AFTER breakfast I set up a landing page on my website to help promote ticket sales for the Glasgow show on Sunday 12 May.

There’s a slow-drip Facebook ad running to promote the show and lots of likes, shares and interest, but tickets are a bit slow and although i’m sure folks’ll pay at the door, it’s not good for my nerves.

Margaret’s off to see Catriona, Will and Freya. I’d have liked to have gone too, but I have too much to do…plus I need to be relatively close by to monitor the smoker with tonight’s bacon-wrapped pork loin.

I make a bacon weave for the pork, add a rub then wrap it and stick it in the fridge ready for the smoker mid-afternoon. We’ve got pals coming from Amsterdam to stay for a few days tomorrow (Sunday) and I have pulled pork on the menu for tomorrow evening…I need to get a rub on the pork butt ready for the smoker.

Once all the food prep’s done, I hit the studio and finish the mix on the new song. On one hand I like it, but I’m not convinced the extra layers and more produced result is very ‘me’.

I take it to the house and put it on the Sonos…then listen on the single speaker in the kitchen and then via the main hifi in the living room.

I’m still not convinced and can’t help feeling the other layers are there for the sake of it rather than the good of the song. They seem to propel it into ‘normality’ and somehow rob the performance of any dynsmaics.

Margaret’s not back to listen – so I decide to record a more basic acoustic guitar version.

I try a live vocal and guitar take but keep fluffing the odd note on the guitar here and there. Plan B is to record just the guitar – trying to get it reasonably correct all the way through then overdub the vocals.

Takes me a load of attemps, and the longer I play, the more the ‘string ridges’ deep in my third finger which, because of the arrangement is where I’m not getting a noice crisp note. So instead of getting better with each take, it gets worse!

Margaret’s back just after 7pm and the pork in the smoker’s nearly ready – I cut some sweet potato fries and put them in a bowl of cold water to soak.. That gives me enough of a break for my finger to recover so before calling it a day, I hit the studio for a few more guitar takes.

Back at the house I take the pork out the pit and wrap it in a double layer of foil and a towel then into a cool box to let it rest until we’re ready to eat. The sweet potato fries get tossed in salt, pepper and a tiny bit of oil and stuck in the air fryer.

The pork’s turned out amazing…one of the best I’ve done. We eat, watch a film and relax…

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