Brews & News with Beth Prior

Pop the kettle on, luv… and have a mug of #GreenTea
Haa! Yes indeed!!


Hello, BETH! First off, the new single…Green Tea… just wow! How does it feel for it to finally be out? It’s totally taken off!

Its a relief to be honest, it's been a long time 'a comin'! Muchos apologies to my fanbase, as most of you know, the album was supposed to be released in Spring, but was delayed due to a serious family illness – unfortunately we lost that family member, but releasing this ball of love that the album has become is doing it's best to help heal the wounds. And I can't even begin to tell you how over the moon I am with the reception it's had so far. I take my work very seriously and of course personally, so it really hits me in the heart when the music is well received. #grateful


Thanks SO MUCH for being my first #Brews&News! I first saw you perform at LFest this Summer! How have things been since then?
Really, really good and REALLY BUSY! This full-time musician thing's no spliff in the park eh??!? Lfest was a very special gig for me for a couple of reasons, obviously because playing to a big-ass tent full of lesbians is a pretty rare and wonderful opportunity, and because, well, they're a bloody lovely crowd!
Also on a more work related note, as an independent artist it feels like you spend all of your time trying to (figure out how to) build the stage to actually play on, the playing unfortunately comes last! #AdminHell! Lfest 2016 was the first time I'd ever played live with my collective, so it was a really special moment. It felt like we finally got to stand on the metaphorical stage we've been building (and it didn't collapse!) In fact, I heard the news yesterday that I'd been short-listed in two categories for an Lfest Award! “New to You” and “Band/Artist of 2016” - Pretty nice huh?
Since then, and very recently actually the album was released!

Taking off, big time!
Yup! As of the 1^st of this month! 'Little Acts of Kindness' is out in the world! In the past few months I've felt probably as close as I'll ever feel to being heavily pregnant and yearning for an induction!... too much info... sorry!!

Haha! Over-share is the best kind of sharing... ;)


First Lemonade, now Green Tea…It's all about those liquids this year! You’re definitely making Queen Be proud with your tasty title. What are you reasons behind the stella-choice of cuppa? Other than it’s awesomeness, of course.

Haa yeah for sure!!

Umm...Well, you know the lyric says “Put down ya pint, have a mug'a green tea” ? In all honesty I'd prefer to keep the pint ;)

In the song, green tea is symbolic of wellness. We all know what would be best for us, but we don't always choose it.. The song was written in a time in my life when I was struggling to see beyond the bullshit and getting caught up in cyclones of drama which in hindsight, were not 'my stuff'. Green Tea' is about choosing your own happiness based on you, not anyone else. In reality, it's none of our business what anyone thinks of us or how they react. It helps keep me sane to remember that no-one else is responsible for my actions and reactions. They are mine.
In my past I've found myself making questionable choices, when I know what's really right for me...and in terms of happiness, well I've found the more grateful you are, the more you have to be grateful for. I would have struggled to believe that back then... Now I do, in abundance.

Inspiring! We love you too much, Beth.

Now you’re heading on tour my little birds tell me?

Yes indeedy!! That's what all the hard work's been about! We're heading off on a short, sharp southern UK tour THIS month!!! I say 'we' because there'll be 10 of us altogether in the tour bus. What a right ol 'rabble we are too!! I'm absolutely chuffed to fuck about how incredible my team are. Without their hard work and proper 'grown-up' professionalism I don't know where I'd be !
We'll be playing to six packed out little venues! (At least that's the plan!) If you've got any reggae/dub lovin mates you'll send em over right love? ;) Send em the ticket link!!!


Ooo, please do spill the beans on what inspired the awesome reggae vibes on the album? You’ve gotta be an ole’ Bob fan, right?! Sunday chill vibes.

Yeah absolutely love him! Godfather of reggae in the spotlight and what an INCREDIBLE songwriter!!!
However Bob is the tip of the iceberg in terms of my inspiration, lots of varied types of music have conspired to create 'Little Acts of Kindness' from The Smiths to Lauren Hill, to Gypsy-Swing, acoustic artists like John Martyn and Nick Drake, trip-hop legends like Massive Attack and Portishead and of course the swag of the early work of our late Amy Winehouse. It's in my veins...I just had to make it, reggae is so deeply engrained in my psyche, I've even been told that I tap my foot to the reggae off-beat in my sleep!?!


Today's reggae/dub scene though, oooosh!!! 'Fat Freddy's Drop' 'Natty' and The Cat Empire' for instance are all bands who quite honestly make me cream my pants. Their fusion of reggae with pop, soul, hip-hop, and Latino vibes just sends me to one hell of a blissful place. What can I say, there's just so much good music out there just waiting to be discovered!
On my album, the reggae vibe... well, it's always been there. It's just that until all those lovely people pledged on the crowd-funder it was stuck in my head!!!!!

