DAY OF show promo on my socials is becoming more and more involved and time consuming…between that and other stuff we need to get done we’re right on our midday checkout deadline at the hotel.
The GoPro isn’t working without a battery…even on USB powered…some kind of system glitch and, of course, I didn’t bring a battery!
We stop at a huge Curry’s/PC World in Darlington to pick one up – no joy. They’re advertised at Argos but when we get there you can only order them online! Seems like shopfronts are now just physical fronts for online ordering.
We hit the road to Sheffield and I call ahead to a Jessops. Success at last. We stop off, pick up the battery, an extra memory card and have some lunch.
There’s time to chill at the hotel for a while before loading at The Lescar – a really nice venue we’ve not been to before.
The gig – and merch – goes well and we have a blast.
A late stop at a Tesco for some supplies on the way back to the hotel then time to relax a bit…big gig jn Hull tomorrow (Friday)….
Kicking off the UK dates with show at Darlington’s Forum
THERE’S still a lot to get done before we hit the road for Darlington and the first of a three night run of shows down south.
I have one guitar still to be re-strung and the guitar patches on the Quad Cortex need organised for the tour set lists.
We’re on the road soon after midday and share the drive to the Travelodge in Darlington, drop off our bags then go to load in and soundcheck at The Forum.
It’s a great venue and engineers Matt and Phil have me sorted in no-time…and Phil’s specially devised system for hanging my backdrop on the lighting gantry makes stage set a breeze 🙂
I play two 45-minute sets to a great crowd and we hang out and chat for a while before loading out. A good start to the tour 🙂
As well as finishing and boxing up some extra merch for the shows I decide to take a couple of new products from my West Highland Way Gifts’ inventory too!
AFTER breakfast we get busy with merch for the upcoming shows. The guitar pendants need leather necklaces added and there’s a lot of stuff needing boxed up. T-shirts and hoodies need to be bagged too.
There’s a couple of ‘prototype’ music-related pendants I’ve made for West Highland Way Gifts – they’re quite cool and Margaret suggests we take ’em with us for the merch table.
I get a message from the chemist saying my prescription is ready. I need some fresh air – getting cabin fever here – so I get Margaret to drive me there and I walk back.
In the studio I run through some of the material for this week’s live shows then I start sorting gear and re-stringing the guitars. I only get one guitar done before we have top nip along to help Betty with some stuff…a screw and cog on the back of one of the tuners comes adrift on the last string of the first guitar. I find the cog on the floor but it takes me half an hour to find the tiny wee screw. It’s a right ass pain…but just as well it happened now – if this happened during a show or ion a carpeted hotel room I’d be fucked!
It’s nearly ten o’clock when we get back from Betty’s and Margaret starts the dinner…too late to go back to the studio so we eat, chill a little while and have a relatively early night.
MONDAY kicks off a usual with an early start to get a wholemeal sourdough in the oven.
Right after breakfast it’s into my first Zoom guitar student of the day…then there’s some more orders for new t-shirts and hoodies to be packed up and sent. Margaret’s off for her covid and flu jabs and will drop them at the post office.
In the studio I make up some set lists for this week’s upcoming shows in Darlington, Sheffield and Hull before my afternoon guitar student arrives.
There’s one prep for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream – the studio was set up for the green screen filming for Younger Days and needs re-set for livestreaming.
I have another Zoom guitar student before the livestream..then it’s back to the house to make dinner….
A weird snarly looking; selfie on the paddle board!
I MANAGE to drag myself out of bed at a decent time and avoid the ‘coffee-email-social media’ vicious circle that can keep in there for longer than I ever plan. It’s reasonable weather and I need to get out for a paddle.
Not quite as calm as it appeared when I set off but I still enjoy a three-mile or so paddle round the islands, stopping at Port Bawn for my fruit and yogurt…and what’s left of my coffee. The insulated cup wasn’t;t closed properly, so most of the coffee is in my dry bag!
Back home I set about packing up all the pre-order shirts and hoodies…then print out postage for them, all and arrange collection for tomorrow (Monday) morning. Once they’re all sorted, and the ‘reserved’ stock put aside I see how many are left of each size to put in the online store.
