RIGHT after breakfast I nip along to help Betty with a wee techie issue then back home to pack up some merch orders.
I get the bus to the village to meet Duncan and we head into Glasgow for lunch at the Art Club with a few music pals. Our late pal Rab was always part of this annual lunchtime meet up and after he died we’ve kept the tradition. Nice to see everyone.
Duncan and I head to Costco then he drops me back home just in time for my 6pm guitar student.
EARLY rise to get the sourdough in the oven…then back to bed for coffee and online stuff ’til the oven bleeps.
I have an online guitar student mid-morning then hit the office and finish off a bunch of packaging stickers and stuff for Manson Glass.
After lunch I get a quick walk before my afternoon guitar student arrives then we get things prepared for tonight’s local community trust AGM…Margaret is secretary. Actually, she IS the community trust!
I take some pix of proceedings - Stirling Lord Provost Rosemary Fraser and some other council folks are guests and the meeting is a great success.
Betty comes back to ours for some dinner..then I sort out the pix…
EVERYONE’S still asleep when I get my stuff together and go out for a paddle. The loch’s pretty calm and it’s a lovely morning despite the cold and frost.
Breakfast’s ready when I get back and out the shower then I get busy with some video editing in the studio.
Mikey leaves late afternoon and I spread the news on my socials that Still Friends is featured album on BBC Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson Show this week…so there’ll be a few tracks played tonight (Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday).
I decide to try the chicken thighs I prepared yesterday in the electric pellet smoker…the ease of reparation makes it a potentially better option than setting up the kamado for a meal for two. Indeed, the chicken is done in under an hour and every bit as good as when smoked over charcoal and fruit wood in the kamado.
NOW things have calmed down post-album release and launch shows we have a long lie watching Saturday Kitchen in bed, drinking coffee and generally just chillin’.
First job is vacuum sealing some flank steak for tonight’s sous vide steak in pepper sauce. Mikey’s coming later for the night.
I pack up the rest of the flank and put it in freezer then trim up a pack of Costco chicken thighs, give them a rub with some ‘Memphis dust’ and leave in the fridge to smoke tomorrow.
All the gear I dumped in the studio earlier needs sorted out
It’s getting dark earlier and earlier so I head out for a walk up the lochside. When I get back Mikey’s arrived.
The sous vide takes a good few hours so I get it on the go and we sit and chat before dinner…
WE HAVE breakfast in our room at the Premier Inn and get a few bits and bobs done then pack the car and start the journey home.
A stop at a Tom Horton’s – never been to one before – for lunch and I take over driving until Glasgow.
First stop Costco for fuel and some shopping, then Tesco, then home.
Betty’s invited us out for dinner with some of her family and we have a lovely evening, back to Betty’s for a nightcap then home for a (relatively!) early night.
UP AT a decent time to get the car packed and on the road to Darlington.
We split the drive and get to the hotel just after 4pm – just in time for a coffee before we carry on to load in at the Forum.
Manager Kirsten and soundman Matt are there to welcome us…it’s a nice room and Matt is an ace engineer. He’s looked after my sound here before.
Doors open at 7.30pm but showtime isn’t ’til 8.30pm so I chill in the dressing room then play the same two-set show as the previous album launch shows…first set being the full album and the second a ‘normal’ set.
There’s a good crowd in and it’s nice to see some familiar faces. All goes grand and we’re back at the hotel by midnight 🙂
TWO back-to-back guitar student sessions this morning. The first online, the second in-person.
Once I’m clear I hit the office to finish a big batch of paperweight stands for Manson Glass which takes me to lunchtime.
There’s a some brass guitar pins to be made to replenish the merch stock for tomorrow’s (Thursday) show in Darlington and some last-minute promo fro the show.
It’s a bit damp and grey but I need a walk so head up the lochside and get back just as darkness falls.
Margaret’s off to a neighbour for a ‘girls’ night’ meal so I make some pizza and have a glass of wine in front of the telly…
I DECIDED to head into Glasgow early and get some fuel at Costco before my appointment at the optician to get new lenses put in my clic-frame reading specs.
After the optician I go to the bank, pick up some shopping and get home in good time for lunch.
The plumber comes to fit the new kitchen tap. Between he call outs, work and the new tap we’re £350 worse off. All because of a bust thread somewhere in the old tap that meant it kept coming loose from the worktop.
In the studio I record some radio idents for a radio show in Ireland then get busy in the office – I have 100 paperweight stands to make for Manson Glass.
I’m back in the studio when Betty arrives for dinner….
THE USUAL Monday routine of an early alarm to get the sourdough in the oven…then, once it cools, breakfast and off to the studio for a session with a Zoom guitar student.
There’s a load of stuff needing done in the studio – and some gear to check/sort before we head to Darlington later in the week for my final show of the year.
I edit up some video clips for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook and prepare for a Help Musicians’ focus group meeting…which is subsequently postponed.
Darkness starts to fall and I finally mange a quick walk before the livestream.
I’M FEELING pretty broken this morning but no time to lie around – Maureen’s and Debbie are coming at 10am and we’re all heading up to the war memorial at Rowardennan for Remembrance Sunday wreath laying.
It’s pissing rain and I’m on photo duty for the local community trust (ie: Margaret!) which has organised the event.
There’s a good wee turnout despite the bad weather.
Back home I sort the photos an post them round the local social media then have a kip on the couch in front of the fire.
After the Darlington show on Thursday there’s no gigs ‘til January….14 January at the Black Bull, Gartmore to be precise.
I’ve been holding back announcing as it’s both geographically and time close to Stirling…now I can ‘announce’ and get it posted on my website and some of the other listings websites.
Then it;s time to go to our pals Duncan and Irene’s for dinner and a very fine evening 🙂
WE HAVE a bit of along lie to try and recover form the last couple days.
After breakfast burritos I make an 80th birthday cake topper for Fiona who has had a last minute request to make a cake for someone.
In the studio I run some strings repairs then we hit the road to Stirling. Not far to go. But we have quite an early get-in and soundcheck.
All goes smoothly – soundman Dave has worked my shows before and lighting and other stuff is all handled by Leah.
Showtime is 8pm and there’s a good crowd in and I do a similar show to the last couple nights with the new album making up the first set then a second set of ‘old favourites’.
The merch table is busy after the show then we get back to the auditorium and load out.
We’re back home in time to drop by Betty’s for a drink – she’s had a bonfire party for her daughter’s birthday.
BREAKFAST at the Holiday Inn finishes at 9.30am so we’re downstairs just after 9am to make sure we don’t get caught short.
Checkout isn’t ‘til 11am and I get most of the work I need done before finishing some stuff off in the hotel foyer. It’s release day for the new album.
We share the drive to Irvine and both manage to grab a nap (while the other drives!) before loading in at the Harbour Arts Centre (HAC) just after 5pm.
Sound man Rory helps us in and we get set up, soundchecked and merch all sorted with time to chill in the dressing room before doors open just after 7pm.
Showtime’s 7.30pm and I play the same format as last night – the new album in its entirety for the first set and a ‘normal’. There’s a good crowd in and a nice mix of familiar and new faces.
STRAIGHT into the studio to sort out gear and get everything packed so we can get on the road to Aberdeen at a reasonable time.
We share the drive and park up at the city centre Holiday Inn Express to drop off some stuff. There’s time to chill for an hour before we have to load in at the Blue Lamp.
All goes smoothly although there’s already people arriving just after 7pm and doors don’t open ‘til 7.30pm.
I hit the stage at 8pm and play the first of two sets. Set one is the tracks from the new album – albeit not in the correct order to avoid swapping instruments all the time.
After a short break I play a second set and uniquely the encore calls are for more banjo!
I HAVE a 9am online session with a guitar student then it’s straight into a local energy club meeting – a sub group with some of my fellow hydro society directors and others.
There’s some time to make up set lists for the album launch shows and run through some of the songs I haven’t played since recording the album
Another online session with Help Musicians then a late lunch.
I get a few admin things out the way then, at last, get out for a paddle. It’s the first suitable day weather-wise in ages and I kill a few birds with one stone by doing some livestreams to punt the upcoming shows.
It’s dark when I get back to shore then I get some of the gear sorted for an early start tomorrow before Betty arrives for dinner.
UP EARLY to meet someone who has a problem with their MacBook and is dropping it off.
Thankfully I find a way to access and back up all her data and work out the problem. It’s a hardware issue and she can either use some of the workarounds I suggest or take it for repair.
I have a Zoom session to record an interview with a radio DJ in Lincoln then I get into the office and sort some merch for this week’s gigs.
Our pal Neil arrives with his dog Sonny…he’s meeting another pal in the village for lunch then coming to collect some merch and have a wee guitar session.
We have a grand hour or so then Neil hits the road and I get back to some stuff in the studio before getting back onto merch prep in the office.
After dinner – roast cherry tomato pasta which I make too hot for Margaret…oops – I spend the rest of the night on promo for Thursday’s show in Aberdeen.