Little Acts of Kindness is also it’s own Facebook page, and that’s how I first stumbled upon your brilliance! How can people get involved?
Ahh that's so cool!! I can't take all the credit for this amazing project – all the hard work is done by the talented and very lovely artist, Giselle Louise Ryan who was so inspired by Little Acts of Kindness and Stitch Up (two songs from the new album), she led the charge in co-creating the project! Also check out her #LoveLitter – it's cute, kind and carries a message of paying it forward. People can get involved firstly by checking out the page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LittleActsKindness/) and giving it a like and a share! Add a meme or an act of kindness that you've done or seen or make suggestions on what kindness you'd like to see people do for each other. We've had some amazing stories and people love sharing the love!

Beautiful! That's what life is all about... #LittleActsOfKindness
This album is all about giving a little back, I want to help spread the good vibes around the place! People do amazing things everyday that go unnoticed and sadly uncelebrated. ALL PROCEEDS from the digital download of the Lil'Acts single will go to my two chosen charities. My own little act of kindness <3


Thanks so much, Beth for taking part on my quick-fire round of 60 second questions. Is there anything else you want to share with readers?
No worries, thanks for having me !!
Thanks so much for checking out this interview and for supporting independent artists. I have a VERY special announcement to make on the tour – so GET YOUR TICKETS, SEE YOU ON TOUR and COME SAY HELLO!!!!

Good luck on tour! I’ll pop the kettle on for when you're back...
Hahahaha! Bring a good ol' brew down to one of the gigs ;)

Relevant Links below:

Hear and Buy the Album: https://bethprior.bandcamp.com/album/little-acts-of-kindness 

Little Acts of Kindness Project: https://www.facebook.com/LittleActsKindness/

Green Tea Official Video: https://youtu.be/6yyJ9XAPNY8

Website: http://www.bethprior.com/ - Don't miss out on what's going on - join the mailing list to get all the shenanigans delivered to your inbox!

My Top 10 #LFestLoves!

...Just 10? Jeepers!

*Scribbles out 100 others...*

Still feeling stuck as to whether-or-not head LFest-way this weekend?

Let my (exceedingly condensed) Top 10 #LFestLoves tip you over to the YES side of the pool.

Here is #HumpDayMotivation... And if that doesn't work. I know Ms. Heather Peace is in attendance. Nudge, nudge.


1. The Fire Pit.

S'more of that please! Nights like this are for LFest was made for... That, and toasted marshmallows.

2. Party, on!

Get ready everybody coz' here we go!

3. New Friends = New Family...

#WeMakeLFest. 

Aww, shucks. LFest is a community, as much as it is a festival!

4. R & R

#FreedomInFestivals A little quiet never hurt nobody. 

5. Movie Magic.

Outdoor late night cinema? Erm...yes!

6. WORKSHOPS

Arts, Crafts, ZUMBA... and everything else inbetween!

7. Music

Radio 1, eat your heart out.

8. Camping

Breath in the great outdoors... and exhale

9. Comedy

Lesbian Comedians funnier than a very funnier thing.

10. Lastly... GIRLS, 

GIRLS...

GIRLS!

Did I mention 2,000 lesbians?

Also, GIRLS.

Decided? YAY!

Join the #FacebookLFestival from 1pm Friday when I'll be running the social media show - tweeting, posting and getting stuck in my own sleeping bag live for your entertainment VIA @lfestevents and the LFest Events Facebook page. #LFestTakeOver

Tickets and Day Tickets will be available on the door, or grab them ahead at lfest.co.uk/tickets. 

Keep track of the lesbian low-down with #LFestLive and #TweetsFromATent and #Gulp.

I am very, VERY excited.

Tweet at me & send your LFesty pics - I can't wait to share #LFest2016 with you all...

I hope I've convinced you to join the party!

Happy hashtagging, and HAPPY LFEST!

Love Caitlin X

A Camera on the Closet Door

Taking a Sneaky Peek @ the Human Rights Watch Film Festival...

Open any 'what-to-do-in-London-this-week,' and you'll find the Human Rights Watch Film Festival strewn all over its pages like some glorious Smorgasbord of movie masterpieces.

*Nom. 

Thumbing through their Programme for the weekend, it's the LGBT screenings  - of course - that are first to catch eye...

Well, I mean, who would have funk it?! 

First up tonight is an intimate glimpse into the life and longings of Larry Kramer. 

Giving voice to a young LGBT generation, Larry’s incredible fight for understanding and equality will finally be shown. And personally, I had no idea...

As an audience, we will track Larry's near-implausible mission to make AIDS a national issue in the mind of blinded society.

Now this is a story to watch.

Equally, I am thrilled to have a ticket for the preview of 'Inside the Chinese Closet.'

