Like the Man from Del Monte, I like to say yes. This could be regarded as a strategy headed straight towards disaster neither passing Go nor collecting £200, but on the whole I like to belive that the rewards have outweighed the risk. I could have been too scared to pick up my gig bag and head off to the Wolf Folk Club BBQ, on the entirely justified grounds that the only person I was going to know there was the host, Martin Hopp of Hopp Rider Training fame. But I know that fear is no excuse not to do something – bloody hell, if it was, most days I wouldn’t leave the house! I also know that where there are bikers, there are people ready to chat to strangers and find that comon ground that starts to turn them into friends. And I am learning that this is also true of musicians. I’ve been taking harp lesons for a year, sometimes I think I’m doing OK but most of the time I feel like a small child in a shop where all the cool stuff is on a shelf that’s just above my head. Doesn’t matter how much I stretch for it, it’s always just out of reach. But in my defence I will at least step up and have a go, and I’m very grateful to all the musicians at the barbecue who let me sit next to them and honk along. And for the nice things they said afterwards, though I’m glad that the person who started his comment with “Don’t give up!” didn’t quite mean it at face value…
Best bits of the day? Diana Church and her awesome feminist blues. The reason the Wickers (don’t know if I’ve spelt that right) were told they had to do an encore. Finding a good home for one of my 4 last bottles of Chateau Musar. Being reprieved from spending the night in a tent on the lawn. And being able to say “yes” when asked at 10am the next day whether I’d done any gigs that week.
transport of delight 