I am the accordion player

I am the trombone player too...

… and the mandolin hitter and piano tinkler and I think I have handled 10 different instruments in this band. I am famously a jack of all trades and a master of none. The funny thing is, I didn’t even play an accordion the first time I performed with The Odd Folk, nor a trombone for that matter! Both instruments of which have become synonymous with my Odd Folk appearances. I agreed to play two shows for the band back in the Autumn of 2015, and over sixty gigs later, three tours and a lot of fond memories, I’ve still not been officially asked to join! 

I am the baby of the band… 

…but one of the elders in its council. We have a highly sophisticated ritual to becoming an elder which involves beard growth, owning a van, drinking ale, and punctuality; this way a natural hierarchy is formed. I have only been around for less than half of the band’s career, but even in my short time I have experienced musicians come and go within the outfit. I still feel very much like the new member, however with five years under my belt I am truly inaugurated in the “Odd” ways. 

If you want to know what 5 years in the band looks like these two photos sum it up.

2015

2020

I do as little as possible…

…on stage. Which is actually way harder than it sounds. The thing about The Odd Folk is that the material works played by one musician or ten! Everybody has a very specific role in adding texture and flavour to the music, too much of anything will overpower the mix and it will inevitably fall apart. The main thing to ask oneself when playing is… is this really needed right now? Resisting that urge to play and simply standing on stage with your bandmates is a truly wonderful thing, I highly recommend it if you haven’t tried. If I’ve learnt anything in my time with the band it’s that less (and more often than not, nothing) is absolutely more.

I am at home…

…and I hope you are too! I am writing this blog entry mid global pandemic, which has quite swiftly and dramatically shaken the world. My only connection to the band is now a digital one. I recently received word that our dear friend The Drummer has been stricken by this deadly virus. I trust he is making a strong recovery, but it just goes to show that even down in the deepest darkest depths of West Cornwall this international crisis can still find us. 

Naturally, the situation has put a stop to almost all band activity. We had a little string of gigs coming up, some time set aside for writing, and a whole season of festivals to look forward to. Alas, this will now have to be shelved until further notice. But we are an optimistic bunch, and we’re treating this time as “cocooning” only to flourish on the other side as beautiful butterflies, or moths, I’m pretty sure I’d be a moth. Maybe we should all be using this time in which to cocoon, thinking about who and how we want to be on the other side. Just a thought… 

I love the road…

…more so than the destination. Which is a cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason. The on stage playing time is comparatively slow to the “out of hours” activity. That isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy playing, I’m sure any of my bandmates would affirm just how much I love to perform, but it’s the people you meet after the show, the swims, the walks, the punctured tyres, the police checks, the forgotten bags, the food, the fights, the days off, the friends, the mistakes, the hangovers, the hospitality that keep us all going. 

And it’s the ways in which we all adapt to these situations that make us the band we are. To return to my original point, I feel safe in speaking on behalf of all of us when I say you must be a jack of all trades to be in this band. There is so much to do aside from playing ones instrument, and it’s those little things that are often overlooked. Performing the music is the end result of the band’s combined efforts in email writing, driving, negotiating and conversing. Similarly to being on the road, I find these little things are all part of the journey to actually standing in front of you to play. And its always completely brilliant. The energy at an Odd Folk gig, whether it be festival, house concert or bar, is consistently positive. And this comes from you - our audience - so thank you.

To wrap up, if there is anything I can impart from being in this band it’s the following…

Stay at home, grow a beard and do nothing. But simultaneously learn how to do everything, it’ll make getting to your final destination that much easier!