2008

A year ago we set this site a number of tasks, little realising how well things were going to develop!

2007 was a terrific year and it's been a pleasure to hear from members of the band and from other musicians associated with the Grapevine label. Several people have submitted recollections, pictures and reviews. One or two promised them but haven't got round to it...so please don't give up. We're still waiting.

By January we'd worked out that Grapevine was, in effect, Parchment and therefore set out to find out more about its output. Over the year there have been reviews of albums and we've heard from artists such as Kevin Gould and Dave Kelly, who recorded what seems to have been the last album released by Grapevine. The development of music blogs elsewhere has made it possible for some of this music to be shared widely, as well as raising some difficult copyright issues.

We promised to post some of the features about the band from Buzz magazine. So far have three have gone up.

And we'd heard from John Pac. And a few weeks ago John came on the site and posted a number of comments and recollections, including some details of the lost third album. We also heard from the band's last member Pete Yates-Round and from Jeff Crow, who took over from Keith Rycroft and whose output was lost with the third album.

We've also during the year done work on the archive site, posting track listings for the four vinyl albums along with a Grapevine discography (which remains incomplete).

So what would we like to see happen this year?

First of all lots more contributions and photos!

Secondly we've got more Buzz material to post, especially from the Light Up the Fire era. There's probably also scope to mine material on album inserts and sleeves that not everyone has access to.

It would be good to have more detailed reviews and appreciations of Parchment albums and songs. Our posting on Hollywood Sunset led to a terrific analysis being submitted by an anonymous poster.

The search for the Grapevine story continues. There are still albums and bands to find out about and stories to recount - alongside the work the band did with the Pilgrim label.

We'd also like to know more about the band's early years, especially the story of Trinity Folk.

Then of course there's Roundabout 2008 in Liverpool which is already throwing up memorabilia but also seeking to foster new talent and fresh breath in the city of culture. It's already backing one young artist Rachael Wright and I guess a few people are looking forward to hearing her work. Let's pray for more.