Creeping Bentgrass at Larbreck Hall 2013

Last night we played at Larbreck Hall Caravan Park. Since 2004 when my Dad died we've done an annual night here, donating our fee to cancer research.

For all of those years until this year Mum, who has a resident van on the site, has arranged things. Last year she announced it was her last one and the site owners, Roland and Edith Armistead took over. Not that she slowed down all that much - she was there running stalls, managing a guess the number of buttons in a jar and (OMG...) having her hair dyed orange to gain sponsorship.

Around 80 people packed into the barn to see us last night and they seemed to have a good time! Overall over £700 was raised for charity with Mum's contribution being a hefty" £220. Ah well... it'll grow out in a few weeks I suppose...

As always, the people from the site had done a great job on the stage dressing and we unveiled a new song on the night - the Everly Brothers' So Sad.

Creeping Bentgrass at Larbreck Hall

On Saturday night we played at Larbreck Hall Caravan Park. A smaller audience than in recent years, though with the amount of wet weekends we've had it's hardly surprising that weekenders have tended to stay at home this summer!

None the less, we had a good night and from all the compliments and an immediate re-booking for next year, we knew at the end of the night we were leaving them happy!

I mentioned the stage being built for us at the Wharles do a couple of weeks ago and it would be wrong not to mention the work that a couple the regulars put in every year to build a stage and put in lights - not just on stage but as this is in a barn where caravans are usually stored, there's a lot of preparation goes into these events before we even get there.

Barns are not noted for their lighting, so a night like this requires lights to be set up so the audience can see their drinks on the table in front of them!

And here's Fran doing stirling work with the little Flip video camera. We are hoping to have a DVD available soon as a souvenir of our gigs. Apart from anything else, it will give us something to watch and cringe to when we reach our dotage. Not long now...

Creeping Bentgrass at Larbreck Hall

Last night we played Larbreck Hall Caravan Park. The residents had created a stage area for us and there was a brilliant crowd sitting to clap and hand jive, singing, or up on their feet to dance.

Someone had spent a lot of time constructing the stage and there were rope lights, fairy lights and mirror balls all over the place!

Thanks to the Larbreck residents, summer visitors and holiday makers for making our night such a pleasure - hopefully we did the same for you!

A Touch of the Festival Atmosphere at Larbreck Hall

After several years of playing inside the Great Barn at Larbreck Hall Caravan Park, our annual visit coincided with some good weather this year so we played on the green behind the farmhouse and car park.

Numbers weren't quite as high as at Glastonbury, but they spread themselves around a bit and there was certainly a great atmosphere and an enthusiastic response from the audience to every number. The Eagles' Lyin' Eyes got a first play last night too and (even if I do say so myself) sounded a bit spivish rare! We normally find that any song that sounds right from the very first playing (and at the start of the evening David hadn't even heard the backing arrangement!) then it will become a firm favourite for future gigs!

So we swapped the usual backdrop of spare caravans for a backdrop of cars and minibuses, but we had a great night and started off with the sun in our eyes, ending in the glare of our mobile spotlights as the temperature plummeted and only stopped when it got cold enough for the condensation to form on every surface and we decided there were too many electrics for that to be ignored!

RIP my mic stand too - the thread stripped and I had to use it as a straight-up instead of being able to use the boom arm. An interesting experience leaning over the guitar to sing and impossible to play the keyboards and lean far enough over to sing into the mic... A visit to the music store called for before our next gig!

A quick thanks to all the people who have bought the The Sunnyside of Creeping Bentgrass album and told us it's our best yet! We must start on the next one - though first we are planning to release a folk album as we have continually had to turn down requests for one. This will be a compilation of all the folk style songs from previous albums plus a number of new tracks. No telling when we'll have The Folk Side of Creeping Bentgrass ready at this stage but we are hoping to have it out by the end of 2010.

Birthday and Charity Night

Saturday was my Mum's 75th birthday.

Ever since Dad died five years ago she has organised a charity bash at the caravan park where she lives in aid of Cancer Research. Over the years she has raised somewhere around £3000 at those events.

