Len_derby

First of all, sorry for your loss. I can’t pretend to imagine what it feels like, but I hope you’ll be able to find peace and move on. I had a think about the things that have re-energised me when I’ve lost some enthusiasm. Hearing a band or artist that was new to me , often on the radio. Putting an old favourite back on the record/cd player. Going to open mics or jam nights, meeting new people. If you live anywhere close to me, Derby, I’ll be very happy to take you out to some of my local open-mics and jam nights.

Robert Plant finds he has too much soapy lather in the shower. A whole lotta Dove.

It was the busiest Oxjam I’ve seen. Probably helped by the football international break. The Bendigo Lounge, where we played, was rammed at 5.30. I hope the big crowds mean big money for Oxfam.

The Oxjam Festival in Beeston, Nottingham. Playing with the Daz Kelly Band at the Bendigo Lounge. A large and full bar; not everyone was there for the music but there was enough appreciative folk to make it worthwhile. It was a five minute walk from the car park but we were using the house PA and I’d only got a bass, Elf and a Barefaced 10 to carry. We had a few friends and family turn up and my one drink was bought me by my son-in-law. An over-priced, over-chilled craft ale. 😆

If it works for you, I’d say it’s a valid tuning. If you’re getting unwanted fret-buzz, intonation issues or other technical problems you may need to adjust things. Hopefully someone better qualified than me will be along to advise you.

I used to be a bit of a squirrel and keep things from my hobbies and jobs. What changed my mind was doing house clearances for deceased family members. It’s a gruelling burden that I decided I didn’t want to subject my children to. So, I’ve had a big clear-out and I’m now very strict about what I keep. It’s a sobering thought that stuff we felt was important to keep will one day be recycled or thrown away with barely a second glance.

I feel your pain. I’m pretty well-off band-wise at the moment but there was a time when it just didn’t seem to be happening. So, what I did, partly by happy accident, was link up with a guitarist/vocalist and we performed as a duo. We did acoustic blues ( think Eric Bibb, Keb Mo plus older stuff and a few originals) and were pretty busy. I had to step up to the plate and do some vocals, but no one died, on-stage or off 😆. Eventually, contacts I made led back to being in bigger ensembles. So, maybe that’s a way forward for you, especially if you want to do country/Americana. You only need one like-minded, committed partner to find. Plus, it seems gigs are easier to find for solo performers and duos at the moment. Good luck.

I think it’s very useful for your decision to already have a gig in the diary. For me, if that got postponed or cancelled (for no good reason) I’d decide the band wasn’t worth persevering with. I too would be annoyed at cancelled rehearsals. There can be good reasons why people have to do that; but frequently? That’s not going to work out well.

I'd like gear manufacturers to give preferential deals to bricks-and-mortar retailers so that it became cheaper to buy from a shop than order on-line.

Great stuff. How did you find it, adapting to a new tuning across the strings? During the lockdown, when gigs were off, I bought a mandolin off @thebrig. After fifty years of playing guitar and bass I found the change of tuning (GDAE) a brain-frying exercise, but challenging in a good way.

This afternoon, at The Gate Inn, Loscoe in Derbyshire. A multi-band event to raise money for the regional air ambulance. The originals band, Diamond Bridges.

It’s The Third Man theme for us. We hear it every day. Across the road lives John ‘Moon Eyes’ Cooper, former professional motorcycle racer. He loves his ice cream and limps out every afternoon to buy one.

Me too. Bass - lead - amp. Clip-on tuner. I like to keep everything simple. Just my preference, each to their own.

I think it would be easy to look too far back. A 75 year old was 16 in 1964; so early Beatles and Stones etc. An 85 year old was 16 in 1954; Rock n’ Roll about to explode. One option is to ask them what they’d like to play. The answers might be surprising! Well done on the project. I did a similar thing with teenagers. They mostly wanted to play old songs and I’ve got a hunch that my group and yours would have the same preferences. Rock from the 70s 😆

Scott’s Baldness Lessons. Where he weans people off the ridiculous habit of wearing hats indoors.

A small van or large estate car. The singer of my covers band, who owns the PA is having to give up driving because of deteriorating eyesight.

Yep, and if you’re fumble-fingered or not got the specs on it’s easy to do it by mistake.

Yesterday was The Nailed It festival in Belper, Derbyshire. 65 acts across 9 venues , all free entry. The originals band I’m in, Diamond Bridges, did a 45 minute set at The Nags Head. We opted for a 3pm start because our guitarist had an evening event to go to. The pub was already very busy at 2, as were all the venues I saw. It was the usual setup, back-line supplied, and I had a ratty Behringer combo to play through. Everything worked properly though, the soundman knew his job and we went down well. The upside of supplied kit was that I could use the bus, just a 15 minute journey for me. The whole festival across the town was very busy, in spite of intermittent thunder storms, and I was able to meet up with old friends, have a beer and wander around the venues.

Personally, my view is any band is better than no band. If I wasn’t in a band, ideally playing gigs, I probably wouldn’t bother picking up a bass. However, in your situation I’d try to make it clear where my real preferences lay and, if something better came up honour the commitments with the existing band until they found a replacement.

Congratulations. Did you finally scratch that astronomy itch, or is your degree in a different subject?

Deke Leonard leaving Man for a time. It allowed them to take their music in a different direction and him to make some excellent solo albums.

The covers band, Night Shift, played ‘top of the bill’ at Folk in The Woods for the Waingroves Community Woodland. As far as I could tell, no acts were folk music! Anyway, fun times with lots of well-oiled punters dancing away. Those familiar with the Derby/Notts borders will know that up to 40 years ago there were coal mines all over the place. Now, unless you have personal knowledge you’d be hard -pressed to tell. The venue was a case in point. Apart from the odd bit of brick and girder work here and there nature has reclaimed the site. It’s being brought on as a nature reserve and community asset by local volunteers. Back line supplied, so I took the opportunity to travel by bus with my bass and walk the mile-or-so through the woods to the marquee. Fortunately we had a window of fine weather to travel in, play our hour and move off after the 8pm curfew. I just made it back to the bus shelter when the heavens opened. It was an interesting ride back to town through flash floods and lightning. A £2 thrill 😆.

The covers band, Night Shift, played at the South Normanton Gala yesterday. South Normanton has the distinction of being on the Which short-list for the shabbiest high street in Britain but fortunately the Gala took place in the grounds of nearby Carnfield Hall. The gala is totally run by volunteers, including the bar staff, and we just got expenses plus free beer and chips. Only a 15 minute journey too. Lots of very drunk happy people dancing around to our set. It was also the first run-out for the shirt my daughter brought me back from Bali. It was a bit breezy in the field but I took off my jacket for show time.

It’s pretty common to see “must have own transport” in band-member wanted adverts over here too Blue. Regarding being able to walk to gigs, some parts of the British Isles are relatively crowded. Those of us who live in the cities or urban sprawls can take advantage of the closer distance to venues. Also, we don’t have the zoning system I believe you have over there. It’s common here to have a pub or club that hosts live music very close to residential properties. My local pub, a quarter mile away, has an open mic night plus Saturday night gigs, mostly covers bands. The pub was built in the 1930s as part of a large housing estate. Although, complaints about noise from residents has become more common across the country. As mentioned above, things are different in that London.

Invariably something from that gig’s set list. For the covers band it’s been Tennessee Whiskey for the past couple of months. For the originals band, usually the newest song in the set.