2 Gigs, 2 Cities, 150 miles, 1 Headband &Take That

The following is a report on how my poor attempt at paying homage to Status Quo's 5 shows in 1 day went...

6am, well I am convinced this time is illegal so im not going to talk about it. Caught the briefly delayed first train of the day at 7am, thus enabling me to get the 7.41am train to Aberdeen with ease. After consuming one large black coffee I was finally awake.

A gloriously sunny day along the east coast whizzed by only to be replaced with a grey, damp and hot day in Aberdeen at 10.16am.

Arriving with plenty time to spare i enjoyed another coffee with friends before heading to The Lemon Tree. After setting up, sound checking and fixing the headband, I gathered some random thoughts and sat down for a bite to eat before playing at 1pm.

The gig went well, I found the head band to be of particular use as it was a hot and stuffy gig and the sweat would have blinded me.

Having originally booked my cheap return ticket for 7.46pm and realising this would make my arrival in Glasgow at 10.19pm and chances of making the gig a bit too close for comfort, I was relieved at the offer of a lift to Kirkcaldy from my friends Bryan & Vicki. This would enable me to catch an earlier (and less costly) train and get ahead of schedule. Who needs a helicopter?

After some form filling we headed out of the Granite City at 3pm. We made it to the train station in Kirkcaldy with 30secs to spare, where I hot footed it onto to the 5pm train to Edinburgh with merely seconds to spare.

A quick change of platforms at Edinburgh saw me safely onto the Glasgow train, where I sat gleeful in the knowledge that I now had enough time to get home, change and have dinner.

Not being a fan, I was ignorant of the fact Take That were in town. This meant my arrival in Glasgow was matched by about 50,000 pink cowboy hats all trying to get on the train to the south side. It was like a hen night from hell.

So I decided to abandon my normal 15 min train journey back to the flat and aim for the, swine flu ridden, kebab soiled, vehicle of abuse that is a Glasgow Bus. Thankfully I was spared this dice with death when I calculated the tailback of traffic caused by Barlow fever would take longer than ‘The Fleeing Scotswoman’.

My supposed 15 min train journey turned into an hour but I did still manage to eat a half heated microwave dinner and a catch quick glimpse of the ACDC tickets that had just arrived, woo hoo! before I was off out again.

Gig number 2 in The Liquid Ship, was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and was packed to the brim with folks out for a good night.

Next time I am aiming for 3 gigs, a white shirt, black waistcoat and not a pink cowboy hat in site.

J

The West End Festival

On Sunday I went along on to Scotland’s very own ‘Mardis Gras’ to catch some of the parade at Glasgow’s West End Festival. This weekend marked the start of a whole host of activities over a 2 week period.

I’ve been visiting the festival way back when it was held in the car park at Ashton Lane and it has fairly grown since then.

This year however, I was surprised the course of parade through the streets of the West End had been altered (as reported in the press due to council funding cuts) and instead of heading down the vibrant street of Byres Road it started at the University of Glasgow and headed through Kelvin Way and in to the park. Whilst I think the move to Kelvingrove Park was good idea, I feel there was something amiss from the parade not going along its usual longer route through many streets in the West End.

I tried in vain to catch some of the parade at Kelvin Way – but the overcrowding on this narrow stretch with prams, Zimmer frames, Rottweilers, and balloons, aswell as being hemmed in by park fences on the pavement, meant that I could not move to a position to see it properly. Still everyone enjoyed themselves and I did manage to get a snap of some of the performers, notably The Stormtroopers, Darth was just out of view. Excellent.

As part of The West End Festival I will be playing at The Liquid Ship on Friday 19th, I am also poorly attempting to partly emulate Status Quo’s 5 stages in 1 day record with my 2 shows in 12 hours. I will be (without the aid of a helicopter) playing at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen on friday 19th 1pm and then hot footing it to Liquid Ship in Glasgow for a gig that night. If the trains are on time this will be achieved.

Rock n Roll

Hot Club of Glasgow Town

Well as the month of May draws to a close and as I am about escape into the sunshine for what could be our summer I would like give a quick recap of my musical highlights for the month of May.

I finally caught up with Dutch bluesman Hans Theessink and was not disappointed. I’ve always missed this hard grafting performing despite him being on a never ending touring schedule when he visits Glasgow. He stated during his show that he once played a new years party on a ferry for 7 hours substituting the lyrics in famous songs to see if anyone would notice. I knew exactly where he was coming from with that one!

