Hi all,
Just have to share this amazing news with you all...
We're number one in a chart!!! In a reverbnation chart.. Here's the link.. Go and see for yourself!
'Other' Chart on Reverbnation
Have to say we're both utterly delighted at this and would like to say a great big thank you to all our friends who have helped out over the past 3 and half years!!
You guys rock!!!!
Thank you so much!!
Here you will find out all about us, what we do, gig dates and general internet loveliness.
Monday, 13 October 2014
Forever Autumn
The chill is in the air, the nights are drawing in and its beginning to look a lot like Halloween/Samhain everywhere. Cool crisp mornings with long shadows followed by golden light everywhere. Or as is the case here in Stoke, cloudy days with lots of rain. Oh well, can't have it all ways, eh? So what have we been up to? Lots to be honest. We've played a few gigs and are planning a couple of side projects, which will hopefully come to fruition in the next year or so.
One thing that many people don't know, is that if you're a musician you don't just get up and play music, or sing songs. It takes weeks and months of preparation, learning songs, writing, composing, so much goes into the 'act' that is booked by a venue to play. You don't just turn up off the street with a guitar in your hand and play, it might look that way, but it takes skill, dedication and hard work to perfect your 'act'. Anyway, I'm not moaning, just stating the facts as I see them. Anyone who thinks its the 'easy option' should really try it sometime ;-) Particularly jazz.. Jazz is infernal. It sounds great, lots of modalities, odd time signatures, weird melodies, all that takes practice. Jazz musicians didn't just get up and play and still don't. It all takes hard work and dedication and its what shows when you go out into the world and gig. You can knock something off and busk it, or you can work hard to put on a good show. Personally I prefer the latter.
Anyway, on with what we've been doing gig wise.
Saturday 20th Sepetember 2014 - Fundraiser for Kemball Special School and Crohns Disease, Joiners Square Community Centre
This event was considered an 'all dayer' and it certainly was! Rachel who put it all together worked tirelessly to ensure there was a constant flow of music for the people attending. There were intially acoustic acts during the day, with the odd band, then as the day progressed and as everyone moved inside, the bands took precedence. Mainly metal bands performed, which made a nice change to be amongst a different crowd and what a great crowd they were, all digging deep to support the charities. The venue has a proper stage too, which is always nice to play on. We were sandwiched between two metal bands (Adrenalize and .. erm... Oh, I forget now, I've such a rubbish memory!), which was kind of cool. We took to the stage and knocked out our Who songs, we only had a 20 minute slot, so knew we had to make an impact. The numbers were well received and it was a pleasure to play. Sometimes a short set can be as much fun as a full set to play. I know they raised loads of money for the charities.. Here's hoping that Rachel organises some more.
I know this isn't a lot of gigs, well, only one since last time it doesn't mean that we haven't been busy. We've still been filming some of the final scenes for the video. I've been working hard with the online side of the band and getting our presence felt all over the world. We're now on Number One Music which is a brilliant website promoting original new music across the globe. It allows us to write newsletters, post videos and music and generally get ourselves out to a wider audience. Which, as far as I can see is a great thing!! I've been twittering on my personal account too, which has seen an increase in traffic, so all a good thing.
The music side, well, Graeme worked really really hard and has condensed The Who album Tommy down to half an hour for a gig we have this week. Its not been easy, not at all. In fact, he's put in so many hours, he really deserves some time off. However, its workable and is sounding great. We've even been working on harmonies, just to add an extra dimension to the duo, hopefully there'll be more of that in the future too, but we'll see how it goes. We're playing for a great charity on Saturday called The Extra Guest (click on the link to find out more), hosted by the very lovely Moyra at The Hayes in Stone. Looking forward to playing this spooky venue. We're also opening for a folk act on Thursday at the Beer Festival, which should be a good one. We played last years Beer Festival and it was enormous fun, so be really chuffed to play again. A few other gigs coming up, though we still have a few slots for the end of the year and are taking bookings into next year now too. So, if you want us to play for you, better get in quick!!
Rightio, that's it from me for now.. Take care, check out the links and I'll see you soon
x
One thing that many people don't know, is that if you're a musician you don't just get up and play music, or sing songs. It takes weeks and months of preparation, learning songs, writing, composing, so much goes into the 'act' that is booked by a venue to play. You don't just turn up off the street with a guitar in your hand and play, it might look that way, but it takes skill, dedication and hard work to perfect your 'act'. Anyway, I'm not moaning, just stating the facts as I see them. Anyone who thinks its the 'easy option' should really try it sometime ;-) Particularly jazz.. Jazz is infernal. It sounds great, lots of modalities, odd time signatures, weird melodies, all that takes practice. Jazz musicians didn't just get up and play and still don't. It all takes hard work and dedication and its what shows when you go out into the world and gig. You can knock something off and busk it, or you can work hard to put on a good show. Personally I prefer the latter.
