Better

I'm currently working on a new song for The Salvation Army's 'Embrace' Campaign. This campaign will be promoting the need for child sponsorship; giving hope and a future to children caught in the trap of poverty and no family.

I love being able to add to the beauty that this campaign is already bringing to kids everywhere. It is once again an honour to use my voice to provoke people, to challenge and hopefully inspire others into action.

Here are the words....the song will be up on my myspace in the next week.


My mammas sittin up in bed with her head held high
She says “I’m leaving you my baby in a little while,
In a little while, it’s gonna be just you.
Well your brothers and your sisters gonna need you now
So be strong my little fella and I’ll tell you how:
Gotta keep on believing, things are gonna get a little better”

A little better is not too much to ask
A little better to see you smile
A little better to watch you walk so tall
A little better to keep your pride
A little better the seed in all of us
A little better we all could be
A little better is not too much to ask
A little better…to set you free

A little time went on and my mammas gone
My little brothers and my sisters think that I’m so strong
I’m so strong, I don’t know what to tell them
And I stay awake at night because they cry so much
And I hear my mammas voice and I feel her touch saying
“Keep on believing child, things’ll get a little better”

And then one morning when the sun was low
And I was getting up to work in the fields below
In the fields below, we gotta live somehow
A good man came to the window and he said “Dear Child
I’ve got a message for you here” and I saw his smile
He said “I think that things are just about to get a little bit better”

Hey guys,

Just to update you on all things music...It was a busy lead up but Dave and I are now into our last couple of days in Canada, visiting and relaxing with family and friends.

Before we headed across I had a great couple of gigs around Belfast. Each of those gigs has led to more gigs, which I guess is a great start to what seems like the endless road in self-promotion and booking up places to get myself out there.

I've been so grateful and fortunate to have an amazing team of supporters around me and an equally amazing bunch of people that are helping me make my album. John Ryan, who is a former Dubliner, now residing in Belfast is helping me out by playing guitar and bringing my songs to life. He is an excellent musician and an even better guy. It has been really fun and rewarding to hear what he is bringing to the table and I look forward to more creative input from his side.

Also along for the ride is Marty Timlin, a new friend that has agreed to play upright bass for the live gigs and the recordings as well. Marty is really accomplished a really wise and fun guy to be around. These two have made the prospect of doing gigs more exciting for me, and we click really well.

Another couple of friends, Gus and Eilis, have agreed to plug into what is happening and are on team as my engineers, producers, connecting gurus and general sounding boards for all things technical for the album. I am so so grateful to have them on board and know that their experience, knowledge and support for what I am doing is going to make this record memorable.

As well these guys, I am looking forward to pulling in some really talented folks to contribute their musical skills on the recording. We have brass players, strings and some percussion in the works.

The plan so far is to get us all together a few times when we get back on Northern Irish sod and then head to the studio at the end of April/beginning of May to put the tracks together. I'm so excited for you all to hear these songs in their finest form. It's coming together nicely, but there is plenty of work ahead of us all.

So, thank you again for all your support, and please continue to plug in. I have had a really amazing friend put together a website for me, which is looking pretty fancy. It will be up at www.melwiggins.co.uk in about a week or two and I hope to faithfully update as the recording process goes on. So tune in, wontcha?

Loads of love,
Mel x

Canadia & Chicago Jazz

Hey all,

Right now, Dave and I are in Canada, bringing in the Spring with my family and friends. We've already done a bit of a roadtrip to Chicago and had such a good time seeing the sights, doing a bit of shopping and eating far too much.

One of the nights we were there we went to a jazz club called 'Pops For Champagne', which was uber cool. They have a champagne bar upstairs, and live music in the basement every night. There was a trio playing, and we sat and listened to some of the classics being performed.

I love jazz and blues.

There is something so simple, yet so catchy about that era. It gives me the warm and fuzzy's! I always feel like I'm transported back to the 50's when I hear it.

I think I'm going to try and incorporate a bit of this sound into my album...experiment a little.