"The idea is not to live forever; it is to create something that will"
Andy Warhol

This quote by one of the world's greatest artists was the motivating factor when creating 'SOUP'. I didn't want to just knock together another live recording for the sake of it. I wanted to create a piece of art. Something that I would be proud to have made, and that people would have been aesthetically pleased with owning.

At the outset of 2023, I knew that on becoming a granddad again for the fourth time, Alan had requested a slightly less hectic band touring schedule in the earlier part of the year in order to spend a bit of well-earned family time. I was more than happy to accommodate my big brother's request, but at the same time knew that I didn't want to sit around the house for several months waiting to resume the usual madness that seems to surround our daft little comedy band. I decided, therefore, to undertake something I had never done before... a solo tour of 'ONE MAN SHOW'. Since 2011, when I did my first ever solo set (Show #109 at Holmfirth Folk Festival), I have never grouped more than two or maybe three solo shows together, so after 12 years to suddenly attempt doing a tour of 16 dates was quite daunting but also quite exciting too.
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The third show of this run of dates, is captured on 'SOUP', the definitive document of the 2023 One Man Show Tour dates. It shows me getting used to dealing with much larger audiences than I had been used to playing to during my solo shows, and developing the 'singalongs and stories' style that became the norm for the remainder of the run of predominantly sold out dates.
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It was recorded in front of a lovely, lively Stourbridge audience at Katie Fitzgeralds. I chose Katie's as the location as I had done probably the best of my 2022 solo shows there when I was trialling the material for the studio album that became 'Rugh & Ryf'. The audience on my return were rather more giddy on the night in question and they brought with them a somewhat feral party atmosphere and a healthy dose of irreverence. In my former job as a primary school teacher, I learned how to deal with unruly classes of small children and I have said for many years that these skills were transferable and made it easier to deal with inebriated adults. Hopefully we captured that rawness in the mix and canned it for your delectation.
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This album was originally released as the 'Leap Of Faith III' Project, in which fans crowdfunded an unknown album, putting their trust in me to deliver something that they would hopefully be happy with. There were two options this time around: a double CD, or a Vinyl & 2CD set. Both versions came with absolutely stacks of extras (including an expanded 60-track download code that isn't available on this 'condensed' version of the live album, stickers, postcards, art-prints, a recipe book, HD video-stream access and loads more). Ultimately, I wanted to reward the people who showed their kindness in pre-ordering the album so that I could afford to make the physical album the best that I could make it look. If you want the true 'SOUP' experience, I would actually recommend getting one of the physical copies, because even if you don't buy physical media nowadays, you get much more for your money, and everyone loves a bargain!

I want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who got behind the Leap Of Faith III project, as you were the people who funded the making of the CD and vinyl albums, the mixing and mastering of the audio and the production of this concer album. I'd like to also thank Eddie Morton and his staff at Katie Fitzgeralds, Joel Howe for making me sound so good, Mark Wilkinson the 'Doonigoat', Jake, Vix and Emu for being our Dead Right Hand bell-ends, and the audience who whole heartedly got behind me on the night. I can't forget to thank Amanda, who ran merch and the shit raffle on the night, drove me to and from the show, and who keeps me out of trouble on a daily basis. ​

Enjoy the show, folks
Scott