Nice to get out for a paddle despite being gubbed …and the lanyard/beard tangle!
UP EARLY to get breakfast before Fiona comes to go for a paddle. Wind is forecast for later hence going out early.
We have a good paddle. I’ve still got a touch of lurgy – not, thankfully, as bad as Margaret who’s coughing her guts up and feeling awful –but I enjoy he paddle. Fiona comes in for a coffee and a hot cross bun then goes on her way. I fall asleep for an hour!
I spend some time in the studio messing with guitar ideas potentially destined for use on a new song then someone comes to buy one of the items I had put up for sale on Facebook. Turns out we have a lot of friends in common and we natter for an hour before I get back to the studio.
I get a bit wrapped up in stuff and don’t realise the time. IT;s after 9pm when I go back to the house and make some avocado sauce, tomato and red onion salsa and a batch of tortillas for tacos with leftover beef, butternut squash and ancho chilli…
I SPEND the morning in the office setting up an online ‘media room’ for Kevin McDermott’s new website. Quite pleased with the way it’s coming together.
After lunch I get Margaretto drive men to the village where I take posters for the Memorial Hall show round various places and walk back home putting them up on noticeboards as I go.
Back home I start prepping for tonight’s beef, butternut squash and ancho chilli. Betty’s coming for dinner.
While it’s bubbling away I get some more work done in the studio…then back to the house for food, chat and a grand night.
FREYA has us up early…just as well, ‘cos I’ve a busy day.
Straight off there’s a curve-ball when my (this!) website is randomly going offline and not allowing blog posts.
I have a dig about and cant see anything untoward so start a ‘live chat’ with the hosting company. I get a pretty quick response and the person at the other end identifies a couple of easy-fix issues – one of which is the website is going to a proxy that’s then re-directed to the correct IP address. Problem is the proxy has expired and was a hangover from a virus issue sorted out a year ago! I change the DNS record. Hopefully all will be ‘normal’ now.
The posters for next month’s Memorial Hall show need sorted out – outdoor posters laminated and as distribution list made up. Hopefully find time tomorrow to get them all out.
My pal Kevin arrives early afternoon – we have a lot of things to go through to prepare for his upcoming single release and subsequent ‘activities’. The website I’ve put together needs some stuff added in too. You can see it here.
While Kevin and I have been busy Fiona’s dropped by with her puppy Nova to see Freya. Once Kevin and I are finished business Mikey heads back to Dundee and drops Freya back at Catriona and WIll’s in Doune.
First up, I need to edit some teaser videos for my pal Kevin’s forthcoming single.
Once they’re done I do some more work on his website then look through our project plan to see what’s needing prioritised before we have a Zoom call to discuss.
There’s a fair bit of work to be done and I spend the rest of the day on it, taking a short break when Will drops Freya off – she’s staying with us tonight.
I also have a long call about our community hydro scheme website which, as a director, I’m tasked with looking after
Mikey’s been working on our neighbours roof and is staying over too.
It’s 9pm by the time I get back to the house and start the Taiwanese pork belly for dinner. Freya’s only just getting ready for bed and is only asleep a few minutes before dinner is ready!
WE’RE both feeling a bit crap and achy. Must be ‘end-of-touritis’!
After breakfast with Dan and Liza we hit the road. Need to be back home in time for a session with one of my Zoom guitars students this evening…and it’d be good to have time to stop and pick up some shopping in Glasgow.
We share the drive and – after stopping for said shopping – roll up home just after 7pm. A quick unload and I manage to be ready for my Zoom session at 7.30pm.
Back in the house I make some tortillas and we have pulled pork tacos. By this time it’s nearly 11pm…I have some online orders to pack and print postage labels the bedtime. 1am before I know it…
ANGUS – last night’s promoter – has come to take us for breakfast. Dai and Lisa join us and we eat and blether before it’s time to pack the car and hit the road.
Not far to go today, just an hour-and-a-bit’s drive to Bridgend. We stop for some lunch on the way then drop in to se Auntie Glo an Uncle Cliff.
We spend a couple fo hours catching up then back today and Lisa’s where we’re staying tonight.
We have fantastic night, lovely dinner and a relatively early night so we can get an early getaway in the morning.
The Muse, Brecon – great night with Mid-Wales Rhythm & Blues Club…
WE have a lazy morning drinking coffee, eating croissants and getting some work done before checking out the Premier Inn.