AN EARLY time to get my sourdough in the oven and cooling before a Zoom interview for Heartland FM.
The interview is fun and will be edited for broadcast on Wednesday.
Then it’s breakfast, some admin and back to the studio for an online session with one of my guitar students.
I’m in the office adding epoxy dimes to a batch of guitar earring when the plumber comes to fix our kitchen tap. Sadly, it’s goosed.
After lunch Margaret heads into Glasgow for some shopping and to pick up a new tap. The plumber will come back tomorrow to fit it.
I have an in-person guitar student then edit some video clips to spin into this evening’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
I’m back in the house by 9pm. Margaret’s back and cooking dinner after which we work late on a load of stuff….
THE kids have us up early…but not as early as it mighta been!
After breakfast I get busy with some stuff in the office then we take the kids to feed the ducks. Margaret and the kids go to see Betty and take a walk up the lochside
Catriona and Will come to pick up the kids early afternoon then I have a video session with a new guitar student from Germany.
In the office I start a batch of black and gold guitar earrings for the merch table. Folks were fighting over them in France!
After dinner I mess with the 3D modeling app ion the iPad to come up with a better penguin. I quite pleased with the shape now – if I get time tomorrow I’ll do a 3D print then see if it’ll cast…
WE MANAGE to get up at a reasonable time – Catriona’s bringing the kids over so she can have a night off to herself.
Meantime, I get busy with today’s number one priority – promo for the new album and launch gigs.
I get localized messages out for the gigs via Bandsintown then set about making a video to promote pre-sales of the vinyl and CD versions of the new album.
After a break for coffee when Catriona brings the kids I dot between the house, studio and office getting on top of all today’s tasks….
WHEN Margaret gets back from her a;pointment at the doc we head into Milngavie to the optician to get new lenses put in my specs.
The bifocals go OK but the lenses for my clic-frame set aren’t the right size. They’ll get some more on order.
I walk down to meet Margaret at Waitrose then we head back home.
There’s some merch orders to sort then I film some video bits to use for album promo.
The day has gone by in a flash and suddenly it’s time to jump in the car to Doune…the kids are going guiding and we’re along for the ride.
Later on Matty’s comes back to ours to stay over and I get some smashburgers on the go.
THE guy from the garage comes at 8am to pick up the car – he’s fixing the front parking sensors. We’ve had a good experience using a fairly local garage to do all our car stuff.
I arrange to go into the optician tomorrow to get the new lenses put in my specs then get on with local and region media stuff for the Darlington show on 13 November.
I’m in the office experimenting with ways to finish some Christmas items I’m conjuring up when Margaret calls me to say my afternoon guitar student and his mum have arrived at the studio. Doh! Totally forgot.
After the lesson it’s dark and raining so any hopes of a walk are dashed. Instead I work out some merch postage rates before trying out a new recipe for dinner…pork tenderloin with a maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, chilli and mustard sauce. Turns out weird but good!
AFTER my first Zoom guitar student I work on some guitar stuff and created some new patches on the Quad Cortex.
Another online session then I get my gear ready for the school this afternoon.
I pack some stuff and print labels to drop off at the post office in Balloch later on then hit the road.
When I get home I spend some time trying to finish my wee metal penguin. It’s not bad, but not quite right and a little rough. It’ll do for a starter tho’.
We wander along to Betty’s for dinner. Her pal Liz is staying a few days and we have a fun night of grub, wine and laughs.
WE BOTH sleep through the alarms. So much so that before we’ve had breakfast Betty pops in for a coffee!
My main job is to get vinyl and CD versions of the new album on sale…along with the new shirts and hoodies. I also decide to rationalise the online store – there’s so much in there that I think folks might get ‘option paralysis’ and this might help focus visitors’ attention.
A message from the embroiderer in the village lets me know some additional Ts and hoodies are ready for pickup. I also need to get a prescription so get Margaret to drive me to the village, pick everything up then I walk back.
I’d already made the physical copies of Still Friends available to my Wildcats’ group on Facebook in advance of the ‘official’ release date – ie: when it drops for streaming/download on Spotify, Apple Music etc – of 7 November.
Now I wanna make it available to folks on my email list before a more general ‘pre-release’ campaign so I get an eNewsletter out to my list,
My evening guitar student arrives early and we have a good session…then it’s dinner before tackling some of the vinyl and CD orders that have come in as a result of my email out.
EARLY bread-making and while it’s cooling I get some admin and stuff out the way.
After breakfast – fresh sourdough toast with mashed avocado – I hit the studio for an online guitar session,
Once I’m done I set up and take some pix of the new vinyl, CD, Ts and hoodies ready for the online store and other promo.
After lunch I take some time out and work on a Christmas idea for Love Balmaha. If it works I’ll maybe do some ‘Dave Arcari’ versions and some custom options for West Highland Way Gifts,
I manage to get a little finishing work done on my penguin project – don’t ask – before my late afternoon guitar student arrives.
Back in the studio I edit some video to spin into this evening’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook and get some other prep done before go-live…
MARTYN’S counting round to go for a walk so we’re up and organised at a reasonable time.
Not great weather out there but it’s good to get some fresh air and a catch up.
Back home I hit the studio and make up some Spotify canvases – short, looping vertical videos that accompany tracks on Spotify – and pitch a song from the upcoming album release to the platform’s editorial playlists.
After lunch we go to Doune to see Catriona, Will and the kids.
We stop for some shopping on the way home and when we get back I find that instead of taking two packs of beef from the freezer to defrost, one of the pack is actually Italian sausage. Doh!
I’m making a big batch of beef, butternut squash and ancho chilli, so need some more flank out the freezer. While it defrosts I make up some sugo with the Italian sausage which we can have during the week. Then it’s onto the chilli…
WE have a lazy morning and late breakfast then I go outside and start my second tempt to cast a penguin. I’ve been a bit obsessed with trying to design and make a solid metal penguin paperweight since I saw one at the old mill where were staying in France.
The new crucible is big enough to melt enough metal for the job – my last effort ended up with just 2/3 of a penguin ‘cos I couldn’t get enough metal melted at one time.
The resulting cast works but is pretty rough and gonna need a lot of finishing. I do a bit of work on it then hit the studio to do some press/media stuff for the upcoming shows.
I take a break for a late lunch then get back on the job. Media contacts are few and far between these days and folks move around and switch jobs faster than ever as legacy media slowly grinds towards a halt. Still worth the effort tho’.
A message tells me Still Friends has been voted as a ‘pick of the month’ for November by the Independent Blues Broadcasters’ Association (IBBA). Nice.
It’s been quite a nice day and I decide to have a walk before dusk….and it’s getting dark when I start making my way home.
NEEDLESS to say I’m pretty burst when we wake up at Jon and Maggi’s and head downstairs for breakfast.
Good eats, coffee and chat then we head off. First stop is screen printer Kenny to pick some extra shirts and hoodies we need.
Next, Costco for fuel, shopping and a snack, then Tesco, Waitrose, drop the hoodies and Ts at the embroider’s and home. Well, not straight home – we stop at Betty’s to drop off some shopping…and have a drink.
AFTER I get my social ads finished for the upcoming shows I hit the office to try out some engraving on glass Christmas decorations.
I’d planned to do this last year but left it too late to get hold of the glass baubles…so on the case early this year. I do a test design and it seems to work pretty well.
Margaret drives me to the village for a long overdue haircut and I walk back after, enjoying the five mile or so wander while listening to a podcast.
We have a late lunch then drive into Glasgow for a social event at the Scottish Music Centre.
Next stop, Jonzip and Maggi’s where we’re staying tonight. We park up, drop off our stuff then we all walk to a tapas restaurant a few blocks away.
Great meal, great night…Jonzip and I drink red wine and blether until…erm…5am…
AN EARLY start to get all sorted before an online session with a guitar student…followed by my regular Wednesday morning student at the house.
There’s ten minutes to catch up before an online meeting with folks from PRS about live set returns.
I pack a guitar and stuff, grab snack for an early lunch then head into Balloch for my afternoon music session at the school.
Once done I finally manage to find a UPS ‘access point’ to drop off a return item to an Amazon seller in the ’States.
Next stop, some shopping for tonight’s dinner and the post office before getting home.
I get most of the online ads in place for the upcoming album launch shows – just one left to sort out tomorrow.
I’ve just finished the prep for tonight’s fajitas when Betty arrives…perfect timing 🙂
I’M gubbed when the alarm goes off and I end falling back to sleep for another hour or so!
There’s a bunch of merch orders to get packed up so I can drop them at a post office later on…and an item to get returned to Amazon that needs to be dropped off at a UPS ‘access point’.
I have an appointment at the Western General hospital in Edinburgh – I’m taking part in an NHS survey thing and have some tests to go through and blood to give as the first part in the process.
En route I stop in Buchlyvie and spend ten minutes wandering around trying to find the UPS ‘access point’. When I do, they won’t take the parcel as there’s only one commercial invoice attached to the outside of the package (exactly as instructed by Amazon). They say it needs three. FFS!
