UP early to get the oven on and the bread that shoulda been baked yesterday on the go.
While it’s baking I have a shower and get some bits and bobs sorted out..then wait another hour for the load to cool before breakfast. Olive and sundried tomato sourdough toast with egg bites on the side 🙂
There’s some audio to sort out for Betty then i record a quick’n’dirty version of Blue Christmas for TikTok…the machine is out of memory so I restart and go for lunch.
Been feeling a bit odd since mid-morning and still feel weird after lunch. i go for a lie down…then the spewing thing starts. Jeez.
I WAKE up to put the oven on and realise I didn’t prepare the bread last night…ah well, it’ll just have to wait ’til tomorrow.
After my first guitar session of the day – on Zoom – I ho back to the office and carry on producing some custom West Highland Way Gifts’ orders.
Lunch is air fried tofu and rice then I investigate some of the settings on OBS for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream – I really need to work out some of the tech issues!
Then it’s back onto my accounts until evening and another session with one of my Zoom guitar students followed by my Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook – the last of the year.
After dinner we take a walk along to see Betty and help out with some stuff then it’s back home and a few bits and bobs to get done before bed,
THERE’S a bunch of custom profits to be made for a West Highland Gifts’ customer so I get busy in the office until it’s time to head to Bo’ness.
We’re off to the ‘Santa train’ and meeting Catriona, Will and the kids ate the railway.
First up, some lunch, then a look round the railway museum until out train leaves at 3pm.
Catriona’s booked a private compartment and we enjoy coffee, juice and mince pies while various entertainers stop by to keep the kids amused. There’s a brief stop at the ‘North Pole’ destination where the kids post their letters to Santa, then back on the train…and a visit from Santa himself. The kids love it.
When we get home I’m back in the office for a while..then make some jambalaya..then we sort some Christmas cards. Trying to really cut back this year, but there’s a few that we still like to send.
Finally get the Andouille sausage onto the smoker…
ANOTHER long lie then after breakfast I pick up Betty’s paper from the shop and pop along to visit.
There’s a fair bit of stuff needing done in the studio and I potter about between there and the office…in between times I get the smoker fired up and ready for the Andouille sausage I made yesterday.
Smoking the sausage is one of the hardest jobs…the smoker has to be kept at really low temperature and crept up to 160 degrees farenheit over the duration of the smoke. It’s dark by the time they’re ready and have to be sprayed with water and hung in front of a fan (outside) for an hour before going in the fridge. Some of it is destined for jambalaya tomorrow (Sunday) night.
MY Thursday morning guitar student had changed to Friday this week…but the snow has meant she’s not able to come. So we have a long lie!
I take care of routine business for the remainder of the morning then her to the school in Balloch where I help kids with music stuff a couple of hours a week. The roads are pretty treacherous but the scholol session is good.
I pick Margaret up in the village on the way home..she’s been at the dentist..and also slipped on the ice. She’s fine now, but got a fight.
Back home we hunker down and light the fire…then I make tofu goring noodles for dinner….
UP EARLY to get the paddleboard inflated and gear ready – Fiona and David B coming at 9.30am to go out.
They arrive with the news that the bay is frozen, so we have to resort to plan B and pack everything up and head to Milarrochy in the cars. Luckily the water isn’t frozen there and it’s a lovely day.
We have a great few hours on the water and stop on Inchlonaig for coffee…I’m in a Santa hat while the other two are in reindeer hoodies!
I’m home in time for a late lunch, shower and get ready for my guitar student…who doesn’t show up. A message to the parents explains and we re-schedule for between Christmas and New Year.
I carry on finishing and packing up some mercy orders then we take some paella along to Betty’s and catch up over dinner and a few glasses of red….
MORE West Highland Way Gifts’ orders to be made up…along with some of my own merch, I get some of it all packed up but there’s postal strikes today and tomorrow (Thursday) so they won’t actually go out t’ill Friday 🙁
After lunch I finally make it onto the computer and take a (slight) start on my accounts. I’ve left this all so late that it’s becoming a even more complex nightmare!
I’m still at when Margaret gets home with the shopping…and I’ve only scratched the surface.
I get some flank steak in to sous vide then find that the leather key fobs I cut and engraved earlier are a mess. No reason why the engraving is so crap….I head to the office to re do them. means they can’t be dyed, sewn and finished ’til tomorrow tho’ 🙁
INTO GLASGOW early to drop Margaret off and take the car to the garage for the second ‘half’ of its service. Apparently it’s going to ‘take the best part of the day’.
I pull on my bonnet and wander into town for breakfast at McDonalds where I also manage to get a couple of hours’ work done.
Next stop is the bank, then the Apple Store for a new watch band. The cheapo third party leather band I got a few weeks ago isn’t very secure. I bag a ‘trail loop’ intended for the ‘ultra’ watch but fits mine fine. Very comfy and secure. Shoulda gone straight for this when the leather one started to burst.
There’s a few bits of Christmas shopping to do then half-price bowl of ramen at Mikaku…bargain!
Margaret meets me in town then we go to pick up the car, drop off a Christmas present then onto Blackfriars for a Musicians’ Union social event….
A still from the Wildcats’ Facebook livestream….check it out here
THE usual Monday rush to get on top of everything before the Zoom guitar lessons.
After session one I get busy with a couple of social videos to help my pal Dave of The Music Cable Company who’s made me a bunch of great cables – an instrument cable, a custom cable for my wireless system and a patch cable for my stompbox. This is the least I can do in return.
After lunch I put together my final report and accounts for Help Musicians – the organisation which has lent a lot of support to the new album project,
I have to think about tonight’s livestream into my Wildcats’ group on Facebook and then sort out hoodie and t-shirt stocks in my online store.
Another Zoom session with a. guitar student then straight into the livestream.
Margaret has dinner ready when I get back to the house then I spend some time setting up a garden concert for between Christmas and new year.
Beautiful light on the loch as I walk home at dusk
WE HAVE a long lie, drink coffee and chat then drag ourselves out of bed.
I have some West Highland Way Gifts’ orders to finish off and get ready for posting…and also some other stuff that needs dropped off locally.
Margaret drives me to the next village where I do some deliveries then I walk back as darkness falls.
My pal Chris is playing an early evening set at the local pub so I nip down for a couple pints, enjoy his set and have a blether before making for home, getting Margaret and wandering along to Fiona’s for Barbara’s birthday drinks.
THE kids are but at the crack of dawn…Margaret takes them through to the living room and gets them some breakfast.
There’s a community lunch at the village hall so I get some work done after breakfast then wander along. Margaret’s gone in the car with some community trust info and Catriona’s taken the kids to feed the ducks…she’ll see us along there.
After the lunch I walk back and get hime just in time for Margaret, Catriona and the kids going swimming.
There’s a few orders in for West Highland Way Gifts’ stuff and also some CDs and music merch so I get busy with that while the chicken’s on the smoker. I’ll use some chicken on tonight’s pizzas and freeze the rest for jambalaya.
We have an early dinner then head to Drymen village hall for the Tenement Jazz Band gig where we have a great night…
Great paddle on the loch despite a spill and minor injury!
I’M in the office working on some gifts orders and packing some CDs to go out when the roofing guys arrive.
There’s a black – previously grey – patch on oiuyr bedroom ceiling and when I investigated it looked like the roof boards were sodden.
To cut a long story short, after a bit of poking around we’re told we need an entire new roof…and it’ll be £15k. Fuck sake. Aside from not having the money or access to a loan of that amount, guess we need a second opinion…
A customer comes to pick up some custom hip flasks then I have some lunch before getting ready to go for a paddle with Fiona and David B.
It’s windier than forecast on the loch but we have a good paddle…I come a cropper when one of my fins catches a rock under the surface and I bash my shin on another rock. Ouch.
Back home I have a shower then make a batch of breakfast patties before Jeanetta pops in for a chat and drink. Catriona and the kids are coming to stay to night but won’t be here ’til after 8pm. I need to make a batch of rub and prep some chicken thighs for the smoker tomorrow.
Finally, I make pizza dough with the polish I made yesterday.
It’s after 10pm but the time I have the mushroom risotto ready…then we sit up til 2am blethering…
THERE’S an online order for a bunch of different West Highland Way Gifts‘ stuff so I make a start on that before heading to the studio to get on with the routine stuff.
I make good progress then get some gear ready and head off to the school in Jamestown where I’m spending a couple of hours a week doing music with some of the kids.
There’s a few odds and sods of shopping to pick up oil the way back then I get back onto the gifts production.
In the kitchen I make a batch of poolish for pizza dough then head to the local village hall for a community hydro scheme meeting…
THE morning is spent editing regular and social versions of the video for (Looks like you’re) Walkin’ on Water.
Nothing fancy, just a montage of paddleboard videos from last week with a creative ‘filter’ or two on them. They’ll stay under wraps until next week’s Wildcats’ livestream then go public.
I get all set for a midday Zoom session with a guitar student but she doesn’t;t come online. I call to find she emailed me last week to say she wouldn’t manage this week. Mmm…there’s deffo something amiss with some of our email addresses…and when she didn’t hear she sent it to another address that got caught in a spam filter. Jeez!
I recorded the ‘remembering Joe’ speeches and my song from the church on Monday for Betty…the recording’s a bit boomy so I spend some time working on it to remove some of the ambience and tweak the EQ. The result is pretty good.
Late afternoon I head out for a walk in the woods then Martyn drops by to pick up a monitor I ordered for him…then Margaret has a meeting about local place plans.
Evening time we have a quiet night and check our pal Betty’s OK – her first night alone since Joe’s funeral.
TIME to pick myself up and pull myself together after the celebration of Joe’s life yesterday.
There’s a full diary and seemingly endless to do list so I get busy before my first Zoom guitar student of the day.
In addition, I have an order for a batch of custom flasks to be engraved for pickup tomorrow (Wednesday). I get them started
After lunch I take a bike ride to drop off some CDs to a couple of ‘voices of the loch’. I’d planned to do a few extra miles, but it’s so cold I can’t feel my toes…or fingers.
There’s a little bit of work to do for the local community trust then I prepare for another Zoom session with one of my guitar students….
THERE’S a mounting to do list which I start to tackle after breakfast.
