13 Dec 2006

Duet Impossible

The transmission time for Duet Impossible has been comfirmed for December 24th at 5.45pm on BBC1.

Vernon Kay makes the musically impossible become possible as some of today's biggest pop stars get a chance to sing a duet with one of their all time idols. Through the magic of modern technology, stars from yester-year make a comeback from the big gig in the sky and appear to perform live on stage with stars of today. The results are some unique new musical collaborations featuring Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua, Roy Orbison and Westlife, Dusty Springfield and Sugababes, among others.

IFPI confirm Katie Melua as Europe’s highest selling European female artist in 2006

Today the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) confirmed Katie Melua as the highest selling European female artist throughout Europe in 2006. Since its release in September 2005, sales of Katie's second album 'Piece by Piece' have passed the three million mark across the continent achieving triple platinum status.

What makes this achievement even more notable is that the record is released on a small independent label, Dramatico Entertainment. In fact, 'Piece By Piece' is the only independent record to have applied for and been awarded IFPI platinum status in Europe in 2006.

Speaking from Paris prior to Katie's last concert date of 2006 Mike Batt, Chairman of Dramatico Entertainment, said "We are extremely proud to have helped Katie to this high level of achievement particularly in light of the independent structure of our company and the hard work and expertise that has been brought to bear by our fantastic independent distributors throughout Europe. Katie will hear about this tremendous achievement just before her sell-out concert at the Olympia in Paris, an appropriate venue for such an exciting announcement and a wonderful way to round off another superb year."



Latest Blog - December 6th 2006

Hi

Well it's been a mad couple of weeks so I haven't had a chance to write on here as frequently as I'd like. Last week was very stressful as Wembley was approaching and I could really feel the pressure of it 'cause everything was running late. I was sooooo nervous when it came to the night. Don't know why 'cause I had played venues this size before, I suppose it was because I was at home and it was Wembley! But being on stage felt great and it all seemed to be going so well until I choked on my own saliva during spiders web! Ah. I suddenly found myself not able to breathe, so I stayed out of one of the verse and got my lungs back and was able to finish the song.

It's such a nightmare when things like that happen. Once I nearly choked on my hair, which I had inhaled while breathing in, but the worst one was when I had a hair tickling my nose during a sad song at a German gig. I had to use the biggest will power not to laugh as I couldn't move it 'cause I was playing guitar.

On a more serious note I'd just like to mention the copyright law which a lot of us musicians are trying to extend the term of, briefly to explain, it is to do with the copyright of records, not of songwriting which people often confuse.

The copyright of any recorded song runs out after 50 years of its recording, which means that any musician, producer or engineer that worked on it and gets royalties from its sales will stop earning from that record 50 years after it was made. This is very sad because it affects the wonderful people that work hard in the music industry who aren't just the Madonna's or other rich musicians. For example an artist that sang on a record or a musician that played on a record in the 60's, say when they were in their early 20's and earn a modest income from it, will have that income stopped in the 2010's when they are in their 70's, when they are most vulnerable and need the money.

What's even worse is that Britain has the lowest term for copyright compared to America or the rest of Europe and when the copyright law is up for renewal in the next few weeks it looks like the government is not going to extend the term. It makes me very sad and angry 'cause so many musicians have been campaigning for the extension of the copyright law. I have been told that its not too late so if anyone reading this want to do something about it please write to your local MP and tell them how you think the copyright term should be extended. If they do extend it, it will also mean that it will be a bit longer till people can mess around with your favourite Beatles records or any other music from the 60's and release horrible remix versions of your favourite songs.

Katie

29 Nov 2006

Support act

Just been announced that Elton John's faves "The Storys" will be supporting Katie at Wembley Arena. They also will be appearing with her at the up and coming shows in France and Germany.

For more info on The Storys check out their official site www.thestorys.co.uk.

Latest Blog - November 19th 2006

Hi,

Damien Rice's second album came out this week; me and all his other fans have been waiting for it for fouuuuur loooong years! And it finally came out.

I downloaded it off iTunes a few days ago and have been very surprised by the reaction I've had to it. First of all I have to say that I thought 'O' was a masterpiece, I found it compelling and the most soothing companion on cold nights over the last few years, I loved it instantly and each track seemed to be better than the previous one. I will equally not forget when I went to see him live at Brixton Academy, loved the show and was particularly moved by his voice. I've never heard a voice like that before in a live concert.

