"I feel like I'm being rubbish at both."

A few years ago, I read an interview with musician Tracey Thorn (Everything But the Girl, Massive Attack) where she spoke about giving music away altogether after having her three children.

Thorn and her partner, bandmate Ben Watt, had taken the kids with them on tour — and then decided that they were never doing that again!

"That tour was just weird," Thorn said. "I was putting the kids to bed at the hotel then racing off to soundcheck and I remember thinking, I don't like doing both. I feel like I'm being rubbish at both. So I took a unilateral decision to stop."

Watt agreed: "To be honest, it was never easy. When you throw kids and family into it something has to give. You can't keep all that going at the same time. You'd go mad."

For several years, Thorn was a full-time parent, not even jotting down lyrics in her notebook. But she did keep a journal about her life, which she described as "just a list of events of marginal interest" that would never see the light of day.

Well, I hope some of those thoughts have crept onto the pages of her new memoir, Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to Be a Pop Star, because sometimes those so-called "marginal interest" notes are exactly the kind of things others want and need to hear! And knowing Thorn's lyrics, I suspect they're far from boring.

If you're reading this blog, then the interview with Tracey Thorn on Radio National's Books and Arts Daily yesterday is essential listening.

Clare Bowditch is making it POZIBLE

I know that Clare Bowditch, singer-songwriter extraordinaire, needs no introduction from me.

If you've read The Divided Heart and watched her career blossom over the years, you will know just what a stellar job she's done of combining family life with the demands of high-pressure work in the music and TV industries. 

And if you've read interviews with Clare or seen her perform live, you'll also know what an unusally warm, honest and big-hearted soul she is. A woman with bucketloads to give!

So lucky for us, this is just what Clare is planning to do next: use her experience of forging a successful creative life to help others do the same. And to get things going, she's set up a Pozible Campaign for her Big-Hearted Business.

She's got loads of goodies for supporters. But I'll let Clare tell you about that: 

Over the years, some of you have come to my shows, drunk a little too much, and trapped me in corners with questions like:

- Can you come over to my house for Devonshire tea and Pimms Cups? (Yes!)
- Can I come over to your studio and record with you and Marty? (Yes!)
- Can you make a surprise video proposing to my partner for me? (Yes!)
- Have you got any rare super-fine merch for sale? (Yes!)
- Can you help me work out how to make my living as an artist? (Yes!)
- My job is freaking boring. Can you come over and make it fun? (Oh YES!)

Today, the answer is a very sincere YES, to all of the above. To cash in, all you gotta do is get your buttski over to our new Big-Hearted Business POZIBLE CAMPAIGN. Please share the link far and wide!

In advance, thanks for supporting this: it means a lot, you'll see why.

If you want a little insight into what Clare's Big-Hearted Business will be all about, watch her inspiring TED talk below:


'Falling in love with your muse' Clare Bowditch at TEDxLittleLonsdaleStWomen, 1 December 2012 from Emily Hehir on Vimeo.