Anyway, on with what we've been doing gig wise.
Saturday 20th Sepetember 2014 - Fundraiser for Kemball Special School and Crohns Disease, Joiners Square Community Centre
This event was considered an 'all dayer' and it certainly was! Rachel who put it all together worked tirelessly to ensure there was a constant flow of music for the people attending. There were intially acoustic acts during the day, with the odd band, then as the day progressed and as everyone moved inside, the bands took precedence. Mainly metal bands performed, which made a nice change to be amongst a different crowd and what a great crowd they were, all digging deep to support the charities. The venue has a proper stage too, which is always nice to play on. We were sandwiched between two metal bands (Adrenalize and .. erm... Oh, I forget now, I've such a rubbish memory!), which was kind of cool. We took to the stage and knocked out our Who songs, we only had a 20 minute slot, so knew we had to make an impact. The numbers were well received and it was a pleasure to play. Sometimes a short set can be as much fun as a full set to play. I know they raised loads of money for the charities.. Here's hoping that Rachel organises some more.
I know this isn't a lot of gigs, well, only one since last time it doesn't mean that we haven't been busy. We've still been filming some of the final scenes for the video. I've been working hard with the online side of the band and getting our presence felt all over the world. We're now on Number One Music which is a brilliant website promoting original new music across the globe. It allows us to write newsletters, post videos and music and generally get ourselves out to a wider audience. Which, as far as I can see is a great thing!! I've been twittering on my personal account too, which has seen an increase in traffic, so all a good thing.
The music side, well, Graeme worked really really hard and has condensed The Who album Tommy down to half an hour for a gig we have this week. Its not been easy, not at all. In fact, he's put in so many hours, he really deserves some time off. However, its workable and is sounding great. We've even been working on harmonies, just to add an extra dimension to the duo, hopefully there'll be more of that in the future too, but we'll see how it goes. We're playing for a great charity on Saturday called The Extra Guest (click on the link to find out more), hosted by the very lovely Moyra at The Hayes in Stone. Looking forward to playing this spooky venue. We're also opening for a folk act on Thursday at the Beer Festival, which should be a good one. We played last years Beer Festival and it was enormous fun, so be really chuffed to play again. A few other gigs coming up, though we still have a few slots for the end of the year and are taking bookings into next year now too. So, if you want us to play for you, better get in quick!!
Rightio, that's it from me for now.. Take care, check out the links and I'll see you soon
x
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Summers Almost Gone...where will we be, when the summers gone?
To quote Jim Morrison (no doubt much to the chagrin of Graeme, who doesn't like The Doors)... I however, rather like them and seeing as I write the blog, tough.. lol
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!
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!
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Time flies by when you're the driver of a train... or not.. as the case may be.
Flipping heck!!!
How long since the last blog post?????
"Far too long" , I hear you cry!!,
Gosh, we've had such a busy time of it catching up with the blog has been the least of our worries..
From releasing the CD, its been a steady stream of gigs, working on other projects and well, generally being very very busy!! We're not complaining, no, we're not. Its good to be busy.
Saturday 17th May - The Boughey Arms, Audlem
Well, a welcome return for us at The Boughey, always a good night, and this one definitely was.. A favourite of ours, as well you know..
Sunday 18th May - The Gresley Arms - Folk and Ale Festival
The Gresley held their usual Folk and Ale Festival, but this year arranged the event themselves, we were there along with Esther Brennan, sharing her new toy with us as part of Brennan and Buchanan, always very lovely to see them and the evening was taken by ever wonderful Slippery Hill Boys.. so all in all a great little festival, well attended, the sun was shining and the beer flowing..
Saturday 31st May - The Fox, Elworth, Sandbach
First time for us at The Fox in Elworth. A delightful venue with a lovely crowd and a very welcoming manager. We're not their usual kind of act, but that's OK, as you take a chance sometimes and sometimes it pays off. Was a nice place to play.
Saturday 7th June - Wirksworth Farmers Market
Invited back by Brian, who is a stalwart of the music scene in Wirksworth, we played once more at the Farmer's Market. Always an appreciative crowd there, even when it started to rain. The usual jokes about weather started. But we were dry under our tarpaulin. The rain drove people away.. but not our rain.. ;-)
Saturday 14th June - The White Hart, Tean
Returning to the White Hart, in the middle of the World Cup.. the White Hart, usually teeming with people took a while to fill up, but it did eventually.. Our usual friends were in and it was delightful to be able to play some requests from last time for them, which, as you would expect, went down really well! Back there in December folks..
