A belated Happy New Year to you all.

May 2023 bring you all that you wish for, my beloved friends and followers.

I have to say 2022 was definitely one of my best yet, and an incredible return to the world of live music after the Covid-induced droughts of the years before…..my best yet? I’m not sure, I’ve a soft spot for 2019 as everyone reading this knows but it’s up there for sure.

Without further ado, and I know how you’ve all been waiting here with baited breath, here are my Top 10 SK highlights for 2022:

1 – Returning to Sweden for the first time since 2011, and only my second time as a professional musician for a wonderful tour, stacked full of laughter and adventure. I’m definitely not going to leave it 11 years until the next time.

2 – My first ever tour of the unique country of Italy, having only played a handful of shows there before, I certainly relished the downtime in this inspiring place, not to mention the wonderful audience.

3 – My best ever tour of Canada….and that’s saying something! Five provinces, two new to me, and experiences the length and breadth of this magnificent country that have provided me with the inspiration to create again and again.

4 – A welcome return to the Edinburgh Fringe after a four-year absence with my own solo show (which received a lovely review you can read here) and the launch of a lunchtime instrumental guitar show Songs Without Words with the wonderfully talented Paul Tasker (a Fringe musical highlight according to Edinburgh Live . Stay tuned for further possibilities for this show for 2023 please.

5 – The release of the video for ‘Impunity’, filmed on a glorious evening in Nanoose Bay with two fantastic collaborators Rachael Dudley & Bronwyn Claire Asha, the end result was even better than I’d hoped for. Have a gander here, and please don’t forget to subscribe to the channel .

6 – After three long years in the making, finally releasing my best album yet ‘You Can’t Win Every Time’. Thanks to all those who made such vital contributions, in no particular order – Ian McCalman, Peter Haigh, Graeme Hogge, Bob Miller, Kirsty Miller, Rebbe Rebbestad, Rory MacDonald & Neil D Mart. Loving the audience reactions to the new songs and album so far, and thanks so much for all your support.

7 – The critical response to ‘You Can’t Win Every Time’ here in Scotland has been really heartening to see. In addition to radio play on BBC Radio Stations across the UK, both the Scotsman and the Herald wrote some very kind words about the album.

8 – The ‘You Can’t Win Every Time’ tour with Bronwyn Claire Asha in September/October 2022. After only meeting at the end of June (see numbers 3 and 5 above!) Bronwyn arrived in Edinburgh in August and with limited time to rehearse we put together a show based around the new album. It was a blast with so many great experiences, taking in Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.

9 – My 12th annual Autumn European Tour in late October through early December. This time taking in Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic (my first shows there in seven years!), Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium with the first half of the tour solo, and the second half again with Bronwyn.

10 – Finishing the year on a high with this great feature article about the song ‘A Tale Of Two Unions’ in The National which you can read here.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to anyone who has hosted a concert and/or helped me on the road in any way, attended a concert, purchased an album, subscribed to my YouTube Channel or Instagram Page, read my posts and website blogs and written supportive messages and comments. Once again the support has been amazing, and I simply could not continue in this incredible yet insane life of a troubadour without you all.

I can confirm 2023 is set to commence with an almighty bang – stay tuned!! And expect new music later in the year, along with new collaborations and development of existing ones – .

Here’s hoping 2023 shall be a successful and prosperous year for us all – may you all be healthy, wealthy and wise in the year to come.

Sláinte

SK x

Happy New Year! SK x

Well my beloved blog readers, it has certainly been some time indeed, for which I humbly apologise. I have been, as you are no doubt well aware, busy engaging in the touring and promotion of my new album ‘You Can’t Win Every Time‘. It has been an incredibly hectic year, about which I am overwhelmingly thankful after the Covid Droughts, but this time of year does finally offer one the opportunity to pause and reflect.

August, the madness and the chaos of the Edinburgh Festival where I was performing a rigourous schedule of two shows a day, seems so long ago now. Audiences seemed as happy to be back as we were to be performing to them, and the fabulous lunchtime instrumental Songs Without Words show with the wonderfully gifted Paul Tasker was selected as one of the ten musical highlights of the Edinburgh Festival by Edinburgh Live. You can read the full article here – Paul and I were in fine company! And my own solo show was also very well received by audiences and critics alike, receiving an excellent review from the Quinntessential Review which you can read in full here.

This was also the month where another fruitful and inspiring musical collaboration came into being after a chance meeting on Vancovouer Island earlier in the summer, with the multi-talented Canadian folk singer and fiddle player Bronwyn Claire Asha arriving in Auld Reekie. Exhaustive and intensive rehearsals began in earnest to arrange and prepare the new songs for the autumn European Tours, in which we were to present the album as a duo. This was demanding, challenging and time-consuming but ultimately, as our audiences would hopefully testify, worth it – ‘nothing good comes easy‘, if I can be so bold as to paraphrase myself – ;-)!

