Gosh things have been really busy in the Rain camp again, including exciting things and that. So much to tell you from the past month really and I kind of don't know where to start. So I'll start at the very beginning (its a very good place to start)...
8th August
We ventured 'Darn Sarf', taking ourselves off for a working holiday. I can't say too much, but I will anyway.. in order to begin filming a video for one of our songs!! Graeme came up with the idea of us being in period costume, seeing as the song relates to pressganging and the Battle of Trafalger, I'll leave it there as I don't want to give too much away, other than it was flipping hard work! We were blessed with the end of Hurricane Bertha, which added lots of blusteriness to the proceedings and well, made things very interesting.. Here's a little cobbled together piece of video made from stills from the shoot, just to give you a taster of what's to come.
I will say that I enjoyed myself throughout the shoot, not sure Graeme enjoyed it.. But, its the price you pay for being an artiste!
While on our sojourn we played 3 very different Open Mic nights, the first was at The Brewery Bar in Botley, which was well attended and the level of professionalism was outstanding. The calibre of musicianship was outstanding...Including a young girl who is definately destined for big things (who's name escapes me now!). The second one was at the Barn, which is a venue attached to a pub (who's name also escapes me), a rather different affair, but we were well received which was nice. The third was at The Fountain Inn, Rowlands Castle, a quieter affair, but still enthusiastic and full of talent. Overall the South East is littered with Open Mics/Acoustic nights and they're well worth checking out if you find yourself down there.
Back to gigs...
Saturday 24th August - Lightfest
Lightfest was the first in a series of fundraisers for The Birmingham Children's Hospital, held in the brand spanking new village of Lightmoor in Shropshire. Anyone who tries to find it will be challenged, including us, we went around in a circle to start with, then managed to safely arrive after a swift call to the organisers. We played in the village square outside the very lovely 'Home' cafe (you simply have to try their food, its amazing!!!) We played our usual repertoire and were well received then stayed for the main act who were the very lovely 'Driftwood'.. a kind of folk/rock affair, with stunning harmonies, and melodic flute. They were also really lovely people and keen to chat too, we discovered that we had 2 songs the same in our set, but as our approaches were different, we kept them in. Looking forward to more events put on by this lovely village and its people.
Saturday 30th August - The Boughey Arms Music and Beer Festival
We were called in to headline the Music and Beef Festival at last minute, but that was fine for us, we love The Boughey and always go down well there, which is encouraging. This night was no exception. We decided to dish out the singalongs, which got everyone cheering and singing along... A group of rather rowdy young men arrived, somewhat worse for wear, but we managed to keep them in check until they left. Bless.. the folly of youth! We had to wrap up the night as my voice started to pack up, thankfully it seems to have recovered, must have just been an 'off' day. Looking forward to going back again..
Saturday 6th September - Golden Lion, Middlewich
Our first outing to Middlewich and the lovely Golden Lion. We received a very warm welcome, but discovered that someone in the village had a 60th birthday party, our punters very kindly apologised and said they looked forward to seeing us again. However, we were left with 4 very enthusiastic audience members, who were amazed it was so quiet. Apparently a bunch of folks had gone on holiday too. The crowd that were there enjoyed what we did, which is always nice to hear and hopefully we'll be going back again to play to a relatively full house (with a bit of luck!)
Sunday 7th September - Music Wirks - Wirksworth Arts Festival
Taking ourselves off to the Derbyshire peaks for this wonderful Festival is always a delight for us. We gained 3 slots (and were told the venues were 'fighting' over us.. ) playing at Hatfield Farm, The Stable Block and The Star Disc, playing to a moving crowd can be challenging, but we here love a challenge. Encouraging people to stay and listen is hard, when people generally are milling about looking for the art on display and following the famous Art Trail. Hatfield Farm was our first slot, playing in the drive, luckily no-one wanted to drive down it, so we were safe. We then played The Stable Block, which we've now played 3 years in a row and spotted the Radio 2 DJ Mark Radcliffe along with his missus and a couple of friends. Graeme scolded me after, as I 'should have shouted him and given him a CD'... Oh well, there's always next year! lol. The Star Disc was our last session of the day, played at an amazing spot high above the village, in the sunshine, we caught up with our old friend from Wirksworth, Brian, who performed there earlier in the day and who managed to not leave the Star Disc all day! lol. It was a gorgeous day weather wise, they always seem to do it on a good weekend, which is possibly, just sheer luck.
More stuff coming up, more gigs and the video!!
Just you wait, its going to be great!