New videos to be made and edited then I need to go to the church and help Martyn set up sound and stuff for Joe’s funeral tomorrow (Monday).
We have a bit of a challenge with some of the gear Martyn’s hired hut we get there eventually, then head along to see Betty and the family to check over some of the stuff for tomorrow.
MARGARET goes off to meet Catriona and the kids at the swimming…and I jump in the shower.
After breakfast I hit the studio to try and sort songs for Betty’s playlist for Joe’s funeral on Monday. Some of the songs she wants aren’t available anywhere online.
Everyone comes back and I spend a little time hanging out then go back to the studio and start tidying up the gear from the tour.
Not, I set up for a couple fo videos I need to shoot – with sound recording too. The filming goes fine, but when I come to mix the audio I;m not happy with the guitar sound. Way too much overdrive for the stuff I’m doing. Looks like I;ll have to make time to do it all again tomorrow…
Margaret was meant to be in Glasgow for a Christmas dinner with some of her colleagues from the school…but she’s not feeling 100% and thinks she’s coming down with something.
I sous video a piece of flank steak and finish it off by searing it on a griddle pan. Works really well..especially for an ’emergency dinner’ that we hadn’t planned.
KNACKERED after last night’s impromptu spewing I have a long lie.
Margret’s away into Glasgow with Catriona and Les for lunch and a gander round the shops.
I prepare my camera gear for a phot job later in the afternoon and then get on with some work. Someone’s seen my engraved ‘Dave Arcari’ flasks and has asked if it’d be possible to do similar with their logo.
Their logo needs a bit of work so I knock up an idea and a mock up and send it off.
After linch i carry on with some work then drive to Luss for the photo job – a couple celebrating a 40th birthday and renewing wedding vows. All goes well.
Back in the studio I ‘process’ the pix and send the client a link then we go to see Betty for a wee while.
It’s well after 9pm by the time I get the pizza oven fired up…
I WAKE UP feeling like I’ve been hit with a big stick.
No time to feel sorry for myself tho’– I have someone coming for a guitar lesson first thing then I’m off to the school in Balloch for a session with some of the kids there.
It’s my pal Rab’s (Noakes) funeral today too and I’m really sad not to be able to attend…but having had the two weeks’ off right after my first session with the school I can’t ask to miss another week 🙁
There’s some stuff to be dropped at the post office and some shopping to pick up on the way home.
Will drops by to pick up some stickers I’d made for him then we go along to visit Betty.
It’s after 10pm by the time the chicken donburi is made…but not long after eating I feel a bit odd and and am violently sick. Not, thankfully, my usual 24-hour+ spewing routine, but I am sick again half an hour later and feel a little better before falling asleep….
WE’RE on the road by 7.30am. After dropping Margaret off I hit McDonalds and get a load of work done, including some last minute promo/social media stuff for tonight’s show in Edinburgh.
I also make a start on sorting yesterday’s paddle boarding footage for the (Looks like you’re) Walkin’ on Water video.
Next stop, Jonzip and Maggi’s for lunch then we put Jonzip’s gear in the car, pick up Margaret and head for Edinburgh.
We make good time and engineer Gordon does a good job sound checking us. Jonzip and I take a walk to find some food, order some pizzas to take back and have a quick pint while we’re waiting for them.
There’s not many folks out for the show…but they make a small, but perfectly formed crowd and both Jonzip and I play what I reckon are amongst our best sets off the tour.
We have to be loaded out by 10pm and after dropping Les off in Morningside take Jonzip back to Glasgow and head for home….
FIONA and I had planned to go paddleboarding early doors but the visibility on the loch is only a few feet. Hopefully thew mist’ll have cleared a bit by early afternoon.
I have some online orders to fulfil and some merch to make up to replenish stocks for the merch table in Edinburgh tomorrow (Wednesday).
Next up, a Zoom guitar lesson re-schedueld from yesterday then a trip to the post box. I drop into the village shop on the way back to see if they need any West Highland Way Gifts’ stock.
Fiona rocks up after lunch and we head out on the loch for a couple of hours’ paddle. It’s cold but very calm and magical. I grab a load of video footage which I plan to edit into a video for (Looks like you’re) Walkin’ on Water.
After a shower I get back into the office and work on some more merch then Margaret comes home with the shopping. I get all the gear ready and car packed for an early getaway in the morning then make carnitas….
Fun live session for Celtic Music Radio at Braehead shopping centre
OFF into Glasgow early. After dropping Margaret off I hit McDonalds for breakfast and wifi…spinning my coffee out for a good couple of hours!
After a trip to the bank, then the post office, I go to Braehead shopping centre where I’m playing a live session and doing an interview as part of the station’s outside broadcast. It’s fun and goes well.
There’s a some odds and sods of shopping to do and a wee bit of online work to catch up on then I collect Margaret and we head for home.
We’re back in time for my regular Monday evening session with one of my Zoom guitar students and follow it with a livestream into my Wildcats’ Facebook group...
WE get up early, pack up and go downstairs for ‘breakfast’ at the Jonas hotel…a coffee and a pastry.
I get some work done before we leave. Still hungry, we stop at a McDonalds for some more breakfast then hit the motorway.
We split driving duties and roll up at home late afternoon, unload and I who straight into the office. There’s some changes to the copy in Joe’s order pop service and I want to print off a new proof to take along to Betty and Shona. I also finish off a run of labels for Will.
We take a wander along to see Betty and go over the order of service. Joe’s funeral is next Monday (5 December) so I’d like to be able to get the artwork off to the printer later tonight.
Back home I make some final amendments and email the artwork off then. make some dinner…and feed my sourdough starter.
After dinner I engrave three West Highland Way trekking flasks and pack them up to fulfil online orders that came in while we were away. I’ll drop them at a post office in Glasgow tomorrow.
Final job before bed it to finish editing the video blog/vlog from the last few days on the road…and a dram.
BREAKFAST at the Premier Inn is pretty good…then we go back to the room and I get some work done while Margaret packs up.
We check out at midday and go to meet my pal Neil at a nearby Costa. He was at the gig last night but we didn’t really get a chance for a blether.
On the road, we head for Sheffield and check in at a strange hotel – a Jonas – on one of Sheffield University’s campuses.
I’m off into Glasgow to play a session for Celtic Music Radio on Monday and have some work to do on Joe’s order of service when we get back tomorrow, so I spend a few hours editing the video blog/vlog of this trip…I’ll want to use it in my Wildcats’ livestream on Monday night. Need to get as much work done on it as possible before then.
Suddenly it’s time to head for the venue foor the private show…a complete venue – The Alder – has been taken over and there’s been acts on stage sing early afternoon .
We get a drink and some pizza and I’m just about to go and chill before my set when I’m asked to run the sound for the band that’s on before me. The PA isn’t bad, but there’s a real tangle of mics and channels…I manage two muddle through to everyone’s satisfaction.
Needless to say it’s a bit of a panic to load in, get set up and started with my own set the last of the night.
It goes really well though and the crowd is mad for it 🙂
AFTER getting packed up and out the hotel we head for a nearby all-day breakfast place – JJ’s Kitchen in Gateshead. Turns out to be a great find.
Then it’s onward to Hull. We sp[lit the driving and check into our hotel on the edge of town where we chill for an hour or so before making our way to tonight’s venue – Wrecking Ball.
What a great place. Spacious record and book shop and cafe downstairs…and a fantastic music room upstairs.
Engineer Matt is greta and we soundcheck quickly then set up merch before relaxing in the green room until doors open.
I’m amazed at the turnout – was expecting just a handful of folks – and I have a grand time.
We’re back at the hotel at a reasonable time and enjoy some snacks and a nightcap…
WE’RE on the road into Glasgow before 7.30am…I drop Margaret off then leave the car at the garage for a service. The driver’s window is bust – thankfully ‘up’ – but the folks at the garage aren’t gonna have time to look at that today.
I wander into the city centre and stop off at a McDonalds for some breakfast and coffee which I make last a few hours. While there I upload the first Devil May Care tour vlog to YouTube and Facebook.
I’d forgotten that the software I need to layout Joe’s order of service isn’t installed on the laptop I have with me. I get all the text input and gather the assets so I can get cracking in the office later on. Meantime I do some promo for tomorrow’s (Wednesday) Dundee show.
When I call the garage to see how they’re getting on they tell me that they don’t wanna complete the service in case the cracked oil sump causes a problem and they know we hit the road tomorrow. Most of the work has been done, though, and the car’s good to go. We can take it back after the tour and have things finished off.
I collect Margaret and we head home where I sort some broken strings and prepare the gear for an early start in the morning.
After dinner I spend a few hours in the office coming up with a first draft for Joe’s order of service and manage to get it to Betty before midnight…
I MANAGE to get most of the gear sorted out in the studio – everything just got dumped when we got back yesterday – before my first Zoom guitar student of the day.
When I’m done, the rain’s off so I take the chance to check out the roof. There’s a fast-growing grey (now getting black!) patch on our bedroom ceiling. I don’t see anything obvious amiss, so I check out the loft. Some of the roof boards are saturated and sagging. Not good. I take some photos to discuss with Margaret later.
In the office I check out the material for Will’s glass/weight package stickers. I ran a sheet last night and it’s a mess. Test engraves also produced a mess. I call the supplier and send images but while awaiting a reply I pick at the material and find an incredibly thin protective film on the material. That’s the problem. I’ve had this material three or four times before and it’s never had that film.
Finally I get back to offloading and editing some video footage from the last few days. I hope to get part one of a vlog with the album launch and first set of live shows all edited so I can show it in my Wildcats’ livestream later.
Of course, it’s a fairly complex job and takes me right up until my 7pm Zoom guitar session. There’s still a little to do and then an export after the Zoom session…and before I go live at 8pm. I manage with a few seconds to spare.
After the livestream I rush back to the house for dinner then along to see Betty to help with the order of services for Joe’s funeral.
WE HAVE a good breakfast at the hotel in Aberdeen then hit the road back to Glasgow.
Lots of online promo to be done while Margaret drives and we make decent time to JonZip and Maggi’s for a coffee before we have to go into the city centre and load in at Stereo.
I’d been concerned about the size of the room – approx 300 capacity – and while we don’t have a full house, we have a very respectable crowd and a good time.