Anyway... so I got it a few days ago, and as each track unfolded I was a bit puzzled... sort of not impressed...I rang up a mate and asked her if she'd listened to it yet, and she said she hadn't but wanted to know what I thought of it... I didn't know what to say! How could an artist make such a stunning debut and come up with an average second album?! ....Thank God! I listened to the whole thing again, I listened to it that evening, just to be sure of my opinion... And what happened was brilliant... it suddenly connected completely with me, I was so surprised that I hadn't heard it on the first listen. That this was as equally compelling, unforgettable and at times even more spine chilling than the first album.

'9 Crimes' at the moment is a favourite, have been listening to it non stop. Lisa Hannigan's voice is breathtaking and I really hope she makes an album of her own soon. I am slightly horrified at myself 'cause if I hadn't gone back and listened to 'Elephant' a second time, such beautiful music would have bypassed me. It makes me think about how many times I have done that with other artist, on first listen you just don't get it, but somehow on more listens it finds you? So for those who have bought his record and might be thinking the clichéd "Oh it's not as good as 'O', the first album", give it another listen and you might just find something you love.

Katie

06 Nov 2006

Latest Blog - November 6th 2006

Hi

Well Paul Walters' funeral was very sad. A lot of people found it very hard to keep their eyes dry; including myself as his memory and life was told so beautifully by family and friends. All of us knew that he would be missed greatly by everyone who knew him. So today still has sad overtones to it.

I'm heading to Canada tomorrow for a few days for some promotion. I recorded a song for a film called Miss Potter, which is about the life of the writer Beatrix Potter. It was done very last minute cause Mike had to write the arrangement in a few hours as the string musicians showed up at his house which is also the studio where we record and he didn't have the arrangements ready yet, it was mayhem. The funniest thing was when the Chimney Sweeper showed up, because someone forgot to cancel his appointment and he was abruptly turned away. In the end we got it all done and now it's going to be in the film which I think is out later this year.

Katie

02 Nov 2006

Shy Boy - Download only single released November 20th

'Shy Boy' will be bundled with the live recording of the Bobbie Gentry song 'Fancy' - recorded in Düsseldorf on Katie's 2006 tour - and a new version of 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' – originally performed by Katie on ITV1's Christmas Mania programme.

2006 has been yet another extraordinary year for the 22 year old. Katie was nominated for 2 Brit Awards, played to 150,000 people on her 10 week European tour, had a Dutch tulip named after her, toured America coast to coast, raced at 160mph round Silverstone, flew a plane, launched Save The Children's 'Rewrite The Future' campaign and recently made the headlines with a Guinness World Record for the deepest concert when she performed 303 meters beneath the North Sea in the leg of a gas rig.

The close of the year sees Katie performing on the World Music Awards and Children In Need and on December 3rd Katie will play her last UK date for the year at Wembley Arena.

In Katie's 3 year career her worldwide album sales top 7 million. In addition to great success in her adopted country of Britain (where she was the most successful female artist in 2004 and 2005 and where both her debut album 'Call Off The Search' and her second album 'Piece By Piece' topped the charts, each album selling more than 1.5 million copies), Katie continues to be one of Britain's most successful exports selling more than 3.5 million copies of 'Piece By Piece' worldwide. Piece By Piece has remained in the Billboard European chart for an unprecedented 56 weeks where it is still in the top 5.

26 Oct 2006

Latest Blog - October 26th 2006

Hi

I've just got back from America, feeling drunk from jetlag. The weather is finally starting to get cold, I'm trying to remember an October this warm in Britain. I don't know what we're doing to the planet but I know we need to stop abusing it. I'm desperate to see that Al Gore film about global warming called 'The Inconvenient Truth', I've heard that it's amazing.

Things have been looking very bleak lately, you might have heard that the producer of Terry Wogan, Paul Walters died on Saturday after battling with cancer for some time. For those of you who don't know, Paul was the producer of the Terry Wogan show and he was the one that picked all the music. So it was him who played my songs way at the start when I released 'Call Off The Search' when no one else would. He was also the one to play Eva Cassidy for the first time and it wouldn't be an overstatement to say he brought her music and amazing voice to the world which inspired some of us to pick up the guitar and start writing. I will miss him immensely and so will the world of music.

