'In The Twee Small Hours' is the debut album by Gavin Osborn .
Gavin Osborn likes to think his songs are about that place between childhood and adulthood where naivety and innocence meet grown-up disillusionment. But they are also about computer games and penguins, so he's probably not the best judge. The good people at Gravity DIP asked him if he'd liked to make a record. Of course he would. He was very keen on a live album, recorded in a small, intimate venue, with a few other musicians and singers helping him out. So that's what was made.
Gavin writes and sings the kind of songs he does because of a natural leaning towards the underdog. He takes inspiration from something heroic in an otherwise small gesture; like seeing someone sitting with their legs crossed on a tube train, or drinking extra large milkshakes in a pub. If Gavin is fashionable, it is only in the sense that, like many other indie fans, he enjoys being alone and thinks that loneliness is inherently beautiful. Musically, he is influenced by Billy Bragg, Ben Folds, The Mountain Goats and Frank Sinatra. This is because he likes funny, whimsical, bittersweet, political, twee little songs, but also, he sure loves a showman. There are lots of other bands he likes, but he thinks it is better for you to discover music for yourself and keep it hidden so that no-one else knows about it. Except his songs, of course. Please tell everyone about those.
In 2006, Gavin Osborn took his brand of melodic folk-pop to the inaugural Latitude Festival, playing in the poetry tent alongside such luminaries as Patti Smith and John Cooper Clarke. He also performed his songs in front of a sell-out crowd at Regents Park Open Air Theatre with award-winning comedian Daniel Kitson, with whom he toured in 2004 to sold-out audiences. Gavin was also a regular at the Soho Theatre, as part of the hugely successful 'Political Animal'.
So far in 2007, he has written for and performed on BBC Radio 4, as well as London's independent radio station, Resonance FM. He has done gigs with Stewart Lee and played guitar for the wonderful poet-songwriting-comedian John Hegley. There are photos to prove it. Gavin will once again play Regents Park Open Air Theatre with Daniel Kitson in June, but this time they'll be doing "a brand new thing specially devised for this one off performance". He toured the UK and Ireland in July, just after 'In The Twee Small Hours' was released.