Onward to Edinburgh and I check in. An hour early. Because I added the appointment while we were in France it’s fucked up the time in the diary. No worries tho’ – they’re happy to have me early as it’s the last appointment of the day and means they can finish early 🙂
After all the questions, measurements, blood and piss samples I find a post office and drop off all the merch packages.
Back home I make sure all my PRS live set returns are logged in advance of a research meeting with the organisation tomorrow where we’ll be discussing the process. Thought it’d be good to be up to date.
AWAKE super-early to get the sourdough in the oven. While it’s finishing off I get ready for a paddle so as soon as it’s out the oven I can head out on the loch while it cools.
It’s kinda misty and grey but fairly calm and I have a nice paddle around the islands and do a couple of livestreams to remind folks that ‘normal’ service resumes tonight for my weekly livestream into the Wildcats’ Facebook group.
Back home there’s for a shower and breakfast – avocado on fresh sourdough toast – before a session with an online guitar students.
There’s more videos to edit for social media ads and then I get busy with some of the PR and promo for the new album and related live shows at the start of November,
Once phase one of the promo is done I edit a couple of videos from the live footage taken over the last few weeks so I can spin them into tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream.
Suddenly it’s approaching 8pm and time to get online for the livestream,
After dinner I pack up a bunch of merch stuff and finally catch up with myself around midnight.
AFTER breakfast we help Mikey with his mobile and broadband accounts which seem to have got a bit mixed up.
I hit the studio and make another version of the video for the upcoming shows – one fast-paced video that covers all the shows.
When I get back to the house Mikey’s getting ready to leave. We have some lunch then it’s back to the studio to get all the album tracks, info and metadata to my aggregator (digital distributor) for the full album release on 7 November.
Next job is to create a shareable folder of assets to promote the album. Tagged MP3s of all the tracks, cover art, one-sheet etc…the link needs to go in the news releases and stuff.
I get it all finished just in time to meet Betty for dinner….
UP EARLY ’cos I wanna get into Glasgow and visit my pal Neil in hospital. I stop en route to get one stuff to take him and then park up at the Beatson.
We chat for a couple hours and I hope I’ve managed to brighten up his day a little.
I stop for some shopping on the way home, have some lunch then hit the studio…the to-do list is as long as my arm and although everything’s urgent I need to try and work out the priorities.
First up is a bunch of news releases not only for the full album release, but also the four ‘launch’ shows both regionally and nationally.
I get the releases all written but decided to leave the assets folder and links ‘til tomorrow and get on with making up some videos to use in social ads and posts for the associated shows.
It’s after 8pm when I get back to the house. Mikey’s arrived and I make some smash burgers before an early night.
I WAKE up with the fear – it’s release day for Good Friend Blues, the final single before the album drops and for some reason I haven’t set up the video premiers for today.
After breakfast, then, it’s straight into the studio. I also need to edit up a vertical format of the video for reels and other stuff around my socials.
The guy from the garage in Killearn picks up the car for a service and oil change. He’s also gonna check out our front parking sensors which are goosed and VW wants about £600 to fix.
I manage to get out for a walk up the lochside before an early dinner…then we hit the village hall for a quiz night, coming third with our team-mates Fiona and Sheldon.
UP EARLY to get some artwork done for the Black Bull in Gartmore before Fiona arrives to go for a paddle.
I get everything done and finish breakfast just as she rolls up and we paddle to Port Bawn on Inchacailloch and back. First time I’ve been out on the loch since my cataract op seven weeks ago.
Back home I jump int he shower then we head into Glasgow to pick up a load of hoodies and Ts from our screen printer pal Kenny.
Next stop Costco and a quick snack then the optician in Milngavie for my post-cataract check up and new prescription.
On our way home we drop the shirts and hoodies off at the embroiderer’s and get back just in time for my guitar student arriving at the studio.
Once done I do a little prep for a Zoom interview with a music journalist in London.
While Margaret makes dinner I finish off an order of Conic Hill leather bookmarks. Busy day!
A BUSY day kicks off with a 9am session with one of my online guitar students…followed immediately by an in-person student.
There’s a 20-minute or so break before another online session then I get busy with some merch in the office.
With Good Friend Blues dropping on Friday I have a load of radio and other promo to do as well as making the track available to folks in my Wildcats’ Facebook group and on my email list.
Late afternoon we head to Doune to look after the kids. There’s some stuff to drop off at Europa Music so we take the kids into Stirling then back to Doune to wait for Catriona to get back from work.
It’s after 8pm when we get home and I try my hand at fish tacos for dinner…work out not bad at all.
WE SLEEP in…I don’t wake up ’til after 10am. Think our body clocks and routine are all away to fuck!
There’s so many different things needing done I’m not sure where to start and tackle random jobs to try and clear the decks.
I’d hoped for a paddle…or maybe a walk…but before I know it it’s well after 5pm and I have a guitar student coming at 6pm.
I get a bit of tidying done in the studio and a quick walk to the water before my student arrives.
Once done, I make the sugo for our Italian sausage pasta and stretch the sourdough before sorting some more stuff out in the studio.
After dinner I call radio DJ and host Abe Perlstein in California – I’m guesting on his show. I use an app called Yolla as Skype is no more and it seems to work OK.
Abe plays six tracks from the forthcoming Still Friends album and we chat between them. Grand.
WE’RE woken just after 5am by the ‘music’ being piped into our cabin on the ferry. Oooffft.
By 6.30am we’ve driven off the car deck, cleared customs and on the road home from Portsmouth.
I take over driving after an 8am breakfast stop and we share the wheel until we hit Glasgow – and Costco – just after 4pm.
We get some shopping and something to eat then roll up home and start unloading the car.
There’s a bit of carnage in the garden after some storms just after we left and a power cut has left my hydroponics neglected…but still in OK shape.
We’ve not long got the majority of stuff sorted when Betty comes along for some help with driving directions for a trip she’s making tomorrow….
A LAZY morning then we start packing and getting everything ready to hit the road.
Another lovely lunch with Dominque and Marie-Claude then we bid farewell and hit the road to the port at Caens.
It’s a fair drive and dark when we get to the port. After a snack at the terminal we get on-board the ferry, find our cabin and sleep all the way to Portsmouth,
THERE’S been a lot of attempted fraudulent purchases through the Love Balmaha and West Highland Way Gifts websites over the last few days – a couple have made it through though…I refund them and mark as suspected fraud.
The issue is that I am still out of pocket re the transaction fees. They’re not much, but if I let it continue it could mount up.
Had the same on this website’s (davearcari.com) online store and an anti-fraud plug-in seemed to stop it…but it hasn’t worked on the other sites.
I decide to temporarily put both sites into maintenance mode for a few days to see if the fraudsters’ bots move on when they can’t reach the shop page/s.
There’s some stuff to do for the Black Bull in Gartmore then I do some last-minute promo for tonight’s show in Tours.
I’s not for – just 45-minutes or so – to Tours. We go ahead as we wanna grab some stuff form a supermarket to bring home (most are closed on Sunday)…Marie-Claude and Dominique are already at the venue when we get there!
Bistro 64 is small but has a good stage area and they host some good shows. We get loaded in, soundchecked and ready to hit the stage at 9pm.
The place is busy and get even busier as the jungle drums seem to beating and bringing folks in.
We’re back at the mill just after midnight. Marie-Claude and Dominique have brought pizza back – we eat and drink red wine until after 2am….
AFTER breakfast I restring the acoustasonic after a string breakage the other night.
The process is cursed, tho’. The sixth (bass) string is too heavy to go through the tuner post and needs a load of faffing about…then the first string won;t stay locked in the ‘locking’ tuner. Needs more winding (it shouldn’t) but is now cut. I have no more extra strings with me for this guitar and try a used one. The ball end comes off. Bah. We’ll go to the music shop in Chinon later.
We have lunch then I do some work and promo for tomorrow (Saturday’s) final show of the trip in Tours.
The music shop opens at 3pm and we also want to go and pick up some wine to take home so we jump in the car and kill two birds with one stone.
Back home I fix the guitar and ensure all the stuff I need is fully charged up for tomorrow’s show in Tours.
Later on we take Marie-Claude and Dominique out for a meal to say thank you for their amazing hospitality and kindness. The restaurant they choose in Chinon is fantastic!
AFTER a leisurely breakfast I try and catch up with a little work promoting November’s album launch shows.
All of a sudden it’s lunch time and Marie-Claude has made magret duck. Adrien is in town and joins us.
I resist the temptation to go for a nap and go it for an hour so’s meander along the country roads and lanes near the mill.
We take a drive into Avoine to pick up some wine then back to the mill for dinner with Dominique, Marie-Claude and their pal Stephane.
AFTER breakfast with Dominique and Marie-Claude I start working on some temporary videos for Facebook and Instagram ads for the album launch shows.