Take care

Katie

16 Oct 2006

Latest blog - October 16th 2006

Hi

Well the mayhem has finally settled and I've forced myself to sit down and write a blog. It's been very hectic because of the oil rig and since then I've been in Europe doing radio gigs.

The oil rig was incredible, mainly because of the acoustics in the shaft. I also loved the safety training we had to do, I did feel bad for my band, 'cause they kind of had to do it all without much choice whether they liked it or not, but they were all great and I'd like to thank Henry, Jim and Tim for being so courageous even if we were all shitting ourselves!

We had to all wear these bright orange survival suits and I did think I resembled Kenny from South Park way too much; it didn't give me much hope as Kenny is the one that dies in every episode. Luckily no one died on our trip to the gas rig, maybe a few mini heart attacks from the lift that took us down the leg of the gas rig. It was so ironic, because everything was very hi-tech and seemed safe but when it came to the lift (which took 8 minutes to go down) it was a small rickety metallic box which bounced unnervingly every time we got the top or bottom.

We had a great gig though and all the workers on troll A were brilliant, so thanks for making such a mental thing happen.

Katie

02 Oct 2006

It's a new World Record!

Katie Melua has set a new World Record by performing the world's deepest underwater concert. Katie and her band played for workers at the Statoil Troll A gas rig in the North Sea, an amazing 303 metres below sea level.

The concert required extensive medical testing and underwater survival training including escaping through the window of a submerged helicopter, and was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of oil production on the rig. It was filmed by Norwegian TV channel NRK.

Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, was also there and confirmed the world record.

28 Sep 2006

Katie Melua To Set Guinness World Record For Deepest Underwater Concert

On 2nd October Katie Melua will set a Guinness World Record for the deepest underwater concert when she performs a concert at the bottom of the North Sea.

The concert will be held at the bottom of one of the four shafts of the Statoil Troll A Platform gas rig. The Troll platform is 472 m high (higher than the Eiffel Tower and the tallest structure ever moved by humans), of which 369 meters lie below sea surface. The Troll field ranks as Europe`s largest offshore gas field in production.

Director of Production at Troll, Geir Amland, "Statoil celebrates our 10 year anniversary in 2006 and we are thrilled that Katie Melua will be performing a concert to celebrate our anniversary. It will be certainly an occasion to remember."

In addition to the gas rig staff, the audience will include Craig Glenday, Editor-in Chief of Guinness World Records, who will adjudicate and verify the validity of the record - certain criteria will be in place, including that Katie must perform a "traditional concert performance of vocals and instrument to an audience". This was already the case, as Katie will have her band with her to play the concert, at the invitation of the crew of the platform before the Guinness Book Of Records became interested.

All visitors to the platform, including Katie, the band, crew and Craig Glenday have undergone medical examinations and will all undertake strict and extensive emergency training prior to the helicopter flight to the platform.

The concert, which is being produced by the Norwegian production company Dinamo Story, will be televised on NRK in Norway, with future international distribution to be advised.

25 Sep 2006

Latest blog - 09.25.06

Hi,

I completely forgot to say thank you to all of you who sent me the birthday wishes. They were really appreciated and I had a great day at home with family and mates. I'd also like to say thank you to Hambi, Mistermark, lovely Katie and Lepipoptera for my lovely present, I really like it.

take care

K

22 Sep 2006

Latest blog - 9.22.06

Hi,

I'm in Belfast right now, here for a day and then down to Dublin before coming back to London on Sunday. Traveling has been interesting lately with all the security measures. I don't know why but I've been feeling extra guilty lately when going through those metal detecting machines, for no reason as I have done nothing wrong. It's weird though because I know many people get the same feeling when confronted by authority. I suppose that's because all of us are guilty in little ways, everything from stealing sweets when you're a kid to fibbing to taking drugs and when you go through a security check all those feelings of guilt bubble up somewhere in your subconscious.

I'm really looking forward to the Oil Rig gig in Norway, I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, its the one where I do a gig 350 metres underneath the ocean bed. You're only allowed 30 people down there at any one time and the lift takes 10mins to go down - due to the pressure it has to go down very slowly. Also we're not allowed to take pictures because if there are any fuel leaks in the atmosphere the flash in our cameras might ignite it! Eek!

