Gitika’s Blog

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Stop Press. Our New album CATCH MY BREATH is ready to pre-order & will be released on SWND Records on 11th February – that means you can order the digital and get a track now, or the proper real CD . I am hoping that many people will celebrate with us and support your local musician ( that’s me ) in these crazy times. Pre-ordering really helps us make some impact on release day. There is a track with 32 choir members singing backing as is the single track you get todownload if you pre-order now.

All songs penned and played by Gitika and Andy and produced by Gitika -except one moody Psychedelic Fur’s cover -produced by Matt Glasbey. So much thanks to many people including Katie Tavini -mastering. Lukas Drinkwater – playing and mixing. Matt Glasbey, mixing, and other great mixers including Liam Ross.

https://swnd1.bandcamp.com/album/catch-my-breath

3 Bucket Jones -Catch My Breath

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In the last year it’s been head down and walking in circles mostly, watching the seasons change. In that time I have written and recorded a song every week. I have collaborated and co-written songs with 6 artists from the US, Canada, UK and Australia and reimagined 8 old songs into new cover versions – have runny weekly virtual choir for 9 months . We are mastering the 5th ‘3 Bucket Jones’ album – have almost finished an album with the marvellous Kirsty McGee – a project called ‘All the Bees’. I have eaten my body weight in dark chocolate and with the help of the most wondrous singers and film makers made 9 ( yes 9 ) virtual choir videos – have supported Andy through a heart attack from a clot 20 hours after his first jab, I continue to wail and weep about losing my mum, my choirs, my freedom to get on trains, my sanity, my friends but the birds keep singing and the rivers keep rolling. Please don’t ask me when we are going to sing again in person. I don’t know. I hope you are doing as well as is humanly possible and finding joy. Drop me a line sometime.

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All at Sea is is a song I helped write and record that first appeared on 3 Bucket Jones first album. We wrote it in a night after supper when the fish lady Sarah who joined us for dinner was asked what should we write about and she said the sea. It took many more days to evolve and record..Writing is usually the easiest bit. In 2015 I arranged it for community choirs and choirs at the guildhall and my community choir The Tubthumping Chorus sung it. Ali Orbaum a wondrous singer and community choir leader who sung with 3 Bucket jones for a period in 2019 heard it and asked if they could sing it at Sing For Water West in the summer of 2016. 1200 singers sung it together outdoors back in the day when you could sing together. At the same time Andy and I organised a set of going to coincide with Sing for Water to raise funds for Sing for Water. Over 100 of the singers from the big day joined us on stage at St Georges Bristol to sing in July 2016.

Now the song is raising funds again for another incredible charity called Atlantic Pacific which is all about water but about drowning

Atlantic Pacific’s VISION

Atlantic Pacific International Rescue is an NGO with a simple vision; to combat global drowning.

“Drowning is a serious and neglected public health threat claiming the lives of 372,000 people a year worldwide. This death toll is almost two thirds that of malnutrition and well over half that of malaria – but unlike these public health challenges, there are no broad prevention efforts that target drowning.” (World Health Organisation, Global Report on Drowning: Preventing a Leading Killer, 2014). So we have a video and a just giving page

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/thedialingtonechorus

SO the song has served water in two very differing ways. Raising funds for people with no water and raising funds for an organisation who saves people from the power and danger of too much water. We are honoured to be supporting both organisations.