I need to get some ads running for these gigs ASAP –but the ‘master’ video I usually use for this is on the machine at home. In the meantime I’ll use the promos I filmed in the garden here at the mill.
Once edited into various vertical, square and 16:9 formats I set up the ads. We’re still not sure when we’ll be home, but whenever we do get back I’ll do some new video for the ads.
We have lunch in the garden and then have a nap before heading to La Salle de Sports for this evening’s show. It’s a small, almost private, gig and we have a lot of fun with our friends.
Back at the mill Marie-Claude makes dinner and we chat over a few glasses of red before bed.
AFTER breakfast I do a bit of work on our local hydro society website and post some news round the socials. Best get that done now rather than wait ’til we get home.
The ‘when we get home’ to-do list has grown a little more than I would have hoped!
It’s another beautiful day so I take a walk for an hour and discover lots of interesting wee roads and buildings.
We drive to a nearby town to pick up one supplies and have a snack – when we get back Dominique and Marie-Claude are at the mill along with their pal Jacky.
After an aperitif (or two) we have dinner and chat the night away. C’est tres bon 🙂
BREAKFAST at the mill with Yvette, Jacques, Corrine and Jean Luc before everyone heads for the festival site.
Music starts at 12.30pm today and runs ’til 6pm. Today’s headliners – Little Bob Blues Bastards – had to cancel as 85-year-old Bob has lost his voice 🙁
There’s a silver lining in every cloud, though – the replacement is Elliott Murphy. We’ve never come across him before – a good pal of Bruce Springsteen who also write album liner notes for Lou Reed. He and his band were amazing!
Elliott’s fiddle player Melissa joins us for a few drinks and we hang out at the wrap party before heading back to the old mill. Been quite some weekend.
WE’RE up at a more reasonable hour today and have breakfast with Jean Luc, Corinne, Jacques and Yvette – nice to see them as they were part of the group from France that came to a Memorial Hall show in Scotland back in 2018.
I get a little work done then we take a drive to Chinon where we have a wander around and stop for some lunch.
Then it’s back to the old mill for before heading back to the festival site. Musical highlight today is Francesco Piu Groovy Brotherhood…as well as all the food and drink!
WE SPEND the morning and afternoon catching up on some work.
I edit up a reel of vertical video clips from last night’s show and post it around my socials then we make our way to the festival site to load in.
It’s not the best weather, but all the outdoor areas are pretty well covered and the rain has stopped by the time I take to the stage.
There’s lots of familiar faces amongst the crowd and Margaret does well on the merch.
Once I’ve cleared my gear off the stage we go to eat – Marie Claude is running all the artist and crew catering and the food is nothing short of amazing.
We watched another couple of bands then head back to the old mill. What a night!
ANOTHER long lie and relaxed morning at the old mill.
It’s also another nice sunny day so after breakfast I take a walk around some of the wee roads round about.
We get some work done int he afternoon then make our way into town to set up for tonight’s show at Relais du Velors – a pre-festival ‘inauguration’ show.
The place is mobbed and we have a great evening.After the show Dominque presents me with a photo from a similar pre-festival show at the same venue (in 2017!) by photographer Laurent Leduc.
After we get tidied up we go to the festival site for some dinner then back to the old mill.
WE HAVE a very long lie at the old mill then make some brunch before heading to the festival site in Beaumont for coffee with Dominique and all the festival volunteers who are working tirelessly to have everything ready for the weekend.
Dominique takes us to a wee venue nearby where I’m playing a special launch show for the festival tomorrow (Thursday) night . We have a wee recce, chat to the owner over another coffee then we go back to the mill.
I sit outside and noodle about on the guitar and come up with some wee bits that might make a future song then we do a livestream and have a wee wander around.
Later on we head back into town and join everyone at the festival site for dinner.
WE’RE WOKEN at 4.45am (UK time) by music piped into our cabin. Jeez. Think it’s meant to give us a heads up that we have an hour to go before docking at Caen.
By the time we’ve come to, got ourselves sorted and I’ve found coffee we’re pretty much ready to go down to the car deck.
Once we’re not he road we stop at the first service station we find and fall asleep int eh car for nearly two hours! Then we go in and have some breakfast.
Messages on both our phones from Three inform us that the £25 spending cap I set up on our phones before we left to ensure our £2-a-day charge to access our UK calls/data/text allowance would run smoothly has been exceeded. I get on the chat with Three to try and find out what the fuck is going on and they’re pretty unhelpful saying that there’s nothing they can do about considering a refund ‘til my next bill. I’m a little but tetchy about it to say the least.
It looks like we’ve been charged £25 each for data used during a six-hour ferry crossing while we were asleep. Fuck off. To add insult to injury, if I hadn’t increased the spend cap in advance of travelling (as recommended by Three!) things wouldn’t have been anywhere near as bad. Also, no warning or notice from Three or any other service provider that passing through some kinda ‘no-man’s land’ would incur a mega charge. I’ll deal with this when the time comes.
Anyway, onward to Avoine and Beaumont en Véron where we rock up tp the festival site. Work is already well under way and went catch up with some of our local pals and have a coffee before Dominique takes us to the old watermill which will be home for the next ten days or so.
We chill for a while then head back to the festival site for drinks and dinner with the main crew…gonna be an exciting few days ahead…
ALTHOUGH breakfast at the hotel finishes at 9.30am we don’t need to check out until midday. We’re in no huge hurry so have breakfast, get back to the room, get our stuff together and leave the hotel around 11am.
The drive to Portsmouth is uneventful with only a sandwich and toilet stop along the way.
The ferry is scheduled to leave at 11pm so we have some time to kill and end up visiting Nando’s for some dinner, then on to the ferry port where we sit in a queue for an hour or so before boarding.
Our wee cabin is fine and we chill for a while before some zzzz’s….the ferry gets into Caens at 5.45am so not gonna get much sleep!
BREAKFAST is on until 11am so we have a bit of a long lie then head downstairs. A good spread of stuff.
No plans or rush for anything today but I do have a few things I need to attend to. First up, remove The Met landing page form my website.
Next, there’s new cover images to be made for my socials to help start promoting November’s album launch shows.
The next single – and last one before the whole album drops – is released on 17 October and needs set up with my digital aggregator for timely distribution to all the streaming services. It’s a bit fiddly as I dealing with all the singles and subsequent album as a ‘waterfall release’ to see if it helps build streaming numbers.
I also take some of the video from last night’s show at The Met and manage to edit up a song from the set on the iPad.
We venture outside for a walk int he sunshine and grab snack before returning to the hotel to chill.
We’re not hugely hungry later on so have dinner in the hotel. Cheap and cheerful - although my chicken burger has, I am sure, seen better days!
UP EARLY to get the gear sorted out and car parked for a 10am getaway…and we’re on the road bang on schedule.
With just one toilet/food stop we get our hotel in Rochdale where we drop our bags and chill for a while before the six-mile drive to The Met in Bury for load in.
Shaun opens the stage doors and helps us in with the gear…soundman Craig who worked my show in the same venue – way back in July 2009 – makes soundcheck quick and easy. The sound, and space, is brilliant.
We have time to nip out to a nearby Italian restaurant. Nice folks but the food is mediocre…Margret’s cannelloni isn’t hot all the way through and the pasta has a strange texture. My risotto tastes good but is a bit sludgy. The fact that the food arrived about five minutes after ordering doesn’t inspire much confidence in freshness.
We’re back at the venue in good time for doors. I have to go and ‘sit down’ three of four times before I take the stage. Not sure if it’s the food, nerves or both…it’s my first show like this in a while.
There’s a good crowd in albeit a few less folks than we’d hoped for – especially after throwing nearly £200 in socials advertising over the last two months. Amongst the audience is my old pal an bandmate Marsha who moved down here 23 years ago (gulp)…and Rachel…one of my predecessor student president’s at Kirkcaldy Tech, Haven't seen her for 40 years (double gulp!). It’s great to catch up with both after the show.
RELEASE day for MacPherson’s Lament…and I realise that I haven’t set up the official video on Youtube or Facebook. I get right on it after breakfast!
There’s still a few songs needing rehearsed for tomorrow’s (Saturday) show at The Met in Bury. We’re unsure of my set length at Festival BAR and any other French shows so I make up a variety of set lists to cover, hopefully, any eventuality.
Next job is the edit for the next single from the album – Good Friend Blues. Drops on 17 October, so time is tight!
I take a break to clear the gutters both at the studio and the house then take a wander up the lochside.
When I get back I finish the Good Friend Blues video edit then make some vertical video of today’s release for my socials.
I’d hoped to get all the gear sorted and car packed tonight but there’s still guitar strings to be changed and a bunch of other stuff needing done so looks like I’m gonna need to get out my pit early in the morning!!
MARGARET has to go to the village for some stuff so I jump in the car and get a walk back, stopping to film some reels and stuff to promote tomorrow’s (Friday) release of MacPherson’s Lament.
