Woodworm Studios

05/09/2024

Congratulations Ags Connolly!

Well folks, I'm proud to say my new album of James Hand covers 'Your Pal Slim: Songs of James Hand' will be released this November!

As many of you know, James Hand's music has been a huge influence on me and played a pivotal role in my country music education. I have been working on this album since 2020 - truth be told I started planning it the day James died in June that year. There were a few bumps to traverse and it took time to wrangle all the contributors that I wanted to be part of it, all of which just makes me more glad to be able to get it out there now.

The album features James's last permanent guitar player and bandleader Chris McElrath on guitars, as well as contributions from superb artists Jake Penrod, Brennen Leigh and Beth Chrisman, all of whom played with and loved James Hand. Many people helped along the way, and I am humbled to have had the blessing of the James Hand family to record this album.

Track listing:
1. In The Corner, At The Table, By The Jukebox
2. The Pain Of Loving You
3. Baby, Baby Don't Tell Me That
4. Lesson In Depression
5. Shadows Where The Magic Was
6. My Witness
7. Over There, That's Frank
8. Midnight Run
9. You Were With Me Then
10. My Heart's Been Cheatin' On Me
11. Men Like Me Can Fly
BONUS TRACK:
12. Corner Of My Street*

*(one of mine, a song idea that James and I never got to work on)

'Your Pal Slim: Songs of James Hand' will be available to pre-order on CD in the run-up to release. I'll be sure to let you know when the time comes! No plan for vinyl right now, but who knows what can happen down the road. There are also two full-band album launch shows planned - Fatlils Witney is confirmed for 11th December (get your tickets now!), whilst a London date will be confirmed ASAP.

I hope you folks enjoy this album when you hear it. Rest easy, James Hand.

Artwork: Stephen Averill
📸: Kev Lloyd Photography

29/08/2024

Origin Effects have been in the Studio the past week. Something this way, comes….

24/08/2024

Congratulations guys!

22/08/2024

Very proud of my daughter passing all her GCSEs!

22/08/2024

Great session with Marisa And The Moths! Great work with Peter Dowsett at the helm.

19/07/2024

Congratulations to orange Goblin on the release of their latest album, Science, not Fiction.

Recorded and produced here at Woodworms by the mighty Mike Exeter, ably assisted by Jaden Brealey.

30/04/2024

If you’re looking for an excellent, family friendly festival with awesome acts and very amazing atmosphere, look no further!

Support Cropredy Festival!

A message from Simon Nicol:
Greetings friends, old, new and/or young,
I’m taking the unusual step of writing to you personally to keep you informed about Cropredy 2024. You’re used to us reminding you about the festival’s progress but this time I’m writing about longer term considerations.
These are very hard times for the UK festival industry. In 2023, thirty-six smaller events were either cancelled or endured financial collapse. We’ve stewarded Cropredy for the thick end of fifty years so we feel the crashing disappointment and pain of our fellow organisers.
So far this year the number of cancellations has already reached thirty-four, some of them a lot bigger than Cropredy. We’ve seen swingeing increases in the costs of staging the festival – everything from infrastructure to artist fees, diesel fuel, lighting, PA, and so on – without compromising health, safety and comfort.
Crucially, our festival has no sponsorship: Cropredy has to pay its own way. The fact is there can never be a ‘bad year’ for Cropredy - anything which isn’t self-supporting could mean the end of the line. Simple as that. Which is where you come in.
How you can help
We want your help to secure the future of Cropredy, an event which means so much to so many.
Whole tribes have been created in these postcodes and many families bring three or even more generations together. Some of our key people were first here as toddlers and have lifelong treasured memories to prove it.
Many of you regular Cropredy-goers will have a neighbour, workmate, cousin or sibling who you’ve regaled with stories of great bands unexpectedly discovered or happy encounters at the bar. They’ve watched you pack for the journey and seen you return - sometimes muddy perhaps but always lifted and recharged by the sense of community of those three days in the field.
Perhaps you’ve told them how great it was this year and how much they’d love it. Perhaps they think they’re too old or it’s ‘not our sort of thing’. But if every couple of you regulars push that little bit harder you might persuade them that this is the year to bite the bullet. In other words, help us by introducing new friends to Cropredy.
Your loyalty to Fairport, to Cropredy, and to our collective community is unmatched; and it’s far and away the achievement I’m proudest to have been part of. So I’m appealing to you personally to do a little recruiting between now and August. Bring a friend; make a friend and bring them!
Of course, some of you reading this may be Cropredy virgins yourselves. So if you haven’t been to our festival I urge you to take the plunge and join us this year. It really is a question of use it or lose it, I’m afraid.
We have an absolutely incredible line-up of acts and they’re all set to blow you away. So don’t miss Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2024 and do what you can to persuade a newbie to share the joy with you.
See you for another amazing weekend, OK? I can’t wait!
Love and thanks,
Simon
https://www2.theticketfactory.com/fairport-convention/online/

30/03/2024

So sorry to learn of the passing of Gerry Conway.

He was a kind and gentle man who will be greatly missed.

Rest in peace Gerry.

05/03/2024

Always a pleasure hosting these guys with Clint Murphy at the helm!

You guys really lit it up 🔥

We are overwhelmed by all the love being thrown at us for the new album Light It Up, a lot of that being in TYB | The Resistance and plenty more in our inbox and comments.

We have to say thank you to the legends who have helped in the making of this record.

