A walk up the lochside…and ten minutes to relax and enjoy the surroundings
THERE’S some brass guitar pins to be made to replenish the merch case for Sunday’s XS Festival in South Wales. I get production started and also look out some insulated tumblers and cups that are already engraved…. and put aside a couple of trekking flasks to engravelater.
In the studio I start the pre-record of Sunday’s radio show – and don’t stop ‘til I’ve got it in the bag. Fingers crossed it all plays OK on Sunday evening!
While I’ve been recording various bits and bobs I need for Sunday’s show have been charging…now it’s time to run through some of the songs that I struggled to remember (lyrically) the other day. Ooooffftt!
It’s windy outside, but no rain. Having got most of today’s to-do list out the way I got a wander up the lochside and take the hammock…stopping on my return journey for ten minutes’ chill time listening to the waves and watching the clouds form the hammock. No bed for a bug net ‘cos of the wind…and the whole thing takes less than a minute to put up and take down. Amazing!
Back in the office I finish off the batch of brass guitar pins and get the pins and backs sorted out before tacos for dinner.
MARGARET has a meeting at 8.30am and sleeps in…to be woken at 8.45am asking if she’s coming! The annoying thing is that I’ve been up since 6.30am and would have them her long ago – but for some reason I thought her meeting was 10.30am.
Luckily it’s a local meeting so after a mad panic she’s off…and I get some stuff done before my guitar student arrives.
Betty’s coming for dinner later and I have a slab of pork belly ready for the smoker. The electric smoker’s throwing up an error code so I rush around getting the kamado set up with wood and charcoal. No sooner do I get it all going and the pork belly on than the electric smoker decides it’s human work. Ah well.
I set the grill cleaner cover to print on the 3D printer then head to it studio for some prep for Sunday's radio show…which is gonna have to be pre-recorded before we head to South Wales on Saturday.
The rain’s hammering down outside and I take a break from choosing tracks to rehearse some of the stuff I might play at the XS Festival on Sunday evening.
I’D HOPED for a paddle this morning but it’s absolutely tipping it down. Instead I hit the studio and make some promo videos for my show on Rock.Scot and send them off.
Next job is to make an info/landing page on my website for the radio show. It makes sense to have some local to the radio stuff. You can see it here.
After lunch the rain’s off so I get Margaret to drive to the village to pick up a prescription and I walk back. Narrowly avoiding getting caught in torrential rain.
Back home I prep the sourdough dough for tomorrow’s bread, trim and rub a slab of pork belly for the smoker (tomorrow) and pickle some red onion to go with tonight’s tacos.
In the studio I mess about with the new song idea and record a very rough version. For some reason none of the reverb plugins are working in my DAW (digital audio workstation)…everything else is showing up and despite a load of online searching I don’t find a solution. Nevermind, it’s not crucial. I make a wee video with a bit of the recording in it and post it to my Wildcats’ Facebook group.
I used up all the limes making the pickling liquor for the red onion and there’s no coriander so I take a drive to Balloch and raid the supermarket for supplies. We eventually have our tacos around 10pm!
AFTER breakfast I finish designing a wee bracket to hold a swivelling curtain rail (don’t ask!) and send it to the 3D printer.
I manage to get another few things off the to-do list before a mid-morning session with one of my online guitar students. Once done we go to the village for a swim and get back home in time for lunch.
There’s some music to go through for next Sunday’s radio show which will need to be pre-recorded as I’m playing the XS Fest in south Wales next Sunday’s easy show night.
I take a break, plug in a guitar and see if I can develop the guitar part for the new song idea I’ve resurrected. It’s I can knock it into some kind of shape I’ll run it past the Wildcats’ during tonight’s livestream.
Next I find some unused video from recent shows and edit up a couple of songs to spin into the livestream,
I’d hopped to get a walk up the lochside, but I’ve note left much time so end up just having a quick walk to the old pier and back…then it’s livestream time.
ONCE I’ve finished all the prep for tonight’s radio show I can start looking at things and stuff for next week’s show which needs to be a pre-record as I’ll be getting ready to go on stage at XS Festival in South Wales when my show goes out next Sunday.
After lunch I take the two big basil plants out the hydroponic system and pot them up. Once goes in the poly greenhouse thing in the garden and the other on the kitchen windowsill. Curious to see if one does better than the other.
Back in the studio I spend more time on the new song. It’s coming together but I’m still getting the vocal line and guitar off a bit mixed up timing wise. The problem isn’t so because song, it’s my timing!