In the office I make a brass pin – a surprise gift for a pal – and then pack up the old backdrop to end out to the winning bidder on eBay.
Next, rehearsals for Saturday’s show at The Met, Bury…and the subsequent shows in France.
I edit some video clips I filmed while walking earlier and get them posted round my socials.
Margaret’s busy in the kitchen when I get back from the studio. Fiona and Betty are coming for dinner.
We have a grand evening – I walk Betty home just after 11pm – then we sit chatting with Fiona until nearly 2am!
AFTER the usual admin and stuff I have a session with one of my online guitar students.
Then it’s off to the school in Balloch for a music session with t he kids. Margaret drops me off and picks up some shopping And stuff before collecting me and we head into Glasgow via Braehead.
Next stop is our t-shirt guy to pick up a batch of shirts and hoodies then onto Barrowlands for the BBC New Comedy Awards which we enjoy more than we expect!
THE morning is taken up with promo for Friday’s release of McPherson’s Lament. It’s already available on Bandcamp prior to the ‘official’ release on all streaming services.
With the wee GoPro proving unreliable, I’m looking at ways of making use of the old Osmo Pocket camera to document gigs. It’s difficult to mount on a tripod when the WiFi module is clipped on the bottom so I set about designing a mount.
This is my first real attempt at 3D design and I get it started before ANita form the Black Bull in Gartmore comes for a meeting about the venue’s upcoming winter music season.
Once we’re done I get back on the 3D design and start a 3D print. It comes out OK but I made a small mistake measuring the hexaganol part of the connector. A small adjustment and version two works. I’m chuffed and amazed!
We spend the evening at Liz’s where we have a lovely dinner and good craic.
I SPEND AN hour before my first online guitar student trying to sort the wee GoPro I use as a close up/second camera for online lessons/sessions.
The camera’s been plague by power and battery issues for as long as I can remember and I’ve tried every combination of batteries, USB-C cables, resetting I can think of. And more. I finally get it to at least power up and get me through the session.
I usually use it to capture some video at live shows but its unreliability has made it impractical. I wonder if my DJI Osmo Pocket might be an option. I look it out and check its WiFi adaptor. Maybe give it a try at The Met on Saturday.
The sun’s out so I take the chance to do a little more tidying up in the garden then get some weed killer down – a job that’s long overdue!
I use the wee drone to make a another quick promo from Saturday’s show then take a walk up the lochside before my afternoon guitar student arrives.
Then it’s back to the studio to prep for this week’s Wildcats’’ livestream on Facebook. There’s time to send out a news release for the local hydro society before I go live and have a hassle free livestream 🙂
`LOVELY day outside – cold overnight but a clear blue sky.
After breakfast I hit the studio and run through some of my set for next weeken;s show at The Met in Bury. Must try and get myself match fit.
In the office I sort some more merch then tackle some of the stuff needing done in the garden. A bit too windy to spray weed killer so I start dismantling the fruit cage which isn’t very ‘winter-proof’.
Late afternoon Mikey leaves and I take a walk along to Betty’s to do a ‘quick fix’ on something….
AFTER breakfast burritos I leave Margaret helping Mikey with his accounts and I take the bus to the village and pick up a prescription from the chemist.
I stop in to the art studio and have a chat with Tessa then Walk home. It’s a nice, mostly off road five-mile or so wander listening to podcasts as I go.
There’s an event on at the nearly Tir na Nog that our neighbour Jess is involved with. We thought the kids might like it so we head off, taking Mikey, and meet Catriona, Freya and Aaron there. We have a fun few hours, the kids particularly liking the fire-breathing dragon.
Back home I grill some sausages and we all have hot dogs before Catriona and the kids go home.
In the office I engrave a batch of insulated cups with the new logotype and prep some other merch for our travels next week.
LOTS of social media stuff to do this morning – just a week to go ‘til my show at The Met in Bury.
In the office I get some bits and bobs of merch in production to make sure we have enough stuff – not only for The Met, but also our subsequent journey to France to play Festival B.A.R. and (hopefully!) some other shows. The booker/agent is, let’s say, a little laisssez-faire.
I manage to get a break for a wander up the lochside then when I get back I put the old backdrop up for auction.
There’s a decent harvest of wee tomatoes from the hydroponic – and forest of basil so I make some pasta dough and prep to make pasta with cherry tomatoes.
Later on Mikey arrives so he and Margaret can get a decent start on his accounts in the morning.
MARGARET’S off early to Edinburgh to pick up Les and go to get her hair done.
I get a message from the embroidery lady asking if she can drop off a batch of beanies so I get out my pit and have breakfast before she drops by.
Stephen Jardine has an optician on his BBC Radio Scotland show and is taking calls. I message and get a call back from one of the producers – they’ll call back in ten minutes so I can pitch my query live: how soon after my cataract op can I safely go out for a paddle? My op was three weeks ago and guidance is a loose three or four weeks – what does she think?
A careful answer recommends I wait ‘til after I’ve seen my optician which isn’t ‘til we get back from France. Ach well – the weather over the next week’s crap anyway, so unlikely I’d have a chance to go out anyway.
In the studio I finish off the hydro society news release and send it round my colleagues for fact checking before I fire it off to the local media.
Next job is to make another set of videos to promote next week’s show at The Met, Bury round my socials. The light is inconsistent with the sun coming in and out unpredictably but I get something done.
I also want to use the ads as the creative on a new set of Facebook and Instagram ads retargetting folks that have watched the videos in my other ads for the show.
My late afternoon guitar student arrives at the studio then I go back to the house for a nap before starting to prep dinner.
I HAVE a couple of hours to catch up on some work after my 9am online session with one of my guitar students.
Margaret reminds me that we’re out of current design (‘the blues comes in many colours’) t-shirts and hoodies in some sizes so I call Kenny to see if he can do a rush order for next week. The new design shirts with screen printed backs and embroidery on the front are still some way off.
There’s also a news release to be written for the local hydro society but halfway through I have an irresistible urge to take a merch idea that’s popped into my head and make a prototype. So I do.
After an early lunch I head to Balloch for a music session at the school.
Back home when Margaret goes to a community trust meeting I take a wander upon the lochside.
After my walk and Margaret’s meeting we pick up Betty and go toot he next village for some dinner. Lovely.
THE TO-DO list is out the window after breakfast – Margaret needs photos urgently for our local place plan.
I trawl through my archives to see what I have and pull out a bunch of stuff, but she needs some specific stuff. Urgently.
We’re off into Glasgow – I have a Musicians’ Union meeting – but we leave early as it’s decent weather and we can stop en route to get the pix. I have the drone and ‘normal’ camera so manage to get a selection of shots in the bag.
Onward to Glasgow and Margaret drops me at the STUC centre for the meeting and goes for some shopping before coming back to collect me.
Back home we sort the pix and then spend some time wrestling with email accounts then outside for pizza.
MONDAY. That means an early alarm to get my sourdough in the oven then into the studio after breakfast for a session with one of my online guitar students.
Top of the to-do list, sorting new t-shirt artwork and production, is bumped down the list so I can do an interview for a local magazine.
After lunch I get back on schedule, sort the t-shirt/hoodie artwork and speak to Kenny, my screen printing buddy.
I’m just finished when Laura and Violet rock up for Violet’s guitar lesson after which I head back to the studio, edit some video and prep for tonight’s WIldcats’ livestream on Facebook.
AFTER a late breakfast I spend some time messing around with artwork and design ideas for new shirts and hoodies. Need to get ‘em sported quick as we’re off south then onto France soon for a bunch of shows.
I take a break and cut the grass while the rain’s off and manage to get some strumming done too. Maybe the last grass cut of the year?
The rest of the day is spent trying to sort out some website and e-commerce hassles. Nothing critical, but annoying stuff that shouldn’t be happening!
Margaret has dinner ready just in time for Bill’s livestream – the last one before he and Dorothy go back to Florida.
AFTER breakfast and chat at Billy and Dorothy’s we hook up with Mikey and go to his flat in Dundee where I install and set up a security camera for him.
Next stop, KFC then we drop into Perthshire Caravans to check out the camper vans and stuff but there’s nothing inspiring to see.
Onward to Doune where we stop off to see Catriona and the kids and drop off a birthday present for WIl’s big day tomorrow.
WE HAVE a bit of a late rise after a late night (erm..early morning!) then I go to the studio and pack a guitar for this evening.
Early afternoon we head to Bill and Dorothy’s ‘holiday home’ at Invergowrie just outside Dundee. We’re going to a special show Bill’s organised tonight – he’s invited me to play a few songs – and staying over.
We have an early dinner then make our way into the town and the Clep Bar where everything’s already set up for Bill and a splendid roster of musical pals are playing a kinda memorial show for some of the resident musicians who’ve passed on over the last few years. Quite humbled to have been invited to play too.
We have a grand night full of fun and colorful characters then have a nightcap before bed…another 3am job….
FIRST job of the day is designing and ordering a new backdrop – a necessity now that I’ve updated my logo.
