Fareham & Gosport Easter Festival

Phew! It was a bit of a stressful day for us on Saturday - we set off at 7am - plenty of time (we thought) to get to Fareham by 4pm...but no.
There was an accident up ahead of us on the motorway, which resulted in it being closed for several hours, and we just had to sit there, waiting...
For the first half hour or so we were joking about how it could be a re-run of our gig at Sidmouth Festival a few years back (when we got there with minutes to spare, abandoned the car in the road outside, thrust the keys at someone who looked vaguely trustworthy so they could park it somewhere, and were on stage doing the first number five minutes later!) But three hours later, when we'd travelled less than 2 miles, we knew it was going to be much worse...

Many, many thanks are due to the Festival organisers and sound crews, who shifted things around, and re-organised everything so we could still play. Thanks too to the other bands who played at unscheduled times, and of course to the audience that waited for us. THANKS!!!

I think in future, if we're playing at the other end of the country we have to give up relying on the roads, and just get there a day early!

Back home in Northumberland the daffodils are out (but looking slightly battered after the farmer's cows escaped and came to live in our garden for a couple of days) the hens are all (4) laying, and the dog needs a haircut...

trip out

I've got a few days at home, during which I am supposed to be composing some music. Deadlines are approaching, but not fast enough...as usual I'm doing anything apart from compose until the last possible moment!
Tonight I've decided that rather than get on with my own music it would be far more inspiring to go and hear someone else's, so we're about to drive up to Musselburgh to hear Mr McFalls Chamber (and friends) performing the music of Martyn Bennett.
Martyn was an old friend of mine (he played on my second album, Borderlands, back in the mists of time when he must have only been about 13 years old!) and his death in 2005 was a real shock. Even though I knew he had been battling Hodgkins Lymphoma for several years he just seemed too young and too talented to just suddenly not be there any more.
One thing about music though is that it stays with us - so it will be wonderful to hear Martyn's music tonight, and great to meet up again with the maverick ensemble Mr McFall's Chamber.
Better get ready to go - the hens have to be shut away, eggs collected (hopefully) and the dog taken round the field.
All for now,
kathryn

DUO CD

It's out! It's available at gigs, and (as of this afternoon, hopefully) from the website...!
It's a no-frills pretty honest representation of what Peter and I do live (and called, appropriately enough, 'what we do')
Hope you like it,
k