Keith James: The Songs of Nick Drake

Tomorrow (Wednesday 10th June) we host The Songs of Nick Drake from Keith James. Here's what the media had to say about him.

"Keith James has become a pillar of trust. A sublimely intimate and engaging voice." The Sunday Times

"Certainly the UKs most celebrated and evocative enterpreter of golden music" The Gurdian

So he's pretty good.

Tickets are £10 and available from this link HERE or pop into the shop today or tomorrow morning to pick some up.

There are not many tickets left so we may not have any on the door, or very few, so booking is highly recommended. 

Michael

The Big Comfy Folk Club tomorrow Friday 5th June

The third Big Comfy Folk Club is on tomorrow with Ben Maggs, Rob Halligan and Dan Gascoigne. There are still tickets available from the shop and online and you can also buy on the door.

See more details on the Big Comfy Folk Club facebook page and event page.

The Big Comfy Folk Club

Our gigs are very popular but I run all the aspects of the shop from the bar to the books to even the sound desk, so I've decided to scale back and only have 2 gigs a month. Because of this I've decided to create The Big Comfy Folk Club!

The Folk Club will consist of 3 acts, at least one being local, and showcase the best of the folk and acoustic music world. Already booked in are several Radio 2 Folk winners alongside fantastic up and coming local and national, and even international acts!

The club will happen on the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, with a few exceptions. Some gigs were already booked in and so I've kept as many as I can that work in the time frame and those I've had to cancel I've done my best to sort the acts onto the new bill.
Tickets will be £5 per gig, of which 90% goes to the acts. We are however starting a membership scheme. Pay £25 for the year and you'll be able to get into the events for just £2 plus have advance ticket sales for bigger gigs. If you attend all the events that saves you nearly £50! If you are a Facebook person, please add yourself to the new Folk Club group HERE as this is where the information will be added on a regular basis, and you can take a quick glance at our upcoming schedule. If you're not on Facebook then all our gigs are on our Events page HERE. I've also added a dedicated Folk Club page HERE.

Tickets can be purchased directly from the shop or bought online Here. If you're interested in the membership then please pop in or send me an email at Contact@TheBigComfyBookshop.co.uk.

Michael

Next week at The Big Comfy Bookshop: 21st - 26th April

Here's what's up next week.

Tuesday 21st
Firstly and mainly, its my birthday. I always book my birthday off but seeing as I'll have no one to run the shop, I'll be here with a party hat on. Open 10-6.

Wednesday 22nd
A student film crew will be in the shop from 10-4 so I need to make sure I'm not too hungover. Also, we have publicity for our Horrible Histories night in conjuncture with the Belgrade Theatre!
Open 10-6

Thursday 23rd
It's World Book Night! Come on down around 3pm as Stoke Heath library will be giving away a few books alongside us. Also it's the very first Late Night Opening til 8pm. I may not be here myself as I'm a guest at a film premier (ooooh). Read about it HERE. Also Fargo is hosting FargFest, a free festival with music, food and entertainment from 1-9.
Open 10-8.

Friday 24th
We're very pleased to host Tinderbox with Taylor-Louise as support. Tinderbox are an award winning folk duo and have played alongside Joan Armatrading, Turin Brakes and 10CC amongst others. Taylor-Louise is a young up and coming local singer songwriter who is working with 14records in Leamington. Tickets are £5 and available from the shop or online HERE.
Beforehand we'll be open from 10-6, doing book stuff probably.

Saturday 25th
Anne Garratt will be here signing copies of her book 'The Road Taken' about her emigration from Ireland to Coventry and back again. Here at 3pm.
Open 10-6

Sunday 26th
Nowt on but we're open and have lots of books.
Open 11-4

The Big Comfy Sessions are 1!

This past weekend the Big Comfy Sessions turned a year old. Between Rob, Rich and I we cannot believe how lucky we have been. Our initial aim was to record a handful of videos with a few local musicians we know to help promote the opening of the shop and help musicians with a cool video, but after the first session with Wes Finch we received great praise and a few emails requesting sessions. After the first half a dozen we realised we were on to a winner with dozens of requests. We've all grown into our roles since that first session. Rich wields a camera and liaises and organises the majority of the acts (and makes gig posters too!), juggling a whole host of emails, whilst Rob, well, Rob has always been a pro with filming, editing, sound mixing and the brain child of the entire operation! I do the hard work of a 5 minute interview and give free coffee. Tough ;)

It's really been a dream to open a bookshop and to do it whilst hosting some top quality acts is the cherry on the top. I've discovered so many brilliant artists and hope that I've spread the word about these.