I go to the same supplier we used last time and go for a slightly wider format. A bit more expensive, but worth it.
An email comes back saying the order is processing and the backdrop has gone into production so I hit the studio to run through some songs – we’re off to Bill’s gig in Dundee tomorrow (Friday) and he’s asked me to plays a few songs.
There’s some other work to do too then an email comes in from the backdrop folks asking for an extra £30-odd for ‘Highlands and Islands’ delivery. Erm…we’re only 20 miles outside Glasgow and definitely not in ‘the Highlands’!
I call the company and explain and they respond by saying it’s down to their courier. I explain that we’ve never been classed as Highlands and Islands…and the last backdrop I ordered from them didn’t attract this ridiculous surcharge. I tell them to put the order on hold and I’ll send them some other potential delivery addresses to see of they fall within the courier’s ‘normal’ delivery area.
I send off some alternative addresses and awaiting a reply…when it comes in the company has decided that they don’t need me to pay extra and the order proceeds.
Duncan and Irene are coming for dinner later – the starter is Vietnamese summer rolls which are a bit of a faff so I get onto it early. The rolls made, I move onto the dipping sauce then spot an email from one of my fellow directors of the local hydro scheme…last night’s power cut has taken down the computer and it looks like the generator’s stopped.
No one else has replied so I volunteer to drive to the village, hike across the fields and see if I can get things back up and running. Mission accomplished 🙂
The unexpected task has eaten a up any spare time so I’ve only just finished the prep for our main course when Duncan and Irene rock up.
WEDNESDAY. That means three back to back guitar sessions – one in-person sandwiched between two online lessons.
During the third one I get a message from the school saying they don’t need me today. I coulda done with the dish but there’s a lot needing done so it’s not the end of the world.
Margaret needs an iPad stand and orders one online – I revise I could maybe 3D printer one to use until it arrives. I find one on Bambu Makerworld and set it to print. Might take a while. U there’s no huge hurry.
So instead of school, I hit Glasgow for a load of shopping which gives us a bit of breathing space tomorrow by freeing us up on another busy day.
Margaret’s off to a community trust meeting when I get back and she’s only away ten minutes when the power goes off. No big deal, I ’spose – then I remember the 3D printer in the office which has (had!) almost finished the iPad stand. I power it off in case there’s a surge when the electricity comes back on.
I’m amazed when the power is restored and I switch the 3D printer back on it gives me the option to continue. It does!
Meantime, Margaret’s back and I make some pasta dough and smoke a salmon fillet for dinner…
I’VE ARRANGED a 10am photoshoot outside the village hall with community hydro scheme grant awardees.
I’m frustrated that there’s three no-shows and call-offs but we get some good shots of the group of folks who have bothered to show up. Blotted copy books and so on 😉
Back home I pick a couple of shots, tidy them up and put them aside for when I have to time write up a news release.
There’s a new video ad to be made for the upcoming Met Theatre show in Bury. Once that’s done and scheduled for publication I get some more stuff done for Black Bull Gartmore’s wire music season.
The ‘intro to Dave Arcari’ video could do with an update and refresh so when I go a walk up the lochside I take the wee DJI Neo drone and film a little bit of ‘walking and talking’ to see how it could look. If it has promise we’ll try similar with a proper camera and gimbal.
I’m home in time to take a trip to the dump in Balfron. Out bins are all full since I cleared out the office a couple weeks ago.
Smash burgers for dinner – there’s some extra patties defrosted so I invite Betty along to join us…
MY WEEKLY sourdough routine seems to make Mondays come round awful quick!
Once the routine stuff is out the way I head to the studio for a session with one of my online guitar students.
Next job is promo stuff and ticketing for the Black Bull Gartmore’s winter music season. Once I have artwork finished and all the assets ready I send them off and start setting up the ticketing.
After lunch I nip out for a walk while the going’s good and get back just in time for my afternoon guitar student arriving.
I need to make a new set of videos for social media ads for the upcoming show at The Met in Bury (27 September)…then prep for my Wildcats livestream on Facebook.
QUITE a lot on today’s to-do list. After breakfast I pack up some merch orders that were waiting for the embroidered beanies, print postage and book a collection.
It boils ma piss that the post office close all the local post offices (nearest to us is now 12 miles away – a 24-mile round trip!) – and then have the audacity to charge for the postie to collect when they’re at the door anyway. Moreover we have to work out the postage ourselves and print the labels etc and pay for the privilege. Anyway…
There’s ameeting with a local group hoping to buy the recently closed church from Church of Scotland so we head along to get an update on the project. I’d planned to walk there and back but it’s pissing rain…and I don’t really have the time.
When we get back I spend some time on artwork and promo stuff for the Black Bull in Gartmore’s upcoming winter music season.
WE have a leisurely breakfast and morning with Alastair and Karen then they hit the road.
I have some stuff to do for the Black Bull Gartmore’s upcoming music season and spend some time in the studio getting some graphic ideas together an collating the artist info and photos.
Louise from The Unique Company messages to see if I’m around to drop off an order of embroidered beanies. She pops up and we have a blether. The hats are amazing 🙂
We’re both knackered and have a nap on the couch then I get stuff ready for tonight’s pizzas and ball up the dough I made the other day putting the extras in the freezer.
AFTER breakfast i get busy with the merch orders.
As well as the free-plus-postage stuff there’s the additional items most folks have ordered…and some of them need made. There’s also orders for embroidered beanies which I won’t have until tomorrow.
I make up some leather hat patches and print up various mugs then get the orders packed up and postage printed.
The other orders will need to wait for the embroidered beanies or other ‘blanks’ I’m waiting on.
Alastair and Karen are coming from the night and I wanna have as much food prep done as possible, starting with the Vietnamese rice paper wrapped summer rolls. It’s a bit of a fanny dance as the vermicelli noodles are cooked in coconut water with some bashed lemongrass stalks and then Wolle’s into the rice paper ‘wrappers’ with iceberg lettuce, prawns, coriander, mint and chives.
Once they’re done I make up the dipping sauce then move into the marinade for the salmon.
I have time for a very quick walk and am just back and shutting the studio when Alastair and Karen arrive. Next thing we know it’s nearly 3am….
WIPED this morning for some reason…so a bit a of late breakfast.
There’s a load of merch orders to be sorted out – all the ‘free-plus-postage’ stuff has been snapped up and most folks have ordered additional stuff.
There’s also been a bunch of orders from the same person – based overseas – and even more ‘failed orders’. It seems a wee bit suspicious to me. I don’t wanna blow out the orders – or take an undue amount of time to fulfil them – out in case they are genuine….but I don’t wanna send stuff out if someone’s being scammed. Dilemma.
I think I’ll sit tight and see what I think in a few days and consider refunding the orders…or look at what other actions might be best.
After lunch I have a couple folks coming from the Black Bull in Gartmore for a meeting. We’ve just finished when my late afternoon guitar student rocks up with his mum.
A BUSY day of guitar stuff today kicks off with an online session and then straight on to an in-person lesson.
A local pal needs help with some t-shirts and stuff so I bet that done then, after an early lunch, head off to the school in Balloch for my first music session of the academic year.
Back home I get a ‘free-plus-postage’ clearance sale set up in my online store. With the implementation of my revamped logo looming I wanna get rid of some odd bits of merch with the ‘old’ logo and this is a good way to do it.
By the tie Betty arrives for dinner I’ve managed to get everything live and fire out a few emails.
SEPTEMBER already. Jeez. My right eye seems to recovering OK from Friday’s cataract op – still a few weeks before I can go for a paddle or ‘exert’ myself tho’.
After my Monday morning sourdough routine I get some admin out the way, have breakfast then hit the studio for a session with one of my online guitar students.
Next, onto radio promo for the next single – MacPherson’s Lament –which drops on 26 September.
That keeps me busy ‘til Violet arrives with her mum for her weekly guitar lesson.
Having had pretty much zero exercise or fresh air since Friday’s procedure I’m keen to get a walk. As soon as I step out the door it starts pouring so instead I do some prep for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
The rain eases a little so I grab a waterproof and get a bit of a walk before the livestream….
FREYA is through to our room first thing…under strict instructions not to poke papa in the eye or jump on him. For once I’m spared!
Aaron has gone through to the living room to his mum on the couch.
I make breakfast burritos then get busy in the office engraving a bunch of insulated cups for a customer.
Maggi and Joel come by and drop off their wee dog Rosie for the kids to look after for an hour or two.
Later on they come back to pick up the dog and stop for a coffee. They have Maggi’s nephew and his wife with them who are visiting from Wisconsin.
Everyone heads off late afternoon and I spend some more time trying to get my head round 3D design and sculpting. It’s starting to fry my brain.
EYE’S feeling pretty good when I wake up…I take the plastic cup thing off my eye, give it a bathe and then start the rigorous eye drop regime.
As well as the normal post eye drops, my steroid drops have been upped to try and minimise the chance of a uveitis flare up.
