Alsager ON FIRE!

Alsager Music Festival 17th July 2022

*Updated 22/07/22

At risk of using not one but two overused words in this opening sentence, Alsager this year saw the start of a period of unprecedented levels of smothering heat opressing our usually fresh sumer weather, though I guess we will have to try to get used to this more and more as it becomes the "new normal". My train to the event was change to a rail-replacement bus due to a trackside fire (having gone through such a fire only on Friday on my train to rehearsals) Thank goodness for a strong breeze though to make things much more pleasant though.

Thank goodness too for the as-aways brilliant organisation, great sound which once again came from Mikey of Soundbites Creative on the desk but most of all to all of you who came along and sang along. You were just great, and gave us a fab time - thank you! x 

*Also - there was a frantic ant nest right beneath /around my pedalboard. 

*The Buggs joined us for "No Tobacco" after opening the day brilliantly earlier. 

Photos by Tim Lee

Broken, but a blast!

The Blue Yellows at the Alsager Music Festival.

Having had a weird virus giving me the strangest bunch of uncomfortable and exhausting   symptoms since May the 3rd on and off, it was nice, at last, to play a gig while feeling well (though the virus had ‘gone under’ for a couple of days at a time in the past before returning with renewed vigour so... touch wood!).

In an ideal world, bands would get an hour or so to sound check, and I’ve even worked with pro bands who have taken up to two and a half hours to perfect their sound to the venue and iron out any problems, so these festivals we often play where you get a really quick turnaround, it’s a big challenge to try and get it right for all involved, and our sound engineer Matt, stage manager and whole team did a great job!

However, I did manage to snap a string in the first few seconds of the opening song (first time in quite a while as I’ve been using these NY Elixir strings which have an extra carbon component, and so are extra strong ((and expensive!)) ). So while I ran off stage, grabbed the spare guitar and tuned it, Em played the intro to the next tune over and over for a bit, until I was ready.. such pros, this lot on The BYs. 

We also got a brand new song into the set, ‘Who put Bella in the Witch Elm?’ and the gang played it so well, sounded pretty raucous from where I was anyway, in fact the whole set did.

It was great to catch good friends in The Dying Lights who sounded more laid back and melodic than usual, but in a good and groovy way. Good friends were all around the seating areas in fact, so nice to see you all and have at least a tinsy catch-upette. 

The Dying Lights on flowering form.

It was a blast!

Spot the new song?

Alsager Music Festival 2018

The really rather wonderful Alsager Music Festival once again in high summer and another gig in this extraordinary heatwave of Summer 2018.
It was great fun doing it last year with the full band, always more fun with your 'gang' of course, but this time, although solo for much of the set, I enlisted the help of some very talented youngsters on guitar and backing vocals for 'No Tobacco', a couple of very talented students of mine, namely the Bugg brothers, Owain and Dylan Bugg.
They have so much raw talent and charisma... Watch out world!

Many thanks to the multi-talented music-man Marc Gallagher for doing such professional and efficient work on the live sound (and photos, including the ones of me here and the close-up of my acoustic which I can't seem to caption right now, do check out what Marc's up to though, via his social media pages, especially his own gigs).
Special thanks to, to the old friends and new, who turned up to my set.

Big crowds in the sun.

The crowd  in between sets at The Sunken Garden Stage.

Many thanks to Marc Gallagher for this photo.

Soul and his good friend Joe came along 😀

The Bugg Brothers stole the show.
L - Owain, R - Dylan

Poetry, Poultry & Pints.

One of the many slightly odd characters around the room, this one right above the performance area!

I've learnt never to approach any gig with any kind of air of expectation, even ones I've played before, and this one was a delightful surprise.

The Poetry & Pints evenings above The Lodge, Alsager, a fabulously unique den for the discerning real-ale quaffeur and lounge-philosopher, seem to consist of a guest poet on each occasion (several times a year as far as I can make out) plus a musical guest as well as open-floor spots for poets near and far. All this provided an attentive, quirky and knowledgeable audience.
The special poetry guest was Helen Kay, who I originally met through last year's Words & Music Festival. Helen has recently had her first anthology published 'The Poultry-Lover's Guide to Poetry'. So inspired was I by her readings at her book launch a few weeks ago, and my own copy, dedicated as requested, to both myself and my childhood-pet hen, Heather. That I decided to do a song for just this night only.
Fabulous evening, great atmosphere and performances. Also, if this wasn't inspiration enough, a very unusual room...

I played There She Moves, Galleries, Big Low Copper Moon, Toast the Night and Just us Chickens.

Among the dashingly attired, decapitated mannequin's
were all manner of oddments. 

Attachment Theories releases on Monday, October 20th... then on Friday 24th, THIS!