After three long years in the making, not helped by the rude interruption of lockdown, which forced the whole project to be placed on a reluctant hiatus, I finally released what I believe to be my best album yet (please do let me know if you agree!), ‘You Can’t Win Every Time’ on September the 26th.

I have been so pleased with the reaction, by both audiences and critics alike – an extensive and at times relentless autumn of touring took in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Audiences responded and reacted really well to the new songs, to the new duo format, to Bronwyn and her own enchanting music, and we were both treated everywhere with kindness and generosity in spades. I cannot express enough my gratitude to the many people who helped us, looked after us, and went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure we felt at home on the road – it is always such an unfathomable pleasure to reconnect and renew old friendships, whilst at the same time forging new ones.

Back to ‘You Can’t Win Every Time‘, and I was further delighted to receive such positive reaction from the printed press in Scotland, from both The Scotsman (read here, a four star review, one more than one of my inspirations Simple Minds who I was to meet the very day the review was published!) and the Herald Scotland, which you can read here (published in the printed press on my birthday!). Last week, Scotland’s pro independence newspaper, The National, also published a feature article focussing on the track ‘A Tale Of Two Unions’, which you can read in full here.

I know, I need to update my reviews page….I will, it’s definitely on my neverending list of things to do, fear not! But for now I’m focussing on beginning 2023 in the best way possible and after much delay, finally releasing the album of classical guitar pieces ‘Moonrise Over Mostar’, which those of you close to me will know has been a real labour of love not to mention a collection of compositions I feel impossibly close to, and I hope will define me in the years to come. This may in part, explain the delay!

You can watch the video for ‘Tblisi Nocturne’ here, one of the pieces which will feature on the album – and please subscribe to the channel here if you haven’t already, it would make this Scottish troubadour very happy.

Thanks for all your support this past year, and I’ll be back on social media (and will repost here for those who don’t do social media) with the Top 10 highlights of 2022 now that the touring year is finally at an end.

Thanks in advance, and love and peace to you all.

SK x

Finally, here at last, my new album ‘You Can’t Win Every Time’, available to purchase on this very website here.

I can’t express how delighted and excited I am to share with you all 13 brand new songs all penned by my own fair hand and featuring the wonderful musical talents of Bob Miller, Lars ‘Rebbe’ Rebbestad, Kirsty Miller, Rory MacDonald and Neil D Mart.

The album is released as a CD only for now, complete with lyrics booklet in a lavish 6-panel sleeve, and all copies purchased from the website shop will be signed, and with a personalised message of your choosing as you wish, please just detail this at checkout.

I am extremely happy with how it looks, and am even more happy with how it sounds, which is, of course, the most important thing. I am currently on tour in Europe presenting the songs for the first ever time, in another first with Canadian folk singer and fiddle platyer extraordinaire Bronwyn Claire, who features in the video for the lead single ‘Impunity’ (which you can watch here – please subscribe to the channel). We are both enjoying immensely the opportunity to present these songs on stage to audiences for the first time, and travel onto Switzerland today after a lovely show yesterday afternoon in Gunzburg.

Hope to hear from you soon and thanks as always for your support.

SK x

Followers and friends, the waiting is over, at long last the video for the first single from the forthcoming album ‘You Can’t Win Every Time’ – ‘Impunity’, can be viewed by clicking here.

Please like and subscribe to the channel, and of course, please share – ! With huge thanks to both Rachael Dudley and Bronwyn Claire for making this possible – we all hope you enjoy both listening and watching.

The new album entitled ‘You Can’t Win Every Time’ shall be released on the 23.09.2022 and will be followed by a two week European Tour in support of the album – #youcantwineverytime

Details on how to purchase will follow soon, thanking you in advance for your support, this album has been a long time in the making and it feels so good to begin sharing it with you all.

Love to you all.

SK x

There are only a handful of opportunities left to see either of my Edinburgh Festival shows this year, it has been great to be back at the Fringe after four years away although with the punishing schedule of two shows a day for 25 days straight, I’m glad we’re nearing the end. Fear not if you’re planning to come along to one of the remaining shows, I’m still feeling energised!

You can pick up tickets to my solo song-based show here – whilst tickets to the instrumental guitar show and Fringe Premiere of ‘Songs Without Words’ with the excellent Paul Tasker can be purchased here

If you’re in Edinburgh and haven’t been down yet, then please do so, have loved all the audiences and appreciated all the support so far but as my song goes, there’s ‘Still So Far To Go’.

Hope to see you a few of you reading this soon!

SK x

Please click here to watch a live version of ‘Broken Before’ filmed at the Slocan Lake Arts Centre, Silverton, British Columbia, June 2022 which will forever serve as a momento of this fantastic tour.

With great thanks to Noel Fudge of Sandhill Studios and the British Columbia Arts Council.