I wasn't worried because I know that it will be completely safe especially as it's being filmed for a TV programme. Although I know that doesn't always guarantee safety, I was devastated to hear Steve Irwin die so tragically while filming his programme. I loved watching his programmes; he was such a character and had a real love for what he did.

Will let you all know how it goes and if I see any whales.

Katie

14 Sep 2006

Latest blog 9.14.06

Hi

Finished that book a few days ago, Hermann Hesse's 'Steppenwolf'. I really liked it. For a book that was translated from a different language it was beautifully written. A few days ago I got to play with the Manchester BBC Orchestra for the Proms, it was incredible. It is so different to playing with the band. At times it isn't as free and I find playing with the orchestra, because there are so many people involved, I have less control and that is both frightening and exciting at the same time.

Save the Children launched a brilliant campaign yesterday called Rewrite The Future. Its aim is to give education to children in conflict zones. They are trying to raise awareness and four hundred and fifty million dollars over the next five years. If you want to find out more about the campaign please visit save the children's official website at: www.savethechildren.org

Take care

Katie

12 Sep 2006

It's Only Pain - new single available now

Katie Melua's new single It's Only Pain is available now to download.

Click here to be directed to the buy page of Katie's website to download it now.

It's also available in shops as a CD single, featuring 'It's Only Pain', a live version of 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' and the 'It's Only Pain' video.

You can also order the track via SMS, just text MELUA to 81330. You will receive a message back with your code and download instructions.

06 Sep 2006

Latest blog - 09.07.06

Hi,

Sorry I've been a bit absent. The trip to Georgia was excellent, saw my folks, caught up with friends and got to swim in the Black sea. On the last day, though, when we were meant to go scuba diving the waves were huge and obviously very dangerous to swim in. Unfortunately 3 people had died from drowning. Its a scary sea the Black sea.

After Georgia I went to Poland to do the Sopot festival, I'd like to say thank you to all the Polish folks who have left messages on the guestbook, you're way too kind and I'm very glad you enjoyed my performance. I really loved playing in Poland, the crowd was great and I can't wait to go back soon.

I'm now back in England and yesterday I did something that I've wanted to do for a very long time... had a flying lesson. It was Incredible! It was a lot easier and scarier than I thought; especially the first time I took the control of the plane. Landing was also quite intense and I did two good ones but the 3rd one was really bad because I thought I had the hang of it and got a bit cocky and dropped the plane on the land. I'd recommend it highly to anyone... not the dodgy landing, the flying lesson.

K

04 Sep 2006

Pre-order new single

Hi everyone,

Just a note to let you know that Katie Melua's new single "It's Only Pain" will be available from next Monday 11th September, in shops and as a download.

It is possible to pre-order your download NOW to ensure that you receive it immediately on Monday. Click here to be directed to the buy page of Katie's website to pre-order. You can also pre-order the track via SMS, just text MELUA to 81330. You will receive a message back with your code and download instructions.

Dont forget downloads count towards the singles chart, so by spending your £0.77 youll be helping Katie get a good chart position!

Thanks for your continued interest in Katie and we hope you enjoy the single.

Best wishes,

Mike Batt

Dramatico

31 Aug 2006

Katie Melua Announces Wembley Arena Show

Katie Melua has revealed she will play a one-off show at Wembley Arena on Sunday 3rd December to conclude another fantastic year.

The Wembley date will be Katies largest London show to date having sold out the Shepherds Bush Empire, Hammersmith Apollo, twice, and Royal Albert Hall on previous tours.

Tickets for her last British date of 2006 go on sale on Friday 1 st September at 9am .

Katie Melua has been the biggest selling female artist in Britain since 2004 with both her debut album Call Off The Search and her second album Piece By Piece topping the charts. In addition to great success in Britain , her adopted country, Katie continues to be one of Britain s most successful exports selling more than 6 million albums worldwide, remaining in the top 10 of the European chart for 6 months.

Katies 10 week European sell-out tour earlier this year included 18 sold out dates in Britain and a further 28 dates across continental Europe with a total audience exceeding 150,000 people.

Katie has spent the last 3 months on tour in North America and returns to Britain to release her new single Its Only Pain and a deluxe version of Piece By Piece which will include a bonus DVD comprising an 80 minute film shot during Katies 2006 European tour plus promo films for her singles Nine Million Bicycles, I Cried For You and Spiders Web. The original version of Piece By Piece, released in September 2005, has sold more than 1.2 million copies in Britain and more than 3 million copies worldwide.