A local pop in just as we finish and we chat until it’s time to head along to Betty’s for dinner…
I pick up the first batch of new hoodies and Ts…a few in the online store here
MARGARET’S just getting breakfast on the go when Jennifer pops in to pick up some stuff..we have a coffee then, just as she’s leaving, David and Sheldon arrive to knock down our old deck and move the steps up to the door.
They’d given us a quote for new deck but we’re skint, so this is a stop gap until we’ve got some realise to pay them to do a proper job. This is a good compromise meantime, especially as the old deck is so rotten. When it comes down we’re all surprised no-one had gone through it! It only takes them half an hour.
We load the car with some of the crap that’s been lying around under the old deck and I head into Glasgow where I take it to the dump then carry on to pick up the first batch of new t-shirts and hoodies. Lookin’ good. You can order them here.
Next stop, the garden centre for some ericacious soil. Margaret’s replanting out blueberry bushes and called to ask me to pick up some extra soil.
Final stop, the optician in Milngavie. I’ve been struggling to read the dash and all the steering wheel icons etc in the car…can’t really use reading glasses while I’m driving so I’ve taken a notion to try out some bifocals. And I’d like photochromic lenses too.
I’d found some online, but I don’t wanna spend a load of dosh on glasses with frames I haven’t tried on…the optician is a little more expensive, but I’d rather give them the money, especially ‘cos of the great service they’ve given us. It’s a good choice too, as the staff are really helpful and have some good advice…plus they can use Transitions XTRActive photochromic lenses which will darken in the car if it’s bright outside!
They help me choose some suitable frames and I put in an order. A load more cash than I’d planned, but hopefully a wise purchase.
A still from the edit after yesterday’s greenscreen video efforts…video and song drops on 10 November but you can get the song NOW here!
I SPEND the morning messing with the edit for the Younger Days video…even after using all my tricks, I still look a bit superimposed…but hey, that might add to the appeal!
The video and song drops on 10 November but you can get the song NOW here!
After lunch I knock up another prototype music note pendant idea for West Highland Way Gifts…and am pretty pleased with the way it turns out.
Back in the studio I mess with more guitar sounds. The new desktop software to control the Quad Cortex is amazing and makes it fun and addictive to mess with guitar sounds. I disappear down a rabbit hole for a couple of hours!
Betty’s coming for dinner tonight and I;m on pork, chorizo and butterbean stew. I get it all going in good time…
AFTER another few hours on media/promo for the upcoming shows I spend some more time on the ‘difficult’ guitar piece I’m trying to master (more for my own personal development rather than a new song or for performance!).
I further tweak the new guitar sound which is inspiring some now ideas too.
After re-setting the studio from my livestream set-up to green screen filming I do a little test piece to camera to see if the idea I have for a video for Younger Days. Looks like it might just work, but gonna need some refinement..
After lunch I get back on it and a couple of hours later I have a rough edit. It’s getting there but gonna need some more post-production ‘fairy dust’ to try and disguise the green screen effect!
Finally got round to setting a up a more lo-fi sound for regular tuning guitar stuff…
MY normally Thursday guitar student is coming this morning…and I also offered to change her guitar strings.
After the lesson I work on a particularly challenging guitar piece I’m trying to put together but may never see the light of day. Good finger exercise tho’!
After doing all the PRS/MCPS and PPL registrations for the forthcoming single (here it here now!) I get busy with some press/radio/media promo for same.
I work on some guitar sounds. I love the Quad Cortex I’m using for the guitar but sometimes I want a more ‘lo-fi’ guitar sound.
After updating the firmware I have a look online and find some ‘captures’ for amps like the Pignose and old Peavey Delta Blues (wish I’d never sold the one I had years ago!). I make a quick patch using the Pignose amp ‘capture’ in the chain and am really pleased with the result 🙂
There’s time for a walk through the woods before dark. When I get back Margaret’s’ home – she’s been getting the car services and picking up some shopping in Stirling.
After dinner we chill and enjoy a documentary about Mississippi Fred McDowell – Shake ‘Em on Down – brought to my attention by my pal Neil…