I start compiling a list of potential tracks for next week’s pre-recorded show…then I film a wee promo for tonight’s broadcast and share it round my socials as well as the Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues Facebook page.
There’s time for a quick walk before tonight’s radio show goes live at 7pm….
STRAIGHT into the studio after breakfast…a few ‘studio-centric’ things on today’s to-do list.
There’s still some music submissions to go theorists before I can start any serious prep for tomorrow’s (Sunday) radio programme – plus, I’m playing a show in South Wales – XS Festival – next Sunday (5 July) so I not only need to prep for next week’s radio programme and sort out a pre-record.
With the XS Festival coming up I make some cover art for my Facebook page and profile and post it around then message the South Wales folks on my email and Bandsintown lists.
I spend some time messing with the ‘new’ song idea then get back to some radio prep until it’s time to head off to Gartmore for dinner at Duncan and Irene’s.
I WAKE in a panic thinking the XS-Fest in south Wales is this weekend…it’s not, it’s next weekend.Phew!
Makes me realise I won’t be around for next Sunday’s Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues on Rock.Scot – so as well as all the prep for this week’s show, I need to prep and pre-record next week’s show…and I have a busy week coming up. I hit the studio.
The rest of the morning is spent gathering potential tracks for Sunday – going through my own music collection and listening through all the submissions. Most of the submissions are good stuff, but only a tiny percentage fits with the kinda stuff I play on my show.
I’m not sure if folks submit music without even looking to see what I play…or whether their music is more mainstream than they think. Or maybe they know it’s not a good fit but think “he might play it anyway”…!
The new song idea that I’ve been messing around with for ages – the guitar bit, not lyrics – gets some attention. The stumbling block has been getting any kind of top line melody to fit around a one-chard repetitive, full country-style guitar part. Any chord changes ruin he hypnotic, droning feel I’m looking for and while a sung melody is gonna be pretty simple and sparse it’s hard coming up something to fit. From a melodic rather than a lyrical viewpoint.
I persevere and make a little progress then go for a wander up the lochside.
ANOTHER nice day and after the routine stuff’s out the way we decide to go to the village for a swim.
We stop off en route to visit some pals and their new baby and drop off a gift…then on to the swimming.
The good weather brings opportunity to get some stuff in the garden done before going abck tot he village for an appointment at the doc. He refers me to dermotology. While there I get him to take a look at my right ear – it started to feel a bit off the other night and I thought I maybe had a bigger bite or something inside. It’s not painful but I’m increasingly aware of A mild discomfort.
A quick look and the doc can;t see anything but says to keep an eye on it.
I’m home in time for my guitar student arriving then, after the lesson, we head of to a local energy club info meeting at the village hall.
Back down I light some charcoal and get the grill going for some chicken and Betty joins us for dinner.
Later on I spot an email from one of the halls on Mull we’ve booked for a show at the end of September. They’ve double-booked. Jeez, this is a pain as it means we have to move the whole trip…and all the time I;ve spent setting up ticketting and creating the required graphics is down the tubes. Back to the drawing board in the morning….
SOURDOUGH day so an early rise to get it in the oven then it cools on a rack while I go to the studio for a session with an online guitar student.
Back to the house, breakfast, then I top up the water and feed in the hydroponics in the office. I’ve got tomatillos in one that are nearly ready for potting. It’s a bit late this year ad I should probably have put them in the bigger hydroponic unit so they could stay in there permanently. Ah well. The bigger unit has a couple of good looking basil plants, another on the way and some coriander that’s just germinated.
Next job is weedkiller then I mix some dough to make hotdog buns for lunch.
In the studio I start setting up ticketting for the shows on Mull at the end of September then the dough for the hotdog buns is ready to go in the oven,
By the time I’ve messed around making the buns lunch is a bit late….worth the wait tho’. Margaret misses out ‘cos she’s in Glasgow…but there’s a couple left for tomorrow.
I check and prep the bike for a bike ride to Balloch….not been a proper bike ride for newly a year. Today the weather is good, I have some time and there’s some merch to be delivered…so a bike ride to Balloch ticks all the boxes.
I’m not long home and enjoying a drink in the garden (despite the worst hay fever attack I’ve since I was a kid) when Margaret gets back. She’s picked up some shopping while she was out so we put it away then I have a Zoom session with some fellow wait presenters from the IBBA (Independent Blues Broadcasters Association).
I RE-FILM my ‘remember to vote’ in the National Park board election and post around various local groups and socials. I doubt I’ll win the race, but it’s worth a shot and I’d welcome the opportunity to represent the communities in our area on the park board.
