Sarah L Dixon Writer

How did I get here?

Firstly, how did this come about? Well, I decided to make my passion for 90s indie into a book and editors could not see how great this would be. Music ones said they didn’t publish poetry and poetry editors generally thought it was too niche. So, I decided to self-publish which for an over-thinker was an intense experience. It did, however, give me permission to include photos in the book, have section heading pages and to commission a 90s indie artist to design the cover. I am delighted with the final product and I feel the artwork of Mark Reynolds captures me as both teenager and in a crowd (now). As I was putting the finishing touches to the book and planning a launch date I saw a Facebook post from Jim saying he had a new lyric book coming out soon.

This quickly led to me having a conversation with good friend, Barry, who runs a festival in Medway with his wife, Sam and their friend Anne-Marie. I think within half an hour of me sending the message Barry replied saying: “We have to make this happen!” and we started planning the event that is detailed in this blog!

Real, Real, Real!!!

Okay, so yes I do still have to ask myself if this was real. Ask seventeen-year-old me and I reckon she may just faint… however, forty-eight year old me managed to do a pretty good job of looking confident and relaxed while interviewing Jim, who was one of the first reasons I started writing back 30 years ago.

On my bus from the valley to Huddersfield train station a passenger asks if I am going somewhere good with all my bags. Turns out she is called Ingrid and has a Christmas card signed by Jim Bob somewhere at home. I know if I tell 98% of the population about who I am on my way to interview they will give me a blank stare, you have to have been there at a certain time and Jim/Carter then become an indelible part of your glorious musical history. But the 2%, the 2% are as, if not more, excited about this than I am!

I rainbow my nails for events. I am particularly fond of The Love Album 1992 alternate yellow and blue ones but this time there was only one choice for the nails as above.

I turned up at the venue half an hour before the event was due to happen and saw chairs in rows into the distance. I dropped my case of books off and left for a nerve-settling pint and bowl of chips in The Command House next door. Returning and event ready, Marc, Jim and Mrs Jim Bob arrive soon after me and greet me cheerfully. The audience are queueing around the corner and we all sell a few books ahead of the event start time.

Sam Hall launches her new book ‘Three Instances of not meeting Jarvis Cocker, an autobio-fictional graphic novel and shows us some screenshots of the book and tells us the history of how it came about.

I read poems from my 90s music fan book, A bit like falling in love. It took a couple of short, shaky poems to settle into the room but by then I was enjoying myself and shared a very new poem called Why I don’t sing to you. I found I was telling myself not to glance over at Jim when reading the poems that mentioned him or events where he knew he was there – First gig after lockdown, Albion Fire and the final poem that ends in a Jim Bob mosh pit – as the book should – the last words of my set… in a moment hazy with smoke machines and utter love.  

Next was my interview with Jim Bob, two comfy chairs had been placed on the stage with a couple of mics and a jug of water and two glasses. We took our seats and I looked at the crowd for a second and then launched into my first question. I felt I was nodding too much to begin with but then I forgot about the audience and was chatting with Jim and we were just interacting with each other.

I hadn’t realised how intimate the interview experience would be, I had thought I would ask the questions and then, instead of addressing the answer to me Jim would talk to the crowd. I think the fan/musician chemistry was pretty good and it was evident I was a fan interviewing and not a music buff. As we worked through my questions quite quickly I was worried we would finish the interview way too early (and I check this with Sam and Barry and we were told we had about 10 minutes left).

I thought of a couple of extra questions and Jim went off on a few tangents about Kent towns, Jarvis Cocker and Paul McCartney. We didn’t talk about Bowie, though I talked about him in my set and he is mentioned in several of Jim’s books.

We talked a bit about poetry and whether Jim is a poet. I reckon he is. He said he enjoyed my set and feels it helps if a poet has an accent. (This amused me as every time I arrive in the South on a train the first sign I see in King’s Cross is The Hammersmith and City Line and as soon as I hear a Southern accent I think of Jim! I don’t hear many people speak with a southern accent in our West Yorkshire Valley, I am from 40-minute drive over the Pennines and when I call my son’s school they know who I am immediately as I don’t have a Yorkshire accent!)

Jim did an impression of me saying “What I just heard was ‘I don’t think I have an accent!’ (very Northern) this got a big laugh from the Kent audience and I did say “Well, when I am in Kent, yeah!”. More laughter.

We talked about the artwork, the differences between being in a band and playing solo, the photos and puppets in the book, how the book smells (cold toast). We both found it fascinating to see the process of the book being made and I thanked Jim for sharing the video online.

I asked for my favourite song and second-guessed myself and said “It is The Loneliest elephant… not the last one, isn’t it?” Jim grinned and said “It is your favourite song, shouldn’t you know?”

As I knew we had to draw the interview to a close I felt we reached a point where all could descend into chaos or we could continue all night and then invited Jim to share some songs with us.

Jim then treated us to a 7-song set, including The Elephant song, one I hadn’t heard before and a very early version of a Carter fan favourite. I am not sharing the full set list details here as I don’t want to spoil any surprises for people who might hear the same songs in the events November 15^th-20^th. I might come back and add the set list at a later date…

It was good to have a proper natter with Marc (on the same side of the merch desk rather than queueing on the other side) and to meet/chat to Mrs Jim Bob.

I was delighted to get my hands on the document of beauty and weight that is Jim’s new book Where songs come from and I am really enjoying it, though rationing myself a bit as I don’t want to read it too fast. I am loving the section about callbacks in songs.

More Jim gigs

Jim has more gigs coming up 15th-20th November so do hurry and get a ticket if there are any left. Details are here:

More Sarah gigs

Sunday 24th November – Hosting Grand Plans at 6-8pm The Sair, Linthwaite, Huddersfield with special guest, Trystan Lewis PAYF and 8 x 4 min mic spots

Tuesday 10th December – Online launch of A bit like falling in love. 7-930pm Special guests Julia Webb & Lee Nelson. Free on Zoom (book buying will be encouraged).

Do keep an eye on my website for more exciting music/poetry plans for the book and for me in 2025.

Sam’s gigs and book

Wordsmithery | LiteraryConsultancy | Kent

Packing away, swapping merch, links and thanks

We sold a good few books at the end and someone asked for a photo with me.

As the venue emptied and we were packing things away I asked Jim if he would wear a t-shirt with my book artwork on the front and hold my book and I would do the same. Some guy in the pub the next day said to me ‘Excuse me, is that you on your t-shirt?’ he seemed both baffled and happy about this!

I told Jim it was my first interview of anyone and he said no-one would ever have guessed and I coped well with the deviations from questions. Buzzing!

I had a message from one of the audience two days later telling me they had read the book already and wanted a copy signed for each of their gig-going mates too. I am happy my extended love poem to 90s indie is out in the world and people are connecting with it.

Thanks to the brilliant Medway River Lit Team and all their warm and helpful volunteers and to Chatham Library for hosting us. There are another three weeks of events at the festival if you are in the area, I can’t promise any more elephant songs, but you never know…

…also a massive thanks to the audience x

Home | Medway River Lit

Books & websites

You can buy Jim’s book here:
https://www.carterusmstore.com/jim-bob/lyricbook

You can buy my book here:

https://sarahldixon.bigcartel.com/product/a-bit-like-falling-in-love

Websites

https://sarahldixonwriter.com/

https://www.jim-bob.co.uk/

Extended Medway River Lit Festival Blog coming soon…