Lisa Mitchell

Photo by Saskia Wilson

Art Direction Tristan Ceddia

Styling Sarah Starkey

Photo by Jamieson Moore

Had a chat to Happy about new music and the new video 

http://hhhhappy.com/lisa-mitchell-is-getting-ready-to-gift-us-with-some-new-music-we-caught-up-with-her-to-find-out-what-shes-been-up-to/

played some shows

people were noisy

people were quiet

people listened

people drank

i concentrated

and told the story

the kindest with me every time

it is god-willing

this creative life

to hold the torch

skyward

high

for me?

for you?

for the doe?

glad for all the souls

that know

xx

Ps. In less abstract news, I am in Australia making finals ties on the new album with producer, Eric J Dubowsky, wishing good thoughts on it, like a baby in a belly. Due this year. And you know what that means - singles dripping out in anticipation… ( oh my god!)

LM

Ryan Kenny / Vege Threads

things have become quite festive in my house...I just baked spiced pear cake and my housemate created this beautiful wreath...! And that's not even mentioning that the Christmas Album has been released !! I contributed a harmony-laden version of, 'The Coldest Night of the Year' featuring Georgia Fair + Anita Lester... Marika Hackman, Flyte and many more beautiful artists have all contributed to this album with all profit going to CoppaFeel! - a breast cancer charity like no other. Check the song out at the link below.... Tis the season, no? x

UK shows were great, and we finished it off with the Roundhouse in London, such a cool venue.

Well, that’s all I’ve got right now!

I’ve got a few rolls of film that I’ll be developing, so I’m sure I’ll leak a few of those soon as well…!

Be well,

Hope to see you soon,

Lisa

A guy who follows me on instagram ( @callmenetraam ) posted a great photo of the matchbox that he bought from me. On the matchbox is an excerpt from ‘The Land Beyond the Front Door’.

I’ve been collecting badges for the guitar strap that my mum made (!) for me. Here it leans, backstage in Lund, Sweden… I loved playing here!

This is Leah - what a legend. Here she is with my matchbox display…! She was selling merchandise for Bears Den for the whole tour.

Bears Den doing their thang, being amazing. Their new songs are sounding so beautiful. It’s going to be an amazing second album…

The Lads ! ( well, some of them! ) Jools, Scotty, Bennnie and Marcus, four legends on board with me and the rest of the crew for the month…!

Hello all,

Just a little update,

Tour has finished! I just want to share a few of my own photos with you, just a little tip-of-the-iceberg look at what happened this past month on the road.  In case you missed it, I supported Bears Den through Europe and UK. And I survived. ( haha, that’s be a great badge. ) No, in all seriousness, it was bloody brilliant and I feel blessed to have shared the stage with these magical people for so long.  

Bears Den, thank you for having me!

And to anyone reading this who was at one of these shows and introduced yourself afterwards, a HUGE thank you!! Totally made my nights!

Lisa x

OK! Here we go, these are fairly chronological, and apologies if you’ve already seen a few if you follow me on instagram -  I thought I’d include for other people to see as well.

Firstly, a map! Everyone likes a map.

Most of our drives were overnight as we slept, and the distances were usually quite short ( this is an Australian talking, bear in mind ) so we often parked in vacant lots or the main road ( in case of Manchester ) once we reached our destinations, to sleep for the rest of the night,  which always made for increasingly bizarre moments upon opening the bus-door in the mornings… Would it be rolling hills or a concrete wall covered in french graffiti? ( also, bear in mind that this was my first bus-tour, so I’ve been quite curious about the ins and outs of it.)

I liked this super-Netherlands scene… All bikes and street art… Somewhere in the Netherlands, Nijmegen, I think.

And here we have Berlin being Berlin… Cold, strange and arty… Yes, and a VW. Couldn’t help myself.

Here I am doing the words and feelings:

The man selling Bears Den albums in Nijmegen ( Netherlands) at the merch desk was also a comic-strip illustrator and I traded him a lyric-matchbox for a drawing….

