May-June Update (posted 4 months ago)

​Our annual late-night shindig at the Joy Theater in New Orleans was a ton of fun - we played 6 hours of music over 2 nights, which included a special tribute to the late Allen Toussaint with our US horn section and special guests Ivan Neville, Eric Krasno, Marc Broussard and fellow Brit, Jon Cleary. The Saturday night show sold out and we played till 6am before heading to Igor’s for breakfast Bloody Marys.

We’re currently at home (in Leeds, Hollinsclough, Menorca and Denver) preparing to reunite in Chicago to start a run of shows which include sets at Rothbury Festival in Michigan (our first ever Michigan show!) and High Sierra Music Festival in Northern California (our first love, as far as festivals go - this will be our 5th appearance!)

(photo of NMS with Ivan Neville by Jeremy Scott)

Europe Tour Report (Mar 23, 2016)

​We’re back in UK resting up after a short but intense run of European shows. Thanks to all of you who came out to see us in Madrid, Zürich, Hamburg, London, and especially Leeds, where we played to 400 friends, family and fans at our favourite hometown venue, The Brudenell Social Club. The opening band, Little Violet, captivated the audience with their hip electro-swing sounds as the room began to fill up. Then our super-tight former horn section - Atholl, Malcolm and Jim - joined us for a career-spanning set, ending with an unplanned rendition of “It’s All Right Now” as former NMS front-man Cleve Freckleton showed up to sing and play gospel tambourine. While we were in London we called in at the US embassy to get our visas approved for another year and will be back over there in April/May for a whole month of gigs, hitting Florida, NYC, New Orleans, Nashville, and many points in between.

Winter Tour Report (Feb 26, 2016)

Another great tour completed! Highlights include jamming with Eric Krasno and Jimmy Herring in Mexico, playing to over 2500 people over a single weekend in Denver, and selling out The Independent in San Francisco last Friday (see video, courtesy of Marty Lefkowitz) - as well as days off skiing in Keystone, Steamboat and Telluride, finishing up with a glorious sunny powder day on Schweitzer Mountain, Idaho.

Huge thanks to Mike Olmos and Daniel Casares, our dynamic horn section who were with us for almost the entire run. And thanks too to all of you who came out to see us. We must do it again some time…

Jamcruise (Jan 12, 2016)

​Just got off the boat from the 14th Jamcruise and still feeling wobbly. We played two sets on the Pool Deck with vocalist Charly Lowry and our horns, Mike Olmos and Daniel Casares. But the highlight might have been Bernard Purdie’s two hour Jazz Lounge set on the penultimate night. Curated and MD’ed by Pete Shand, it featured a host of stellar guests including Fred Wesley and Karl Denson as well as all the members of NMS. Here’s a taster, recorded on Simon’s iPhone.

Simon’s Tour Diary (Nov 26, 2015)

The Made For Pleasure Fall Tour was… well, you can find out exactly what it was like by reading Simon’s tour diary, published by Live For Live Music. We started in Phoenix on September 30th and finished in Nashville on November 7th. It’s in blog form, i.e. the last gig is first, so feel free to read it backwards. And there are lots of photos and videos. The band is currently enjoying a hiatus at home (that’s Leeds, Buxton, Menorca, Denver) before the next show: New Year’s Eve at the Joy Theater in New Orleans.

Making of “Made For Pleasure” (Sep 30, 2015)

​Here’s a little film made by our friend Jimmy Uddo behind the scenes at the recording of the new album in New Orleans back in January. The album is out this Friday on CD/LP/download/streaming thanks to Royal Potato Family records in the US and Légère Recordings in Europe.