Saturday 28th June - Royal Exchange Beer Festival, Stone
Michelle, who manages The Royal Exchange is an amazing lady, she worked so hard to put together the Beer Festival at St Dominic's Centre in Stone. She really deserved the award she has just won for her pub.. Anyway, we played during the afternoon, we should have played outside, but opted for inside due to the weather looking a bit ropey. As I said, we should have played outside, because the sun came out and everyone sat outside.. not because of the music, but because it was such a lovely day!! Never mind.. we enjoyed playing there anyway and it was nice to see a few folk singing along as well plus a few faces from the Lymestone Brewery Festival earlier in the year..
Saturday 12th July - Alsager Festival
So nice to be invited back to play the Alsager Festival, which is an absolute 'must go to' event for anyone who loves music.. There was 4 stages this year, the acoustic stage, the main stage, the Greenway Stage and the SOPHIE stage.. each one delivering different music to different audiences.
]
How long since the last blog post?????
"Far too long" , I hear you cry!!,
Gosh, we've had such a busy time of it catching up with the blog has been the least of our worries..
From releasing the CD, its been a steady stream of gigs, working on other projects and well, generally being very very busy!! We're not complaining, no, we're not. Its good to be busy.
Saturday 17th May - The Boughey Arms, Audlem
Well, a welcome return for us at The Boughey, always a good night, and this one definitely was.. A favourite of ours, as well you know..
Sunday 18th May - The Gresley Arms - Folk and Ale Festival
The Gresley held their usual Folk and Ale Festival, but this year arranged the event themselves, we were there along with Esther Brennan, sharing her new toy with us as part of Brennan and Buchanan, always very lovely to see them and the evening was taken by ever wonderful Slippery Hill Boys.. so all in all a great little festival, well attended, the sun was shining and the beer flowing..
Saturday 31st May - The Fox, Elworth, Sandbach
First time for us at The Fox in Elworth. A delightful venue with a lovely crowd and a very welcoming manager. We're not their usual kind of act, but that's OK, as you take a chance sometimes and sometimes it pays off. Was a nice place to play.
Saturday 7th June - Wirksworth Farmers Market
Invited back by Brian, who is a stalwart of the music scene in Wirksworth, we played once more at the Farmer's Market. Always an appreciative crowd there, even when it started to rain. The usual jokes about weather started. But we were dry under our tarpaulin. The rain drove people away.. but not our rain.. ;-)
Saturday 14th June - The White Hart, Tean
Returning to the White Hart, in the middle of the World Cup.. the White Hart, usually teeming with people took a while to fill up, but it did eventually.. Our usual friends were in and it was delightful to be able to play some requests from last time for them, which, as you would expect, went down really well! Back there in December folks..
Saturday 28th June - Royal Exchange Beer Festival, Stone
Michelle, who manages The Royal Exchange is an amazing lady, she worked so hard to put together the Beer Festival at St Dominic's Centre in Stone. She really deserved the award she has just won for her pub.. Anyway, we played during the afternoon, we should have played outside, but opted for inside due to the weather looking a bit ropey. As I said, we should have played outside, because the sun came out and everyone sat outside.. not because of the music, but because it was such a lovely day!! Never mind.. we enjoyed playing there anyway and it was nice to see a few folk singing along as well plus a few faces from the Lymestone Brewery Festival earlier in the year..
Saturday 12th July - Alsager Festival
So nice to be invited back to play the Alsager Festival, which is an absolute 'must go to' event for anyone who loves music.. There was 4 stages this year, the acoustic stage, the main stage, the Greenway Stage and the SOPHIE stage.. each one delivering different music to different audiences.
]
Here's picture of us doing what we do at Alsager.. spot the flowery dress, cos it was hot and sunny again!!
Its a free event, with loads of things to see and do.. so is a must for families.. Really looking forward to 2015's event too!!
Its a free event, with loads of things to see and do.. so is a must for families.. Really looking forward to 2015's event too!!
Saturday 14th July - The Red Lion Nantwich
You know when you book something months in advance and you get a reminder a couple days before.. well that is what happened to us!! I thought the gig had been cancelled by Graeme, Graeme couldn't remember and luckily the very lovely Sam called me and asked if we were still free.. Of course we said "yes" and promptly threw the gear in the car for a lovely night out at The Red Lion.. We threw in some more new songs and had a jolly good night.. We all enjoyed it and we'll be back in September!
Thursday 31st July - The Greyhound Penkhull - Acoustic Night
Shh, don't tell anyone, but did you know, in our spare time and when we're asked, we can be available to run Open Mic/Acoustic Nights.. The very lovely Paul Gibson asked if we wouldn't mind running it, and how could we refuse? We love The Greyhound and had a stonking night in there, loads of players turned up and made it a night to remember.
