Julie Ellison and The Mermaid

17 Jun 05 - 05:45 PM (#1503254)
Subject: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Lizzie Cornish

Well, we've been back for an hour now. Back from The Phoenix Theatre in Exeter that is, where we went to see Julie playing Andy Manson's Mermaid Guitar. And I've just GOT to write about it!!

WOW!!!

I've been reading about Julie for months now, both here and on Radio 2. John, her partner and sound engineer does a wonderful job promoting her. I went and listened to the downloads on her website

http://www.julieellison.co.uk/

...and was very impressed. So...when I saw John mention on the "Why Julie Ellison?" thread that she was playing in Exeter, just 20 minutes from where I live, I knew I had to go. In fact we all went, the entire family and we truly enjoyed every minute!!

The Mermaid Guitar, which I believe has its' own thread on here, was built by Andy Manson, see this link which I've brought over from the other thread, hope that's OK...can't get threads to "blue clicky" though, sorry! :

http://www.andymanson.co.uk/

I fell in love with her, the mermaid that is, although Julie's a lovely lady too ;0)....when I saw her in Acoustic Magazine's first issue. But to see her actually being played is something totally unique!

Julie is a fantastic guitar player. She played for about 40 minutes to a packed out room, oh it was so hot in there....but Julie just sat there calmly, on a very low stool, dipping her fingers into a little bowl of ice now and again to keep them cool. Then...she wound herself around that guitar like she was part of it! It must be difficult to play as you have to put one of your arms through the mermaids arm and then across her tummy, her body hides your body and goodness only know how Julie coped with her tail, (the mermaids!!) which kicks right out behind. But cope she did. Beautifully and elegantly!

Julie is in the middle of writing an entire musical story about the mermaid at present and she treated us to the first part of it. She sang to us about how this young mermaid fell in love with a man and..........Hey! I'm not going to tell you the story...go and see Julie and find out for yourself. ;0)

Julie and Andy Manson are hoping to take The Mermaid on a countrywide tour, so don't miss them if they are playing near you. Andy has not only created a beautiful, stunning work of art, but also a guitar with a wonderful sound and...when it's played by someone like Julie Ellision the whole thing just comes together and feeds all your senses.

I was watching people in that room and they were spellbound! From the small children sitting quietly on the floor and the young toddler who lay down at Julie's feet and just stared up at the ceiling, to men and women of all ages, all crammed into that room, all craning their necks to see and hear something very differnt.

We were also treated to various other pieces of music, which hopefully John will come on and name, but they were all of different styles and sounds which showed what both those mermaids could do! All this and she sings brilliantly too....you can go off people you know! ;0)

So John and Julie, if you're out there....and Andy Manson too...Thank you for a lovely evening! We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Come back to Devon again soon won't you?

And the biggest accolade came from my young lad. He'd had to miss his badminton lesson tonight in order that we could make the gig and he was just a wee bit miffed, but afterwards on the way home he sat there and said "Mum....I really enjoyed that. I guess I can do badminton any time, but tonight was something special wasn't it?"

Yup! It sure was.

Lizzie :0)

---

17 Jun 05 - 05:50 PM (#1503259)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Lizzie Cornish

If there is a "Blue Clicky" magician out there somewhere, can you do the necessary for me please? I'm hopeless!

Also...I forgot to say that John did a wonderful job with the sound...I was watching him thread all these wires through The Mermaids hair...it looked so complicated....anyway...he was very cool, calm and collected...or was that the wine John? ;0)

Whatever it was...it worked!

Lizzie :0)

---

17 Jun 05 - 06:55 PM (#1503290)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Sttaw Legend

Andy Manson
and Julie

---

17 Jun 05 - 08:47 PM (#1503363)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Peace

http://www.andymanson.co.uk/

---

18 Jun 05 - 04:45 AM (#1503535)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Strollin' Johnny

J&J - so glad it went well! I knew you could do it!
S:0)

---

18 Jun 05 - 08:30 AM (#1503596)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Lizzie Cornish

(((Brucie))) and (((Sttaw Legend))) Thank you so much.

Oh Strollin' Johnny....they did it perfectly!

Lizzie :0)

---

18 Jun 05 - 08:47 AM (#1503603)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Strollin' Johnny

I knew they would - fantastically talented, both of 'em!
Glad you enjoyed them Lizzie.
S:0)

---

19 Jun 05 - 09:36 AM (#1504274)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: John Robinson (aka Cittern)

Thank you to everyone who wished us well - on this and other threads.

Just landed back in Yorkshire and recovering from the hectic week getting ready for the performance!

Lizzie - it was a pleasure to meet you and your family. I am really pleased that you enjoyed the event.

We now have a few weeks to listen back to the recordings, try to track down all the photos and video footage taken there and start work on developing the full show. We're already working on better amplification ideas now that we know more about the instrument.

For anyone in the area, the Mermaid will be on exhibition at Exeter Pheonix until the end of the month. However, the part of the exhibition which contains the Mermaid will only be open when manned by volunteer helpers so it may be worth ringing the Pheonix first to check before you travel.

I am sure there areother things I wanted to say but I'm shattered!

---

19 Jun 05 - 04:50 PM (#1504521)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: John Robinson (aka Cittern)

Knew there was something else ...

If anyone does pop into the Exeter Phoenix (there, spelt it right at last) Julie's CD is for sale via the box office during the exhibition.

---

20 Jun 05 - 07:56 AM (#1504958)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Lizzie Cornish

OOOOO! GREAT!!!! Thanks John.

When Julie's finished writing The Mermaid's story will she be recording it? I'd love to buy that one too!


Lizzie :0)

PS: Having seen the news this morning...are you all OK up there in Yorkshire? Have you taken to the canoes yet? We're still in the grip of the heatwave down here in Devon....sorry John! ;0)

---

20 Jun 05 - 09:23 AM (#1505028)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: John Robinson (aka Cittern)

Yes - a CD is being planned - a few other things too which I had better not mention yet because we are still in the early stages of planning.

Er, bit puzzled about the Yorkshire reference. We live under a stone here - no TV !! I'm dressed in shorts and sitting in the office with all the windows open so I'm enjoying the weather (if not the neighbours choice of music!).

We did have spectacular storms last night - but they were actually quite enjoyable - we must have missed the worst.

Time for a visit to the BBC news site!

Oh, I should mention that we have had a gig booking in Devon as a result of the Mermaid performance - details as soon as all is confirmed!

---

20 Jun 05 - 09:27 AM (#1505034)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: John Robinson (aka Cittern)

Just seen the photos and story on BBC.co.uk/news.

It looks like we drove alongside the southern end of the storm - it did look amazing but I had no idea it was so bad for those in the middle of it.

---

30 Jun 05 - 09:01 AM (#1513254)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: John Robinson (aka Cittern)

£%%^"!&*("&£" !!

Should have been a quote in the above posting:

"I should mention that we have had a gig booking in Devon as a result of the Mermaid performance - details as soon as all is confirmed!"

But I got it wrong - doh.

---

30 Jun 05 - 09:29 AM (#1513274)
Subject: RE: Julie Ellison and The Mermaid
From: Lizzie Cornish

The Globe Inn.....What a beautiful place that is....We'll try and get there John.

Thanks for the info.

Lizzie :0)

---