The new single by Reg Meuross ’Nurse – Angel In A Blue Dress” will be released on Friday February 24th.
“What can a song do?” Reg asks, “I hope at the very least it will offer some acknowledgement to these people who are doing one of the most vital jobs there is, under extreme pressure and in near impossible conditions. I also want to draw attention to the crisis in the NHS. Please buy, listen to and share the song, please lobby your MP, please let’s do anything we can to stop the gradual privatisation of a service that has been the envy of the world in terms of health care for so long.”
You can listen to and share the song HERE, and it will be available for download from iTunes and Amazon etc from 24 February.
In January, Reg Meuross was in Germany, recording a new album. He took a step out onto the snowy German street to check his phone messages. The one that stood out immediately was from a friend who is a nurse back home in the UK, about to start her hospital shift. “A ‘black alert’ had just been announced,” Reg says, “and she described herself huddling in her coat in a cold and drafty hospital corridor, steeling herself for the challenges ahead by plugging in her headphones and listening to music. She added that although she felt unwell herself there was no way she could not go into work, so in she went.”
Reg could not get his friend’s message out of his head. “I felt how heartbreaking it is for these exceptional people to not be able to provide anything even close to their usual level of care due to understaffing and lack of beds. I was particularly touched that she was listening to music to gather strength and I went back into the studio and wrote this song in support of what she, and all nurses are doing, and recorded it on the spot.”
The nurse who sent the original message that inspired the song has messaged Reg since: “The song brought tears to my eyes, because it is gentle, kind and true, on a day when I was tired of being tough, tired and strong. Mostly I felt relief that somebody was listening. There is an army of angels right now needing a voice like this. When there seems to be chaos coming from those we look to lead us, that is exactly the time when real musicians and artists need to speak out. We really need the support of the public. Thank you Reg”.
Reg has that rare gift of being able to touch people through his songs and performance, on a really human level. His words and music paint pictures that remain with the listener long after the song has been sung. Reg Meuross is a true modern troubadour, representing contemporary English folk writing at its best. “There’s something special about the way he writes and delivers a song” Townes Van Zandt. His appearances at folk clubs and festivals throughout the UK and abroad, and his highly acclaimed solo albums have now established his songs as ‘the hinges upon which swing the doors of perceptive English folk’ (Folkwords).
“One of the most talented storytellers of our generation” Pennyblack Music
“Powerful and moving songwriting” Martin Chilton, The Telegraph
“A mighty songwriter and an equally fine singer” Martin Carthy
Reg will be including the song (which will feature on Faraway People, the new album out in June) in his live gigs:
www.regmeuross.com/events
FEBRUARY
17 Bristol Folk House, + Lily Meuross
24 Winscombe Village Hall, Somerset
25 Hinton St George Festival, Somerset
MARCH
4 -12 Capetown, South Africa including
Kirstenbosch Gardens Festival. More details on website
17 Chettle Village Hall, Dorset
18 St Andrews Church Colyton, Devon
19 Folk On The Moor Ivybridge, Devon
29 ALBUM PREVIEW Green Note, London
30 Gregson Lane Folk Club, Lancashire
31 Fleetwood Folk & Blues Fundraiser, Lancashire
APRIL
15 The Venue Folk Club, Sheffield
26 Culm Valley Folk Club, Devon
28 South Molton, Devon
30 Wath Festival, Yorkshire
MAY
12 Green Man Folk Club, Alton Hants
20 Kingsbury Episcopi, South Petherton Somerset
24 Cheese & Grain, Frome
26 Bude Festival, Cornwall
27 St James Church Hall Exeter
31 Folk At The Malt House, Rishworth, West Yorkshire
JUNE
3 Faldingworth Live, Lincolnshire
8 Black Swan Folk Club, York
9 Songwriters Circle Roots music Doncaster, with Jez Lowe & George Borowski
17and18 Beverley Folk Festival
JULY
1 Private wedding, Suffolk
2 Wingfield Barns, Suffolk
4 Private house concert, Devon
7 The Lamb, Sanford Devon
8 New Forest Folk Festival
9 Ely Folk Festival
AUGUST
4-6 Songwriting Retreat Halsway Manor, Somerset
11-13 Bridport Folk Fest
14&15 Broadstairs Folk Week
29 Bradford On Avon Folk Club
31 Rothbury Roots, Northumberland
SEPTEMBER
1 Fleetwood Folk & Blues Festival, Lancashire
2 Wigan Acoustic, Lancashire
11 Boston Folk Club, Lincolnshire
17 Priston Festival, Somerset
28 Uxbridge Folk Club
OCTOBER
13-15 Costa Del Folk, Portugal
21 Mackenzie Hall, Brockweir nr Chepstow
22 Browns Hotel, Laugharne
24 St Neot’s Folk Club, Cambs
27 Wessex Acoustic, Dorset
NOVEMBER
3 Ram Club Surrey
10 MacMillan Charity Concert Chichester
DECEMBER
8 Playhouse 2, Oldham, with Flossie Malavialle
9 Cruck Barn Shipton, Yorkshire
15 Midwinter Concert, Crewkerne, Somerset
