Edinburgh Fringe

On Monday night I made my way through to Edinburgh to play at my first ever Edinburgh Fringe Show at the Acoustic Music Centre at St Brides. (venue 123).

The biggest challenge about playing in Edinburgh is do I take the car or use public transport (this is like choosing the method for your own execution). Myself and Paul of The Doghouse Roses – who was helping me out on the night, opted for The Train. Amazingly enough we were still surprised when the train was cancelled and we had to squeeze onto the next one with all the rush hour commuters. A notice at Haymarket Station stated there were extra services being offered for the entirety of the festival, one of which on the return journey was a train carriage with faulty doors meaning it was completely empty whilst the others had standing room only.

Can’t wait for the tram system!

Anyway..

Being a first time performer at the fringe I had failed to realise that music performers call their show after their own/band name and so when it came to filling in the title of my show I put ‘Dust bowl Blues with a Glasgow Kick’. This was in order to try and portray the style of music I would be playing whilst making sure folks new I had a Scottish take on things. I think this worked in my favour and I had managed to shift half the tickets before the night (given the average attendance at the fringe is 6) this I was told was very good. Quite a few folks also turned up at the door which made the small back room feel quite full and on a hot sticky night made it almost unbearably warm. I was also amazed at the guide dog that slept the whole way through the performance (I'm assuming a good sign).

Having enjoyed the night and realising the potential of being part of the fringe I think I may well plan a return visit next year.

A big thanks to all those that came out to see me and a thank you to the staff and organisers at The Acoustic Music Centre who made the experience all worthwhile.

The cover songs I featured were:

• Hard Time Killing Floor – Skip James
• This Morning I am Born Again - Woody Guthrie / Slaid Cleaves
• The Train That Carried Jimmy Rogers Home – Greg Brown

Some of the other acts playing at the AMC St Brides