I’VE an outdoor photo job in the village/along the lochside any 11am. A young couple, their 18-month-old kid and a dog…and it’s raining.
Luckily by the time I;ve had breakfast and head out the rain;s stopped and things have brightened up a bit. In fact, the lack of direct sunlight is a bonus as cloud cover is the ideal nature soft box!
The shoot goes well. I’ve done pix for these folks before so things go nice and easy and we have a good laugh.
Back home I dump the pix onto a hard drive, make a coffee then take a walk to the next village for the sheepdog trials. Margaret, Catriona and the kids are already there and we have a nice couple hours watching the dogs at work and catching up with folks.
Later on I hit the studio and sort the morning’s photos, rehearsethe rest of myself et for tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon show any the Festival Americana, Arrochar then pack all the gear ready for an early getaway in the morning.
I get a batch of wee guitars done for the merch table at Sunday afternoon’s show…a wee bit clean up still to do before Margaret ‘strings’ them
RAINY and grey outside. After breakfast I grab a nice wee ½-page feature (on page 2!) from the Stirling Observer about the Kilmaronock show on 14 July. See it here.
The roofing guy finally shows up…a few missed previous visits, but he seems a good guy. he checks the attic and round about and, as we suspected, there’s a bit more to be done than just the soffits. The roof’s fucked. He’ll get us a quote and timescales and we’ll see if we can get a bank loan!
I do some more work on the wee guitar necklaces…they just need a clean up and ‘strung’ by Margaret.
In the studio I do some promo for Sunday afternoon’s (1pm) show at the 3 Villages Hall in Arrochar and rehearse some of my set. I also get my camera gear ready for a job tomorrow (Saturday) morning.
The new SumUp card reader is working on wifi but I can’t get a mobile data connection and so my dialogue with support continues.
Dinner is marinaded flame-grilled chicken and turns out great…
The Kickstarter limited edition red vinyl edition of Devil may Care will include this song as a bonus track not on the CD release…check out the rewards and campaign here.
WE have a lazy morning and breakfast at Bill and Dorothy’s then stop at the supermarket in Dundee to pick up some shopping.
We’re not long home when I decide we need to do a livestream and hit my socials to promote my Kickstarter campaign and the bonus track that will – if the campaign meets it’s target – feature on the limited edition red vinyl edition of my Devil May Care album.
Of course but the time we get out to do it the midges are out in force. We manage through it then drop into Betty’s for an aperitif…
UP AT a reasonable time to try and get some work done before we head off to spend the night with Bill and Dorothy near Dundee.
The Kickstarter campaign seems to have got off to a reasonable start so I decide to hold back on hammering my socials so folks don’t get (too!) sick of hearing about it. I do, however, update the landing page on my website.
In the office I check the silicone moulds…they look reasonable and I melt some metal and cast into the small one. The pour isn’t the best so after it’s cooled I try again. Mmmm…think my ‘object’ is too small for this approach, back to the drawing board on that one.
I do some work on the batch of wee guitar necklaces until Margaret tells me it’s time to go.
The drive up to Dundee is fine and we arrive late afternoon. Bill and Dorothy’s place is lovely with great views over the Tay. We sit in the garden for a while before dinner and have a wonderful evening with our pals.
A CALL from a potential guitar student leads us to diary her first lesson for next week..then I get on with the routine emails, socials and other admin stuff.
In the studio I make up a set list for Sunday’s (1pm) Festival Americana show at Three Villages Hall in Arrochar. I also notice that I’m not getting any notification of Twitter mentions which is weird. There’s a load of stuff from the folks behind Sunday’s show that I haven’t seen, so I like and retweet.
Still no joy getting our SumUp card reader to work – that’s a. on both and half since I got it and it’s never worked. Numerous support ‘chats’ and emails have gone round in circles and I finally lose the tattle today and they agree to send me a new reader to see if that solves the problem. Hope it’s here before we head to Finland.