Once we load out Margaret drops Jonzip and I of at King Tuts and goes back with Maggi.
Jonzip’s pal Ian is doing sound and tour managing a abad from LA called Upsahl and has left passes for us at the door. The place is rammed and the band great. We help them load out, have a beer in the dressing room then hit the King Tut’s bar with guitarist Johnny and drummer Ross. Then it’s onto Sleazy’s. Jeez, I;m getting a bit old for this carry on!
We’re back at Jonzip’s just after 2am, have a bowl of chilli and a few glasses of red before turning in sometime after 4am.
We have a good post-gig night out with Upsahl guitarist Johnny and drummer Ross (not pictured)….
MATTY’S away to work by the time we’re up. We have some breakfast then stop off at Union Vinyl to check on vinyl sales before leaving Inverness.
We stop off in Lhanbryde for lunch with friends then carry on our way to Aberdeen.
Quite lucky we’re travelling from Inverness as a lot of the main roads are closed due to flooding. Even the route we’re on has some diversions and deep water to negotiate.
After checking into the hotel we head to the Blue Lamp, load in and get soundchecked.
Jonzip and I nip out to the supermarket to bring in some grub and supplies for later…doors are open when we get back and folks started to arrive. Despite a lot of call-off’s the room is full and we both have a great time playing….Glasgow tomorrow…
WE’RE up and having breakfast at a reasonable time then I pack up some more CD pre-orders, do some promo for tonight’s show in Inverness and sort out the gear.
It’s a tight squeeze getting the three of us, my gear, merch and Jonzip’s gear in the car but we manage!
We make good time to Inverness and load in at the Tooth & Claw.
Soundchecks go fine then Jonzip and I go to find some grub and coffee…and take some back to Margaret before doors open at 7.30pm.
Advance sales for the show weren’t great but thankfully there a good number of walk ups and we have a nice crowd in.
Jonzip’s guitar packs in so he uses my resolectric and manages just fine. We both have good sets and there’s plenty chat with folks afterwards. Then it’s back to Matty’s flat for a night and to raise a glass to one of our best friends…
Album launch at the Scottish Music Centre (Pic: Pat Byrne)
THE CAR’S parked and we’re on our way onto Glasgow just after 7am.
I drop Margaret off then go for some coffee and wifi before dropping off a load of gear at the Scottish Music Centre (SMC) for this evening’s media/music industry album launch event.
Next stop is Costco to pick up pre-ordered buffet food, some extra wine and soft drink supplies…then Margaret.
I’d managed to set up a lot of the gear at the SMC so it’s not too much of a panic when we get there. James from Maramedia who’s been following me with a video camera over the last week or so is already there and the Smokehead pop-up bar is almost up.
We sort out sound, prepare the room and Mikey form Smokehead prepares to serve Smokehead cocktails and drams. My pal Dave from the the Music Cable Company arrives early with a banner stand and prizes for our draw later on.
The whole event goes to plan and it’s great to feel the support of all the guests.
All too soon it’s over and JonZip[ comes back up the road with us…ready to leave for Inverness in the morning!
Nice to catch up with Jane and Angus over dinner 🙂
ANOTHER early start to get the custom gifts order finished, packed and ready to be collected later.
The album launch event is tomorrow (Wednesday) and I need to confirm the guest list ASAP so there’s lots of chasing and stuff to be done! Typically the folks who said they coming and haven’t yet RSVP’d to the eventbrite link are the ones who are now unable to come 😉
Anyway, I want to concentrate on those who ARE coming.
I still need to get the lyrics for some of the new songs into my head…and run through my set list for the launch.
Having seen the photos from the guitar shop it’s clear I need a haircut. Luckily I’m able to sort a late appointment this evening with Alison at the hairdresser in the village.
In the kitchen I do some prep and marinade some flank steak for the grill later – our pals Jane and Angus are coming for dinner.
I’d somehow forgotten that all my guitars need re-strung for tomorrow and the subsequent tour dates. I get part way through, go for my haircut, then finish off just as Jane and Angus arrive…
UP early – bread’s in the oven..and out again. While it cools I get busy finishing off some of the stuff for a special custom Christmas gift order.
After breakfast I do some work on the album launch guest list then have my first guitar student of the day on Zoom.
With the album launch on Wednesday and tour dates right after I really need to learn some of the songs form the new album! I run through a few. Playing ’em is easy enough…remembering the words is the hard part!
Another box of Jiffy bags arrives and I get the rest of the pre-order CDs ready for the post in the morning.
There’s still some press/media stuff to be done for a few of the shows and The Cluny in Newcastle has asked for a video to help promote the show. I make up square and vertical promo videos for each show.
I have another Zoom guitar student at 7pm…then it’s straight into my Wildcats’ livestream at 8pm.
Margaret has dinner ready then it’s back into the office ’til midnight.
LOTS of work still to be done on a special order of Christmas gifts…so while Margaret goes to the village hall to hold a Q&A on local place plans, I stay in the office.
There’s a load of CD pre-orders to be labelled up to go in the post first thing tomorrow.
Once I’ve caught up with myself a bit I pull on my boots and take a walk to the hall to catch the send of the session and get a lift back.
I’m in the studio when Catriona and the kids rock up. I join them for a quick coffee then get back to it. There’s a load of work to be done on the album launch event, the gigs and the album release…let alone all the other stuff going on.
In between times I take a break to make some sourdough bread dough….then mix and bottle a batch of my ‘ultimate beard oil’ ready for the merch table next week.
It’s well after 8pm when I get back to the house and fire up the pizza oven. We eat outside then watch our pal Bill’s monthly livestream concert from Florida…
A full house for my session on the live stage at Glasgow Guitar Show…
A BIT of a panic getting everything ready and all the gear sorted for my parts at the Glasgow Guitar Show.
Doors open at 11am and I open the live stage at 11.30am…and I;m doing a masterclass at 1.20pm. The masterclass, apparently, has been over subscribed three-fold!
We get to the Pearce Institute just before 11am and load in through a side door. The sound engineer is great and I’m set up and ready to in plenty of time. It’s a full house…I’m surprised at the turnout given it’s early doors.
We have quick coffee then set up our merch spot in the main exhibition hall…then it’s time for me to run my masterclass. Another full house with folks waiting outside 🙂
The rest of the event is spent chatting to folks in the exhibition hall then we pack up and drop in to see our pals Sheena and Paul.
Next stop is JonZip and Maggi where we run through plans for JonZip’s guest slot on the upcoming Scottish shows.
We pick up some shopping for Betty then head for home, stopping to drop off Betty’s stuff and having a quick drink with her, Shona and Kirsty. We pop in to say hello to Joe although he’s asleep.
Arthur places a wreath on behalf of the local community trust…piper Willie Little plays at the Rowardennan war memorial
UP BEFORE 7am to get on the chat with TSO Host to see what’s gone wrong with all my websites…and all our email accounts.
I start at number 29 in the queue. While I’m waiting I call the eye hospital and manage to make an emergency appointment for this afternoon. Feels like something’s not quite right with my right eye.
It takes ’til about 9.30am to get to ‘chat’ with someone and have things sorted out. Appears that the .htaccess files for all the websites had a ‘forbidden’ rule in them., Well, it wasn’t me…and they suggest it might be the security software I use…but I only use that on some of the websites. They can’t see anything amiss with the email accounts.
I can’t be certain, but I have my suspicions that it’s connected in some what to the company’s deprecation of the old gridhost technology.
Anyway, the websites are all up and running and I set about resetting and reinstalling email accounts across all our computers and devices which seems to clear the email issues.
A phone call tells me our pal Rab Noakes – who’s been in hospital for what everyone expected to be a fairly routine op, – has taken a turn for the worse overnight. He’s in a coma and it’s not looking good. Jeez.
I have to go to Rowardennan and take some pix of the local community trust’s wreath laying at the war memorial. When I get back I haven’t much time to post the images online and then get the bus, then train, into Glasgow for my eye hospital appointment.
In a way it’s worked out quite well as I have a meal with some of the guitar show folks later and it means Margaret doesn’t;t have to drive me in.
I’m en route when I get another call to tell me Rab has gone. It’s quite a shock. I call a few others who are close to him let them know the sad news before it starts getting out on the internet.
The consultant at the eye hospital confirms that the uveitis is back in my right eye. Damn. Back on steroids and a follow up appointment in about six weeks.
I make my way slowly to the venue for our meal and have a great night with the guitar show folks and some other guests including my pal Tom Russell. Margaret picks me up soon after 11pm.
I TRY and get some merch packed up before my guitar student rocks up.
She’s been on holiday for a couple weeks but doing pretty good.
After our session I have to head to a school in Balloch where I’ve few hours helping sort some gear out and planning some music stuff with a magic wee bunch of folk.
Back home I go out for a walk before dark..then find out my website – and emails – are down. Jeez.
I go to a community drop-in about local road repairs with Margaret then set about trying to sort then web and email hosting debacle….mmm…meantime, I sous vide a piece of flank steak for dinner.
I really don’t need this shit with social ads linking to my – currently down – website…and an imminent album release, launch and tour dates.
….I wait four hours in an online chat queue with my web host ’til well after midnight…then the online chat service shuts down,. Fuck.
ANOTHER day of heavy press/media promo for the album and subsequent tour dates.
A welcome break for a Zoom session with a guitar student then it’s back on the hussle.
I make up some social posts for the upcoming shows, rehearse some of the new material – words which still escape me – then have a new student coming to the house. Phew.
UP EARLY again – need to get a load of stuff done and out the way before James from Maramedia comes to do some filming.
He’s grabbing some content to pitch for a possible TV programme about people and businesses around Loch Lomond.
We have a coffee and then James shadows me for the rest of the day and shoots some informal interview kinda stuff as we go. During the day I have a Zoom meeting with Smokehead about next week’s media/industry album launch and I make up some teaser videos for Walk the Walk from the album.
Once James is done there’s time for a quick walk. I drop in and see Betty and Joe then go back to the studio to make another couple of videos for Walk the Walk – a vertical version for reels/stories on my socials, a Spotify canvas and another version for TikTok.
I’m finished in time to go to the village hall for a meeting. It’s well after 9pm when we het back…and after 10pm before dinner’s ready….
UP at the crack of dawn – loads to get through today.