Saturday 2nd August - The Boughey Arms
I've told you before about how much we love the Boughey.. well, we were invited back to play.. so , again, we couldn't refuse.. etc etc.. A lovely night, as it was also the bosses wife's birthday, so she was in with her friends, singing along to the tunes we played and generally having a brilliant night..
We'll be back there again soon.. ;-)
Sunday 3rd August - The Red Bull Music afternoon
Organised by the ever lovely Slippery Hill Boys as a thank you to the landlord of The Red Bull, Church Lawton, we were invited down to do a set in the sunshine, by the canal. Made a real change sitting under a parasol, sipping a cool drink and watching the boats go by as we were listening to the dulcet tones of the SHB.. A few other acts joined us, a lovely girl called Emily, who writes her own songs, the very lovely Graham Dawson, who was joined on stage by SHB, which filled out his songs brilliantly.. and Hayley Strangelove and Baxter.. who were their usual boisterous selves..A really lovely afternoon, chance to catch up with a few folk and sit basking..
More to come.. when we've played them..
Ta taa for now..
Monday, 2 June 2014
April Showers and the Merry Month of May
Phew!!
April and May have been hectic to say the least with lots of gigs and general Rain stuff...I'd better get on with it then, eh?
Wednesday April 2nd, The Swan Inn, Stone
A wonderful return trip to a very lovely watering hole in Stone, as ever the locals had a great night and the not so locals were friendly too, chatting about Who songs with a couple of Telecoms engineers and general chit chat with another couple at the bar.. This really is a very friendly venue and so lovely to play.. I simply can't recommend it enough. We performed well and went down well, which is really what its all about...
Saturday 5th April - Rode Hall Farmers Market
After playing in November and it was cold and rainy, we thought we'd spy our chance with a lovely spring morning at Rode Hall... and guess what? It flipping well rained, rained and then rained some more... the pun being entirely intended. We were sharing a gazebo with the very lovely Raggedy Anne, who makes the most amazing headgear and knitted stuff.. each minute bought a new challenge of trying not to get the gear wet.. We played superbly under the circumstances and thoroughly enjoyed it, the tea stall bringing us hot cups of tea certainly helped, as did the bread donation by London Road Bakehouse, graciously received.. Its really something different to play there and really lovely.. Just a pity the weather was poor.. Oh well, can't pick the weather. Our gear ended up a little soggy, but our spirits weren't dampened.
Sunday 6th April - The Berwick, Sneyd Green
Oh dear...we've all done it, played to an empty room. The landlady was terribly apologetic and really was very lovely about the whole thing. In fact the pub was empty anyway, which was a tragedy for them too. One very lovely lady did come through and watch the last few songs and was enormously supportive, finding out that she was a fellow musician after was cool. She explained she was a drummer with punk band, and really enjoyed our set, getting up on the keyboards to show how she could play a couple of classical pieces that she learned by ear!! At least we managed to get home early after a hectic weekend!
Saturday 19th April - The Royal Exchange, Stone
From and empty pub to a relatively full one. The Royal Exchange, a new venue for us, was another lovely venue to play. Michelle, the landlady runs a tight ship (its a Titanic Brewery pub, you see.. lol) and the assembled crowd were in strong voice, singing along to some of their favourites, we have been invited back to do their Beer Festival in June, which bodes well.. definately a great night.
Saturday 26th April - Freedom Feed'em cafe, Longton
The Freedom Feed'em Cafe is a brilliant idea, and serves the people of Longton simply scrumptious food and only as for 'what you can afford to pay'... which is very noble, staffed by enthusiastic volunteers it made a pleasant change to play there. We played acoustically and were joined in on a couple of songs by a few folks.. which was nice.. We were supplied with ample cups of tea and in our break were fed a delightful Veg Biriani with rice and apple crumble for pudding. Its nice to see something good for the people of Longton and to see it so well attended too.
Saturday 3rd May - The White Lion, Penkhull
Another return trip to The White Lion in Penkhull, another favourite of ours with a great crowd, including some of our friends who turned up to lend their support, which, as always is gratefully received. It was good to hear some feedback for some of the new songs in the set and just simply a smashing night!
Sunday 4th May - The Lymelight Festival, Newcastle under Lyme
A relatively new festival held in the centre of the town and one to watch.. There was a full size outdoor stage, which was nice to play on, tbh, and the everso lovely Nigel on the sound desk, with Clive, who's gear it was.. made sure our sound was perfect, even when we had a glitch and lost the sound, they were swift in their execution to put it right. We played to the few people milling around, and waved to Viv from Lymestone Brewery, who was frantically putting up the beer tent ready for the hoards of people who were promised to arrive. Being the first on has its pluses.. means you can get off stage early and get on with the day, the downside is not many people were there.. however, those who were there seemed to enjoy what we did, so it was a success, imho. Vouchers were handed to us to get a free drink from the Hippy Hippy Shake co. or Lymestone Vaults... It was a tad early for a beer.. so I made do with a rather tasty blueberry smoothie, which was divine...