Peeping through the key hole at the fake marriage fairs of Shanghai; LGBT men and women appear faced with difficult decisions at the alter...

Individuals must make a choice of adhering to cultural and parental expectations, or breaking conventions in the pursuit of love... A dangerous conundrum. 

I look forward to challenging myself and the comparatively-comfortable gay life I lead, watching these two movies.

Afterall, isn't that what art is best for?

Unsettling and cementing.

The subject matters of the two films are of course of close to home as a lesbian woman.

Nonetheless, I am aware - in many respects - that these films will appear distant and unfamiliar... 

But, alas! Only tonight will tell!

Make sure you book your tickets quick sharp, folks - via the rather useful links below…

And remember - it's the BFI Flare Film Festival next week! 

So don't overeat on the popcorn...

http://ff.hrw.org/film/larry-kramer-love-anger-0?city=London

http://ff.hrw.org/film/inside-chinese-closet?city=London

Guess Who's Back?

 Spoiler Alert -  It's me.

I know, I know. I've been quiet for a while. *Quit with the nagging, Ma!*

Please forgive me, lovely readers and fans of turtle memes, as I tell you the story of how it all went out the window this time...

*No eyerolls, please Madam. You can wait until you've read it all first.*

Now, it wasn't a simple case of downright neglect and laziness. I promise, I really do.

I will give you the reasons for my Murder Mystery style disappearance once and for all.

Life and shizzle got in the way, ok.

Well, namely my mental illness, if I'm really being really truly honest... 

---

For the past few months, I've been burrowing myself away into a little coffee shop shaped shell.

Working hard, licking my wounds and earning my way as a Waitress in East London. 

 Basically, I've been doing all I can to keep my brain quiet and keep going with my life...

You see, last June I had a nervous breakdown.

No, it wasn't like all that. It wasn't like I was crying daily in public, lying helplessly in bed and unable to get out of bed in the morning...It was infact, exactly like that.

Just being, was a difficulty. 

While I was on this so-called 'mini break,' the last thing I could do was think... let alone write about what I was going through.

As much as I wanted to - and to share what I was experiencing with you!

I wanted so much to reach out. But it was not my time to, I guess. 

And in a way, I knew then, as I know now... writing would mark the beginning of my healing process. That was far too scary to think about. And that wasn't something I was prepared to face, until now. 

Waitressing - and dropping Flat Whites onto unsuspecting customer - every day in East London, I've been slowly but surely building back my confidence, chatting and meeting new people and getting a handle myself again, and the community that surrounds me.

I've made friends with a Community Cafe, building relations where we supply them with our leftover bread, and generally immersing myself in the patchwork of people that is ole' London Town.

Check out those crazy cake table skillz

Helping others, running coffee with the shakiest hands on record - (embarrassing confessions to come) -  and being active has really kept my muddled mind at semi peace for a few months.

But I guess my mini break is finally coming to it's end. 

It's time to pick up the quill, and log back in to the real world.

Now, finally - at long last - I AM READY TO WRITE AGAIN!

HORRAY! I hope the Blogging World will welcome me back.

Goodbye, self-doubt! Adios, low self-esteem! And piss off, anxiety!

Yes.

And I CAN'T WAIT this time, to write and write and write... without a pause, this time...

I am back. I am writing. And no one - especially not me - is going to stop...me.  

                                                                      Darn' tootin.'

14 hours dressed as Santa

...it was only a matter of time...

So, yeah. This happened.

Much to the delight of Leytonstone... and me... I had the honour of dressing up as Sir Clause for the duration of Sunday 20th December. 

(A hearty thanks to Hitchcock's Home for allowing me to don the costume of all costumes for its Christmas Pop-Up Cinema event!

*And also thanks to Amazon. :P)

Besides from LOOKING like a Muppet for a day, we screened The Muppets Christmas Carol... Along side the rather nightmare-inducing Gremlins. Eek.

But when duty calls...

It's beginning to look a lot like - oh, god...

Sorry, Barclays...

Go home, Hitch... You're drunk

Tis' the season to be jolly - and graffiti your local shops, banks and hardware stores with some dodgy looking Hitchcock silhouettes. It appears.

... I did try with a stencil first, ok!?

I have shaky hands.

So, I may now forever be refused to open a current account with Barclays... But I least I got some decent half-decent blog content out of it! Silver linings?

After my spray paint melted down the side of their wheelchair ramp at 11:03pm, it dawned on me... this might be something worth sharing with my little world.

Now, what is that lunatic Maggs-ter up to this time, you may or may not be asking yourself?

Well, your answer is as good as here. 

HITCHCOCK'S HOME IS BACK!!!
And this time, things are getting festive...

With a mere 11 days to go until the big day that is Hitchcock's Home Does Christmas, there's no better time to rope in your friends, family and questionably-related relatives for a Sunday of mulled wine, The Muppets and enough treats and tinsel and to crack a smile even on the big man himself... Michael Caine. (Of course).