The Glasgow Americana Festival was another musical highlight for the month. Now in its 3rd year with a week long run of shows it is proving to attract some real musical gems to Glasgow. I am already looking forward to see who will be at next year’s festival.

I caught Otis Gibbs at the Twisted Wheel, a great guy with a great beard, growling voice and well crafted songs. The title for his tour is sure to be well received anywhere outside the US, I bet he sells out of the posters of the tour schedule.

I also had a really good knees up at the Hot Club of Cowtown. Yup that’s their name. This Western Texas Swing group are all fantastic players and I stood in awe (whilst bopping up and down) at Whit Smith's guitar playing, whose licks just didn’t stop flowing. Don’t miss this band the next time they visit.

Read Rob Adam’s review in the herald here.

It was a pleasure to be called up last minute to open for David Ferrard, Kim Edgar & Yvonne Lyon, all fantastic Scottish singer songwriters who had teamed up to put on a show in the stunning St Andrews in the Square.

Roll on June

The Antarctic Winter

One place that is high on my list of must see places is Antarctica. I would love to experience this fragile and awe inspiring landscape first hand.

A friend of mine Kirk Watson (a seasoned Antarctica veteran) is filming his experiences of life from the UK base at Rothera over the next year.  If you ever wanted to see what an Antarctic Winter would be like and to find out what people who live there get up to check out Kirk Watson’s blog on life in Antarctica. The blog covers not only just the snow and ice but also tent cuisine, fun on ski-doos, rock climbing & band practice.

The latest blog sees them ski-dooing over Crevasses on a stunning Antartic winters day. There are some fantastic images of these beautiful but deadly cracks in the ice.

Some instrumental versions of my songs have been used on his video clips, and I am planning on writing some more pieces inspired by the landscapes found there.

Kirk of the Antartic

Aint Got The Do Re Mi

There is a growing concern amongst some fellow performers on the Glasgow music scene that they are continually being taken advantage when it comes to playing live.

The problem is the overwhelming majority of original music venues in Glasgow and it seems the rest of the UK do not pay the artists for doing so. This often undervalues the service and entertainment that is being provided.

Whilst it is important to have a platform for artists starting out to gain experience and showcase their songs it is also important to provide a next step in the ladder for artists to progress too, thereby encouraging quality performances.
All too often a live music night features someone who has been playing for 2 weeks on the same billing as a seasoned performer of 10years.

Some venues are keen to offer (as I have been) residencies, sometimes to play for as much as 4 times a week for the same chain of venues and for no money / expenses to boot - clearly taking advantage of our willingness to perform. You wouldn’t ask a painter to paint your house for free, nor would you expect any bar staff to work for you for free so why musicians?

Having lived in NZ where playing for free was unheard of, I was always paid for my performances. It can be done.

Make A Stand

I feel it is up to the artist themselves to recognise that value in what they do and pick and choose what gigs they should be doing. (Mind you we have all seen the delusion of the X Factor wannabes).

If you feel there is something to be achieved by performing for free e.g. (publicity, a bigger venue, new audience, reviews etc) that is fair enough.
There is little gratitude from many venues and so called promoters for performing at all. Some open mic nights provide a free beer for playing 1 song, and yet when it comes to a 45min gig you have to pay your own coffee.

A few ideas for hard up venues in order to help provide a fee for musicians

1. A percentage of the bar takings from say 1hr before you play until about 1hr after?

I have worked under this scheme before (needless to say not in this country) and as i remember it was 20% of the bar takings and i was always pleasantly surprised by the amount I received.
(thanks to my heavy drinking buddies)

2. A tip Jar for the artist.

In New York it was common place to pass round a hat amongst the audience for a $1 or so tip. Again I think very good idea. If you are no good you will
quickly find out and most folks in the audience don’t mind dipping into their pocket to show their appreciation. I’m betting most of the audience don’t realise the venue isn’t paying the artist and would gladly give a few £s.

3. Sponsorship of the night

if your putting on decent music that attracts a crowd this should be of interest to local companies , drinks companies etc..

Pay for quality music, stand out from the crowd, get recognised as a venue that showcases fantastic acts, gain an audience who buy beers/ food, and contribute to the growth of musical careers.


Check out www.myspace.com/singasongfor6pence

and Vivien Scotston's blog on the subject here

Update on Friday, May 29, 2009 at 11:12AM by John Alexander

There are some good comments which were posted to this blog on another site.

view them here