Saturday 17th May - The Boughey Arms, Audley
A last minute booking at The Boughey, another favourite venue, meant that we were caught on the hoof, as it were. Still, we managed to set up and perform our usual delightful range of songs for the assembled crowd. A number of diners were in, sampling the fine foods served there and a couple of people who'd been there all afternoon, who stayed to chat. It was nice to be back there, hopefully we'll be back again before the year's out.
Sunday 18th May - Gresley Folk and Ale Festival, Alsagers Bank
Having played this event last year, it was lovely to be invited back to play again this year. However, things had changed, last year there was a rolling stream of acts, this year, not so many.. however it didn't quell the spirits of the people in attendance, who were joyfully entertained. Was nice to catch up with a couple of fellow musicians too, Tim from the Slippery Hill Boys and Ian Buchanan and Esther Brennan (who followed us), plus assorted people who listened from the Beer Garden (who were taking advantage of the weather and soaking up the rays while sampling the fine ales.. Definately a good gig and well worth waiting for.
Sunday 25th May - The Horseshoe, Crewe
Another short notice arranged gig, at this delightful Robinson's house in Crewe, arranged by the lovely John, who had seen us previously at The Nags Head and decided we were the right folk for the job. The landlady and her family took front row seats and bopped along and sang along to a large proportion of the set and certainly seemed entertained, much applause followed, and a mystery guest in the guise of Mr Kev Orbisounds in the audience ensured that this will be one we won't forget easily.
Saturday 31st May - The Fox, Elworth
Elworth, for those of you that don't know lies just outside Sandbach and was easier to find than Googlemaps suggested, thankfully Graeme was at the wheel and knew where it was. The Fox is a really really nice looking pub, its recently been modernised and it definately shows. However, trying to sing when you have a cold isn't easy, so a few bum notes were hit tonight, which I'm not proud of, but the show has to go on!! We were made very welcome by Graham and Sally and yes, a few of the crowd were reminiscing as they sang along.. which is a good sign. We were greeted at the end by a lively fellow, rather the worse for wear and who danced in front of us, suggesting that we try "You've Got to Show Me Love".. duly noted, though getting the chords to a dance track may prove tricky...
That's the gig round-up for April/May.. what else??
Well we have loads of ideas in the pipeline, including video shoots, new songs, new cover songs and, well, just loads of stuff...
We've also been confirmed for Alsager Festival in July and Cloggerfest in August.. which we know are going to be great events!!! More gigs coming up.. so just keep your eyes peeled!
Until next time... tatty bye..
April and May have been hectic to say the least with lots of gigs and general Rain stuff...I'd better get on with it then, eh?
Wednesday April 2nd, The Swan Inn, Stone
A wonderful return trip to a very lovely watering hole in Stone, as ever the locals had a great night and the not so locals were friendly too, chatting about Who songs with a couple of Telecoms engineers and general chit chat with another couple at the bar.. This really is a very friendly venue and so lovely to play.. I simply can't recommend it enough. We performed well and went down well, which is really what its all about...
Saturday 5th April - Rode Hall Farmers Market
After playing in November and it was cold and rainy, we thought we'd spy our chance with a lovely spring morning at Rode Hall... and guess what? It flipping well rained, rained and then rained some more... the pun being entirely intended. We were sharing a gazebo with the very lovely Raggedy Anne, who makes the most amazing headgear and knitted stuff.. each minute bought a new challenge of trying not to get the gear wet.. We played superbly under the circumstances and thoroughly enjoyed it, the tea stall bringing us hot cups of tea certainly helped, as did the bread donation by London Road Bakehouse, graciously received.. Its really something different to play there and really lovely.. Just a pity the weather was poor.. Oh well, can't pick the weather. Our gear ended up a little soggy, but our spirits weren't dampened.
Sunday 6th April - The Berwick, Sneyd Green
Oh dear...we've all done it, played to an empty room. The landlady was terribly apologetic and really was very lovely about the whole thing. In fact the pub was empty anyway, which was a tragedy for them too. One very lovely lady did come through and watch the last few songs and was enormously supportive, finding out that she was a fellow musician after was cool. She explained she was a drummer with punk band, and really enjoyed our set, getting up on the keyboards to show how she could play a couple of classical pieces that she learned by ear!! At least we managed to get home early after a hectic weekend!
Saturday 19th April - The Royal Exchange, Stone
From and empty pub to a relatively full one. The Royal Exchange, a new venue for us, was another lovely venue to play. Michelle, the landlady runs a tight ship (its a Titanic Brewery pub, you see.. lol) and the assembled crowd were in strong voice, singing along to some of their favourites, we have been invited back to do their Beer Festival in June, which bodes well.. definately a great night.