Leytonstone, unbeknownst to some as the birthplace of Sir Alfred Hitchcock, is hosting a local community event on Sunday 20th... in the name of Christmas and top-quality cinema!

We'll be showing Father Christmas & The Snowman at 12:30pm, followed up by The Muppets' Christmas Carol at 4pm and the spooky-dookie Gremlins at 7:30pm for the bigger kids. 

Paying homage to the filmic legacy of the Master of Suspense himself - and just any excuse to hold a cracker of a party - we can't wait to cosy up on the last Sunday before the big day.





Check it!

3 films, 1 day; expect magic, mulled wine and even a me mulling about... doubtless, glugging enough to see me happy until the New Year... 

I've been scaling walls, drainpipes, risking my actual neck and loitering on street corners to help spread the word to anyone who will listen/resist calling security. 

So, dig out that embarrassing knitwear AND nab your tackiest Santa hat from the Pound Store... E11 3AD has Christmas all wrapped up.

I tried to dress up as The Snowman... I failed. 

 

Follow us on Twitter to catch the latest Muppet post from your own resident Muppet. You will be disappointed. 

Tickets & more information is a click away! 

Meanwhile @ Planet London... Cake Out!

A Moment of Sapho-Searching With...Wegan: Power Couple on all things love, dating & THE launch party to end all launch parties...

Published on Planet London's Pretty-in-Pink Site, on 22.11.15

Lezbehonest, finding femmes ain't always easy.

I'll be the first to raise my hand and say the search for lipstick-love isn't a ride in the park at the best of times...

I mean, most nights you're in better luck of spotting a unicorn on a full moon, playing Scrabble.

Yes, Scrabble.

But, fear not...my fellow lady-lovers... YouTubers, Megan Evans and Whitney Bacon - collaboratively known as Wegan -  are here to make our love lives that the incy bit easier.

Much like the work of some Wonder Women...or GODS... the pair have dreamt up the ultimate solution to our woes.

Say a hearty hello to  Find Femmes! 

The new dating website that brings together fem lesbians from far & wide.

Horray!

And guess what?! I was lucky enough to get an invite to their London launch party! 

Horray, X2! 

During the night, I found a cheeky moment or two to have natter with the girls..

...And let me add before news hits the press... I may have had to be air-lifted out by 11pm as a matter of emergency...

Their cake was that GOOD... Ok?!

Hey, Hey, Wegan! It's so amazing to finally meet you both.

I have actually just signed up to Find Femmes today, and have to say I am mega excited to be apart of the community! I'd love to know what you think makes your site different from other dating websites out there?

There's no other site that really does what we do.

We used to get asked all the time by our followers, "how do we find a femme lesbian?" and "how did you find each other?" And we never really had a reply to give!

We were so frustrated that we didn’t have a clear cut answer and thought to ourselves, “What can do we do to help?”

People were always asking how we met, and we were getting a real impression from them - and of course from our own experiences - of just how difficult it is to meet feminine girls out there. 

And thus, Find Femmes was born!

Yes! And you yourselves met on MySpace, right?

We did! Back in 2006. I mean, how we found each other was actually online! 

We are so lucky to have found love, and now we just want to help others find what we have. 

That's so lovely. I believe you have another reason to party tonight, girls? 

Yes, we do indeed! We recently celebrated seven years of being together, and our third Civil Partnership anniversary. It feels like we've known each other forever! It's gone so fast. It's hard to believe...

Oh, amazing! Congratulations both of you.

Ahh, thank you!

And I love your reasons for creating Find Femmes. 

I can't wait to have a proper go later on! It looks like a lot of time and energy has gone into it's creation. Can we expect to see a Find Femmes app soon?

We hope so! It's all very new and exciting. There are lots of plans being discussed at the moment... Stay tuned! 

This party really feels like a celebration of everything falling into place for you both... a party, and also a recognition for a sparkling lesbian identity that's so often overlooked and made invisible...One of pink and prettiness! It's brilliant to see...


We're so happy you're having fun!

Your dresses -  and Muse Soho - both look stunning tonight! We can't wait to see the vlog...

 And I have to say, I am loving all the glitter!

Thanks so much! We've spent a lot of time planning it. Now we're so excited to see it all come together!

 I bet. And those balloons...and CAKES.

 Well, I am one happy blogger.

Lipstick Lesbian, anyone?!

*I may - or may not - make a drunken appearance*

Documenting their journey from long distance  sweethearts , to happily-ever-afters & I-Do's, Megan and Whitney now live blissfully together in the UK and continue to share their inspirational love story with the world wide web via their YouTube channel, What Wegan Did Next. Check it!


#FindFemmes

Hit up Wegan's channel here!

#WhatWeganDidNext