We've recorded 28 sessions which culminates in 56 videos (2 each), just a handful off 25k views, close to 250 subscribers and lots planned for the future. We already have 16 sessions booked going into October and are in talks with several others but we're always looking for more top talent!

Please check out Redwood Photography, The Spoon Player blog and of course The Big Comfy Sessions.
We already have our first session of 'year two' this Saturday!

If you are an artist wishing to book a session please head on over to HERE.

Finally a huge thank you to Victoria who let us use the Tree House Bookshop in Kenilworth whilst my shop was being built. She was a wonderful host. The shop was forced to close at Christmas but it's just reopened in a better location in Kenilworth and I look forward to visiting.

I'll leave you with our last session where I got to chat to the lovely Ross AKA Blue Rose Code and hear him play Oh, North, my favourite off his album The Ballads of Peckham Rye.

Michael

We're hiring!

Part time Vacancy

The Big Comfy Bookshop is looking for someone to join our busy bookshop

We're looking for someone who has a love and passion for books, a keen reader that knows how to pour a cup of coffee with a smile. As we are a licensed premises we will be looking for someone aged 18+.

Hours: Saturday 10am-6pm, 8 hours a day with a 30min lunch break.

The opportunity for additional hours on occasional Sundays 10.30am-4pm, plus busy weekdays and regular events, are available. We preferably would like one new team member but may look at hiring a second to cover the hours required.

Position title: Book Seller Assistant

The Big Comfy Bookshop is an equal opportunities employer and will welcome applications from everyone.

Pay is calculated hourly at minimum wage.

The Big Comfy Bookshop is located in Fargo Village, a new development host to new creative businesses in Coventry. The Village is a destination for shoppers who are looking for a different experience to the high street. The Big Comfy Bookshop is a second hand bookshop with a cafe/bar element. It hosts regular events such as book signings, poetry evenings and acoustic music nights.

Duties will include serving hot and cold beverages, handling cash, running a till, selling books, serving cakes, general cleaning duties, customer service including advice on books, contributing to marketing, cataloguing and stock taking, maintaining excellent hygiene systems in place and anything else that will help in the day to day running of the bookshop.

The job requires a good knowledge of books and the ideal applicant must have a passion for reading. They must have excellent communication skills and a pleasant demeanour to be working with the public. Good numeracy skills are required as well as general proficiency with IT. Previous experience of similar work is preferred but not essential.

Qualifications: Although specific qualifications are not necessary, successful candidates will be able to demonstrate that they are the right person for the job through their experience and qualifications. For example, numeracy skills may be evidenced by a minimum Grade C in GCSE mathematics.

In general, we are looking for an efficient and friendly person to join our team. Two references will be required before short-listed applicants are offered the post.

To apply please send your CV with a covering letter to

Michael McEntee
The Big Comfy Bookshop
Fargo Village
Far Gosford Street
CV1 5ED

Alternatively email your CV with a covering letter to:

contact@thebigcomfybookshop.co.uk

Please title your email 'Bookshop Application <Name>'

Closing date: April 3rd

Short-listed applicants will be invited to an interview at The Big Comfy Bookshop. If you are not contacted by April 10th, please consider your application unsuccessful.

Start date: ASAP through negotiation.

All information provided is confidential and will not be shared with third parties.
We will use your information for the purposes of administration and selecting suitable candidates.

Happy new year! (Yes it's February)

One thing is for sure, I'm rubbish at keeping this blog up to date.
I hope you had a great 2014 and 2015 is going strong. In 2014 I opened the shop and had a second son so overall I can't complain. I've done neither of these things in 2015. I have however continued to build on what ideas I had last year. We've just started a retro game night in collaboration with fellow Fargo shop The Entertainment Bros. We smashed ten bells out of each other on Mario Kart and next week we'll stalk, shoot and generally shout at the screen as we play Goldeneye.
One thing that's snowballed is the folk gigs. We're currently booking into June with a few even booked into October. Ontop of this the Big Comfy Sessions are going strong too.

Plus we have lots of books still.

I've found it difficult to do any actual reading due to the shop and new baby. Today I finished our book club book from December and I'm about to finish our book from July! Audiobooks have been a saviour as I drive to and from work. I tend to pick up the cheapest ones I can regardless of what it is and they seem to almost always be biographies. Sharon Osbourne (brilliant), Alex James (fabulous), Ellen McCarthur (whoop! Sailing!) plus loads more. Currently I've just started the 23 hour unabridged Life by Keith Richards, read by Jonny Depp.

I hope to keep this more up to date. I hope.

Michael