I hold off launching my Kickstarter campaign ’til later – apparently Tuesday is the ‘best day’ and I wanna leave it ’til a reasonable time in the USA. Meantime, I create a load of ‘now live’ graphics for my socials, banners and anywhere else that’ll let me post promo.
I need to try and streamline the production process for the loch and guitar pendants…there’s too much sanding needed and I end up losing colour by having to sand so deep. I make some new moulds for booth…and a prototype loch earring mould, although I fear it’ll be too delicate for both the silicon mould-making and also the casting process. We’ll see.
In the evening I launch the Kickstarter campaign and start spreading the news. Fingers crossed!
AFTER my first Zoom guitar student is done I hit the office and work on some loch and guitar pendants.
They’re not bad, but to get certain details to come through the epoxy I have to sand down further than I’d hoped and I lose colour in some areas. Maybe I can sell them as one-off special editions!
Lunch is the extra pizza I made last night, reheated in the air fryer. Almost as good as the ‘original’.
After writing up a news release and sorting a pic for tomorrow’s (Tuesday) Kickstarter campaign launch and sen d it off to various journalists and radio folks.
Next I do a little more work on the new song which I aim to play during tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
Another Zoom guitar student, then it’s into the livestream. Some tentative music including the new song with some yodelling and a special request – Ring of Fire.
It’s 9pm by the time we get along to Betty’s for dinner then back home soon after 11pm.
We take the kids down to the bay to feed the ducks….
AFTER a lie in we have a late breakfast then Catriona and the kids rock up.
We have coffee and cake then Margaret and I take the kids to the bay to feed the ducks and let Catriona get a rest…Aaron woke everyone up at the crack of dawn!
It’s not as windy as forecast and the loch os pretty calm so when we get back I go out for a paddle and do a livestream to try and spread the word about my about-to-launch Kickstarter campaign.
When I get back I edit the livestream footage and use it as content on some of my other socials – InstaGram, TikTok and more…
Dinner is pizza in the garden then we plonk ourselves in for too the telly and watch Glastonbury.
Nice to catch our pal Tom (second right) playing with the uke group at Doune gala day 🙂
THERE’S some mercy to get finished off, packed and in the post before midday.
When I get to the post box it’s not quite noon but the wee ‘next collection’ sign says Monday. Mmmm…
Nevermind, we’re off to Doune to see Catriona and the kids and go to the gala day so well may be find a later post collection en route. Sure enough, there’s a postman emptying a box in Buchlyvie and he happily takes my stuff.
We have a great day in Doune – I find some folks willing to service my bike, spot our pal Tom playing in the local uke group, b ump into an old friend (Lee-Ching) that we haven’t seen in ages and generally have a nice family afternoon.
We have a lovely meal at Catriona’s then head home in time for bed.
FIRST job of the day is updating my ‘link tree’-style homepage on my website to include the Kickstarter campaign link…and also create a landing page for same.
The campaign doesn’t launch until Tuesday (27 June) but any traction and followers I can get pre-launch helps get some traction.
A little more work on the new song idea. I;m hoping to get it to a stage where I can give folks a wee taste of it in Monday’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
The first part of the afternoon is spent working on more prototypes for my guitar necklaces. I have a few fails along the way but looks like progress. Watch this space!
Margaret drives me to the village where I get some posters up for the upcoming Kilmaronock show and I walk back home. it’s a five-mile hike – mostly off-road – and the weather’s not great but it’s nice to get some exercise and fresh air.
Back home in the studio I record another ‘sketch’ of the new song then head back tot he house for dinner…velvetised chicken and black fungus stir fry. And very good it is too 🙂
I’VE got most of the routine stuff done when my first Thursday guar stand arrives. This’ll be her last lesson for a few weeks as she’s working away for a while. I give her lots of stuff to practice!
In the office I work on some guitar moulds then hit the studio until Fiona arrives and we take our sandwiches out on the loch.
Back home I mess with some guitar until my latest e afternoon guitar student arrives.
Once we’re through I do some promo on the Kickstarter pre-launch and. make up a plan to spread the word once it goes live.