It must be the sixth today… Of October, I mean. I did my first overnight sleep on an actual tour bus last night! We played the first show of the Bear’s Den tour in Edinburgh and then the bus picked us up at 1am and started driving to Manchester. I stayed up a bit with some of the crew and band but decided to brave my bunk around 2am… It was actually horrible for a few hours, I wasn’t used to the corners, my body couldn’t relax as I suppose it felt the need to protect me from rolling out into the aisle.. I finally found a good position and put my ear plugs in and got some sleep. At some point I remember the engine turning off and the almighty hum ceasing…! Next thing I remember were traffic sounds, sparse at first, and then the beginning of a stampede of high heels clip-clopping past… Everyone going to work… We were parked outside the Ritz in the middle of the city centre of Manchester after all! I decided it was around 10am and headed out to find coffee and of course, free wifi. It was the most surreal moment, crouching through the little side door of the huge bus and emerging out onto a busy city street, in a new city, half asleep, with no concept of where I was really in relation to anything else in the city…! Well, at least I made it through the night ! 

Today I am full of feelings - overwhelmed by travelling with such a huge group of people in such close quarters, feeling a little displaced in the northern hemisphere, but I know I’ll find my feet soon… Winter and a cold christmas draws closer, and with my new album finished, I feel a sense of emptiness, so I search and listen for my next move… The next sapling to nurture… Can’t wait to share the new album with everyone… Eric J and I really created something pretty fun and… yeh, real… We’ve got Rob Calder and Matt Johnson playing bass and drums on it, we’ve got my dear musical collaborator, Tim Harvey singing and playing guitar all over it, we’ve got some of the best session players in LA playing guitars and keys on it, and some of my favourite new songs of mine ( as weird as that sounds to say ) are on this album… It will be released next year…! So not long to wait now… Can’t wait for you to have it in your hands / in your digital hands …! 

Looking forward to playing my songs to so many new ears on this tour… And not falling out of my bunk… So grateful to be on such a brilliant tour with Bear’s Den - such an amazing band or musicians and songwriters… 

Will try and keep more diary notes for you. 

Much love, Lisa 

There's something in the way you walk when you're alone, when you're far from home, when you're open to what is around you, humbled and made still by the thrill of the new...

I was on tour in Europe / UK before I started this little travelling jaunt... So it's been nearly two months now of being in the slipstream of nowhere... It's liberating. Scary. Lost-making - being 'away.' It's challenging. It leaves you vulnerable and shaking-head-chuckling at the tight grip that you used to have on The Way Things Should Be In A Day... 'Take it all', I say. Let it all be torn away, leave me open and free to love again, breathe the air fresh and new and feel the pain of vulnerability and be vulnerable anyway. Again and again. Make no shelters for me to hide in, make no iron Way for me. No, I am in the slipstream and I don't want a boat.

Before I left Sydney a few months ago, Brock Fitzgerald, gave me one of his hand-hammered 'Brock bangles'. It had a little L on it and to me it signifies the brother and sisterhood of the slipstream..! Brock tours and travels constantly as a drummer for lots of bands and artists, and his gypsy spirit is very much embedded in the bangles he makes. It reminds me, when I wear it, of the huge global family of transient people - all the beautiful musicians and artists and actresses and models and entrepreneurs and flying doctors (!?) and the WHOLE LOT of us who are always moving, always on the road, gypsy-ing constantly. It is a lonely road sometimes, and tokens like this are the little things that keep you connected in quiet moments... ( I'm wearing it in these pics!) Thanks Brock : )

let's be honest, travelling can be really shit sometimes. Some days it takes everything in your being to remain positive and on your path. But then you get those precious precious moments... I just arrived at my new place in Berlin where I'm staying via Air B'n'b (thank god for AirBnb!!) and Ignacio ( the loveliest host) just made me a perfect cup of tea in my big leafy bedroom...! How's that for a heartfelt welcome ! Sometimes it really is those small moments of care that turn your day around. In fact - ! - only yesterday I was sitting in a cafe by myself having a (pretty bad) cappuccino-type-situation when I suddenly sneezed (!) and the man sitting next to me, who was speaking a waterfall of rapid German into his mobile, spun his body around to face me, and with full attention and a smile in his eyes he said, 'Bless You!' in perfect English. Hah! That was it! It made my day! I realised only afterwards how, oddly, loved it made me feel. As for him, he then returned to his torrent of German conversation. Day-made! 

my day-making cup of tea in Ignacio + Sara's house in Berlin

Part of me feels embarrassed to be writing about such 'small comforts' but I'm not at all really because that's just what I care about. That's what I notice..

Just before I go, a little travelling thought...