Dear all,
The title may seem an obvious one for a musician, but I’ve found in recent times that other than at festivals I rarely get to actually go to a gig! Well I do this Thursday when I see my old friends Fish From Oblivion perform in Stafford and last Monday I saw none other than the phenomenal Afro Celt Sound System…ah that was a festival. Like I say other than festivals I don’t get to go to that many gigs… Continue reading “I like going to gigs” →
Dear all,
Just to make clear – my gig at Joxers, Stafford on 12th May has been moved to 28th April. The previously planned performer had an accident so I am filling in that one as it was easier for me geographically than the 12th. Had I realised it was on the Stafford Music Festival publicity that I was playing Joxers on May 12th I wouldn’t have changed it but I didn’t know until too late! Apologies for any confusion.
Dear all,
Well here I am again. A fair few gigs to report on since my last entry so here goes…Basingstoke was bloody fantastic (when I eventually got there…see below for details) at the Anvil Theatre with a full house, lovely crowd and wonderful soundman. All round this was a belting night, one of the best of the tour so thanks to all who made it so. Continue reading “Eastleigh Train Station and Basingstoke Multi-Storey Car Park” →
North/South divide (posted a few days late because the internet where I was staying had an absolute mare)
Dear all,
Well a few gigs to report on since my last entry. First up was a return to Newcastle for a Good Friday gig at the Cumberland Arms which started a little slowly thanks to an early start courtesy of the day but filled up rapidly and turned into a cracking night. Next up we were in Barnsley for the Acoustic Roots festival which wasn’t bad apart from a drunk couple in the evening who failed to comprehend the idea that no-one else gave a **** about the fact they were drunk and when she asked ‘I’m on holiday why shouldn’t I drink a lot?’ the temptation was almost overwhelming to say ‘because it makes you behave like this in public you ****…’ Still everyone else was nice and the Shee, as ever, were superb. Special mention also to Lisa the taxi driver who was one of the funniest and friendliest people ever encountered on tour! Continue reading “Got home an hour and forty minutes later than planned.” →
Dear all,
Well tonight I return to Newcastle for a night to play with Will at the Cumberland Arms. Cannot wait, it’s always been a favourite venue and it comes after a wonderful gig last night at the Black Swan Folk Club in York. We had a wonderful night and thanks to everyone who came especially the chap whose bladder was discussed in some detail during the gig… Continue reading “God bless Newcastle” →
Dear all,
Well I am once again back home and a resident of Stafford. It feels good, I’ve bumped into countless people I know, had my regular pub to go to of course and oh it’s just great! I write happily, so what’s been going on since my last entry? Well Walsh and Pound’s hectic April began on the 31st March…which isn’t in April…at Newhampton Folk Club in Wolverhampton. It’s fair to say it wasn’t a classic but still a good night with a wonderful support act in Sunjay Brayne who showed some dazzling blues guitar. A great future awaits for him I’m sure. The next night we were in the capital for Walthamstow Folk Club which was a classic! A great gig at a great club with a great audience. Simples as that irritating advert about markets and meerkats would say. Thanks to all who came, it was quite extraordinary how at 7.45 we were thinking it wasn’t going to be much of a turnout then suddenly in they all came! I guess the tube not really working properly on a Sunday might have had something to do with it… Continue reading “Back home” →
Dear all,
Apologies for the delay in bloggage, my laptop helpfully decided to cease performing that most basic of functions last Sunday, that of booting up and no amount of encouragement, gentle or otherwise compelled the machine to alter its stance. I then managed to persuade my old laptop which I thought had ceased to turn on at all long ago to turn on again albeit whilst making rather worrying whirring noises and with the monitor still half detached from when I dropped it down the stairs some time ago, and the internet worked which I thought was good…except facebook chat didn’t which when it is your only means of instant communication with a girlfriend on a trip in Asia is not overly helpful, neither is the fact that this blog for some reason didn’t work on it either. Continue reading “I have left Newcastle, good lord” →
I have to say here rest in peace the mighty Earl Scruggs, the most influential banjo player of the 20th century who passed away. Gigging virtually to the end, the man invented the most used banjo playing style in the world and pretty much co-invented bluegrass. Continue reading “Earl Scruggs = Legend” →
Dear all,
Well the Durham special school stuff was fun. It was social, emotional and behavioural difficulties which is quite hard work, especially when a ‘workshop’ with year 9’s actually involves watching them attempt to kill each other, storm out at various intervals and call the teacher a f**king slut among other things…it was hard to watch and I felt desperately sorry for them but there were some kids in that school that really got something out of us being there so it was still very rewarding in a less obvious way! Continue reading “Drink spilling” →
Dear all,
Well since my last blog, Will and I finished our Live Music Now work in Lincolnshire playing concerts in special schools through the week. It was a real joy and a couple of times a real eye opener. I must pay special mention to a school that was for children who had been exluded from mainstream schools on the grounds of violence, so you can imagine what we might have been expecting. The children were amazingly well behaved and very friendly and welcoming and it became so clear how much the school turned the lives of these children around and how much the staff cared about it all. It was a wonderfully rewarding gig as well as some of the others where the children were simply beside themselves with joy and fun at our music (a strange reaction I know!). We’re also doing Live Music Now this week working in special schools in Durham and it is a challenge, a real challenge but with great rewards. Continue reading “A scientific approach to computer repair” →