The afternoon is devoted to raffles, tombola, name the doll, the whisky wall and a bring and buy.

In the evening the band has played. Outside if the weather is fine and in a large barn if it's cold or threatens rain.

This weekend we were in the barn and David and I gave the residents and holiday makers 3 and a half hours of country, folk, sixties and rock and roll. We started with Don Williams' Gypsy Woman and ended with everyone in a circle singing You'll Never Walk Alone with a whole host of stuff along the way, including a first airing (without even a rehearsal) of Billy Fury's Maybe Tomorrow as part of a five-song tribute to Billy's memory.

Large versions of the photos: Mum, John and David

HMS Victory and Sketches

My God, it's like buses! No blog entries for ages and now three at once! So, I'm just in the mood I guess.

If I've not been writing the blog what have I been doing?

Well those of you who keep an eye on the Flickr account will have seen a few
sketches appear recently. That was prompted by a posting on the Billy Fury website.

Also on that site, it's my month to be included in the Hall of Fame. You'll find my musical biography there linked from the main index linked above. My entry in the Hall of Fame also includes two songs, both from Creeping Bentgrass albums, although one (Great Balls of Fire) is one of my solo pieces and the other one (Up Around The Bend) features David and Bob also.

Our entry in the Billy Fury Sounds Special feature this month is a live recording of Johnny B Goode and a few of the residents and holiday makers at Larbreck Hall Caravan Park may recognise their whoops and hollers and general joining in of the chorus!

I've also gone back to scanning the still massive pile of negatives from pre-digital days that still need to be scanned. This example was taken (despite the blue sky and sunshine) in February(!) 1996 and shows the famous warship, HMS Victory.

Not Nelson's ship, as Captain Hardy should have that honour, but it was on this ship that Nelson received a musket ball in his shoulder that passed down through his lung and broke his spine. He was taken below where he knew full well that he must die from his injuries.

"Not the side, Hardy," he said, forbidding Captain Hardy to perform the traditional ceremony of burial at sea. With the problem of how to keep the body from rotting and smelling, the ship's surgeon had the body placed in a large barrel which was then filled with port wine.

The spot where he died, in the ship's orlop below the waterline is as close to a shrine as the Royal Navy has. A ceremony is held there every year on the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar at which Nelson was killed.

Oh yes... and the Sally Geeson photo has gone on to new levels of fascination for the Internet public as it has now reached a viewing count of 1473, racing for the 2000 target and achieving daily viewings that peaked with an amazing 66 views on the 3rd of May. All of this without a single comment on it!

Cancer Charity Gig

Last night David and I played at Larbreck Hall Caravan Park. Bob had a prior engagement with The Old School Band but we gave them a good night of music and they got up and filled the dance floor!

We have played there several years - the first one at Larbreck was for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 - and we usually do an outdoor gig. The weather looked a little suspect yesterday so we were inside a huge barn and with a few pallets, boarded over for a stage and a couple of caravans as a backdrop, we added a few lights and it made for a good atmosphere!

Since Dad died in 2004, Mum (pictured with the band's organiser and fixit, Jeannie) has organised an annual charity event in benefit of MacMillan Cancer Support. The afternoon is spent on the lawn at the side of her caravan, with piles of jumble, bric-a-brac and competitions - a whisky wall, a photo caption competition, raffles, tombola, etc.

Fran spent most of the weekend, making mix and baking scones for cream teas or just for selling. At least 6 dozen went through the oven!

The residents and holiday makers on the caravan site and various family members raised over £500 for the charity. During the gig we auctioned a couple of bottles of whisky and a large dinner service that someone had donated and until Mum does her reckoning today I'm not sure just what the final total will be.

It was strange to think that our next gig will be a spot at the reception of Gill's wedding next week! When we played "Constantly" which is destined to be the married couple's first dance together, both Fran and sister-in-law Joyce had tears streaming down their cheeks! As David said, "I didn't think we were that bad..."