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!
My first metal penguin…still a bit rough but a good starter
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.
I rationalise my online shop to, hopefully, reduce ‘option paralysis’
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.
I take some merch pix for the online store and promo…and a couple of other fun ones while I’m at it.
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…
It’s getting dark when I go for a wander up the lochside…
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…
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.
