and publicity spread informally through emails , text messages and phone calls late Thursday night last week. By 5 p.m. the next day we had a completely full house at the cafe. It was so wonderful to see all the tables full — with friends even sitting on each other’s laps to accommodate everybody! As the sun set outside and the train station across the street dumped out central London commuters – weary from their week’s work – cozy in the cafe we sang from my latest albums. It was also a treat for me to share some of my favourite cover tunes by some killer songwriters like John Mann, Stephen Fearing, Harry Chapin and Natalie Merchant.

There’s nothing more exhilarating to me as a singer/songwriter than sharing some free live music with people who love to listen, sway, sing along or tap away on their tables. The chorus of youth who sang along with me from their tables on songs like “Midnight”…. or closed their eyes and whispered along with the lyrics of “Rachel” made me feel so grateful to be there in such wonderful company.

I think I may have to make these sorts of last-minute free cafe concerts a regular part of my tours in the future.

- Bottoms up,
dawud