Once the bread’s out the oven and cooling on a rack I get egg bites in the Instant Pot and do some epoxy prep in the office…there’s a bunch of inlays to be done on chopping boards I engraved yesterday. There’s also some wood and epoxy earring orders needing made up.
I print postage and customs labels for all the overseas CD pre-orders. Keen everyone gets their CD by or before the release date of 18 November…and some of the orders contain other merch items too. Not so much pressure to get the UK orders out.
After my first Zoom guitar student of the day I get back onto the PR/media stuff for the album release tour then follow up on the invites to the private media/industry launch event on 16 November.
I also need to check the PA system and mixer. Something weird was going on with the rig at the garden concert and then again when I took it to Cashel for the Cashel Bash festival. We don’t use it often, but I need to get things straightened out before it goes away otherwise I;ll forget and be hit with problems next time it comes out.
Seems to be some kind of issue with the mixer. I can’t see nay weird settings or out/routing errors, so I reset the whole damn thing …and all works. Just means the whole mix will need to be set up form scratch next time we use it.
Suddenly the day’s gone and it’s time for another session with a Zoom guitar student. Then the WIldcats’ livestream.
After dinner I put together an eNewsletter for the local community trust and manage to get myself to bed by midnight.
MARGARET’S woken by Freya at 7.30am…and it’s not long before she comes to papa!
By the time I’m out the shower, Margaret’s given both Freya and Aaron breakfast…I catch up on some work then have something toe at and a coffee.
We take the kids to the ponds to feed the ducks then back home for lunch.
It’s nearly 4pm when Catriona and Will get back. We have a quick chat then hit the road. I’ve a lot of gift orders to I’ve a bunch of personalised gifts to prepare for a customer and there’s an Etsy order to sort out too.
After getting the pork, chorizo and butter bean casserole on the go I make some sourdough and feed the remaining starter before getting on with some more promo for he upcoming shows.
CATRIONA and Will head off to York and we take the kids into Stirling to see granny Joyce at McDonalds and get some breakfast.
Next stop is Europa Music. Owner Ewan had asked for some stock so I drop off some vinyl copies of my live album… and CD copies of the new album to go on sale on release day (18 November).
We take the kids to the swimming pool but there’s no open booking slots until much later on in the afternoon. We take them to the pool in Falkirk instead.
Back in Doune the kids get something to eat and I finish editing a square and vertical format video to promote the live shows on any socials. After some general posting I make them into targeted ads.
Once the kids are in bed we have dinner and watch some telly.
Conic hill poking through the clouds above Balmaha…
UP early to inflate the paddleboard and get ready for Fiona and David coming up to go out on the loch.
The ‘windy’ app says it should be very calm…but it’s not. It’s pretty windy and choppy out there!
We paddle. out the bay and cup between Inchcailloch and Inchfad negotiating some rough spots and white horses along the way. We go ashore for a coffee then head back to Balmaha.
There’s a lot of work to get through before we head off to Doune. We’re staying at Catriona and Will’s tonight and tomorrow to look after the kids….
I drop everything to get some pix for a freelance journalist keen to use the toybox story in a piece about my forthcoming album and dates…
FIRST task of the day is to follow up some of the album launch invitations.
Next – back on the PR/media trail for the album and dates. A call to a freelance acquaintance and a chance mention of the toybox story leads to a potential feature and I need to get pix to him quick.
After lunch another journalist calls for a phone interview and we chat for a good while before I get back behind the desk.
I’d hoped for a walk, but the promo takes priority and it’s after 7pm before I know it.
We take a walk along to see Betty and Joe for an aperitif. Joe’s really not keeping great and it’s hard to see him so poorly. We sort some music which will hopefully he’ll like, have a drink and chat a while before meandering back along the road for dinner.
We pick up my old toybox – discovered in a cellar in Glasgow where it’s been for 50 years!
MORE album and tour promo this morning – then a midday Zoom session with one of my guitar students.
As soon as I’m done I dash back to the house and get sorted to head into Glasgow. Margaret’s already in town and got the car…I head for the bus to Balloch then jump on a train into Glasgow. It’s tipping it down!
First stop is Blitzkreig – a music and merch shop near the Barras – to drop off some vinyl to my pal Tony who’s keen to stock it. We have a good catch up and I leave a poster for the upcoming Glasgow show.
Margaret’s waiting out side to pick me up then we head to the street where I grew up…we’re going to pick up my old toybox that I haven’t seen for 50 years. Folks in one of the flats getting underfloor heating came across it in the cellars and found me on Instagram. But that’s all another story!
I stop to take some pix on my walk home from the doc…stone being helicoptered up the Conic for path repairs..
A BUSY day ahead so I get straight onto the PR for the album launch tour…I have a long chat with the music/entertainment journalist at the Inverness Courier who seems keen to do a wee feature…she’ll call me on Thursday for another chat.
I also speak the the Press & Journal about the ABerdeen show. The pressures on for the Glasgow gig tho’!!
I set some glass coasters engraving for one of Betty’s pals then I make up some sandwiches, drop the coasters off at Betty’s then head for the midday bus to Balloch. I have a meeting at a school where the staff are keen to get me in to do some music work with the kids.
There’s a fair walk to find the school then I have a productive and interesting meeting before getting a lift back to Drymen…I’ve to get my covid booster and flu jabs.
The rain stays off for most off my walk home and I stop along the way to grab some phone pix of a helicopter taking big bags of stone up the Conic for path repairs.
Back home I hit the office and do some more PR/promo work then back to the house…Margaret’s made paella 🙂
WHEN I wake up I realise it’s hallowe’en and the perfect day to do some promo on Devil May Care – the tile track from the forthcoming album. Shoulda been more prepared.
As soon as the sourdough is out the oven and cooling I hit the studio and start working on a hallowe’en teaser animation..then it’s breakfast followed by my first Zoom guitar student of the day.
Then it’s back to the video teaser and I add some scrolling gig dates at the end of the video before posting it around. Keen to get some organic interest before I start any paid advertising for the tour dates and album, The bandsintown thing doesn’t seem to have made any difference to price of mince!
I’m starting to panic about playing the new songs in a live set…and there’s really only a couple of weeks to get them in my head. The playing part is easy…I just can’t get the words to stick!
After running through the song a few times I get on with some more tour dates promo and a little on the album and media launch.
Betty called earlier to see if I could drop by and help with something…it’s already dark and pishing rain, but if I don’t get out even for a short walk and help Betty now it won’t happen.
I have my second and final Zoom guitar student of the day then it’s almost straight into the Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook. Phew…!
Time for a seat after walking the two pumpkin hunt trails at Cashel
WHILE Margaret’s sorting breakfast I nip along to Betty and Joe’s with some sourdough starter and my ‘instructions’ for Greta.
Catriona and the kids have arrived when I get back and Margaret’s got breakfast (almost!) ready. And nearly set the kitchen on fire it would seem!
I hit the studio and get a little work done then we take the kids up to Cashel for the pumpkin hunt. It’s a bit of a drench day but we have fun and the kids love it.
Then it’s back to the studio for me. I run through a few songs and then work on some gig promo. It’s hard to prioritise the gig promo over the album promo…but, for the moment anyway, bums on seats is the main thing!
A LONG lie then, after breakfast, I go a quick walk and take Betty’s newspaper along.
Then it’s into the studio and some work on the media launch for the album and some promo on the live shows. In between times I start rehearsing the new songs…I guess I’m gonna need to know them for the upcoming shows!
We’re going along to Betty and joe’s for dinner with them, Shona, Ian, Karen and Greta later – Margaret’s busy making a pavlova and I carry on with the gig promo until it’s time to wander along to our pals’.
FIRST job is to finish sorting the photos from yesterday.
I get them sent off but the client isn’t happy and as they’re too dark. It’s a style thing and a subjective thing but I go through the images and brighten things up.
The media/industry album launch is getting closer and I still have some invitations to sort out…then it’s time for lunch.
There’s an invoice to be done for the village shop which entails pulling together all the delivery notes from the last month or so and working things out.
Then it’s back onto the album launch and media stuff for the rest of the day.
The photo client still isn’t happy. I don’t have the time or inclination to argue – I don’t care about the fee, but I do need to understand what’s wrong with the photos.
We have an early dinner then hit the village hall for a community quiz night where our team – The Wanderers – take second place!
WE sleep in a bit then I have a panic trying to print postage labels for all the Devil May Care t-shirt orders…I’m of to a photo job on the other side of the loch and I wanna drop them at the post office in Balloch.
Luckily there’s not a specific time for the photo job – it’s internal pix of a penthouse flat overlooking the loch…but I did say I’d be there late morning.
There’s a slight issue with getting access but I get into the property and spend a good four hours taking photos. A bit longer than I’d planned but it’ll hopefully be worth it as the property is lovely.
I stop in Balloch on the way home, drop off all the t-shirt packages and grab something to eat.
When I get home I’m knackered so after starting the photo dump onto the computer I have a nap.
Margaret’s busy making dinner to take to Betty and Joe’s later…I start sorting through the photos then join a Zoom meeting with Spotify before running along to Betty and Joe’s….
FIRST job is to finish editing the sourdough bread-making video, I really made it for Catriona, but it’s good social media content.
I leave some time after posting it so I don’t incur the wrath of the Facebook algorithm by posting to often…I have a teaser video for (Looks like you’re) Walkin’ on Water to go out later.
Meantime, I create a Facebook event for the album release…not a ‘real life’ release, but just something that I can post in and link to without having to use links external to Facebook.
After a midday session with a Zoom guitar student I sort some lunch then start posting the teaser video…and posting the pre-save (and win a tour shirt) and CD pre-order links. Then I share the info to my email list and Bandsintown followers. Gets an almost instant reaction 🙂
Early evening I have a Spotify webinar then get back to the house to quickly help Maggi with the Facebook page and chat through some Christmas merch she’s after before Lynne arrives for a meeting with her and Margaret. I get busy in the office.
It’s after 10pm when the meeting closes and nearly 11pm by the time I have dinner ready…
I HAVE a new Zoom guitar student first thing…a one-off introduction to slide guitar which goes well. Hopefully they’ll follow up with another session in a few weeks.
Then I get on with a bunch of other stuff before getting the bike out for a trip to the dentist.
