The future of rock and roll

A World Turned Up

Charity gig on Friday 16 April
Just wanted to let you know that I'm doing an acoustic gig for charity in London on Friday 16 October at the Getty Images Gallery, which is just beside Oxford Circus.It's to support my mate and top bloke Thomas Rigby, who is raising money for two charities: the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK (bowel cancer research) and Article 25, a development / disaster relief charity.If you would like to come, just email info@chrissingleton.co.uk and I will sort you out with a ticket. They cost £20 but the drinks are complimentary. Should be a good night, and it'd be great to get your support.

The death of the MP3
As many of you know, I've been quite an advocate of independent artists giving music away for free. Not because I don't value music, but because I don't think that indie musicians - and many established ones - have much of a choice around this. Digital technology and the internet has created an unlimited supply of recorded music, which means the real cost of it is rapidly approaching zero.I've tried to take advantage of this as much as I can, by giving away MP3s in exchange for data. The idea being that you get my album free, but I can contact you about other stuff that you might want to pay for, like gigs or t-shirts (I've yet to d

Your face, on my artwork
A bit of an odd one this, but I think it could be fun.As many of you know I've relied a lot on online marketing and social networking to distribute my music over the past year.In the process I've encountered a bunch of very supportive people who have been incredibly helpful in spreading the word about my stuff and befriending me in every online way possible. If you're reading this, that probably includes you.To say thanks, I'm inviting you to be a part of the artwork for my new record. You submit a picture of yourself, and - depending on the number we get - it'll end up on an album sleeve. It'll also be used in an online collage too.With the o

Calais

Obama's healthcare plan
Imagine the scenario. Your child is sprawled across the floor, hyperventilating. He can't breathe. He's in a hell of a lot of distress.For most parents in most first-world countries (and many developing-world ones) the obvious thing to do would be to call an ambulance and get the kid straight to hospital.But not if you're in America and you don't have health insurance. The resulting healthcare bills mean that before you pick up the phone, you may have to choose between losing your child or losing your house.Imagine another scenario: you live in the States, you are diagnosed with cancer, and you DO have health insurance. In fact you've never m