Katie said of her first show at Wembley "I always used to say that I preferred playing in tiny little clubs and doing very intimate shows, - and although that still stands, it really is a huge thrill to do the bigger gigs as I recently discovered on touring Europe. Headlining for the first time at Wembley in front of 10,000 people is obviously a great buzz for any artist. I am so proud of every member of the band who have gone from strength to strength on the tour this year and we are really looking forward to playing at Wembley Arena."

Ticket details

Sunday 3 rd December Wembley Arena On-sale Friday 1st September at 9am.

Ticket price 30.00 & 27.50

Box office: 0870 060 0870, 0870 143 2205, 0870 444 5556

Book online at www.ticketmaster.co.uk www.seetickets.com

Its Only Pain brand new single - release date September 11th

Piece By Piece Special Bonus CD DVD edition release date September 25th

29 Aug 2006

BBC Proms in the Park Manchester

Manchester is delighted to welcome Britains biggest selling female artist Katie Melua, who will be starring alongside the world-renowned BBC Philharmonic at BBC Proms in the Park (9 September 2006, Heaton Park, Manchester). The sparkling evening of entertainment will feature the popular classics, a live link up to the Royal Albert Hall, giving you the chance to sing along to those Last Night favourites and a spectacular firework finale.

For more information visit http://www.manchester.gov.uk/visitorcentre/events/summer/proms.htm

To book tickets go to http://www.bbc-info-online.co.uk/proms/manchester

BBC Proms in the Park is event sponsored by National Savings and Investments, the government backed savings and investments provider.

29 Aug 2006

Latest blog - 08.27.06

Hi,

In Turkey at the moment, trying to get to Georgia, I'm gonna go for a couple of days of chilling and to see my family. Its the first time I'm transiting in Istanbul; I need to get to a town called Trabzon which is closer to the Georgian border. As I went to check in for the Trabzon flight the guy looked at my English passport and asked why I was going to Trabzon, not for security reasons but because no foreigners ever go there! Well...should be interesting.

I'm waiting for that flight now.

Did a gig in Germany yesterday, it was a festival and probably the biggest crowd I've ever played to, 50,000 people! That was a lot of faces!

K

23 Aug 2006

Latest blog - 08.23.06

Hi,

So far the American trip has been quite eventful!
Yesterday we were driving from Detroit to Cleveland which is meant to be a 4hour drive. Richard our radio promo guy was driving. He kind of....went the wrong way....for about 3 hours! We didn't realize we were going the wrong way until we saw the signs to Canada and we were meant to be going south! The journey ended up taking 9 hours! Poor Richard he felt really bad, and we didn't want to get angry at him cause he was already very angry with himself.
Then, to rub salt into the wound, after we'd been on the road for 6 hours the rest of us decided we needed a drink. So we stopped at a gas station to buy a few beers only to be told that you're not allowed to drink alcohol in American public areas, basically anywhere that isn't a bar or your home ! ! ! !
We didn't quite know what to do with ourselves, we left the gas station with our heads hanging down and the last couple of hours of the journey were very somber.

Love

Katie

Latest blog - 08.21.06

Hi All

I saw the video to "It's Only Pain".
I'm very pleased with it after a gruelling day of shooting. The ballet dancers came out really well. Anyway, see what you think when you see it.
I'm in America at the moment, and having a laugh with Richard who is our radio guy over here. He has some brilliant rock n roll stories. Probably nothing I could print here!

Love,

Katie

Latest blog - 08.19.06

Hi All,

I'm on a week off at the moment and going to America on a radio tour next week and its been nice to catch up with friends and family.
I have just started reading an interesting book called "Steppen Wolf" by Hermann Hesse. He's a German writer and its quiet hard to describe what the book is about, but its about a character who lives in an underworld in his own mind. The writing is amazing and beautiful for a book thats been translated from German.
I will let you know how it develops.

Love,

Katie

Latest blog - 08.17.06

Hello,

A bit sad that the weather is so grey in London. APARENTLLY there was a big heat wave here while I was gone..hmm.