The dentist fixes by cracked filling tooth and I manage to avoid the rain on my cycle home.
In the evening we have a local community trust meeting.I’ve been brought back on board to help with communications…an activity that’s been sadly lacking since my services were dispensed with a couple of years ago…not for any bad reason, just because there was a potential conflict of interests with Margaret being secretary of the trust.
The trustees discussed the situation recently and found out that as long as they were all in agreement the conflict of interest issue doesn’t apply. So I’m back!
I rustle up some selfies..need some promo shots for the new album and tour dates!
THERE’S an order in for the pumpkin earrings…but I’m not 100% happy with ones we have so I spend some time tweaking the cuts and stuff.
After my first Zoom guitar student of the day I realise I don’t have any new promo/PR photos to send out with the press packs for the new album and associated tour dates.
I grab a camera and set up some selfies. Quite pleased with the results!
TIme’s moving on and it’s past lunch time by the time I get back to the house.
The afternoon is swallowed up with more promo and website updates for the album…and I need to have some idea what I might include in tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream.
Once I’m up to speed with everything I take a walk up the lochside and do some livestream promos for the main event later on. I add a link to a pre-save page for the album and also put CD pre-sales in the online store. I won’t publicise them until the Wildcats’ group has had a chance to get in first 🙂
Back in the studio I dump the sourdough making footage onto a hard drive then check the shirt/hoodie order Margaret’s just collected form Kenny, our merch guy. All looks good except the hoodies aren’t zip up one’s that I thought I’d ordered. I shoulda made it clearer when ordering…I just asked for ‘same as last time’ which were, in fact, zippers….they look good tho’. I’ll sort it out tomorrow.
After the Wildcats’ livestream I have dinner then dash to the local pub to meet Matty’s pal James for a pint. he and his cronies are walking the West Highland Way in full fire-fighters gear – including breathing apparatus – to raise money for suicide awareness.
CATRIONA and the kids arrive just as we finish breakfast…Margaret’s taking them all swimming.
I tidy up the breakfast stuff then make a batch of sourdough to use later tonight. I save some starter for Catriona and ‘feed’ what’s let of mine for next time.
I’m up to my ass in promo for the new album and tour dates but nip back to the house to see everyone and have a coffee..then it’s back on the case. One of the mail tasks is adding private downloads to Soundcloud so media folks can listen and choose to download via Soundcloud or Dropbox – whichever suits them best.
Mid-afternoon I cut a bit of flank steak in two, season and vacuum seal each and get the Instant Pot heating up to ready to sous vide. I get some more work done while I’m waiting then do some work on the sourdough…it”ll get stretched and folded over the course of the evening, put in the fridge overnight and go in the oven in the morning.
So many folks have been asking about it since I posted a few pix on my socials last week I decide to make a video to document the process and show how easy it is.
After dinner I do some work on the local community trust website and help Margaret put out some updates to members.
AFTER a bit of a long lie, coffee, email checking and social media posting we have breakfast then I spend some time on the pumpkin earrings. On sale now!
A pal in the next village is hosting a Macmillan fundraising coffee morning. It’s well past morning when we get there but we spend a good few hours drinking coffee, eating cakes and chatting away.
We’re both knackered when we get back and fall asleep on the couch in front of the fire!
I get some pizza dough ready for later and prepare some pasatta, mozzarella, basil etc.
I make up a wee video using footage from our wee SUP adventure during the week…
IN the office I finish of the large ‘I climbed Conic Hill’ fridge magnets for the shop then do a little work on some hallowe’en earrings.
It takes me a while to get things right then I get some prototype ‘bits’ together for Margaret to assemble.
There’s some video from Wednesday’s SUP trip to Inchmurrin to edit and I wanna identify some of the footage to make a Spotify canvas for (Looks like you’re) Walkin’ on Water from the new album.
After lunch I carry on with the video stuff, upload the canvas then set about making some more video content – a personal ‘thank you’ to go in my Spotify 2022 ‘wrap-up’ video that is sent to all my listeners and a couple of other social video – square and vertical formats – promoting the new album and tour dates.
Suddenly it’s after 8pm and I realise I should shut of shop and light some charcoal for the grill…
Vic Galloway and Nicola Meighan host the SAY awards at the Albert Halls, Stirling
FIRST UP one of my guitar students arrives for her weekly lesson. She’s coming on leaps and bounds and building her confidence too 🙂
I get busy in the studio then nip back to the house for a coffee and to help Betty with a couple of tech-related things on her iPad.
A courier drops off some wood slices I need to make a batch of XL fridge magnets for the village shop. The batch I made the other day were ruined by paint leaking into the grain of the wood. i get going with the new batch.
I carry on with the PR/promo for the new album and tour dates then it’s time to head off to Stirling for the Scottish ALbum of the Year (SAY) awards. It turns out to be a good evening and great to catch up with so many folks after a few years of not seeing many faces.
My sundried tomato sourdough loaf turned out pretty good…
IN the office I take the masking of some of my painted wood magnets to find the paint has soaked into the grain of the wood. They’re unsellable. I have to order more wood and let the village shop know they might take another coupla days.
Meantime, I pull together another batch of stuff for the village shop then, after a Zoom session with one of my guitar students, deliver the stuff.
My bandsintown email promo for the tour dates has gone out…not seeing nay direct results tho’…and my online chat has had zero response, even to my last message expressing disappointment at a lack of response.
For info, here’s a transcript of the chat as at 19 October…
October 13
Other
No problem. Which of these topics is most relevant to your question?
Something else
No problem. We’ll connect you with the team, and they’ll get back to you as soon as they can.
Hi, Dave Arcari from Scotland here…I’m considering my first paid promotion of bandsintown and see the minimum budget is £150 which, for an indie artist, is quite expensive. I’m keen to try it out tho’ and wondered if you had any promo code discount for a first time user of the service so I can try it out?
Thanks in advance.
Dave
You’ll get replies here and in your email:
✉️ studio@thebuzzgroup.co.uk
Our usual reply time
🕒 A day
October 16
H again…dunno if someone’s seen my message from Thursday?
October 18
…five days and still no response doesn’t exactly instil confidence in putting some money behind bandsintown ‘premium’ services..,very disappointing level of customer service and artist support 😞
…I’d say that’s a pretty bad show. I’ll keep an eye out for results and chat responses!
There’s a lot of media/PR promo to be done for the album and I spend most of the afternoon on that…taking a break to get my sundried tomato sourdough loaf in the oven to take along to Betty and Joe’s for dinner later.
I make good progress with the to-do list and we have a nice evening sharing dinner with our pals.
Fantastic weather for a SUP adventure to Inchmurrin…
I NEED to get a bunch of work done before I go out on the water at 10am to meet Fiona and David for a paddle.
The weather is good and we spend a few hours going to Inchmurrin and back. It’s a great paddle and another island ticked of my ‘visited’ list.
When I get back Mikey’s up on the roof sorting out some stuff for us. We have lunch then Mikey hits the road back to Dundee.
The village shop needs some more ‘I climbed Conic Hill’ pin badges and some other bits and bobs so I get busy in the office for the rest of the afternoon.
In the studio I download and go through some of the video footage I took while;e out on the water earlier then it’s back to the house to make dinner and chill for a while….
A still from the Wildcats’ livestream…join the group here
AFTER breakfast I make for the studio and get set up for a Zoom session with one of my Monday guitar students.
After a quick trip to the postbox to send off some West Highland Way Gifts‘ orders I revisit the bandsintown artist page to see if I’ve had a reply to my ad payment query form Thursday that I sent a reminder about yesterday. Nada. Not very inspiring.
Meantime, I create a video teaser post for the album and post that round my socials.
Mikey’s busy waiting our living room ceiling and doing other odd jobs that Margaret had lined up…I spend the afternoon int he studio preparing for tonight’s livestream into my Wildcats Facebook group. I spend a fair amount of time doing some test streams and setting up audio delays etc in a bid to get the audio and video in sync.
Another Zoom guitar session then it’s livestream time… all goes fine, but when I watch the replay the audio/video sync is still dreadful. Jeez – there must be a better way to do this!
THE kids wake us up early…Margaret takes them downstairs for breakfast and I spend some time catching up on emails, socials and get my daily blog out the way.
Once everyone’s organised we jump in Catriona’s car – the kiddie seats are in her car – and Margaret drives us to James’ Coffee…a cool outdoor cafe run from an old airstream a few miles away.
Back in Doune we take the kids to feed the ducks and aren’t back at the house long when Catriona and Will get back.
We head for home and get some stuff done before Mikey rocks up – he’s staying a coupla nights…
Pretty pleased with my photos of Will’s latest paperweight
MATTY and Lindsay head off after breakfast and I hit the studio to take some photos of a paperweight for Will.
We’re off to Doune later to babysit for the night so it makes sense for me to get the pix done and take the paperweight back.
Photographing the glasses really challenging as it’s hard to minimise the reflections. I try a new method of placing the weight in a translucent fabric ‘tent’ in front of the patio doors with no light on in the studio. The backlighting and tent knock out most of the reflections.
The next part is to use a tripod and tether the camera to the computer and use a really slow shutter speed…nearly two seconds.
It works! And the pix turn out pretty good 🙂
Then it’s off to Doune and a coffee with Catriona and Will before they go to St Andrews for the night. Will likes the paperweight photos too.
We have a nice afternoon with the kids and once they’re off to bed we have dinner…Catriona and Will have left fillet steaks for us. What a treat!
WE LIE in a bit and all have breakfast before I hit the studio.
Matty and Lindsay go for a drive to Aberfoyle, Margaret potters about in the house and I continue my animation efforts to build the Devil May Care video.
Other than a break to marinade some steak for the grill tonight, the animation takes up most of the rest of the day then I take the chance to go out t on the loch for a paddle…Clairinch, Torrinch, Port Bawn on Inchcailloch and back. It’s fantastic!
Back in the studio I test some of green screen animation efforts to make sure I can work with them in Final Cut and use it to make a short looping video to use as a Spotify canvas for the song.
The it’s time to light some charcoal and get started on dinner…
WHEN I take some CD media packs to the postbox I realise there’s a postal strike today and they won’t be picked up ’til tomorrow (Friday). Bah!
On the upside, the loch’s looking pretty calm, so i might get out for a paddle later.