Saturday 26th April - Freedom Feed'em cafe, Longton
The Freedom Feed'em Cafe is a brilliant idea, and serves the people of Longton simply scrumptious food and only as for 'what you can afford to pay'... which is very noble, staffed by enthusiastic volunteers it made a pleasant change to play there. We played acoustically and were joined in on a couple of songs by a few folks.. which was nice.. We were supplied with ample cups of tea and in our break were fed a delightful Veg Biriani with rice and apple crumble for pudding. Its nice to see something good for the people of Longton and to see it so well attended too.
Saturday 3rd May - The White Lion, Penkhull
Another return trip to The White Lion in Penkhull, another favourite of ours with a great crowd, including some of our friends who turned up to lend their support, which, as always is gratefully received. It was good to hear some feedback for some of the new songs in the set and just simply a smashing night!
Sunday 4th May - The Lymelight Festival, Newcastle under Lyme
A relatively new festival held in the centre of the town and one to watch.. There was a full size outdoor stage, which was nice to play on, tbh, and the everso lovely Nigel on the sound desk, with Clive, who's gear it was.. made sure our sound was perfect, even when we had a glitch and lost the sound, they were swift in their execution to put it right. We played to the few people milling around, and waved to Viv from Lymestone Brewery, who was frantically putting up the beer tent ready for the hoards of people who were promised to arrive. Being the first on has its pluses.. means you can get off stage early and get on with the day, the downside is not many people were there.. however, those who were there seemed to enjoy what we did, so it was a success, imho. Vouchers were handed to us to get a free drink from the Hippy Hippy Shake co. or Lymestone Vaults... It was a tad early for a beer.. so I made do with a rather tasty blueberry smoothie, which was divine...
Saturday 17th May - The Boughey Arms, Audley
A last minute booking at The Boughey, another favourite venue, meant that we were caught on the hoof, as it were. Still, we managed to set up and perform our usual delightful range of songs for the assembled crowd. A number of diners were in, sampling the fine foods served there and a couple of people who'd been there all afternoon, who stayed to chat. It was nice to be back there, hopefully we'll be back again before the year's out.
Sunday 18th May - Gresley Folk and Ale Festival, Alsagers Bank
Having played this event last year, it was lovely to be invited back to play again this year. However, things had changed, last year there was a rolling stream of acts, this year, not so many.. however it didn't quell the spirits of the people in attendance, who were joyfully entertained. Was nice to catch up with a couple of fellow musicians too, Tim from the Slippery Hill Boys and Ian Buchanan and Esther Brennan (who followed us), plus assorted people who listened from the Beer Garden (who were taking advantage of the weather and soaking up the rays while sampling the fine ales.. Definately a good gig and well worth waiting for.
Sunday 25th May - The Horseshoe, Crewe
Another short notice arranged gig, at this delightful Robinson's house in Crewe, arranged by the lovely John, who had seen us previously at The Nags Head and decided we were the right folk for the job. The landlady and her family took front row seats and bopped along and sang along to a large proportion of the set and certainly seemed entertained, much applause followed, and a mystery guest in the guise of Mr Kev Orbisounds in the audience ensured that this will be one we won't forget easily.
Saturday 31st May - The Fox, Elworth
Elworth, for those of you that don't know lies just outside Sandbach and was easier to find than Googlemaps suggested, thankfully Graeme was at the wheel and knew where it was. The Fox is a really really nice looking pub, its recently been modernised and it definately shows. However, trying to sing when you have a cold isn't easy, so a few bum notes were hit tonight, which I'm not proud of, but the show has to go on!! We were made very welcome by Graham and Sally and yes, a few of the crowd were reminiscing as they sang along.. which is a good sign. We were greeted at the end by a lively fellow, rather the worse for wear and who danced in front of us, suggesting that we try "You've Got to Show Me Love".. duly noted, though getting the chords to a dance track may prove tricky...
That's the gig round-up for April/May.. what else??
Well we have loads of ideas in the pipeline, including video shoots, new songs, new cover songs and, well, just loads of stuff...
We've also been confirmed for Alsager Festival in July and Cloggerfest in August.. which we know are going to be great events!!! More gigs coming up.. so just keep your eyes peeled!
Until next time... tatty bye..
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
We're on the radio in Scotland!
Yes folks, you read that correctly. I have some lovely friends who moved to Scotland many moons ago and now they do a little radio show.. and have decided to include some of the Rain songs in their show..
Here's a link: http://www.mixcloud.com/edradio/through-the-seasons-show-12/
Obviously there's been other stuff that we've been doing recently, but this is quite contemporary with the season...
Enjoy..
