Just a quick and only slightly late Happy New Year wish and note of appreciation for the support/tolerance of our Sunshine Drenchy musical endeavours this past year.

To say that Steve Robinson live performances were a little thin on the ground in 2007, would be overly kind; they were, of course, totally absent from the calendar--something I hope to remedy in the coming year.

Despite this, 2007 was, as the Quiet One might have said, quite a 'gear year'. Reviews of the 'Undercurrent' CD have been very encouraging --Uncut Magazine's four-star assessment and the 5-Star rave from the All Gigs UK site were particularly invigorating, as was inclusion in the Top 20 of Absolute Powerpop's Top 100 releases of the year list. On top of that, a glowing notice --complete with the now requisite and only slightly baffling Peter Noone comparison -- in LMNOP's January Reviews section made for a nice New Year's pressie--have a looksie here

To be honest, playing genre-hopping footsie with the folk radio stations didn't prove quite as fruitful this time around. At the risk of tossing around clunky labels, I suppose this album leaned a little more towards a folky-pop style, rather than the (ahem) poppy-folk of 'Away For The Day', and perhaps it made some of the more hard-line folk dj's and programmers a little skittish. Either way, several of the shows who'd embraced the first CD passed on this one.

No matter--with a few new stations quickly on board, and an Empathy Card from Bob Dylan, all is right with the world. And interestingly enough, sales have been more brisk for this release.They've also been a little more internationally diverse; support from old Commonwealth countries like Australia and Canada and even dear Old Blighty herself have been particularly heartwarming to this old deserter. Perhaps I've has been forgiven?

In other Sunshine Drenchy news, full-throated hurrahs are in order for pop maestro Ed Woltil and the ever-virile Brian Merrill of The Ditchflowers, who continue to pick up well-deserved accolades for their Sunshine Drenchy release, 'Carried Away'. On top of their inclusion in year-end Top Ten lists from both the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas City Life publications (take that Mr Manilow!), Eric Snider of Creative loafing has picked said release as his CD of the year. (I've also heard murmurings that Brian Wilson is rumoured to have uttered something about it blowing away anything that McCartney ever committed to vinyl, but it's an unsubstantiated rumour so we'll pay it no mind here.)

If you'd like to hear what the fuss is about,though, you can listen to the whole bloody masterpiece on their website . If, after that, you'd like to shake their hands/fall at their feet/have them kiss your babies etc.,you can go and see them perform live at the Largo Cultural Center on Sat. Feb 9th, where they'll be sharing the bill with myself, and the reunited Headlights, who'll be whipping out a few chestnuts of their own, I'm sure (no flash photography please). For further tawdry details, you can call keep an eye on my soon-to-be-updated Confessions Of A Closet Folkie blog, or if you'd prefer you can simply buy tickets at Ticketmaster or the Largo Cultural Center's box office at 727-587-6793 and worry about the guilt in the morning.

Take care of yourselves, and those around you. Here's to a fulfilling new year for us all.

Cheers then,
Steve R.