A lot on my to-do list tho’, so I get wired in as soon as I get back to the studio.
When I’ve made some progress I decide on a quick pre-lunch paddle, but when I get to the bay it’s starting to get pretty windy…then further out it’s really choppy and difficult to steer the board. I call it a day and head back to shore.
After lunch we work out a t-shirt and hoodie order for our screen printer then i spend some time putting together an ad campaign for the upcoming shows. I’ve done a lot of Facebook advertising in the past with varying amounts of success..but I’m not convinced it should be the backbone of the paid promotion/advertising for this upcoming tour.
Bandsintown has in interesting approach so I start messing about with the creative and targeting. The downside is the minimum campaign budget is £150…a lot to spend just to see if something might work.
Print ads, even in niche publications, just don’t work. Never really have, and never will. They’re OK for building awareness but there comes a point where they don’t really work. Most of the folks that buy/read these publications are well aware of me and my music…and they’ve long since decided if they like it or not. The folks that do are on my mail list, follow my socials etc and don’t need an ad to let them know about tour dates, new releases or whatever. In saying that, I did take a small ad for the forthcoming album and UK dates in one of the blues mags, but that was more to support the publication than anything else. It’s had no effect at my end at all!
We discus budget (or lack of it) and the pros and cons of the various online ad options and decide to give the bandsintown thing a whirl. Organic socials, email list, posters, and ‘traditional’ press/media/PR all play an important part, but paid promotion/advertising is also necessary – especially when trying to build or reach new audiences. I have to be willing to ‘put my money where my mouth is’…’or speculate to accumulate’ as the cliches say!
I spend a while tailoring the tour campaign creative…but before I finalise everything I send a note to the bandsintown folks to see if they have any incentives or discounts so first time advertisers can asses the suitability of the platform and it’s paid services for their own needs. We’ll see what they say…and we’ll see if the campaign makes any difference to anything. Watch this space.
Matty and his girlfriend Lindsay are coming later tonight to stay a coupla days and I’m doing pizza tonight…the dough is ready to be balled up and I need to make some pasatta.
Back in the studio I start work on an animation idea I have for a video to go with Devil May Care – the title track from the forthcoming album (18 November). I’m using some free software called Synfig Studio which is quite powerful, but not very intuitive…I wanna create my main character animations int here then compile the lot in Final Cut. it’s gonna be a steep learning curve.
Matty and Lindsay arrive just after 9pm so i close up the studio for the day and crack open a beer. The it’s pizza time…
MARGARET’S asked me to look out a photo I took of her a while back…a bit harder to find than I expect..then I make up a meal plan and shopping list for the next week.
I have some wooden badge ideas to prototype and also some vinyl orders to be sent out. I book the packages in for collection by the postie and am surprised to see it’ll be Friday rather than tomorrow (Thursday). Further investigation shows there’s a strike on tomorrow. That explains it!
After a Zoom guitar lesson I make some lunch. I’m feeling absolutely knackered tho’ – I think it may be these ibuprofen with codeine ‘cos I;ve felt a wee bit spaced out this morning. I fall asleep for a good 20 minutes-half-an-hour after lunch!
In the studio I prepare some physical promo radio mailouts for the album…with some handwritten letters to try and stand out form the crowd. Then it’s time to start updating my website landing page – Meet me in the City is now out and the focus has to shift onto promoting the upcoming. album and UK tour dates.
I get it done in a kind of a way before it’s time to take some dinner along to Betty and Joe. Margaret’s on cooking tonight and I need to try and inside a batch of pizza dough between her acting the kitchen and us going out…
UP at the crack of dawn and heading into Glasgow. Margaret drops me in Milngavie and I get the train into the city centre.
My right shoulder’s killing me – think I maybe slept with my arm under the pillow the other night – and I need some ibuprofen, I go to Boots but it’s shut ’til 9am so I find a seat and do some work online until the place opens. Ibuprofen with codeine. That’ll hopefully help. Can’t take ’em ’til I’ve had something to eat tho’, so next stop McDonalds.
Sausage, egg and cheese muffin, coffee and painkillers…and an hour or so more work then I hit the post office to drop off postal tubes full of posters for the November dates. All going ‘signed for’ to try and avoid them either not being picked up or ending up under desk as the venues.
Next stop, Love Music. I have a chat with owner Sandy and stick up some posters for the Glasgow show before making my way to the Scottish Music Centre. I stop and deliver posters to Stereo for the Glasgow show on 19 November.
We have a chat about the media/industry album launch event we’re doing there and I leave some posters for the Glasgow show.
Hunger has the better of me and I make for Mikaku on Queen Street for a bowl of ramen.
I’ve an hour too kill before I meet Margaret so I visit GuitarGuitar on Trongate then stop in at the Apple Store and have a gander. The new Apple Watch Ultra is nice.
We’re home by 5pm and I hit the studio to get some more work done…then back to the house to make dinner. Asian salmon, steamed broccoli and cold soba noodles. And a beer.
THERE’S some CDs to be sent out to Help Musicians…I get them packed and in the postbox before a Zoom session with one of my guitar students.
Will pulls up just as I’m finishing the session to drop off one of his paperweights he’s asked me to photograph. We have a blether for a while then he heads off.
Just over a month ‘til the release of Devil May Care and I need to start getting invitations out for the media/industry launch event. I spend a while going through some of my lists.
After lunch I do a wee bit of prep for this evening’s livestream into my Wildcats’ Facebook group then get on with some other bits and bobs of work.
I need to start work on the video for the album’s title track – Devil May Care. Keen to do some kind of animation to illustrate the story but that’s gonna involve a pretty steep learning curve. I downloaded some free animation software called Synfig. It’s a little daunting so I may have to resort to something from Adobe. Meantime, I spend some time drafting up ideas for a flying devil which is, of course, the central character.
I head out for a walk and bump onto one of the guys from the Paddlefast SUP group. He joins we for a wander and blether for a while.
Back home it’s time to set up the livestream – keen to move back to a proper camera and mic so spend a while messing around to sort the sync issues and manage to get things to a tolerable level. I think.
The livestream goes well, although I’m still not happy with the sync…then it’s time for dinner….
WE have a lazy morning and after prepping some pizza dough I hit the office to get some work done before Catriona, Will and the kids roll up.
I’d planned to surprise them with pizza for lunch but Margaret let the cat out the bag. Nevertheless, we have a nice coupla hours together and the kids love the pizza 🙂
The rest of the day is spent catching up with some work in the studio – a mix of a song for JonZip, a transcript of an audio file for Betty and various other things.
Back in the house I make some mushroom risotto in time to settle down and tune into our pal Bill’s livestream from Florida…
I’M fine when I wake up and nip down to the shop to get some rolls.
While Margaret makes breakfast I start knocking up some artwork ideas for Devil May Care badges but start to feel a bit sick..and when I go into the house for breakfast I can’t face eating.
I go for a lie down on the couch and sleep another three hours..which is kinda weird having just had a good night’s sleep.
Feeling a little better when I wake up I have my reheated sausage, egg and cheese bagel, do a little more work on the badges then end up having another two-hour nap. Jeez!
Ultimately it’s a bit of a lost day – the last thing I need having just taken a day-and-a half off while our pal Don was staying. Ah well…
The video for Meet me in the City premieres at midday UK time…click above or see it here
I’M AWAKE early to monitor all the services that should be delivering Meet me in the City. All looks good other than Spotify which has, somehow, messed things up a little…
After breakfast I take Don out for a wander round the village, getting back int time for the YouTube premier – and Facebook releases (Facebook doesn’t do ‘premiers’ any more) – of the Meet me in the City video.
Don heads of just after lunchtime and I hit the studio to do all the other necessary promo stuff, including adding the song to my Bandcamp and Soundcloud pages and then making sure they’re on my ‘listen now’ list.
Both the song and video are being well received online and I’m quite happy with progress when I go back to the house and cook dinner…nice to have night with nothing happening!
Nice to have our pal Don visiting from Traverse City…
OUR pal Don is coming to stay and likely to be with us early afternoon – the new single drops tomorrow, so i need to try and get as much prep done before he arrives.
I set up a new landing page for the website so it can be switched over quickly at midnight, create Facebook covers and get the smart links ready to move from the pre-save campaign to ‘listen now’.
Don arrives just after lunchtime and we spend a few hours catching up over coffee and some snacks before heading to the local pub for a beer…and a dram.
Back home, Margaret’s prepared pinchitos – I get the grill lit outside and start cooking.
We chat and enjoy a few drinks then as midnight approaches I get ready to switch over my website landing page and update the necessary socials then we head off to bed…
FIRST task on today’s to-do list is start pulling together all the info, audio files and images for the Devil May Care album promo link.
I create .mp3 versions of all the tracks, add all the necessary metadata and add them to a Dropbox folder along with cover art and .pdf versions fo the news release and my song-by-song media notes.
In the midst of it all I have a session with one of my Zoom guitar students after which I put some new video teasers round my socials for Meet me in the City which drops Friday.
After a late lunch i carry on building the media resources for the album promo and send my news release of to the folks at Help Musicians for approval. Help Musicians has supported the album project and I want them to be happy with what I’ve said about the organisation in my news release.
I get a quick reply with some very minor changes to my wording and make the necessary updates. i want to have all my ducks in a line ready to start the album PR and promo next week.
We’re taking dinner along to Betty and Joe’s tonight and I decided to make a beef, butternut squash and ancho stew…and want to make sure the beef – and other ingredients – are nice and soft. I prepare it all and give it a good start in the Instant Pot.
Once the grub’s started cooking I have an interview with California magazine Shoutout LA which takes a while but will, hopefully, help me reach some new audiences.
We have a lovely evening with our pals. Haven’t seen them since last week as events kinda overtook me so it’s nice to catch up on stuff 🙂
MY main task today is to put together a song-by-song document to go along with the news release/media pack for the new album…urgency brought about by the need to get a physical CD off the Blues in Britain this morning.
I get a bit distracted when i get to the studio and start messing about animating a character to do some wee promo videos for Friday’s single launch to put round my socials.
When I realise time is tight, I quickly knock up a news release and shove it in a jiffy bag along with a CD and dash to the local postbox to catch last post. I can email all the info later.