Here's a link: http://www.mixcloud.com/edradio/through-the-seasons-show-12/
Obviously there's been other stuff that we've been doing recently, but this is quite contemporary with the season...
Enjoy..
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
The Mad Month of March
Hi folks.. Its been a while since I blogged.. Just getting busier and busier, as is the wont of any musician during the warmer months. Gigs getting booked, Festivals being arranged and well.. all manner of exciting stuff underway. Our CD was released at the end of February and have been finding their way off to new homes... Really must see how many we have left.. Oh, another time...
Onto the gigs..
Saturday 1st March
Saw a welcome return to The Greyhound in Penkhull, having recently changed ownership and brought about some welcome changes with the new management, it is, once more a delightful venue to play. We were rather pleased to see a load of our friends at this one, our first 'local' gig for a while. We barraged the audience with a load of new covers, which all went down well.. and as seems to be the habit in The Greyhound the dancers enjoyed it too.. We put it down to Stoke having won that day, but it was nice to be appreciated by a lovely crowd and to see so many friends there. We started a game of 'guess the song/artist'.. which went down well with everyone.. and it prevented getting mobbed on stage and asked the usual 'who's this by?' questions. One table got 4 points and were well chuffed with themselves.. and quite rightly so!
Saturday 15th March
An early doors gig at The Lymestone Brewer 20/20 Beer Festival was simply wonderful.. We'd sneaked in early the night before to watch Sons of Clogger perform their delightful blend of roguery and charm, which they did with their usual aplomb, so knew what we were letting ourselves in for.. Including making some new friends and meeting up with some old ones who promised to come along.. Saturday arrived and as it was an 'early doors' gig, we set up early.. the Beer Festival was already in full swing, ale was being quaffed and we got to performing. Despite the brilliance of the venue, with its wonderful high ceiling.. it was freezing!! Now, something I didn't realise is that fine ales need to be in a cold climate.. I thought the warmer the better, but that would just explain my lack of knowledge of brewing.. Apart from the cold, it was a stunning event to play at, everyone there was happy, as the early evening descended and the sun set, the crowds began to arrive, no doubt fed up with shopping and needing a night out. We certainly received a warm response from everyone, and enjoyed every second of the acoustics of the room! We were followed by Elvis Fontenot and the Sugarbees.. who are a 'must see' band.. playing a blend of Cajun and Zydeco beats to get everyone dancing.. had I not damaged my knee a few days prior.. I'd have got up and danced away too..
Friday 21st March
Took us to the Flying Lady in Crewe.. Before I start, I should tell you, I'd had a migraine for a few days before the gig, so wasn't at my best, but was prepared to soldier on.. Graeme packed the car.. I followed him out.. arrived at the gig, unpacked the gear... "Where's the mic stand?"... We were running late anyway, so poor Graeme had to drive all the way back to Stoke to retrieve said stand. I was unpopular.. Its part of my gear and I forgot it.. I glanced on my way out at the corner where it was propped up and it never registered with me. I was in trouble.. 20 mins to the start and we'd no mic stand. Ordinarily with a standard mic, it wouldn't be too bad, but with my huge whopping heavy thing.. no chance, I'd have no arms left.. so the mic stand was needed. Graeme finally arrived back and we just plugged in without sound checking first... Graeme's pedal board was playing up, people were complaining they could hear the vocals.. We finally got it sorted when we took a short break.. By which time we were both feeling less than our best, but soldiered on through the second set, determined to carry on... With apologies to the venue, and clientele, who were very good about it really. Not one of our best gigs.. But any musician will tell you, 'we all have bad gigs'... :-(
Saturday 22nd March
To make up for being late the day before, we set out extra early for our show at The Black Swan in Leek, only to be told by Pam.. 'You don't need to go on until 9.30'.. Which meant having to prop the bar up.. which is a hard job, obviously. Was lovely again to see some friendly faces turn up to see us.. the one thing about being a musician that sucks, is the majority of your friends are also musicians, and therefore, actually having a full house of people that know you is rare indeed. Usually Friday and Saturday, which are generally gig nights, tend to be when everyone's working and therefore, not available to come and see you.. However, we had two groups of musician friends in, which was nice.. Charlie (from Crawlin' From the Wreckage) had played a gig earlier on and had sneaked in later, whereas Terry and Sharon turned up early and went elsewhere, as they weren't sure what time we were on!... Saturday was a much better night than the night before, we played well, sang well, and generally had a really lovely gig, even getting thanked for including a song which was a personal favourite of one of the girls in the crowd.. who said "I've never heard anyone do that before.. it was brilliant"
So, that's the gigs up to date..
