45 years ago Paul Armfield performed his first gig as a twelve year old punk in a church hall in Ventnor, and since then many will have seen him performing on Island stages singing, playing bass, double bass, guitar or even musical saw, they may even own one of the eight previous records that he’s released as a singer-songwriter.
‘Between The Covers – Nine Songs For Bibliophiles’
Though just as many will recognise him as the man from Medina Bookshop in Cowes or as the former manager of Waterstones, or Ottakars as it was originally known when Paul started his career in bookselling over 30 years ago. But next month sees him bringing his two worlds together as he releases ‘Between The Covers – Nine Songs For Bibliophiles’ a collection of songs about books and reading.
However, combining music and books was never Paul’s intention, he says,
“The first two book songs just spilled out with very little conscious thought, so I tried to write another, then another… a lifetime in the book trade had clearly furnished me with plenty of material.
“Within a month I had five songs finished and set off to Stuttgart for four days in the studio with a great group of musicians and friends, once we had recorded my songs we had enough time left to try out a few songs about books by other people, these songs became the bookends for the album, hence the punny title ‘Between The Covers’.
“The songs are not about particular books, but the act of reading and our relationships with books. The first single taken from the album ‘The Books Beside My Bed’ is a lighthearted and upbeat exploration of the idea of tsundoku: the buying and hoarding of more books than you can ever read, whilst the second single ‘Paperback’ is a soulful string-laden paean to the unwanted books that end up gathering dust on the shelves of charity shops.”
These first two singles have already picked up a great deal of interest with several plays on national radio including an enthusiastic Guy Garvey on 6 Music.
Accompanied by music videos
Online their success has been helped by two wonderful videos by Ventnor artist Paradox Paul. Taking only one photograph of the singer’s face the artist has used AI to place him in a number of scenarios, ‘The Books Beside My Bed’ finds the singer asleep in a variety of historical settings surrounded by piles of unread books, whilst the video for ‘Paperback’ features Paul as a bestselling autobiography on it’s emotional journey from pride of place in a bookshop window to car-boot sale, to rubbish dump.
Missing out on Nibbles ceremony
Medina Bookshop in Cowes, which Paul has managed for the past few years, was recently declared Independent Bookshop Of The Year for the South East of England, this title comes with an invitation to the book trade’s Oscars, the star studied awards ceremony known as the ‘Nibbies’ where they find out if they have won the national title.
However, Paul will be unable to attend as he’ll be mid tour, on-stage in Newcastle waiting excitedly for a text from his team who will be attending in his stead.
Tour of album begin in Newport
Paul’s promotional tour of the album begins here on the Island with a fundraising concert at Mountbatten Hospice on 1st May and then continues around the UK for the rest of the month, with many of the concerts taking place in other bookshops and libraries.
Returning home for a couple of days he then sets off to spend June touring around Europe, performing in an assortment of venues including a few legendary bookshops such as ‘Büchers Best’ in Dresden and ‘Shakespeare and Co’ in Vienna.
The rest of the year will see appearances at an assortment of both literary and music festivals. Audiences can expect an intimate performance of the new songs along with a selection of others from his repertoire, interspersed with stories and anecdotes from his long career in bookselling.
Available from May
The album will be available from May, on vinyl and CD, from record shops across the Island as well as Medina Bookshop and of course online from Pauls’ own website, where you can also find links to Paul’s tour dates.
Book tickets
Tickets to the Mountbatten concert on 1st May are £15 and can be purchased via the Mountbatten website.
Full tour dates:
1st May: Mountbatten Hospice, Newport Isle of Wight
2nd May: The Arc Library, Winchester
3rd May: The Story Shed, Swindon
4th May: The Book Space, Cardiff
6th May: Bill’s Kitchen, Ludlow
7th May: Mostly Books, Abingdon
8th May: Warwick Books, Warwick
9th May: Kontra Roots, Northampton
12th May: The Cluny 2, Newcastle
13th May: Mytholmroyd Community Centre
14th May: Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
15th May: Cafe No9, Sheffield
16th May: The Holloway, Norwich
19th May: The Green Note, London
20th May: Sevenoaks Bookshop, Sevenoaks
21st May: Broadside Folk Club (floorspot) Portsmouth
22nd May: October Books, Southampton
23rd May: East Gate Bookshop, Totnes
24th May: Edge Of The World Bookshop, Penzance
25th May: Exeter Library
31st May: House Concert, Rotterdam (NL)
1st June: Bielefeld (DE)
2nd June: Gledeberg (DE)
4th June: Historische Schauweberai, Braunsdorf (DE)
6th June: Duval, Werder (DE)
7th June: Buchhandlung Büchers Best, Dresden (DE)
8th June: Cafe Zum Essel, Wetterzeube (DE)
10th June: Vintage Pub, Munich (DE)
12th June: Shakespeare and Co, Vienna (AT)
13th June: Ottensheim (AT)
17th June: Franzis, Wetzlar (DE)
19th June: Eigelsteintorburg, Cologne (DE)
27th June: Two Sisters Arts Centre, Felixstowe Book Festival
29th June: Playhouse, Alnwick (as part of Sing 4 The Planet Concert)
