segunda-feira, 16 de agosto de 2010

Different Country, Same State: On The Road With James Blunt



213 performances, 58 countries, 15 months. James Blunt's 'All the Lost Souls' international tour was one of the greatest pop marathons of all time.

Journalist and family friend Peter Hardy joined James and his band on their exhilarating and exhausting journey around the world, hoping to discover the man behind the music. From the tour bus to the dressing rooms, from the stage to the after-show parties, travelling with James gave 'Weird Uncle Peter' an access-all-areas pass to his life on tour.

A warts-and-all account of lost guitars, adoring fans, ludicrous bar bills and very, very late nights, this is an honest, amusing and insightful look at the mad world of celebrity and the inside story of James himself, both in front of the crowds and behind closed doors.

DIFFERENT COUNTRY, SAME STATE is a frank exploration of one man's journey, his passion for music and his passion for life.

About the Author

Peter Hardy spent much of his long career as a foreign correspondent and travel writer for the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Express and London Evening Standard.
His colorful life was not without some hiccups in March - as a small child, he lost an eye with a bow and arrow, and the report on Idi Amin's Uganda `s he escaped execution for espionage. But despite everything, he says that traveling with James Blunt was arguably his most dangerous mission to date.

Peter is the editor of the site and welove2ski.com welovethebeach.com.
He lives in Hampshire with his wife and children.

PETER HARDY




The journalist Peter Hardy reports the tour with singer James Blunt, with whom he spent two years working on a book

If someone was going to write a book I would be James, as he is a family friend and I have a background of ancient rock.
My favorite city on earth is San Francisco where I became a hippie in 1966, have a brief but passionate love with Janis Joplin.
She gave me a job the lights at the Fillmore Auditorium, which was the center of the movement pyschedelic West Coast.
Thanks to the book, I found myself back some 40 years later, standing with the type of lighting and working even if those lights was a wonderful experience.
But one of my most memorable moments during my time to follow James on tour in South America where we were traveling with Elton John.
In Rio we were overwhelmed with the size of the public and to the extent that Latin Americans appreciate your music.
Taken together the two artists and an audience of 60,000 crazy all at once was overwhelming.
Normally, James goes down to the audience, but here there were times when everyone feared for their safety...

(Different countries, same State: On The Road With James Blunt, by Peter Hardy is being published by Headline in October 2010.)
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