Thank you to Clint Murphy for basically being the 5th member of Two Year Break. We couldn't do any of this without him and his musical genius.
Also to Tarrant Shepherd for his remote engineering precision as always, legend!

Thank you to Woodworm Studios for hosting our recording sessions, we absolutely love it there.

Thank you to Oli Duncanson for the video wizardry. How does he do it? MAGIC.

Thank you to Pope’s Yard Brewery for letting us stay late to finish off our over-ambitious videos.

Thank you to D-LA for being scary as s**t, leaving whatever horrible place he comes from and giving up his time for us.

Thanks to Hayley Codd at Public City PR for all the hours and hours of work behind the scenes.

Thank you to Marianne Harris & Michael Goncalves at Down For Life Music for keeping us on top of everything and being the best people ever.

Thank you to everyone else that I'm sure I've forgotten who has helped make this record come to life.

AND of course, thank YOU. You guys outdo yourselves every single time, we have so much love for you all 💜 NEVER CHANGE!

If you want to come and celebrate this album with us, head on down to The Underworld Camden on 23 March. It's the biggest show we've ever done and an incredible venue. It really is going to GO OFF.

'LIGHT IT UP' ALBUM RELEASE SHOW AT THE UNDERWORLD

We will see you there 🔥

12/02/2024

Latest release from the guys!

🎶 New single alert! 🎵 Check out "Moonshine Running" (revamped!) by Steve Bonham and The Long Road. A wild ride through backwoods and moonlit highways. 🌙🚗

arcr.uk/moonshinevid
ditto.fm/moonshine-running

Artisan Creative Christopher Lydon Kev Moore Steve Bonham

03/02/2024

29/01/2024

A few years ago, before the pandemic, I was involved in a project to record 100 17th century folk songs. Well it’s finally live!

Pirates, kings and kidnappers feature in songs on website showcasing origins of modern music industry

11/01/2024

Better get the kettle on!

31/12/2023

Happy New Year everybody, from the Worm!

Photo: Jacob Holdsworth

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all our clients, friends and followers! …. And back by no demand, the Christmas blobfish!

07/12/2023

Tracking Orange Goblin with Mike Exeter at the helm.

24/11/2023

Congratulations to Eva on the latest release!

Ending the year by finishing a project that I started almost 3 years ago. I’m so excited for you to finally hear the missing piece to the puzzle - my new track The One that’s outttt now!!! ✨🪞🧩

I hope you add it to your happy tears / self love playlists - that’s all I want! 😌

Huge thank you to
Celia - Artwork
Jacob Holdsworth - Bass
Stuart at Woodworm Studios - Mix & Master
Link to stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7bURvRNqiuO63kINYvxz1g?si=-hUoD8StRw6QDNF0_A8Z0w

23/11/2023

The brand new Snare Mic out in the wild today on a session at with .

20/11/2023

27/09/2023

Drummers perspective.

14/09/2023

Very honoured to have had Chris Leslie and Nicholas Hooper in the studio for a few days.

Hope this finds everyone really well and finding lots of great live music out there… After a fab Cropredy festival, I’ve been busy learning some great tunes and song writing. I’m in the studio at the moment for a few days with composer Nicholas Hooper working on a film sound track. I have a solo gig on Thursday September 14th in Leek at The Cuckoos Nest Folk Club in the Foxelow Arts Centre - There are 10 tickets still available from the Foxelow box office. Also want to mention a venue I haven’t played before for my solo gig in Gloucester on November 11th…Bishop Hooper’s House GL1 2PG A beautifull Tudour building…
https://buy tickets.at/gloucestercivictrustlimited/973925. Check out my other solo dates in November at chrislesliemusic.com
Our Fairport October tour starts on the 6th October - see www.fairportconvention.com
Then the St.Agnes Fountain Christmas tour starts December 1st… see www.stagnesfountain.net
I’ll post again soon… love and peace 😊🎶

13/07/2023

Another great review for Ags Connollys latest album ‘Siempre’. Grab a copy!

09/07/2023

Kathleen MacInnes is back in The Captain's seat this Sunday and Monday night. This week, her Featured Album is 'Siempre' by Ags Connolly. Siempre is the 4th studio album from the Oxfordshire Americana artist, Ags Connolly, released last month. Ags blends his trademark Texas sound with Tejano music, honkytonk, and barroom waltzes in these 10 self-penned tracks.

05/07/2023

Always a pleasure to host here at the Worm!

05/07/2023

Always a pleasure to host Origin Effects here at the Worm! Special thanks to Jacob Holdsworth and John Denzil Dines!
Origin Effects pedals feature on many of the releases engineered/produced here by Stuart Jones, Mike Exeter and Michael Smith to name but a few!

04/07/2023

Congratulations Ags!

A superb album of authentic-sounding Texas border-style music recorded deep in the wilds of Oxfordshire. Listening to Ags Connolly’s fourth album ‘Siempre’ (‘Always’ for you non-Spanish speakers), …

03/07/2023

Happy place.

26/06/2023

Nice to see Ags Connolly getting some love from BBC Ulster and Woodworms gets a nice shout out as well!

Ralph has Steve Earle in session and new music from Dean Owens and Jason Isbell.

16/06/2023

Ags Connollys new album is out today, produced by Ags himself; recorded and mixed at Woodworms by Stuart Jones. Congratulations to Ags on the new release.

.protools