Katie

20 Aug 2006

New Single & Special Edition Album

New Single - "It's Only Pain"

11th September sees the release of "It's Only Pain", Katies brand new single: which is not on the existing album. The single also contains an extra audio track "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" recorded live during her European tour. There is also an enhanced computer accessible version of the new promo video for "It's Only Pain" on the single.
All tracks and the video will also be downloadable from Itunes and other platforms.

Piece By Piece - Special Edition Album

Two weeks later on the 25th September the deluxe double disc (DVD + CD) package will appear in the shops through out the UK and continental Europe. This pack is the most ambitious to date containing a "free" or "bonus" 90 minute DVD full of spectacular footage of Katie and the band on tour in Europe, and interspersed with documentary style footage taken during the tour. The DVD also contains three promo videos ("Nine Million Bicycles", "I Cried For You" and "Spider's Web"). In addition, the audio of the deluxe package will contain three new tracks including a mix of the new single "It's Only Pain", an acoustic version of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" recorded at Abbey Road Studio 2, plus "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming": a brand new recording.

13 Aug 2006

Latest blog - 08.14.06

Hi Guys,

On Saturday we filmed the video to "It's Only Pain".
After all the panic about it being so last minute, we somehow managed to get it all together and I think its going to be good. Without giving away too much, I look REALLY terrifying in it, so please don't be scared, it is me underneath all that make up. We also had two principal ballet dancers from the English National Ballet and by coincidence the female ballet dancer was from Georgia, her name was Elena Glurdjidze.
Yesterday was even more mental, I had a gig at Silvertsone as part of the car racing day. I got taken around in a two seater formula one racing car. We went up to speeds of 160mph, it was amazing! At first it felt quite claustrophobic cause the way they harness you in there is so that you literally can't move a muscle! But when we left the station and got on the road it felt very exhilarating.

Katie

07 Aug 2006

Katie Melua signs-up with Grand Prix Masters

Britains biggest selling female artist Katie Melua will be the headline act at the close down of the Grand Prix Masters of Great Britain on Sunday 13th August at Silverstone. Alongside other soon-to-be-announced acts, Katie will perform live in front of thousands on a purpose-built paddock stage.

Latest blog - 08.07.06

Hi Guys,

Well the jet lag has died away now which is good. At the moment we're planning on filming the video to the new single 'It's Only Pain'. Its a bit of a panic because we have to have it finished in two weeks time and have only just come up with the idea. Mike is going to be directing it, and it'll have to be simple cause of the limited time we've got. Sometimes I think about getting an animated vide (The Gorillaz, obviously are onto something) cause then you wouldn't have to listen to your own song 250 times a day while miming to it and staring down at a camera.
Still, I hope the vid comes out well.

Katie
x x x

31 Jul 2006

Blog from USA / UK - 08.01.06

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the lapse of time since my last diary entry. I'm back in London now, just got off the flight from New York.
The end of the American tour went well. It feels strange to be back at home after three months of being in America, I can't quite believe it. Plus the jet lag doesn't help. I wish someone would write a book about touring, particularly the physiological aspects of it.
I know that sounds pontsy but I often talk with the others in the band and crew about how hard it is sometimes to come back home, into the real world and be able to relate with family and friends straight away. It often takes at-least a few days before you can have a normal conversation with someone at home. Frank (our multi-instrumentalist) often compares it to when an astronaut comes back from space, they need time to readjust to their environment. I suppose those of us who leave home for long periods of time also need the time to readjust like the astronauts do.
Having said that I wouldn't swap it for the world. I think I was born to love traveling and as long as I've got legs and some sense of adventure I don't ever want to stop going to and discovering new places whether its music related or not.
On a lighter note, I don't know if I've ever mentioned this but I am a massive roller-coaster fan and as far as riding the roller-coasters, this American tour was the best. They have a theme park called 6 flags which has the most AMAZING rides. I went to 3 of them and also rode on the roller-coaster on top of a skyscraper in Vegas called the Stratosphere. I would highly recommend this ride, you get to experience proper Zero Gravity, I couldn't describe the feeling in words. It wasn't at all scary apart from the part at the beginning when you don't know what its going to be like.
The best coaster on the tour was a flying one called Tsatu which was in 6 Flags in Los Angeles. It was brilliant and the lightweight harness didn't make you feel too secure which added to the excitement! I hear they have a similar one in Thorpe Park over here so I'm gonna try and check it out.

