Your Big Day (CAW009)
Having been playing solo sets on the Newcastle scene for a few years now, and guesting on various projects including Beccy Owens recent release, its time for John Egdell to reach a wider public.
A prolific writer, Egdells songs are small tender pictures of life, some just touching on a minute long. He describes his songs as "diary entries and unsent letters", not really written with public performance in mind. He carries the idea of capturing a moment throughout the creative process by writing or recording whole sets of songs on single days, marking dates like his birthday or new years day with long hours shut away with a guitar and an 8-track.
John has put out six self released demo collections to date, while his intimate lo-fi live shows have helped him build a solid and enthusiastic band of fans. Amongst those fans is Newcastle based singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams. Williams was given a demo of Johns music by Neville Clay (another Newcastle artist). She was hooked after one listen. John's debut album "Your Big Day" was released on 11 July 2005, on Williams micro label, Caw Records.
Of the record, John says, "I just want it to be an honest representation, really. I like instruments to sound the way they are in real life, and so I try not to mess with the recordings too much". In the same way that his songs are about moments, his recordings are freeze-frames of life- "I want a record of the event of an instrument being played or a song being sung- if the record includes imperfections, then thats fine, because thats what happened in the moment."