Jackie Oates A Chaotic Year

I had a fairly shaky start to 2007 having suddenly found myself no longer a Winterset. This meant that I spent the first part of the year trying to decipher what I wanted to do with music and life. In January I began playing with Reg Meuross alongside Miranda Sykes and Roy Dodds and played some very enjoyable gigs. This has continued through the year, and I'm now doing several duo gigs and playing on Reg's new album, 'Dragonfly' which is due for release very soon. I'm really enjoying masquerading as a country-esque backing singer/fiddle player as its a far cry from my usual repertoire of death and misery!

In March I joined Van Eyken as Nancy Kerr decided to part ways in order to concentrate on her work with James Fagan. This has led to some gigs and festival appearances, and lots of preparation for Tim's next album which is to be recorded very soon.

I spent April and May on the road with Phil Beer and Miranda Sykes doing support sets for their tour, and was very lucky to play at some gigs with Show of Hands, most excitingly, the Royal Albert Hall alongside 2 very good fiddling friends, Lizzie Westcott and Emily Saunders. I spent the Summer doing workshops for Shooting Roots, and flitting about the country playing with my devon based trio, Wistman's Wood and doing solo gigs accompanied by my big brother.

Since the Summer I have recorded a new CD, 'The Violet Hour' at Phil Beer's studio in Exeter, which is due for release in January. I've also recorded for Phil Beer's new box set CD and on Tom Palmer's new album. I've joined and performed with 'Morris Offspring', am rehearsing for a Mick Ryan play called 'The Navvies Wife'. I'm also in the midst of recording a new album with 'Wistman's Wood'.

So a slightly chaotic year which seems to have transformed itself into something quite exciting, gathering some airplay, a few magazing interviews and a folk award nomination along the way.

---