guyfletcher.co.uk - projects - news

The website is currently undergoing a bit of a major revamp in order to incorporate the new artwork, audio previews of the album etc. and the ordering/purchases page, as well as retaining all the current site content. Site navigation will be improved so hopefully things will be a little easier to find.

Get your 'inamorata' CD orders in ASAP as I will be signing every CD that goes out the door (up to the point I have to go and rehearse) and will accomodate any of the requests you may have entered into the comments field during ordering.

The all new Dr. Fletch forum page is up and running.
To ask a question or add a comment, you'll need to become a member. It's free and fun and you'll receive updates and VIP info. Maybe sneak previews of my stuff, plus an opportunity to pre-order my album. Which as it happens is coming along nicely. I'll update the diary on that soon.. Danny will be working on it with me next week and laying down the drums and perc so I'll make a point of taking some more pics.

Yep, we're still at it and planning to start mixing the record in mid-April. The album is really starting to take shape now as we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We're taking a 2 week break from the studio. Chuck and Glenn are on their way back to Nashville and Mark and I will resume and hopefully finish up the recording before Chuck comes out in May to mix.

We heard about this just after the killers came into British Grove to record their Xmas track. I didn't realize that they were such fans. Here they perform Romeo and Juliet at Abbey Road studio.

Chuck, Glenn and myself are off to see the Gunners tonight against Spurs at the Emirates stadium, courtesy of Paul Crockford..

3 - 1 c'mon you Gunners

The Variety Club of Great Britain (Northern Region) honoured Mark with a lifetime acheivement award. My wife and I were honoured to have been invited to the gala luncheon at Newcastle Civic centre along with a wonderful reunion of friends and famous Geordie personalities. Amongst the distinguished guests were Jimmy Nail, Jools Holland, Tim Healy, Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Nick Lowe, Brendan Foster, Bruce Welsh, John Illsley and many more.

The 550 guests were also treated to video tributes from David Puttnham, Emmylou Harris, Sachin Tendulkar and Eric Clapton being overshadowed and upstaged by Robert Collins and Kerry Lewis gesturing comically in the background.

We all paid tribute to the region's very own local hero. There was a presentation of the Variety Club's highest accolade - The Silver Heart - presented by the region chairman Peter Johnson. Mark made a wonderful, humerous and touching speech, there was an auction consisting amongst other things two MK signature Strats. The wonderful afternoon was rounded off by Mark and I playing Local Hero. What else?

City welcomes local hero
Oct 20 2006
By David Whetstone, The Journal
Rock legend Mark Knopfler yesterday received a local hero's welcome in his home city. The musician, best known as a founder member of Dire Straits, was honoured by the Variety Club of Great Britain's northern region with a lunchtime tribute at Newcastle Civic Centre. The event was compered by Jools Holland and among hundreds of guests were many familiar faces including Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Bruce Welch, Tim Healy, Jimmy Nail and Dire Straits colleague John Isley. Arguably none of the guests was more important than the musician's mother, Louisa Mary, who was also celebrating her 85th birthday, and Knopfler's Uncle Kingsley, the man who first taught him to play guitar. Alan Shearer, who ran out on to the St James' Park turf many time to the strains of Knopfler's Local Hero, captured the mood, saying: "I borrowed the name local hero for 10 years but Mark is the real local hero. Bruce Welch, Tyneside-born founder member of The Shadows, said: "I left here 48 years ago and it's changed a lot but what hasn't changed is the quality of music coming out of this area. Mark is a giant of our industry. And the man himself? "It's fantastic for me to listen to that music every time Newcastle run out," said Knopfler.

Back from a 2 week family holiday and back into the mixing process. I'll be finishing up this week and then Mark and I will resume work on the new MK record. We're taking our time, having fun and enjoying the studio and will continue probably into the new year.

Mark will be doing a benefit show for a friend of his, the writer Richard Ford. It's a benefit concert in Boothbay Harbour, Maine on September 20th to try to save their old Opera house.
The band will consist of Mark, myself, Richard Bennett and Glenn Worf.