Don't forget you can still get a copy of the album through Ebay, should you wish.. and we are preparing to get everything ready for downloads too.. Just we needed to fill in some forms and send some stuff off and are in the process of getting that ready.. Seeing as so many of you have moved on from actual 'L.P's' and cassettes onto 'downloads' we figured we would have to bring ourselves into the 21st century kicking and screaming. Don't worry, I shall blog it to death once its done!
Onto the gigs..
Saturday 1st March
Saw a welcome return to The Greyhound in Penkhull, having recently changed ownership and brought about some welcome changes with the new management, it is, once more a delightful venue to play. We were rather pleased to see a load of our friends at this one, our first 'local' gig for a while. We barraged the audience with a load of new covers, which all went down well.. and as seems to be the habit in The Greyhound the dancers enjoyed it too.. We put it down to Stoke having won that day, but it was nice to be appreciated by a lovely crowd and to see so many friends there. We started a game of 'guess the song/artist'.. which went down well with everyone.. and it prevented getting mobbed on stage and asked the usual 'who's this by?' questions. One table got 4 points and were well chuffed with themselves.. and quite rightly so!
Saturday 15th March
An early doors gig at The Lymestone Brewer 20/20 Beer Festival was simply wonderful.. We'd sneaked in early the night before to watch Sons of Clogger perform their delightful blend of roguery and charm, which they did with their usual aplomb, so knew what we were letting ourselves in for.. Including making some new friends and meeting up with some old ones who promised to come along.. Saturday arrived and as it was an 'early doors' gig, we set up early.. the Beer Festival was already in full swing, ale was being quaffed and we got to performing. Despite the brilliance of the venue, with its wonderful high ceiling.. it was freezing!! Now, something I didn't realise is that fine ales need to be in a cold climate.. I thought the warmer the better, but that would just explain my lack of knowledge of brewing.. Apart from the cold, it was a stunning event to play at, everyone there was happy, as the early evening descended and the sun set, the crowds began to arrive, no doubt fed up with shopping and needing a night out. We certainly received a warm response from everyone, and enjoyed every second of the acoustics of the room! We were followed by Elvis Fontenot and the Sugarbees.. who are a 'must see' band.. playing a blend of Cajun and Zydeco beats to get everyone dancing.. had I not damaged my knee a few days prior.. I'd have got up and danced away too..
Friday 21st March
Took us to the Flying Lady in Crewe.. Before I start, I should tell you, I'd had a migraine for a few days before the gig, so wasn't at my best, but was prepared to soldier on.. Graeme packed the car.. I followed him out.. arrived at the gig, unpacked the gear... "Where's the mic stand?"... We were running late anyway, so poor Graeme had to drive all the way back to Stoke to retrieve said stand. I was unpopular.. Its part of my gear and I forgot it.. I glanced on my way out at the corner where it was propped up and it never registered with me. I was in trouble.. 20 mins to the start and we'd no mic stand. Ordinarily with a standard mic, it wouldn't be too bad, but with my huge whopping heavy thing.. no chance, I'd have no arms left.. so the mic stand was needed. Graeme finally arrived back and we just plugged in without sound checking first... Graeme's pedal board was playing up, people were complaining they could hear the vocals.. We finally got it sorted when we took a short break.. By which time we were both feeling less than our best, but soldiered on through the second set, determined to carry on... With apologies to the venue, and clientele, who were very good about it really. Not one of our best gigs.. But any musician will tell you, 'we all have bad gigs'... :-(
Saturday 22nd March
To make up for being late the day before, we set out extra early for our show at The Black Swan in Leek, only to be told by Pam.. 'You don't need to go on until 9.30'.. Which meant having to prop the bar up.. which is a hard job, obviously. Was lovely again to see some friendly faces turn up to see us.. the one thing about being a musician that sucks, is the majority of your friends are also musicians, and therefore, actually having a full house of people that know you is rare indeed. Usually Friday and Saturday, which are generally gig nights, tend to be when everyone's working and therefore, not available to come and see you.. However, we had two groups of musician friends in, which was nice.. Charlie (from Crawlin' From the Wreckage) had played a gig earlier on and had sneaked in later, whereas Terry and Sharon turned up early and went elsewhere, as they weren't sure what time we were on!... Saturday was a much better night than the night before, we played well, sang well, and generally had a really lovely gig, even getting thanked for including a song which was a personal favourite of one of the girls in the crowd.. who said "I've never heard anyone do that before.. it was brilliant"
So, that's the gigs up to date..
Don't forget you can still get a copy of the album through Ebay, should you wish.. and we are preparing to get everything ready for downloads too.. Just we needed to fill in some forms and send some stuff off and are in the process of getting that ready.. Seeing as so many of you have moved on from actual 'L.P's' and cassettes onto 'downloads' we figured we would have to bring ourselves into the 21st century kicking and screaming. Don't worry, I shall blog it to death once its done!
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