I’ve to take it easy today and we have Catriona and the kids coming for Margaret and I’s joint birthday. They’re staying overnight too.
WE’RE UP early and no time for breakfast before we head to Vale of Leven hospital day surgery to check in for my cataract op.
There’s five folks ahead of me so I have to wait a good couple hours before I’m taken – but the nurses are good craic.
The procedure itself only takes about 20 minutes and whilst it was a bit freaky it was pain-free and not traumatic in any way. The doc and all the theatre folks were very pleasant and efficient.
I’m having a cup of coffee and a couple biscuits whilst getting my post-op care instruction when Margaret comes to collect me.
Back home I swallow some paracetamol, have something to eat then have a sleep.
I’ve to keep the plastic eye thing on ‘til tomorrow and start my rigid regime of drops. A little more complex than the usual to minimise the potential for a uveitis flare up.
I’M STILL knackered when I wake up…no idea why…too much to do to laze about tho’.
Top of today’s list is to make a Spotify canvas – a short vertical looping video that displays when a track is played – for the upcoming MacPherson’s Lament release (26 September).
Once the canvas is uploaded I pitch the song to Spotify’;s editorial playlists.
I take a break and try and learn a little more about 3D sculpting and modelling on the iPad then get back onto promo stuff for the single.
Once the news release is written I add links for private streaming/download previews and also a link to an assets folder with .mp3 and .wav versions of the track, cover art, the news release and a lo-res preview version of the official video.
The rain’s off so I go for a walk, stopping in at Betty’s to help out with a couple wee things.
After dinner I try and have an early night. Eye surgery – cataract – at 8.30am in the morning….
THREE guitar students back to back this morning. The first online, next in-person then back online.
I have an hour or so to get through my routine stuff before an online insiders’ forum with Help Musicians then a late lunch.
My pal Duncan calls to see if I’d be available for a meeting at the Black Bull in Gartmore at 5pm to throw in one ideas for promotion of the venue’s winter music season. I’m playing their January show.
I get some more stuff done before it’s tie to head to Gartmore. When I get back home I write up my proposal then smoke some salmon for tonight’s pasta. Betty’s coming for dinner….
THERE’S some email accounts to be sorted for the local community trust which then need to be configured on various devices.
Then it’s back on to the office clear out and tidy. Sometimes you wish you hadn’t started something…
A message comes in from a pal whose website I revamped a while back. They can’t get logged in and want to drop by with their laptop.
I can’t find any problem and we get logged in successfully so helpfully problem solved. We’re just done when David arrives so I can set up his ‘treasurer’ email on his phone.
In the office I get to point where there’s a clean space for the 3D printer – a Bambu Labs 1 Mini – which has been waiting patiently in its box for a week.
The build and set up is pretty straightforward then I successfully mange to print the obligatory test ‘Benchy’. Everything seems to be working fine 🙂
USUAL early start to get the sourdough in the oven and breakfast out the way before a session with my regular Monday morning Zoom guitar student.
I’m not lying finished when I get a call from the eye hospital…there’s been a cancellation and I can get my cataract op on Friday! Yippee. I was concerned that it would come before a gig/s and I’d have to play a mild mannered sit down show to avoid any ‘exersion’.
Main task of the day is editing the video for the next single from the album, MacPherson’s Lament. It doesn’t drop ‘til 26 September but I can’t start the advance press/radio/media promo until the video is finished.
I’m pretty much done when my afternoon guitar student arrives it’s her mum then I start prep for to night’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
There’s even time for a walk up the lochside before the livestream.
All goes fine when I go live and I take a notion to try playing Still Friends on the guitar rather than banjo…it kinda works…
UP EARLY to get everything ready for the community picnic Margaret has organised on behalf of the local community trust.
Boat rides have been arranged from the boatyard to take folks to the near side of Inchcailloch but the ‘picnic’ is at Port Bawn at the far end of the island.
David F has offered to take a boat over with all the food, charcoal, drinks and other supplies and ferry over the folks that would struggle with the walk over the island.
I go on the paddle board and am first on the scene closely followed by Margaret and the first boatful of folks who’ve walked over from the ferry stop.
It’s not long before David arrives and we help his passengers alight and carry all the stuff to the beach.
The weather is perfect and everything goes great other than David and Jamie getting a ticking off from the Park folks for mooring their boats.
I paddle back and amn’t long out the shower when Margaret, our pal Tom and his kids arrive with ice cream which we enjoy in the garden before they head off.
I do a little more work tidying the office then make dinner and chill.
MARGARET’s birthday today. We have breakfast then she has to go into Glasgow for extra shopping…and not for us either.
It’s the community picnic on Inchcailloch tomorrow (Sunday) and despite having put out a last call for numbers on Thursday there’s been umpteen people popping up and asking if they can come.
The boat bookings can no doubt be amended accordingly, but there’s now not enough burgers and other food for the number of folks!
I need to make room in the office for the 3D printer that’s been sitting in its box untouched all week. The place is a bit of a shitshow anyway so I bite the bullet.
First job is to flush out the cooling system and laser tune on the CO2 laser. A time-consuming and fiddly job that’s probably a year overdue. Then I need to clan the mirrors and lens, clean everything out and oil the rails.
With that job out the way I start pulling the place apart and chucking as much as I can in the bin.
Other stuff gets put in plastic tubs to go in the attic and other materials cut to go in the filing cabinet etc….and so it goes...
I get the back of it broken and hopefully get finished by the end of tomorrow.
AFTER breakfast I get the Love Balmaha insulated cups in the online store and spread the word at a local level.
Next job is to create another version of the video ad for my upcoming show at The Met in Bury (27 September). The existing ad ‘expired’ last week and had been running a while so I thought I’d run another with a different song behind it.
I’m out of Dave Arcari postcards which we use for upcoming gig listings and also put into online orders so I knock up some artwork using the revamped logotype and get an order off to the printer.
We’ve been dragging our heels a bit with the idea of embroidered shirts/hoodies and I haven’t got back to the folks that we spoke to a few weeks ago. I create a mockup to work out size and email it over so we can start getting quotes/budget/plan together.
Eventually I free up some time and go for a wander up the lochside, stopping in at our pal Liz’s on the way back to pick up Margaret and stopping for a quick drink,
THERE’S an order for some Love Balmaha tote bags so after breakfast I get busy printing them up in the office.
Annoyingly I fuck up a couple of them and throw them on the ‘botched jobs’ pile. It’s amazing how many things can go wrong or adversely affect a seemingly simple process!
Big job today, though, is finishing my tax return which – for various reasons – is frying my brain. A long call to HMRC is really helpful tho’ and puts me on the right track.
I take a break when one of my guitar students rocks up for a lesson then get back on the tax return…and get it finished and submitted, Phew!
Back in the office I parcel up a. Big vinyl order to go to Finland then prototype a Love Balmaha insulated cup. Works out nice.
Betty’s coming for dinner and has arrived when I get back to the house and make some chicken fajitas.
AFTER an early online lesson with one of my guitar students I get back on my accounts.
Actually, the ‘accounts’ part is largely done, there’s a bunch of other stuff on the tax return that I can’t quite get my head around. I look out some files and try and bring some order to my mess.
After lunch we head into Glasgow and Margaret’s drops me at the eye hospital and goes to the supermarket. I’ve an eye assessment for a (not too long in the, I hope) future cataract op.
Once I’m done I walk along Great Western Road and meet Margaret then we head to Costco for supplies for Sunday’s community picnic on the island.
It’s nearly 8pm when we get home and I make some smash burgers on the Ninja Woodfire for the first time. I realized that it was time-consuming – and unnecessarily wasteful – lighting a chimney full of charcoal and using the grill, especially when a big griddle plate on the top eliminates any fallout/benefits of using charcoal.
I found a flat plate for the Woodfire and ordered last week. It works a treat 🙂
WE’RE off for a day in Edinburgh today finishing up with Miriam Margolyes’ Fringe show. A joint birthday treat instead of buying each other presents…my birthday was last week and Margaret’s is on Saturday.
Rather than drive all the way and contend with traffic jams and parking we’ve decided to use our old folks’ bus passes and get the bus from the Park & Ride at Stirling. Free parking, free bus…what’s not to like?!?
The whole process goes to plan and the electric bus is comfy and efficient.
We alight at Haymarket and wander to Vietnam House restaurant for lunch. We share summer spring rolls then Margaret enjoys Co’m Su’o’n – grilled pork loin marinated with lemongrass, garlic and shallots served with salad and steamed rice. With an egg on top!
I have seafood Xao Sa O’t – squid, prawns and mussels stir fired with lemongrass and chilli. Delicious!
Next we have a wander about, stop off for a drink then make our way to Edinburgh International Conference Centre where Margaret has an Aperol spritz and I have a coffee before joining the huge queue to get into the ‘room’ for the show – more like a 1500-seater theatre with comfy seats and great sound. Could be an awesome venue for an acoustic-ish kinda show/festival.
