A pair of April Fools - quite possibly

Well, phew! What a weekend that was in the world of Rain! Crazy busy, but loving every minute of it!

Friday 26th April took us to The Grove House in Chesterton, run by the ever so lovely Phil... Both of us had been there independently of each other in around 2008-2009 to take part in Open Mic nights there,so it was rather amusing to think that we hadn't bumped into each other before.. With thoughts of this we set up and performed our usual set, though taking a break part way through, to chat to a couple (Jo and Ian) who had taken the time to look us up on You Tube, liked what they heard, so came along to watch.. which was lovely of them. They were joined by a few other folk.. however, The Grove House is a bit of a strange pub.. not in a bad way, but the majority of folk prefer to drink in the bar and listen to the music from bands playing in the other room.. Which I have to say is a bit odd.. But we went down well, so all was not lost. Poor Phil kept apologising for there not being many people in, and we chatted about the state of the economy, how more and more people are staying home and not going to listen to live local music, etc.. Overall though a great night, with new friends made and the like.

Saturday 27th April and we were invited by Geoff Berrow from The Slippery Hill Boys to play at his lovely wife, Dawn's 50th birthday bash, also on the bill was Graham Dawson, who was aided by a couple of The Slippery's (as they shall now be known on this blog!), Phil Maddocks and Nick Bayes, and of course the main attraction The Slippery Hill Boys. We had both made the mistake of eating before getting there, however were tempted by the amazing Slippery Hill Chilli's and extremely hot salsa (designed to take the lining off your entire gastric system!) which were divine and the recipe is on the website, so is a must try...
Check it out here: http://www.slipperyhill.co.uk/chilli.php
Graham Dawson kicked off the evening, with some easy listening, East Coast vibes.. did he throw in an Eagles cover?? I don't know.. but gently led us into the evening of entertainment. We were up next and gave them some of our covers, Crazy being one of the most well received of the evening.. that and Je ne Regrette Rien, which always goes down well.. The crowd were warm and appreciative, but we couldn't stay on stage all night and gave way to Maddocks and Bayes, who performed some amazing tunes, in a kind of country/folk style. They were followed by The Slippery Hill Boys... who just HAVE to be seen!! They're made up of such a bunch of extremely talented guys, playing their own blend of Americana, with intertwining melodies and harmonies that left me (Sheena) quite speechless. They were also joined on stage by Bearfoot's violinist, who's name escapes me, just adding more to that Country vibe...
Bumped into a few friends there (other than the musicians), as its always interesting to find out who knows who, and realise that the world is a whole lot smaller than we might think. I sincerely hope that Dawn had a fantastic night, as it was a pleasure to play for her.

Some links you might want to check out:
http://www.slipperyhill.co.uk
http://www.reverbnation.com/philmaddocks
 Sorry, couldn't find a link for Graham Dawson...

Sunday 28th March - Phew! What a day, we'd been invited by Georgina Salt to provide the PA and do a few numbers for the Ballroom Boutique event at The George Hotel in Burslem.. How could we refuse??
The Ballroom Boutique is an annual vintage and handmade fair, where people with various trinkets turn up and display their wares.. This one was going to be different as it was in aid of The Lullaby Trust (http://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/). Raising funds for charity is never easy in these austere times and Georgina put together a fantastic event, worked really hard to organise everything, and be a full time mum to a 9 month old!!! She even sorted out the other acts, and the running order, so all we had to do was turn up, set up and play... We were the first to play, followed by Shotokan Disco, an acoustic covers act performed by Mark Dixon. He covered old favourites, and more modern tunes in his own style, anyway don't take my word for it, check out his MySpace...http://www.myspace.com/shotokandisco
Following him were String of Pearls, bringing a taste of the 1940's, 50's and 60's to life.. both Sarah and Mark were dressed straight from the 1940's and delivered a brilliant set of songs, check them out online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1zKR6adjgg and their facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/String-Of-Pearls/353567211327958
They were followed by the One Production Theatre Company, who gave us some show tunes, from diverse shows such as The Sound of Music, Rent, Chess and Les Mis.. a fabulous blending of harmonies and top notch performers, I hope they get picked up for the big theatres, as they're fantastic!! I can't find a link for them (sorry guys :-( )
Next up were The Mill another acoustic duo (yes folks we have serious competition!), a very talented couple , with a hint of Eva Cassidy.. sorry guys.. no weblink either.. :-(
We met up with some old friends.. Jetsunn designs (https://www.facebook.com/JetsunnDesigns?fref=ts) Asgot simmering salts (https://www.facebook.com/Asgotsalt?fref=ts) and made some new friends, specifically Julia from Tribble Trinkets (https://www.facebook.com/TribbleTrinkets?fref=ts) who managed to put up with having her display moved around while we organised things for the stage..

Anyway, I can't believe how smoothly it all went, all power to Georgina and her amazing organisational ability!! If you fancy popping along to the next one, here's the facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/332765296747840/

What a weekend, and nothing new for us... I guess we're either gluttons for punishment or just love this so much that we can't help ourselves!!

I'll let you decide.