When I get back I decide to make some slight adjustments to the Meet me in the City video I edited up yesterday. In my haste to clear out some disk space I accidentally bin – and completely erase – two of the key source movie files I spent hours creating yesterday!
I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find a free/cheap file recovery tool and despite trying a few that are meant to offer a free trial or limited file size recovery they all seem to require an immediate paid upgrade. Saving grace is that I uploaded the video to YouTube before the clusterfuck, so I can download the file…just means that my proposed tweaking is no longer possible. Ah well – it coulda been worse.
Finally I get started on the song-by-song notes to accompany the Devil May Care news release and finish before it gets too dark to go for a walk up the lochside!
I managed to get the video for Meet me in the City finished and was able to give the Wildcats group a preview in the weekly livestream
UP early to film the performance scenes for the Meet me in the City video. I manage to get the filming finished before my mid-morning guitar session with a Zoom student.
After the guitar lesson I start the edit, take a break to make some chicken ramen for lunch, then back into the edit.There’s a lot of footage and three different green screen shots to make into something useable and it all takes a fair bit longer than I expect.
Most of it’s finished by 7pm when I start a Zoom session with another guitar student then it’s mad panic to finish the video so I can spin it into the Facebook livestream to my Wildcats group…I promised they’d see it first!
IT’S A struggle getting up at the crack o’ dawn to get my gear and a PA system up to Cashel forest for today’s Cashel Bash Autumn Festival but I manage!
Somehow I forgot the iPad I need to control the mixer so I set up what I can then head back home for breakfast, pick up Margaret and Elina and the iPad and get back on site.
We’re there just as the event opens so there’s not too many folks around when I finally soundcheck then we set up a merch table along with a wee display of West Highland Way Gifts stuff.
My first set is at 12.30pm so there’s time to hang out as the site fills up.
There’s quite a few folks we know and Catriona’s brought the kids along too. My second set is at 2pm then we chat with folks and the overall event comes to close.
We get packed up, down the road and I get a bacon-wrapped pork loin on the smoker for dinner before having a kip.
After dinner we sit and chat for a while then have an early night. Margaret’s taking Elina into Glasgow to catch her train first thing in the morning.
STRAIGHT into the office to see what ready-made stuff from West Highland Way Gifts I have kicking around – need to take some bits and bobs to the Cashel Bash Autumn Festival tomorrow.
After breakfast I hit the studio to get some more editing done on the Meet me in the City video. I get quite a lot done then it’s time to go and meet our pal Elina – from Finland, now living in Netherlands. She’s staying a couple of nights as she was in the UK and keen to catch my Cashel Bash gig tomorrow 🙂
Duncan and Irene are coming to dinner tonight too and I vacuum seal the chicken breasts and get them in sous vide so they’ll be ready in time.
We have a grand – if a little later than planned – night…I may be suffering a bit in the morning and I gotta get a PA and all my gear up to Cashel!
I HAVE a bit of scrabble to get some work out the way before JonZip arrives to some work on the track we’ve been recording.
We’d thought two hours might see it finished but in reality it takes a good while longer. That’s OK tho’ – it’s fun and worth taking the time to get it right.
We have an early dinner then head to the village hall for a race night raising funds for the hall. It’s great to see everyone out and we have a grand time.
Nice wee paddle – a year to the day since my first attempt!
AFTER my guitar student is finished and hits the road I get into the studio to do some work before getting ready or a paddle.
It’s quite a nice day – and the last without high winds for a while – so I’ve arranged to meet Fiona and David out on the loch for a paddle. I’m a bit tight for time as I’ve got someone coming to the house for a meeting just after 1pm.
I make it home…and in and out of the shower…in time and have a coffee and chat with Emma from Cashel Native Forest.
I spend the afternoon and well into the evening in the studio pulling together some of the video footage I shot in Glasgow last week. The single drops next Friday so i need to get my skates on and get the video finished!
I make a bunch of badges for the village shop…we’ll see how they go…
AFTER I get the routine stuff out the way i nip down to the village shop with a couple of prototype ‘I climbed Conic Hill’ badges to see if they like them and want to order any.
They do…and order another tub of Balmaha pencils…so I get back to the office and start production!
In between times I go through last week’s video footage for Meet me in the City and discard the duplicate and less exciting shots. There’s about 20 gig of video left.
After lunch i make a meal plan for the next week and send Margaret a shopping list. Looks like our pal Elina is coming to stay Friday and Saturday so I need to decide what we’re gonna be eating.
I spend the afternoon on the merch and deliver it later on then prepare the sous vide chicken to take to Betty and Joe tonight
We have a lovely night with Betty and Joe…Sandy pops in later on… and I get Betty’s new iPhone up and running…
Delighted with my first attempt at making sourdough bread…
UP early to get the oven on and prepare my sourdough loaf. It’s been in the fridge overnight for its final rise.
Once the oven – and dutch oven – is up to temperature i score the dough with a razorblade and get it in the oven for 25 minutes. The the lid comes off the dutch oven and it’s in for another ten or fifteen minutes.
I’m amazed at the result. looks good. Gotta cool for an hour or so before I can cut into it.
By breakfast time it’s cooled enough to cut and..it’s really good! Maybe not quite as ‘airy’ as I’d hoped, but for a first attempt it’s pretty damn good.
In the studio I make a video to promote the t-shirt pre-sales and post it round my socials then it’s back to West Highland Way Gifts production for the village shop order. I’ve got a few other ideas that I wanna prototype too.
The order is finally complete mid-afternoon then I do the paperwork and deliver. Something odd has happened to the laser machine, though, and the camera won’t connect…I fiddle about and can’t sort it…just as well I got the shop order finished.
Margaret’s making an apple and bramble pie tomorrow and asked me to go and collect some brambles…I need some fruit for tomorrow’s breakfast too, so off I go to the wood. The season’s kinda over now and finding decent fruit is a bit of a task but I manage to collect a punnet-full.
While Margaret’s making dinner I spend some time checking the laser in the office. After going through all the troubleshooting it appears I need to replace the camera cable. It’s not an expensive part, but the replacement job looks like a nightmare! i have a look around to see if it’s something I can confidently tackle and must have touched something that was loose and ‘restored’ the connection, It’s back working again!
My cousin Ginny visited from the USA with some of her stateside buddies and took us for lunch with my more ‘local’ cousin, Fred 🙂
AFTER my first Zoom guitar student of the day I get some more West Highland Way Gifts‘ merch production underway for the village shop order.
In the studio I start setting up some gig ticket/tour shirt bundles for sale and take some pix of myself modelling a prototype of the new Devil May Care tour shirts. They’ll go up on pre-order later on today.
My cousin Ginny from the USA has been on a tour of Scotland with some of her pals..she’s back in Glasgow and my cousin Fred brings them all to visit and they take us to the local pub for lunch. It’s great to catch up with Fred, see Ginny for the first time since lockdown and meet her pals.
We have a great afternoon then I get back onto some work and prepare for tonight’s livestream into my Wildcats’ Facebook group before another Zoom session with one of my guitar students.
The livestream all goes to plan then I make it back to the house for dinner just after 9pm….
WE have a well-deserved long lie…I feel pretty broken after last night’s show. Clearly not ‘match fit’..and I musta been pulling some funny shapes!
I’m been busy with West Highland Way Gifts production for the village shop when Catriona, Will and the kids rock up.
We all hang out for a while and after they head off I hit the studio and do some tuff to help promote next Sunday’s show at the Cashel Bash Autumn Festival. There’s a nice press preview in the Stirling Observer to use around my socials..and I also have some pix and stuff from last night’s FrewFest show.
In between times I dot between the office and the house checking on fridge magnet production.
We have an early evening meal then go along to see Betty, Joe and Kirsty for a blether and. couple of glasses of red….I;m starting to feel a little better and more like myself!
STILL not feeling 100% but I gotta pull myself together – there’s a gig tonight for FrewFest near Glasgow.
I rehearse the second part of my set that I’d missed the other day then start getting the gear ready. In between times I nip down to the shop for some rolls and see they’re running low on West Highland Way Gifts’ stock. I take an order for replenishments while I’m there.
Once the car’s packed and merch sorted there’s time for a nap then we hit the road to Renfrew.
The show is at Sammi’s Bar – a trendy pub slightly off the beaten track…and not a place that would normally have live music. That’s the point of FrewFest – to take live, original music to places and audiences that wouldn’t normally experience such a phenomenon.
Thankfully there’s a decent, raised stage area and engineer Colin (Angus) has put in a nice PA rig. The pace is busy with a young, noisy crowd and a DJ in the corner blasting out mostly dance/pop music.
The original opening act has pulled out and by chance Bartok Thins are a last minute replacement…husband and wife duo Helen and Peter are pals…although I haven’t seen them for years. Helen was singer in Ayrshire blues band The Rhymes back in the early 90s. They and first band – Summerfield Blues – often crossed paths on ‘the circuit’.
The football is still on when Bartok Thins start their set but they hold the crowd and make it an easy passage for yours truly. Not my usual kinda gig by a long chalk, but still fun…and great to catch up with old pals 🙂
…and from the shadows emerge…Helen, yours truly, and Peter…!
Communities Housing Trust conference at Town House, Inverness
I’M feeling slightly better when I wake up. We pack up and get ready to go but there’s a problem..the key Matty got cut for his front door doesn’t work and we’re locked in!
A few phone calls later we manage to locate another spare key which, thankfully, works and we dash to the Town House for the start of the Communities Housing Trust conference.
We have an interesting morning – although I have to keep running to the toilet – then deliver posters for the November show in (Inverness before heading back down the road.
We stop off to see Catriona, Will and the kids en route but when we get home I’m feeling crap again and go straight to bed…not that I’m in there much as I’m on the pan every half hour!
HEADING to Inverness this afternoon, so lots to do before we go.
The posters for my gig up there in November are meant to arrive by midday so we can take them but it looks like they’ll be late. Eventually they show up just after 3pm and we hit the road.
I’ve been feeling pretty crap since yesterday lunch time and still feel odd….tired, bloated, skits…. Margaret does all the driving and we arrive at Matty’s around 7pm.
