Conversation with Nay Dawson – ‘Holds out His hands’
It was great to chat with Nay Dawson today about this new release… listen in just here!
The new song will be released on 13th March 2021 on all the usual channels including on Youtube just here.
True Light – published today on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon…
Saxophonist Nick Beston joining me tonight – LIVE from the Railway Carriage Studio
Nick Beston is an outstanding jazz saxophonist. It is brilliant to have him playing from the Railway Carriage Studio tonight: Saturday 6th June 8:15pm.
Welcome to this next Railway Carriage Studio Live event!
(Photo: Lester Barnes from ‘Lavish’ Album Launch)

Watch on these links:
Live from the “Railway Carriage Studio”
You’re Invited! On this Saturday 25th April, 8pm UK time, I’m planning to share some stories and songs for an hour – live on Facebook and through YouTube Live.
You’re welcome to join me! I’ll be in the little “Railway Carriage Studio” that I’ve been using for other streamed events.
I’d love it if you can come! It might be a good event to invite friends to as well… it’ll feel like one of those evenings that we’ve sat outside in a cafe together – or on some beautiful Balkan mountainside – and swapped songs!
See you at 8pm Saturday if you can!
LINKS:
www.facebook.com/mayo.andy
www.youtube.com/turquoisetracks
www.turquoisetracks.com

“Rest for your Soul” the story behind the song released in a booklet…
Tonight we’ve received from the printers the booklets, “Rest for your Soul” – the booklet contains the story shared online here: https://turquoisetracks.com/videos/rest/
I plan to give these away this Easter time with the intention of triggering conversations around these biggest themes! If you’d like some, let me know!
In the days of CDs and records, I loved the photography and artwork. These little booklets (this is the fourth I’ve done like this) give an outlet for that old idea… and give the opportunity to share the story behind the song.
Here’s a mockup of the printed design:
Rest for your Soul
I’ve just finished “Rest for your Soul”. Dewi Jones has done a brilliant job of arranging, programming plus playing bass and keys while another friend, Danijel Petkovski plays his legendary harmonica!
Josie Evans and James Callaghan helped record this video near Tower Bridge.
See below for the story behind the song…
“Rest for your Soul” – a story behind the song.
I’m walking by a lake and my friend is talking about “truth”. Is there such a thing in cultures so jaded by propaganda and fake news? Perhaps we’re just searching for whatever particular “truth” makes us happy – lives separated by firewalls of incompatible belief systems. She gazes across the water to a hazy horizon.
But what if we were to drill down to the bedrock of everything, we ask as we walk again, what would be there? Or who? As finite, limited creatures, perhaps we just don’t have the conceptual tools to get there – we’re just left with a restless and unresolved longing – “a splinter in our souls.”
Maybe the only solution to our search, we say, would be if One from “the outside” stooped to our level to reveal the heart of everything to us.
Hundreds of years earlier, a man is walking by this same lake. He’s surrounded by those who think themselves cultured, as well as common, the contemptuous as well as the curious,
“I have come down… not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”
Jesus was presenting himself as though he had come from the outside: revealing truth to humanity. Anyone could of course make such “God-claims” but Jesus backed them up with extraordinary words and actions; healings, exorcisms, an unnatural authority over nature…
Eventually Jesus was executed for blasphemy: a man who claimed to be God. His body was put into a rich man’s tomb and guarded by a crack unit of troops.
But on the third day, Jesus’ body had disappeared and the tough soldiers were left terrified. Shortly afterwards, an increasing number of witnesses claimed that they had seen him alive. His body was never recovered and those witnesses – hundreds of them – went on to risk and lay down their lives for the message that Jesus really had risen from the dead.
We walked and wondered, had Jesus been a unique messenger come to reveal the heart of truth to us?
It was after that conversation by Galilee, that I started writing this song – it began as a prayer for my walking companion. It speaks of longing for a connection with truth, the transcendent…
This is one of those songs that has been a long time in the honing: brewed for a couple of years, then completed in a flurry, ready in time for an important event.
That event was a dear friend’s funeral where I sang this song to those gathered. Michael Green had spent his life delighted and captivated by the news that Jesus is the heart of truth, the conqueror of death and the soon-to-return king. Michael was a historian of the first century, linguist, gifted writer and public speaker. He would sometimes ask me to write songs to illustrate his talks and had asked me to write new, “invitation songs”. This was one of them. Just a few hours before he died, we spoke. Michael seemed to have no fear of death – just an eager expectation of meeting with the risen Jesus.
Michael once explained,
“Christianity is a historical religion. It claims that God has taken the risk of involving himself in human history, and the facts are there for you to examine with the utmost rigour. They will stand any amount of critical examination.
“Christianity does not hold the resurrection to be one among many tenants of belief. Without… the resurrection there would be no Christianity at all. The Christian church would never have begun, the Jesus-movement would have fizzled out like a damp squib with his execution… Christianity stands or falls with the truth of the resurrection.”
“I am… the truth,” Jesus once said. Could it be that an authentic seeking after truth brings a person face to face with Jesus? Could it be that he is the one we seek? Or as Jesus once called out,
“Come to me… and you will find rest for your souls!”
I hope you enjoy this song – and that it would perhaps be a catalyst for you to search out the person of Jesus. The ideal place to start is in the accounts of his life recorded in the New Testament.
All the best! – Andy
Prince of Peace
“Prince of Peace…”
Andy Mayo: lyrics, music, guitars and vocals
Dewi Jones: production, keys, bass, programming, arrangement, mixing and mastering
Nick Beston: sax
Video Production: GodOnaTrain.com
Stories and Songs in Bournemouth…
Loved playing in Bournemouth last weekend.
It was especially good to play with Stan Majerski on keys. We met in the Balkans and he produced and played on two albums that were developed out there: “Dreams of a Homecoming” and “This is for you”. We’ve also toured a lot together along with our larger five-price band. In my opinion, the man is a genius – if you’ve heard his melodic solos and creative harmonies, I expect you agree!
Tapestry
Sharing an evening of “Stories and Songs”, we wanted to weave together music, conversation and visual art that point to the reality of the “God who is there”. The One who has come towards us in the person of Jesus to draw us into connection – relationship – with Him through His death and resurrection…
With one or two events most weeks until the end of March, I’ll keep you posted!
Here are some images taken on the evening by the gifted Bournemouth photographer, Loïc Salan…
Turquoise Tracks – Events Spring 2017
Looking forward to these events over the next few weeks… Perhaps see you there?!
15th Jan – Bournemouth, Landsdowne Church
23rd Jan – Bath Spa University: “RE-create”
30th Jan – Reading University
2nd Feb – Reading University
4-12 Feb – Oakhall Church, Caterham Events Week
13-14 Feb – Leeds University
20 Feb – Warwick University
27-28th Feb – Aberystwyth University
5 Mar – Belgrade, Serbia
10 Mar – Canterbury University
20-22 Mar – Banja Luka, Bosnia, University
23-25 Mar – Sarajevo, Bosnia, University
Edinburgh
As promised, a few more images from 2015 so far…
Another highlight was playing in Edinburgh for the university events week. Here, my main role was to illustrate talks by Michael Green using the songs…
Lavish Launch – photographed by Lester Barnes
Here are some images from the Lavish Launch on Friday night… some travelled nearly 200 miles to be there. Thank you!
Lavish Launch in Black and White…
Lavish Launch in Colour…
All images by the legendary Lester Barnes.