The title's gone bright blue?

I don't know why it's gone bright blue, Blogger can be an infuriating tool at the best of times. I was going to call this one Babies/Gigs/Jobs/Horizons which has a much nicer ring, don't you think!

BABIES 

Yo everyone, just to let you know, we've had an amazing baby girl!' came the text to all close friends and family. The guitar player had become a father. The 'baby girl' has remained nameless to this day, indeed it's been rather difficult obtaining any further updates. His phone is off. I daren't call his missus. Not because I'm scared of her, but knowing me it would ring at an inappropriate time, like breast feeding, or nappy changing, or sleeping. And seeing as all newborn's do is eat, sleep and poop, I rest my case. So, a father he is. Like me. And the drummer. We now outnumber the other two offspring-less band mates 3-2. But unlike the drummer and I, he has produced a girl. A gentlewoman. A mademoiselle. A princess or a tomboy, only time will tell. My son bangs the drums, and the drummer's boy, well you guessed it! Next generation OddFolk will line up with two drummers and a girl without a name. The future's bright. 

GIGS
We returned to Don't Wake The Fish for the 5th consecutive year. We smashed it. Original lineup; welcoming back the finger picking dexterity of the guitar player. We performed to a packed tent of fans and the atmosphere was up there with the best we've had. We reveled long into the shoulder of the night. In the eerie mists that cloaked the Zennor Moors, we sipped fine Antuigan rum with old friends and new fans.
 

The following weekend we traveled up to Dorset and Gloucestershire with a completely new lineup. The guitar player was replaced by Louis Gulliver King and the drummer was replaced by my feet. And it worked surprisingly well. Not my preferred formation I must say, but for an Arts Centre it worked a treat. We sat back, more acoustic, keeping in time with the cajon kick, while Louis Gulliver King played the cymbol and the accordion at the same time. And the accordion does add something different. A new tone. A little lift. The drone of the bass notes and the high squeeze of the right hand as it dances on the keys. Louis is a great addition to our band, playing his 7th gig with us now, and he will be used more as the guitar players learns his trade with a newborn. So the above weekend; or rather 2 gigs in a day, 600 miles travelled, 10 ales, 4 pizzas, 12 hours on the road. The glamour of life in a band. We played at a festival in the afternoon, somewhere in the pretty green fringe of Dorset. We played outside a huge stately home. Our audience made up of wild children and hung-over parents lulling on the perfect lawns. We packed up, excused ourselves and drove north forgetting two boxes of CD's with a resale value of £600. Bad form. That night in Wooton-under-edge; a quaint Gloucestershire town; we played a sit down, atmospheric gig to a very attentive audience. We soared. Pin drop moments and swelling chorus'. We bought some fans to tears with a particularly moving rendition of Plastic Trees which one lady said was "the most beautiful song ever written!". We sold the remaining box of CD's, packed up and drove 300 miles home again.

JOBS

Since May I have been performing in a play all over the place. A different town each night. I haven't had a day off in 6 weeks and won't till we wrap in July.
The bass player has moved back down to Cornwall, quitting his job in the capitol. This is pretty big news and as I type this it seems almost insulting to refer it it in a passing comment. It could well command its own blog! How does one turn his back on a great job (for which he's won an award) and return to the end of the land and build a garden shed!? Catchy title don't you think!
The piano player, as you know, also moved back to Cornwall, quitting his job as a paintball seller. He now cleans seagull shit off the walls under the guise of a painter and decorator. I saw him the other day, dressed in white dungarees  with an apron and a flat cap on. he looked like a cross between Mario and Luigi!
The guitar player, apart from becoming a father, is still running his gardening company, and building his house. Two incredibly grown up things I must say.
And that leaves the drummer, who as stated in the last blog, is parting company with The Odd Folk in September. Although, after some positive talks he has agreed to come and play some futures gigs with us. 

HORIZONS
You may all be wondering what's in store for the future, without a drummer and with an increasingly absent guitar player. It's something that's tickled us too. Stick or twist. Had it not been for the success of our recent adventures in Dorset and Gloucestershire, and the positive talks we had with our departing drummer we may well have called time on a career stretching 6 years and 120 gigs. Louis Gulliver King has helped to smooth over the cracks. He has made smaller, more intimate Art's Centre's a realistic option. And we'll have to secure the drummer for the bigger and bolder ones. It's become apparent that the summer of 2014 can not be repeated, where we played 31 gigs which is exactly 60% of all the weekend's available to us that year! That was as close to burn out as we've been. Which is kinda cute. Some bands spend years on the road, rarely going home. But then they don't have babies and business's and houses to build and full time jobs and needy girlfriends. We know our limitations. As much as we'd like it to, this band will never be able to pay us a decent wage, we will always seek income from other avenues. There is no money in this game. It must remain a hobby. And so.. we'll pick and choose what to do and where to play and in what formation. I know another tour of Europe is on the cards next spring. Opportunities will arise. We're never short of them. It's them that are short on cash! 

 

This summer? Sea, Salts and Sail Festival. Lafrowda Festival. Little Orchard. Shambala. In September we team up with The Peoples String Foundation for an end of summer party at The Acorn. In October it's Acoustic Haven, Chapel Arts and Prima.

That's enough to be getting on with for now. We're all rather busy building garden shed's and trying to name our daughters!

PS; apparently the title hasn't gone bright blue on all mediums, you may be lucky!