Well, January is now over and it has been a great month, with excellent gigs in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dunfermline, Aberdeen and Inverness – we met a lot of wonderful people and are very grateful to all those who came along to our performances.

We are delighted that ‘Carefree Prisoner’ is continuing to pick up good reviews in the press such as this one below from Rick Fulton in the Daily Record:

‘Simon Kempston – Carefree Prisoner

THE Edinburgh singer/songwriter can track his musical DNA straight to Nick Drake’s door. From the cello to the well picked acoustic guitar and clipped vocal style it’s all there. While the cover of Drake’s “best of” Way To Blue has him drapped in an old colourful blanket , Simon’s album cover for Carefree Prisoner has a man pointing a gun at a kneeling man. It’s an arresting sight and despite the delicacy of the music there are bullets in the lyrics. He has a pop at Sectarian Marches on The Bleeding Mile as he asks “does Christian sentiment fuel this angry crowd”. Then on To See The Light Simon hopes once again to see “the cranes that tower so high and the ships of imperial might” as an ode to Rosyth. On All I Can Offer You he goes deeper still admitting: “dark and grey, these prison walls, are all I can offer you”. Thought provoking lyrics coupled with beautifully crafted songs make this a beguiling album.

Carefree Prisoner is out now’

There was also a featured article in the Inverness Courier to coincide with our date at Hootananny which can be read in full here – www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/11521/Solo_act_is_right_choice.html. The album is continuing to pick up airplay on BBC Radio Scotland and was also played on the fantastic BBC Radio Leeds show The Durbervilles.

Next stop, North West England & Wales, for a few live performances at the end of the month. Can’t wait!

Hope to see you all at a show soon.

All my best,

SK x