If you haven’t already done so, I’d be really grateful if you could take the time to subscribe to my YouTube Channel here also.

Love and peace to you all.

SK x

This piece was originally written for the Vernon Morning Star previewing the concert in the Powerhouse Theatre on the 19th of June and is kindly reproduced here with the permission of the author, Deb Matheson.

I caught up with Simon Kempston on a rare sunny day in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although he was busy packing for his upcoming Canadian tour, he graciously took the time to chat with me and share a bit about himself and his music.

Simon was introduced to music early on, starting with piano at the age of 6, and adding classical guitar to his repertoire as early as the age of 7 or 8. While he displayed a natural affinity for classical guitar, he was a somewhat reluctant practitioner, as, around the same time, he also discovered his Dad’s cassette tapes of acts such as Dire Straits, Bruce Springsteen and Roxy Music. Wanting to break away from classical into more modern styles, he begged his guitar teacher, wearing him down until he finally allowed Simon to occasionally slip in a contemporary piece of music. Smart teacher, because this kept Simon interested in many styles, encouraging him to explore applying classical techniques and technical styles to other genres.

Simon has a reputation for being one of Scotland’s best song writers and performers. The musical and lyrical influences on Simon: from the classical guitar stylings of Andres Segovia to traditional Celtic musicians such as Dick Gaughan, popular song writers/musicians David Bowie and Mark Knopfler, and an ear for British pop, Indie and Blues; lend Simon’s music and songs a deep, rich diversity. His lyrics are driven by, as he puts it, “Anything that resonates with me. Something worthy of being told, that I feel needs to be shared.”

During the first COVID lockdown he worked tirelessly writing music and songs. Simon was able to do a few shows in Europe before the second lockdown occurred, when he fine-tuned the songs written earlier and then recorded “Hand on My Heart,” released in late 2020. “Hand on My Heart” is Simon’s 15th recording. His much-anticipated 16th recording, “You Can’t Win Every Time” will be released in late 2022.

Simon is excited about being back on the road promoting his music, and particularly looking forward to once again touring BC. There are many similarities with his beloved Scotland that make him feel at home here. This will be his seventh trip to Canada.

Vernon Folk-Roots Music Society is proud to present an evening with Simon Kempston on Sunday, June 19th. Opening for Simon will be local duo Goose Egg (Gus Hansen & Ellen Campbell). Tickets are $20 in advance, available at Expressions of Time, or $25 at the door. Visit www.simonkempston.co.uk to learn more about Simon and his music.

After three long years away, it’s finally time to return to Canada, as everyone reading this knows, it’s a favourite tour of mine and I’m extremely excited about this one!!!It will also be the last stop on the ‘Hand On My Heart’ tour – .

This is my most ambitious tour yet taking in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta and of course, British Columbia, where my love affair with this great country began in 2014.

The tour dates are here, please note there are still dates to be finalised and this is subject to change so please keep checking in, and also with the venues themselves before setting out to a concert.

Really looking forward to catching up with old friends and making a heap of new ones.

See you all soon.

SK x

Having toured and travelled extensively in the Ukraine, Russia and all the countries which border the Ukraine it is truly devastating to witness the horrific events currently taking place there. As those who have seen recent shows of mine will know, I spent some time in Kiev some years ago where I wrote the song ‘I Won’t Take This Chance Again’ from my 2018 album ‘Broken Before‘.

The hospitality and friendliness extended to me by the people of this wonderful country was incredible, and my heart sinks and I find myself wiping tears from my eyes as I try to reconcile my beautiful personal memories with the haunting and harrowing images which dominate our newsfeeds. War is NEVER the answer and I pray with and for the people of the beautiful country of the Ukraine that a peaceful resolution to this needless conflict is swiftly found.

Humankind never seems to learn the lessons from history, and to that extent, here’s a protest song from my latest album written against the very type of megalomaniac behavioural traits and leadership that Putin exhibits – (thanks to John Hurd and the Folk Club Bonn for filming).Peace to you all at this gravely unsettling time in world history.

SK x

Hello there,

As 2022 begins to roll by with the alacrity of previous years, the first concerts of the year are under the belt, and thanks to all the audiences in England and Germany for coming along and reassuring this Scottish troubadour that a return to something approximating normality is on the horizon.

This is shaping up to be a busy year, and all going well, I shall be touring in Scotland (it’s only been three years!), England, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada (also three years!). I’m plotting a return to the Edinburgh Festival for the first time in four years, bringing a solo show and also a joint guitar instrumental show with Glasgow-based virtuoso Paul Tasker – stand by for more news.

My latest album is being mastered and I hope to have this ready to release for the summer, whilst I’m making slow but steady progress with my promised album of classical guitar pieces, which will also be available at some point this year.

So, it’s a busy year ahead, and I hope to see you all on the road at some point.

Stay safe and healthy.

SK x