We go out for something to eat and end up at Walrus & Corkscrew – a nice wee wine bar where Matty’s pal Tommy works. We share a ni e bottle of red and a platter of meats, cheese and sourdough bread. It’s really good but I’m feeling like shit. I go straight to bed when we get in!
Looking forward to playing some songs at the Cashel Bash on 2 October…click here for info on the event…
THERE’S a lot on the to-do list today and I manage to tackle a few of them before one of my guitar students rolls up at 9am.
After the lesson I spend some time the song JonZip recorded last week then run through some of my proposed set for Frew Fest on Saturday.
there’s a prescription to be collected form the village so I jump on the bike and combine my errands with a bike ride on the West Highland Way.
After lunch I create some graphics and set up a Facebook event for my appearance at the Cashel bash on Sunday 2 October, put out a news release about it then set up Facebook events for the November album launch tour dates.
There’s promo postcards to be overprinted for Saturday’s gig and a load of other bits and bobs to be done before Margaret gets home with the shopping.
We take some chilli along to Betty and Joe’s for dinner and have a nice evening and get back in time for an early night.
WE’RE off into Glasgow at 7.30am. Margaret drops me in Milngavie and I get the train into town and start capturing some footage for the video for Meet me in the City.
I grab as much ‘covert’ footage as I can before my camera batteries finally run out in the West End. Hopefully got plenty to work from.
Next stop is the hairdressers at Kelvinbridge for a long overdue haircut then I walk back to the city centre for the Musicians’ Union (Scotland and NI region) AGM. Nice to catch up with folks and contribute to what’s going on.
margaret picks me up and we dash home in time for a local community trust meeting then I dump the video footage from this morning onto a hard drive while Margaret makes dinner….
FIRST job of the day is to chase the poster printer…I sent artwork and my order off a week ago and haven’t heard anything. That’s unusual.
I call – looks like the email didn’t get through for some reason. sorted now.
Next up, my first Zoom guitar student of the day. once done I hit the office to try out some packaging ideas for what is about to become my first range of beard oil. My last two suppliers of beard oil have ceased trading, so time to make my own!
i experiment engraving the wee bottles and filling the engraving with silver paste but it’s not very tidy. instead I opt to make black/gold labels and engrave my web address. The result is good!
There’s a leftover ball of dough from the weekend so I make a pizza for lunch then onto the studio to make a temporary video for Meet me in the City. I want a full-length preview of the track for tonight’s Wildcats livestream and have no accompanying video…I’m gonna be filming some stuff in Glasgow tomorrow (Tuesday) – meantime I knock something using online footage.
I head put for a quick walk and get back just on time for another Zoom session with one of my guitar students.
Then it’s livestream time….then back to the house for dinner.
After we’ve eaten I sterilise all the stuff for making beard oil, including the bottles and droppers for the final product. It’s pretty straightforward and I have my first batch of ’ultimate beard oil’ ready before bedtime!
THE kids are awake at 7am…I manage to stay in bed for another hour then we all have breakfast.
Margaret and Catriona take the kids to feed the ducks and I hit the studio to get some promo done for next weekend’s FrewFest show in Renfrew.
I’m still at it when they come back and pick up their swimming stuff. I finish what I’m doing then create some artwork for personalised Paddington bear badges for the kids…a wee dye-sub project test run. They work out really well 🙂
Catriona and the kids leave early afternoon then Margaret go for a meeting up at Cashel. I’ve been asked to play at the Cashel Bash Autumn Festival on Sunday 2 October. We get a plan in place then I go out for a paddle with Fiona.
After a shower we nip along for an aperitif or two with Betty and Joe then back home for dinner….
MY VIDEO teaser for Meet me in the City has prompted a few queries from radio folks asking when I’ll be putting out promos…
The track drops on Friday 7 October, so I really need to get it out to the media now. I put together a news release, make up a folder with tagged .mp3 and .wav audio files, cover art and the afore-mentioned news release and email some of the key radio folks.
There’s a video to be made for the track too. I’d thought out a treatment and made up a shot list but it’s too ambitious given the time frame and lack of budget. It’s not a difficult job and would best be done unobtrusively using the wee Osmo Pocket or GoPro cameras but I don’t want to ask anyone to do a job like this for free, no matter how quick and simple. I could use tripods and stuff, but it’s not easy to produce, direct, film and be in the production too…even if there’d only a couple of shots with both myself and Margaret in frame.
I decide that I’ll just grab as much relevant footage when I’m in town on Tuesday and make something from that.
Next job is some PR and promo for next weekend’s FrewFest show. I’ve not done much promo for it to date other than online listings and stuff so I need to get my finger out and get news releases and images out to the relevant press and local media.
Catriona and the kids arrive late afternoon so i hang out for a while then finish off in the studio. once the kids are in bed I make some arancini..then it’s pizza time!
ONCE the daily routine stuff’s out the way Margaret drives me to the doc in the village. Prostate examination incoming. Literally!
I’ve had the blood and urine tests already – they’re clear – but now it’s time for stage three…finger up the bum. Everything appears to ‘feel’ fine up there but the doc refers me to the prostate clinic just to be sure. It could take 6-12 months for an appointment.
I walk home and enjoy the fresh air and exercise.
After lunch i hit the studio and do a bit more work on JonZip’s song. I’m keen to exercise my ‘production’ skills and turn out something he likes.
We’ve got pals coming for dinner and I’m doing sous vide chicken with pepper sauce. The chicken will need to be in the water bath for two to three hours and it usually takes a good half hour to get up to temperature. meantime, I vacuum seal the chicken breasts and make a batch of pizza dough for Saturday using the poolish I mixed yesterday.
Then it’s back into the studio to make a wee teaser video for Meet Me in the City which drops in a fortnight. I make a version for TikTok and similar to post round my socials.
Once done I shut up shop and start preparing the arancini for our starter and get the ingredients ready for the pepper sauce.
Alastair and Karen arrive bang on time and we have a grand evening 🙂
MY USUAL Thursday morning guitar student is coming earlier today…which works perfectly as JonZip is coming to record in the studio.
After the guitar lesson I hit the studio and get roughly set up for what I think JonZip will need then get some day-to-day stuff sorted out before he arrives.
We get set up, chat about what he wants to do then break for coffee. Back in the studio we get the guitar tracks down then over to the garden for lunch.
Vocals and other stuff is all done in the afternoon then JonZip goes back to Glasgow…I start working on the recordings and putting together some rough mixes….
I sort a website landing page to promote the Meet me in the City pre-save
FIRST job is to pack up a couple of wee things I made for Will’s birthday and get them in the post. We already sent a card with some dosh but I made a coupla bits and bobs for fun.
I drop into the shop to check stock and chat over some new ideas for gifts/souvenirs I’ve had.
Back in the studio I double check all the uploads, files and metadata for digital distribution of the album and call the aggregator to find out how to include Meet me in the City as the same recording on the album as the forthcoming single…turns out to be a fairly simple process, albeit not very obvious. I get the album set for 18 November 🙂
The CD manufacturer missed my email approving the artwork digital proofs so I call them and give them the go-ahead…and pay for the job. Ouch!
I do another few dye sublimation experiments and think I’m getting the hang of it now. Quite pleased with my results so far.
Next, I set up a pre-save campaign for Meet me in the City then design and create a landing page for the website that’ll, I hope, work across desktop, tablet and mobile and still look good. Then I start spreading the word on my socials.
In the house I prepare mushroom risotto to take along to Betty and Joe’s for dinner…
Still got the lurgy – trying to stay away form folks..so lunch on an island seems a good idea!
STILL got the lurgy and we’re meant to be going to my cousin’s for dinner tonight to see Ginny who’s arriving form the ‘States today. I don’t feel THAT bad but, as Margaret points out, Ginny isn’t gonna thank us for passing on the lurgy as soon as she arrives in the UK.
I message Fred and say we’d best not come 🙁 Hopefully we can arrange another get-together before Ginny goes back.
In the office I re-think some of my dye sublimation design ideas to try out later if I have time. meantime, I make up some sandwiches and go for a paddle to the island. It’s fairly calm in the bay but when I get out onto the open loch it’s choppy as fuck. So choppy I have to kneel down to avoid getting blown off course…and possible taking a dip.
Once I reach the island (Inchcailloch) things are calmer and I stand back up to paddle to a wee beach where I relax and enjoy my lunch in the sun.
The paddle home is much the same – breezy but OK, then really windy and choppy until I get back into the bay.
I spend much of the afternoon on the dye sub and end with some pretty good results. I also get in touch with our t-shirt guy Kenny and arrange for him to make up a couple of prototype Devil may Care/UK tour shirts.
Finally I make it into the studio and upload all the new album songs, art and metadata to my digital aggregator (distributor) in good time for an 18 November release across all digital platforms.
Once done, I reward myself with a wee wander up the lochside. I don’t feel much like exercise, but the fresh air might help shift this lurgy…
AFTER my usual Monday morning session with one of my Zoom guitar students I sort poster printing for the venues on the November UK tour to promote the new Devil May Care album.
After lunch I do some more dye sublimation experimenting and manage to improve the results considerably. Got some more ideas to up the game, but they’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
Meantime, I approve the digital proofs of the package and on-body CD art from the CD manufacturer…looks like we’re all systems go 🙂
I put some thought into tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream content then go for a walk up the lochside. I’ve still got the lurgy and don’t feel much like it, but I know it’ll do me some good.
The livestream goes pretty well and I use a webcam rather than my usual ‘pro’ camera and audio setup to try and avoid the audio/visual sync issues.I’m wondering if the problem is my now rather old laptop rather than any other software or hardware issues. If I can bring in some dosh in the next month or two maybe I can upgrade…
I’VE definitely got the lurgy. A covid test is negative, so I guess Margaret’s just passed on whatever she’s been suffering from for the past few days.
The kids have us up at 7am…well, Margaret top…I crawl back under the covers for another hour or so.
After breakfast I go through the images from yesterday’s photoshoot and upload the results for the client. In between times Catriona comes for the kids and Margaret and I have some lunch.
The photos – and kids – out the way, I now have time to convert the printer I picked up in Costco for dye sublimation. Takes me a while to work things out then start experimenting. My first attempts are OK for a starter, but I’ve clearly got a lot to learn!
We have dinner then watch our pal Bill’s livestream – his last from Dundee before he and Dorothy head back to the ‘states…
