Dare I even ask. Perhaps I will just wait and see to avoid unnecessary stress as there is no defence against the future, particularly if you are a quantum determinist. Its also at this time of year we always ask ourselves what would Elvis do? Certainly not this. I just remastered this track from 4 years back to see if it could get it a bit more love. Fingers crossed and affirmations made 🙂
As I write this the sky is crying a bit. Rain and lots of it. Again. A typical start to the new year and my birthday month. A day doing obscure stuff in the studio room whilst the wind kicks off mightily outside. Its really unsettling though. I am wobbling uncertainly into 2024.
I put my Ben Franklin Violin pictures on a facebook violin/valuation and identification page. I wonder if anyone will know what it is? I have also sent off pics for a proper appraisal. https://www.beares.com/ Used to be in Soho. Very well known. they buy and sell and fix. Internationally famous. They sell the famous fiddles Strads and so forth at the top end. They allow you to upload photos and a little info. So I will try them. Not with the expectation of making money, but rather to see if they can shed any light into what it is and why it was made. One other enigmatic thing about that fiddle. It has been repaired a few times over its lifetime and it makes me wonder why, rather than hung on the wall in a barn and forgotten? Turns out though I have been playing it for many years, i had never bothered to check the angle of the neck and its construction. Turns out it is Baroque violin. All these years and I never knew.
Odd thing. The latest track I put on Soundcloud 5 days ago has had 1,266 plays which way more than I would normally get in that amount of time. My last few tracks this year have been played more in general though. I expect it will suddenly drop and be back to business as usual soon enough. A younger demographic in terms of listeners. I have a track I am working on at present but I am a bit stuck with it. I don’t want to ruin it but being a bit sloppy.
A gig in St Neots/Little Paxton. A first run out for the extended “Band” version of Orchard now to be called “Sonic Boomers. Not a bad crowd actually ages 50 to 70+ no kids. Rain stayed off for most of it. Not a bad performance. Joined by a random bloke guesting on Pedal Steel Guitar on a few numbers. It’s not a bad band to be honest. I remembered all the stuff I kept forgetting in rehearsal(because real for real Lol). So I didn’t have to look at anything on the music stand. Audience loved it. About 50 people sitting on their golf /picnic chairs. Random Pedal Steel Guy it turns out is John Davis who played on our original version of the Delta ladies Refugie Album on one of my songs. Small world. He is a friend of Allen our new bass player.
Interesting, I was never a hippy or whatever I just briefly had the look and liked the far out music.
This from ye olde internet:
“Conflict took place in every year of the 20th Century; the world was free from the violence caused by war for only very short periods of time. It has been estimated that 187 million people died as a result of war from 1900 to the present.”
Thoughts about my relationship with music: It’s still great fun to do a good live performance or record a new song or musical work that I am pleased with. I don’t have the drive to create in the same way I used to though so more discipline is required to keep going. I suppose that’s just ageing. So now I have more time but I do spend a lot of time not doing much by my standards. But without the thinking time I guess there would be less creativity when it does start to flow. It’s in the quiet moments the mental health pixies start to agitate so that’s the difficult bit in the equation. Speaking to friends they are generally surprised at my overall level of activity.
I am enjoying opportunities to play live again and the social aspects. I do have more confidence these days though as every I go now I go on my own of course. That’s still a bit challenging. But recording and creating music is very different of course. Both are very satisfying but very different creative processes. So internet websites and and internet radio and social media are my “gallery or concert Hall”. You can experience my art for free but you can buy it if you want to as well. Does this make sense?
The new rule is that if you make less that an £1000 turnover from self employed work you no longer need to declare it. Since lockdown I have only made about £800 from music or less PA.
A curious note: I can sing better with a corset on than off. Perhaps having the posture partially corrected makes breathing easier?
I have been rehearsing Jon Bickley as a tertiary adjunct of his Invisible Folk Club. I have not seen him for a while and also with Bob and Annette. It was a good session. I think Jon was surprised that we all remembered our parts well enough. An enjoyable and mellow couple of hours. plus quite a nice ride there and back too. Didn’t get the emergency alert on my phone though. I wonder how many people didn’t receive it?
I am practicing a few music bits for the Delta Gypsy mob too.
Plus started of a recording of a new tune. Did other stuff that I cant remember and feel knackered and aching again. If I go out I am OK but on my days at home I just seem to collapse in a heap. I think it is in part because I always feel a little anxious if I am going out anywhere different. Yesterday we used a rehearsal room we had not used before. It turned out OK though. Today I am tired and achy again. Weird or what. It has been raining a bit though which might explain the pains?
Its weird, I m OK say for a couple of days whilst I am doing stuff then wallop I am knocked out. maybe I am not sleeping well enough. I do dream a lot at present. Maybe I just need the spring to kick in properly. I still feel less well since Covid, but maybe its not that at. When I played with the Irish lot it was fun and I felt fine. There is a partly psychological trigger to all this I think, or feel.
So here is a spacey tune for you all and why not. Fast Foreboding
Some random person from the internet….
A shout out to all of you folks struggling with arthritis and similar ailments. I have had a couple of really bad days, waking up at night with it and so forth. I have Ankylosing spondylitis, but also in addition my spine is twisted in 3 different directions(scoliosis, plus Kyphosis) which does not help much. As time goes on its harder to manage as I have gotten older. It also has left me with a not terribly attractive hump on one side of my back. One of the problems that occurs is that particular on waking I find it difficult to move around. That means that often my mornings are wasted. I do various exercises which help but this week has been a real struggle. So if you are having similar problems you have my sympathies’ as it’s the kind of problem that is not visible to others but can cause huge problems at times. Fortunately its only in recent years that it has started to cause real problems but at 66 I guess that is to be expected. I don’t think I will be running any marathons in the near future though.
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