A service station stop for sandwiches en route to Brecon where we arrive in time to check into our hotel before heading round the corner to The Muse to land in for tonight’s show.
Angus and the team from Mid-Wales Rhythm & Blues Club are ready for us. The Muse is a fantastic venue and the soundguy, Ian, is cool and make soundcheck easy.
Margaret’s cousin Dai and his partner Lisa are here for the gig and staying int he same hotel…we see them for a blether while we wait on our dinner. A wee bit Fawlty Towers when we’re told there’s no chicken so all the chicken dishes ‘are off. We both opt for steak pie t be told…’sorry, no pies left’.
We’re pushed for time as doors open at the venue at 7pm and it’s a sold out show, so we need to be back to manage the merch table. We’re told food takes a maximum of 20 minutes and end up ordering sausage and mash. It take 45-minutes to arrive.
As it is, we’re only a few minutes late getting back to the venue.
Openers Candy Mountain & Mr D. (Aled and Dilwyn) put on a great show.
The it’s my turn and I have a blast…with Aled and Dilwyn joining me for a song at the end of my set before my encore of Loch Lomond Home.
The bar’s shut when we get back to the hotel so Dai and Lisa come to our room and we chat for a few hours before turning in.
Great opening set from Candy Mountain & Mr. D (Aled and Dilwyn)With some of the fantastic folks behind Mid-Wales Rhythm & Blues Club 🙂
Fun at Port Mahon, Oxford – but no pix prior to the backdrop falling down!
DESPITE a 2am bedtime we’re up early – we need to get on the road and Rodge and Jan are off to Harrogate.
We chat over breakfast then hit the road to Oxford stopping at a services en route for a sandwich.
We’re staying a few miles north of Oxford which makes sense for tomorrow’s trip to mid-Wales and we check into our Premier Inn just after 3pm…time for a shower and chill before we head into Oxford to load in and soundcheck at Port Mahon.
The venue is a good sized upstairs room above a pub. We get the back drop and my gear unpacked then soundndman Logan gets me sound checked.
Doors open at 7.30pm and stage time is 8pm. It’s not a huge crowd, but fine for the room and – apart from four drunk folks who get asked to leave – a very appreciative one.
I play two 45-minute sets…there’s a comedy moment when the backdrop falls down towards the end of my first set…then we hang out and chat before clearing up and loading out.
We didn’t have time for any dinner and find a kebab van not he way back to the hotel. 1am kebab fest!
BREAKFAST at the Ramada is good. Then I get some work done before we check out and head back to The Cluny to pick up the gear and say cheerio.
Next stop is a bank. I desperately need to pay some money to cover a bunch of direct debits coming off today.
Finally we hit the road south, stopping in Darlington for some bits and bobs.
We roll into Barnoldswick – which some say is in Lancashire, and some say is Yorkshire – an drive past the venue twice before we finally spot the place. It’s very cool place and reminds me a lot of the old Bein Inn near Perth. Intimate gig space, loads of music memorabilia and great stuff.
Soundman Matt is ace as is doorman Stuart and bar staff Abigail and Sam. There’s some nice sandwiches and other goodies in the green room and we chill after soundcheck then go to say hello to our pals Jan and Rodgebefore doors open.
I play two 45 minutes to an incredibly enthusiastic audience and have a brilliant time. That’s tow magic shows under our belt this trip 🙂
We go back to Rodge and Jan’s and have some grub and chat for a few hours before bed….
Great start to this wee run of shows at The Cluny..
I HAVE a guitar student coming first thing – once she’s finished I head to the studio and pack the gear. We hope to be on the road soon after midday.
We share the drive to Newcastle. I do the second shift and drive through some really crap weather between Carlisle and Newcastle.
First stop is the Ramada in Gateshead where promoter Julian has booked us in then we make our way tot he venue where Steven and sandman Thomas are waiting for us.
Soundcheck goes great then we head through to the bar to eat while support band Country Irregulars soundcheck. Liking the sound of them already 🙂
Our pals Dave and Julie from The Music Cable Company have come down from Fife for the show and join us for a drink closely followed by Sue and Stevo.
Just before doors open we head back to the venue. We’d been a little concerned about numbers, but turns out to be a great crowd. Openers Country Irregulars play a belter and I have a great time playing then chatting round the merch table.
