Dear all,
Well it’s been the usual hectic time since I got back from the US. The American flavour continued when I first got back as the wonderful Hip Hatchet came to my spiritual home of the Market Vaults and delivered a sterling gig. I’d heard so much about this guy and he lived up to expectation it’s fair to say. Do check out his stuff.
And so began October and the Urban Folk Quartet autumn tour. The really crazy bit is in November but there’s still a fair bit going on this month. It began down in Somerset at Bridgwater Arts Centre which was a cracking night and has led onto a festival appearance – always the nicest moment of a gig when you come away with another one! The next UFQ action featured a couple of hometown gigs for first Tom at St Andrew’s Church in Bedford and then for me at the Gatehouse Theatre in Stafford on Friday just gone. As ever, my hometown was simply the best and we had a wonderful time and then I headed to the good old Vaults for some celebratory drinks and enjoyed a riotous gig by my good friends Pelo. Not often you see the Vaults like this:
But it’s not just been UFQ. A couple of solo gigs in Shropshire have also happened beginning with an appearance at a charity show at the Hive with several other brilliant performers. By that I mean the other performers were brilliant, I wasn’t saying I was brilliant. That would make me a bit of a prick. A few days later, I had a simply lovely gig at Housmans in Church Stretton, a bit of an old favourite of mine now! Then Live Music Now has taken up a fair bit of my schedule too with a trip to Glamorgan to herald the start of a songwriting project in a school which should be fun! I also found myself in London to play a lovely concert at a school which also involved the BBC…better not tell you more yet in case I’m not supposed to! Finally, I found myself in Bury at Folk Expo which was one of those events where the audience was full of very useful people to impress which doesn’t always make for the easiest gig but it seemed to go rather well!
Now it is fairly known that most professional musicians are worried about money most of the time. Four times a year there’s the lovely moment you forgot was going to happen – PRS royalty distribution. Money just appears it’s lovely. But what does seem somewhat surprising is that my music was used at an aerobics class apparently! Apparently, fast paced Indian-scale banjo reels make for the perfect workout – what are you waiting for?!