Very rarely, a gig comes along that, for one reason or another – possibly both – is not much fun. The last one I remember was this one, from a few years ago. (A postscript on that gig, by the way: I filmed and recorded it, but the guy doing […]
band
Once in a blue moon, you get to play a gig that doesn’t involve hours of driving home after packing up. Last Wednesday was just such a night. Domaine de la Fauconnie is new to me and the band. But it’s absolutely perfect, in so many ways. Ceremony, cocktails and […]
On Saturday, SouthWest returned to Chateau du Doux for our second Irish wedding of the year. (Featuring easily the tallest Irish people I’ve ever met.) I got to play the ceremony beforehand, and learnt a new song for the occasion (“The One” by Kodaline). The weather was fantastic – again […]
This year, I’ve been Instagramming stories on gig days. Which means I’ve totally neglected this blog. Back in June, the band actually got to play a wedding! At a venue we haven’t played before – Chateau Camp del Saltre. It was excellent to get out there again, and Andy fronted […]
On Wednesday, I went with Purple Rock to Terrasson to play at a café overlooking the river. We have quite a lot of gear, so started setting up before the road was officially closed, which meant the police rocked up. We didn’t give them too much of a hard time […]
On June 21st every year, France has a music festival everywhere. It’s called the “Fête de la musique” and towns and villages throughout the land put up stages and host bands for the public, for free. With food and bars, too. Obviously. This is France. Yesterday, I fêted la musique […]
Not really. This is the setup before we played a wedding last Saturday. A half-French, half-British affair – I’ve never seen so many bilingual people in one place! Video was shot and sound was recorded, but this week is very busy, preparing for two big gigs on Friday and Saturday, […]
On Saturday, we played a wedding for a Dutch couple up in the north of the Dordogne. I have very little Dutch, and some of it obscure—Hagelslag, for example, always raises a smile (although I’ve only just seen it written down for the first time and was expecting more As. […]
It’s a busy time at the moment. Here’s a snapshot of the stage at the Lembarzique café near Bergerac, where I made my debut with the new band, Purple Rock. We opened the 2019 Bergerac Jazz Festival (although we’re a blues/rock band – don’t worry) and it was an excellent […]