Love

Katie

14 Jul 2006

Blog from USA - 07.15.06

Hi,

Writing this letter every other day has made me surf the internet a lot more and I've discovered some great websites. There's one called http://www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com, is a brilliant blog by an Iraqi Woman who is writing things as they happen right now. Funnily enough it was Tim (our bass player) who recommended it. So far I've read a few of her blogs and I?love the fact that they're just like someone's diary. She talks about everything from the America occupation to trying to buy fruit and getting hot water. Check it out if you're interested to know what its like for this woman to live in Bagdad right now.
Another good one is:http://www.corporatecritic.org just type in the name of any company and it will tell you wether its a good company in terms of its ethical conduct, for example it tells you how the company scores in terms of environmental damage, animal testing, workforce and other things.

We're in a town right now who's name I can't remember cause we arrived at 5 in the morning and I went straight to my hotel room. Been writing all day so I don't know the name of the place I'm in, I know its bad, but I'll know where I am this afternoon as we're all going to go bowling in the town centre.
The gigs have been going well and have had some great reviews and some bad ones as well. Can I say, it really stinks when you get a bad one! Cause at first, you hate the reviewer! Then you hate yourself! Then you hate the reviewer until you realize he/she is just doing their job and they're entitled to their opinion cause music is such a subjective thing.

Completely forgot to mention that I got to meet Chris Biondo the other week.
Eva Cassidy's producer, he was really nice and we chatted about Eva for a while.

See you soon

K

12 Jul 2006

Katie triumphs in New York

BB Kings Club just off Times Square on 42nd Street New York was bursting at the seams with a sold-out, standing audience last night as Katie and the band played their triumphant set. This was a perfect gig for Katie to play, a large capacity and a pedigree for fielding the finest blues and rock artists. John Mayall (legendary British bluesman and writer of Crawling Up A Hill) is playing there next week.

The tour continues to go well. The support slot for Il Divo, which took her from Florida across to LA and up to Vancouver may have seemed a strange choice, but they are massive in the States and they were playing to five to ten thousand people a night. The audience gave Katie a full standing ovation at many of the gigs, particularly LAs Greek Theatre, - very unusual for a support act. The Il Divo guys were very hospitable and supportive, and their crew and management were magnificent.

Then, on June 5th Katies headline tour began with the Montreal Jazz Festival. Her set crerated the usual magic, and he promoter was so pleased he invited Katie as his special guest to Paul Simons show and to meet Paul afterwards, which was a huge buzz for Katie. Thereafter, Toronto and Philadelphia and on to New York City where she had them swinging from the rafters at BB Kings. The tour now continues to Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, Atlanta, San Diego and then the famous Troubadour club in LA, on to San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and Portland.

In New York, Katie and Mike are cutting two new tracks, one of which will be single, to be released in early September to precede the re-issued double pack of Piece By Piece, which will contain a free 80 minute DVD of the European tour, including much of the concert, plus some great little backstage and on-the-road footage. More news to follow soon.

13 Jul 2006

Blog from USA - 07.13.06

Hi everyone,

Been in the studio, recording some tracks in New York, and theres a massive thunderstorm outside. I've seen lightning every 15 seconds for the last half hour!
Did a gig at BB Kings the other night, my first time there. Enjoyed it a lot. Weve got Tim Harries playing bass at the moment with us, who is brilliant, comes up with some serious grooves.

Speaking of gigs we played at the Montreal Jazz Festival a few days ago and I got to see Paul Simon live in concert. I think hes one of the best songwriters ever to have lived. He played all the classics like: Still Crazy After All these Years, Cecelia, Bridge Over Troubled Water. I got to meet him afterwards and chat, very briefly though cause I had to catch our tour bus which had to leave at 11pm as we had a TV the next morning (the drive was about 9 hours).

Love

Katie

08 Jul 2006

Apple instore performances

Katie will be performing instore at the following Apple stores:

Apple Store, SoHo
New York, NY
Wed. 12th July at 18:30

Apple Store, Third Street Promenade
Santa Monica, CA
Tue. 25th July at 16:00

Apple Store, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Wed. 26th July at 12 noon

02 Jul 2006

Blog from USA - 07.03.06

Hi,

Its so much better writing wee newsletters rather than long ones cos I don't have to remember what happened in the last three months but only the last few days.