Legendary British guitarist, singer and songwriter Mark Knopfler will be appearing in a benefit concert at the Opera House at Boothbay Harbor on Wednesday, September 20. From his days as the leader of the band Dire Straits to his most recent collaboration with Emmylou Harris, Knopfler has captivated audiences around the world.
Knopfler will be accompanied by two, yet unnamed, musicians on stage in this rare evening on the midcoast of Maine. All proceeds from the concert will be used to benefit The Opera House Challenge, a fundraising effort with a goal of $500,000 and an approaching deadline of September 30. Opera House president Steve Malcom shared that “having Mark Knopfler travel to the US to do just this concert in support of the Opera House is simply amazing. We are grateful to him and to a local friend of the Opera House who has made this upcoming evening of music from one of the world’s great guitarists possible.”
The Opera House Board of Directors has been working this year in an effort to meet the half million dollar challenge. If the board is successful in raising the money, a local family will match it with $500,000 and the organization’s large mortgage debt will be paid off. At that point Malcom says “the organization will finally be on a firm foundation. We will own the building and have the resources to staff it and develop programming and begin to renovate it in earnest. Mark Knopfler’s appearance here brings us much closer to it all.” To date the Opera House has raised over $100,000 towards the matching gift, but must raise nearly $400,000 more within the coming weeks.
Since the release of the Dire Straits single Sultans of Swing in 1978, Knopfler has earned fans with album releases ranging from the band’s Brothers in Arms (1985) to the soundtracks for The Princess Bride, Cal and Wag the Dog. Among others he has collaborated in Slow Train Coming with Bob Dylan and teamed up with Chet Atkins in Neck and Neck. He disbanded Dire Straits in 1995. Since then he has received critical acclaim for his first solo album Golden Heart(1996), Sailing to Philadelphia (2000) and Shangri-La (2004) His most recent release in April of this year was All the Road Running in which he joined forces with Emmylou Harris. His current album has been ranked number one in countries around the world for the past 3 months.
His just completed tour with Emmylou Harris for their album All the Road Running included 23 sold out dates from Brussels to Copenhagen to Zurich and London and Barcelona. He completed the tour this June with performances at Radio City in New York and in large venues in Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, Washington and California.
Knopfler and his bands have sold in excess of 118 million albums worldwide and his fan base extends across the globe.
Tickets for this rare evening in Boothbay Harbor go on sale at the Opera House on Friday, August 18 at 10 a.m. Tickets will be available in person only from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on both Friday and again on Saturday the 19th. During the first two days of ticket sales there will be a limit of 4 tickets per person. Any tickets not sold at the Opera House during those two days will become available on-line at 10 a.m. Monday, August 21 at boothbayoperahouse.org.
General admission tickets are $175. A limited number of premium tickets will be available for $500. Premium tickets include early admission for first choice seating and entrance to the “Afterglow” post concert party with Mark Knopfler at the Opera House, including hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. Premium ticket holders will be seated beginning at 7:15 p.m., the doors for general admission ticket holders will open at 7:30 p.m. There is no opening act, Knopfler is scheduled to go on stage at 8:00 p.m.
Recognizing that Knopfler’s fan base is an international one, the Opera House has set aside a small number of tickets to be auctioned on EBay in the coming days. All proceeds from the EBay auctions will also benefit the Opera House Challenge. In addition to pairs of tickets, the EBay auctions will also include full concert packages with tickets, meals and a suite at Boothbay Harbor’s Spruce Point Inn.
It is anticipated that many concert goers will arrive early for the show on September 20th. To feed this group, Boothbay’s True North Catering and Events will to set up an outdoor bar and grill in the Opera House parking lot beginning at 5:00 p.m. on the night of the show. Food and beverages will be available for sale and radio station WCLZ will broadcast from the event. True North is also donating the profits from the pre-party to the Opera House Challenge.

OLD News

Directed by Gary Yates, written by Dani Romain and George F. Walker.
Starring Caroline Dhavernas, Anna Friel, Kevin Pollak and more.
official website

Sergeant Pepper

(Germany-UK 2004)
Don't let any pre-conceived ideas about talking animals keep you away, Sergeant Pepper is a fast-paced, fun film with a suitably energetic score and strong ensemble cast.
screening at the 2005 London Film Festival

This delightful new feature from the director of MOSTLY MARTHA (SIFF 2001) revolves around an endearing six-year-old who prefers wearing his tiger costume to playing with other kids. His life is changed when he meets a talking dog on the run from his evil new caretakers. Like a good live-action Disney film, this is heartwarming family fun.

DIRECTOR: Sandra Nettelbeck
Producer: Andreas Bareiss
Editor: Ewa J. Lind, Jörg Langkau, Carlos Domeque
Screenwriter: Sandra Nettelbeck
Cinematographer: Michael Bertl
Music: Guy Fletcher
Principal Cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Johanna ter Steege, Barbara Auer, Oliver Broumis, August Zirner
Filmography: Mostly Martha (2001)

With an eccentric father forever concocting something weird and wonderful in the garage, it is no wonder that young Felix has such a vivid imagination. And yet, his refusal to wear anything but a tiger costume, and his preference for the company of his "talking" stuffed animals over that of other kids, is starting to worry his mom. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a millionaire leaves the lion's share of his fortune to his beloved dog Sergeant Pepper, raising the ire of his two kids. If they manage to kill Sergeant Pepper, they inherit everything. Running for his life, Sergeant Pepper ends up in Felix's backyard, and a beautiful friendship is born. When Felix's mom discovers that he is harboring a fugitive dog - who Felix claims talks - she decides things have gone far enough.

Best Film at the International Toronto Children’s Filmfestival, Best Children’s Film German Media Award, Special Award for Neal German Media Award, Best Film at a festival in Belgium

'Spirit Trap'. The film has recently been accepted into the prestigious 2005 Sundance film festival..... not!.False alarm apparently.
The British teen horror film SPIRIT TRAP wrapped its shoot in Romania. The original script by Phil O’Shea, about a group of students in a haunted mansion, was reworked by horror author Paul Finch, who gave Fango the scoop about the movie.
“ SPIRIT TRAP is a very original idea,” Finch says, “one that I’d never come across before in years of reading supernatural fiction. It retains the aura and tone of the traditional British ghost story, but now set in a very contemporary and somewhat seedy world. At times, in the style of great supernatural writers like M.R. James and E.F. Benson, it’s almost sedate, though I have to say that moments like those are usually the calm before the storm. “ There’s a lot of quite extreme horror in here as well,” he continues. “At times, we move from one side of the horror spectrum to the other with breathtaking speed, catching our audience out, really throwing them. We were determined that, despite the occasional explosions of grue, this film would retain its traditional ghostly identity right to the end, and I believe we’ve succeeded in that.”
SPIRIT TRAP, which is currently in postproduction, was directed by David Smith and stars Billie Piper (the female lead in the newest DOCTOR WHO series), Luke (28 DAYS LATER) Mably, Sam (ALIEN VS. PREDATOR) Troughton and Russian pop singer Alsou.
Courtesy of Fangoria

Spirit Trap is the third film for which I've composed in the last year, the others being 'Sergeant Pepper' and 'Tooth' which is now out on DVD.

very old news

but I like the poster