Margolyes is good – my only annoyance was needing a piss and not being able to go during her 70-minute show.
Then it’s back to the bus, a drive home from Stirling and an early-ish night.
THE DAY starts off with a session with one of my regular online guitar students…then I get the next single – MacPherson’s Lament – delivered to my aggregator (digital distributor) ready for release on Friday 26 September.
Next job is to move on with my accounts. Yeuch. Determined not to be leaving my tax return ‘til the last minute this year and get things back on track.
Mid-afternoon I take a bus to the village, pick up my prescription at the pharmacy and walk back home in the sunshine. Listening to some podcast on BBC Sounds.
After a little more work on my accounts I start the edit on the official video for MacPherson’s Lament. It becomes clear I ain’t gettting anywhere close even to a first cut for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook so I scour some backup drives for some bits and bobs of archive video to spin into the livestream instead.
The livestream goes fine and Margaret’s got dinner ready when I get back to the house shortly after 9pm….
AFTER breakfast I sit in the garden and get some work done on the Love Balmaha website and Facebook page.
Fiona rocks up and we go for a paddle. The village and bay is busy and suspecting same up the lochside toward Milarrochy we head up past Inchcailloch.
On to Torrinch where we stop at the far end for break from paddling.
It’s windier and we head back and there’s a fair amount of wake from random boats and stuff. I’m having trouble keeping my board straight and on investigating I’ve lost my main fin. 🙁
That makes paddling home a bit of an ordeal but a ‘side by side’ paddling between us helps a lot. We’re both pretty knackered when we get back.
Back out in the garden I get some more work done then make some stuffed burgers (mozzarella inside!) which I grill on the Ninja Woodfire with a touch of smoke. The mince was too lean to make smash burgers so I decided to try something new and different….it worked 🙂
AFTER a relaxing morning I venture onto the loch for a paddle. It’s pretty busy with lot of speedboats and jetskis but I have a nice paddle up to Milarrochy and back regardless.
Margaret’s away to the village hall to set up for a local place plan community engagement event – I have a quick shower then take a walk to the village hall and join her.
I walk back home and set up a website for my Love Balmaha idea. Photos, e-commerce and a Facebook page. I’ll get more socials set up in due course.
AFTER coffee and emails/socials etc in bed we get up and I spend some time getting Margaret’s new iPad set up so it will work best for her.
In the office I work on a couple more items for my new local gifts idea. I’m planning to launch a small range of standalone local items that I will slowly – and strategically - add to.
The office is a bit of a mess, partly because I attempted to engrave a big 40oz insulated tumbler a few weeks ago and failed miserably. I have some time today so work on my set up and get it locked in.
Before I do a proper engrave I spend some time messing with my new(-ish) logo and trying out different fonts and text for the logotype. Once I’m happy I get busy and am pretty pleased with the results. I’ll likely get ‘em on sale soon.
The sun’s splitting the sky so I take a wander up the lochside and chat to ranger Louise up at Milarrochy.
Matty’s arrived when I get back and we chill the rest of the evening.
CHILL day today…it’s my birthday. Fucking 61. Mental age about 14. Age in my head 22.
I do minor amounts of work to avoid a backlog and kick off some ideas for coming weeks. Mostly, though, I sit the garden, play guitar and sporadically go onto Facebook a nd ‘like’ all the birthday messages.
Betty comes round for dinner and we have a nice evening and then a relatively early night. Be fucking Ovaltine and early bed soon!
FUNNY – used to be Monday that was my busy guitar lesson/workshop day but it’s kinda moved to Wednesday.
I have an online session first thing and my next student arrives just as the online session is winding up.
There’s about 20 minutes between the next two sessions then I get on with some routine admin stuff.
I have to nip into Glasgow and decide to kill two birds with one stone and get one shopping too. I also wanna pick up an iPad for Margaret. Her 10+ year-old MacBook Air is still going but it’s starting to flag a bit – I’ve replaced my laptop with an iPad Pro and (Logitech) keyboard case and haven’t looked back. And iPad OS26 (still in beta) has brought it even closer to a laptop experience.
I reckon the new ‘basic’ iPad with keyboard/trackpad case would not only be a more productive tool for Margaret being faster and more intuitive to use…but also comes in about 40% of the cost of a new laptop!
She’s not been sold on the idea in past chats so I decide to bite the bullet and sort it out to see if it’ll work for her.
I pick up a Logitech keyboard case with trackpad at the Braehead Apple Store and subsequently an iPad A16 at Costco. Total cost is under £400.
I go about my business in Glasgow, pick up some charcoal at Rightway in Polmadie, Costco and Tesco shopping then home.
Fiona’s coming along for dinner later and we’d planned a paddle beforehand…but her B&B guests haven’t arrived and I’m puggled, so instead start configuring the new iPad for Margaret.
Fiona rocks up at dinner time and we have a nice night of food, wine and chat.
AFTER breakfast I spend some time working with Margaret on our bookings system which has lain dormant since the pandemic!
The first booking system I built was on FileMaker…then Apple brought out Bento which was easier to synchronise and more user friendly so I rebuilt for that.
For some reason Apple discontinued Bento and the only thing we could find that had similar functionality was an app called TapForms. It worked but was clunky and awkward to work with.
When I was booking the last USA tour pre-Covid I discovered AirTable and found it pretty good but then Covid hit and Margaret never really used it and it fell into the background. Now we wanna start using it again.
It’s lunchtime before I go out for my first paddle in a month or more ‘cos of a combination of an elbow injury and shite weather.
I do a livestream from the water then back home for a shower, lunch, then I get the smoker on…time’s tight to get the beef short ribs done so I decide to try the electric smoker instead of the kamado.
Late afternoon one of my guitar students rocks up for a session. We’re not long done when an alert on my phone tells me the ribs are almost done.
Later on when we eat we’re happily surprise that the meat is just as good as when done on the kamado. Seems some things still fare better on charcoal, but some stuff comes out just fine on the electric jobbie….
SIX-thirty and the kids are jumping all over me. Jeez! On the plus side it gets me up to put the sourdough in the oven nice and early!
After breakfast I hit the studio for an online guitar lesson and Maggie and Joel bring their dog, Rosie, for Freya to look after for a few hours.
Next I have a custom pewter pin to finish off and get ready for sending out.
I spend the first part of the afternoon editing up the ‘burrito’ video I shot yesterday morning so I can spin it into tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
When I come to export the finished video there’s an issue referencing the original media files which takes me an age to sort.
There’s some updates to run on the Quad Cortex which I leave running when Catriona comes to pick up the kids then I get busy worth some prep for the livestream which, unusually, goes pretty much to plan with no technical clusterfucks!
I DECIDE to film the breakfast burrito process which I'll edit later on and spin into tomorrow (Monday) night's Wildcats' livestream on Facebook.
Once we've eaten I go out to the office and cast a spurtle pin – one of the recipients of the fi9lm premier batch has lost hers and asked if I could make a replacement.
There's also an order in from the 'States for a couple of acrylic Loch Lomond keyrings so I get them made up and ready for the post to pick up.
Next job is some livestreams of Still Friends which we get done before Catriona rocks up with the kids...we're looking after Freya and Aaron tonight and tomorrow.
I have a batch of pizza dough all ready to go so we all sit outside and eat pizza before Catriona heads back to Doune.
After the kids are in bed I get a little work done then we chill and watch Bill and Dorothy's livestream.
WE HIT the ground running and I get breakfast burritos on the go so we can get to Doune before lunchtime.
We’re looking after the kids and I’m gonna run Catriona and her pal Gillian to the station – they’re off to see Oasis in Edinburgh!
Back in Doune I get a little work done and look after Aaron while Margaret takes Freya to feed the ducks.
Later on we take a drive into Stirling and take the kids to a playpark then it’s back to the house, kids fed and put to bed before we eat.
We chill until Catriona messages to say they’re on the train and I go and pick them up from the station.
After hearing a bit about the gig we hot the road and roll up home about 2am.
Leather bracelet
£5.00
T-shirt: USA 2019 whisky-driven deep blues print
£10.00
Whisky in my Blood ( 180g coloured vinyl - gatefold sleeve)
£25.00
Handmade guitar earrings
£24.99
T-shirt: USA guitar design (blue)
£10.00
Wildcats beanie
£11.99
VOL.1: Something old, something borrowed...
£5.00
Still Friends CD (2025)
£10.00
T-shirt: USA guitar design (red - small size)
£10.00
Handmade reso guitar pin
£15.00
Devil May Care: ltd red vinyl
£20.00
Wildcats cap
£15.00
Still Friends: ltd violet vinyl
£20.00
Handmade reso guitar necklace
£20.00
Acoustic guitar pin
£15.00
Dave Arcari 'colours' mug
£7.50
Resonator guitar earrings: matt gold effect
Price range: £9.99 through £11.99
Embroidered beanie
£13.00
Live at Memorial Hall (vinyl)
£35.00
Live at Memorial Hall (CD)
£10.00