The gigs are going well, and I like the fact that I'm playing my music to people who haven't heard it before over here in America. It reminds me of 2 years ago when I was just starting out in the UK.

Something funny happened the other day. We had an evening off and I decided to go to the beach to do a bit of writing and sunset watching (I know! Cheesy picture but stay with me for a minute ). After a few hours when it was time to get back to the hotel I hailed a cab and got in it. The whole of the inside of the taxi was covered in glow in the dark stars and colorful stickers, everytihng was VERY bright! I complimented the driver on his artistic creativity and he turned to me and said ..."Well you're in the Party Cab!" then he pressed some buttons and some of the toys on the ceiling started glowing and making noises like in a 70's disco and he played ABBA, The Bee Gees, 70's soul and started dancing around while driving. It was hilarious! I joined in of course and had the best taxi ride ever. So maybe this will inspire our cabbies in London to turn their cab rides into mini parties or maybe not.

Love

Katie

29 Jun 2006

Blog from USA - 06.30.06

Hi everyone,

Due to the fact that I am so crap at keeping up with my long newsletters, we've decided to keep a diary that I'll write every other day, rather than an actual letter every month.

So I'm in America at the mo, things are going well.
I got a lovely new guitar yesterday which I was very happy about, a deep blue acoustic Yamaha. I've also heard about a new tuner that's just come out which automatically tunes the guitar ITSELF! Can't wait to check it out.

Missing England quite a bit but there's enough adventures on this side of the pond to keep us all entertained.

Love

Katie

23 Jun 2006

NEWS UPDATE– 23rd June 2006

Katies in Vegas tonight, right in the middle of the Il Divo support leg of her tour. To date its gone really well and shes been reviewed well. The Orlando Sentinel (no less!) said:

Opening act Katie Melua displayed a winsome personality with a wry dash of self-deprecation as she showcased her mellow, jazzy hits.

"Every songwriter has their sad love song," she introduced one number. "Well, this one's mine."

Although not well-known in the United States, Melua has achieved great success in Britain, and her 40-minute set showed why.

With a voice that can go from smokily seductive to plaintive to funky, all in a single song, she soared through hits such as "Nine Million Bicycles" and "The Closest Thing to Crazy.

Audiences have all been completely, or almost completely in their seats at the start of her set, and the venues are biggish, - 4K to 10K. Supporting is a little different to playing headliners at similar houses in Europe (Katie has only ever done one support before this, a one-off for Joe Cocker in France last year) but she is enjoying the challenge and being well treated by the Il Divo team. In fact, in Tampa, Florida, after an awe-inspiring thunderstorm during soundcheck, (that threatened to wash the show out), our monitor desk wasnt working and Il Divos guys were helpful beyond the call of duty, fixing it with only a minute to spare before she was to step on stage.

Katie took the band and crew out on a snorkeling trip in Boca Raton. Shes always very active and tries to make the most of spare time in all these interesting places rather than vegging in the hotel room.

The trip to the States began with a radio-tour and the album was released here two weeks ago, heralded by an appearance on the Today Show and the popular Breakfast With The Arts TV show. She has been working very hard. The album entered the top 200 at 108 (number 2 on the heat seeker chart). The Il Divo part of the tour ends on 3rd July in Vancouver, after which she starts the headline tour down the East Coast, preceded by the Montreal Jazz festival (5th July) and Toronto Mod Club (6th).

Meanwhile, back at Dramatico, everyone is working hard getting the DeLuxe edition ready for September release. It will contain a 90 minute DVD plus the album with added tracks. The DVD is being edited right now, and will contain interviews, backstage stuff and a lot of the superb footage of the European tour gigs shot by Mike Sergeant and a 12 camera OB unit.

Katie and Mike are both writing for album three due next year, - and have collaborated on a couple of songs. They are also making a new single to be released in the late summer in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Shorter news updates will follow more regularly from now on, so check back soon.

07 Jun 2006

Instore performances

Katie will be performing instore at Apple on the following date:

Saturday, June 10th @ 12.00 Noon
Apple Store/ North Michigan Ave.
679 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611



01 Jun 2006

Piece By Piece US release

At long last "Piece By Piece" was released in the US on 6th June, 2006.
A limited number of CDs will also include a bonus DVD.
This offer is only available at Target.