Back on the road for touring

September 27

Melanie took some time away to watch Bridget Jones with her mam and sister, she liked it, got new clothes and some food. Nice when people share nice times.

I was with Ellie and Rebecca, I downloaded a game called Qbert. He is in the movie called Pixels so when they saw it, he had to be bought. Great memories for me of staying with my Auntie Gwen and uncle David when I was little and with my cousins playing Qbert, Pacman, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong. I loved being there with them. I like looking back on good memories brought on by TV, music, food, walks, and games.

September 28

I do not need to add that every day I work booking gigs, posters, CD sales, tour bookings and so on, we do it daily and sometimes it is good.

This week, one venue has shut down so a few 2017 dates need to be filled back in. One venue had mistakenly double booked.

One booked Acoustic Magic, Sam Gibson and We Steal Flyers meaning I get to finally return to Warkworth to perform next year. I love being there. Our songs are getting over 1,000 plays a song on Spotify, this is always exciting.

I went for a great one-hour walk with Rebecca and heard all of her happy stories and plans. She is loving school for the first time in her life.

September 29

A visit to the middle school in Amble with Ellie and Rebecca. This was mostly for Rebecca but they both enjoyed it. We went along with our close friends Caroline, Luca and Zack. The school was filled with many good and some bad memories for me but it was fun, like school should be.

The teachers were all nice. They had students to give guided tours of the school, ours was such a nice person, Martha was her name. I wish her much happiness in life.

Once the busy day was over I had a nice relaxing night at Rothbury Roots with We Steal Flyers supporting the wonderful Americans called Hungry Town. This gig was booked two years ago with a great fella, Andy Craig, another well known good person in Northumberland. I really like this couple, they left their desk jobs and went on the road together over a decade ago. What a life and struggle they share but it is together so it makes it always worth going on. The gig was a good one. They are worth looking up. We put them on through Acoustic Magic last year too.

September 30

Dropped off at Shaggys, got chips and then back on the road to Yorkshire. There is a lot to like about touring, the feeling you get when your body and brain kick into the zone and you focus on travel, gigs, selling merchandise and meeting lots of people. Roadworks are still costing us another £50-plus per tour because of diversions and an extra few hours a day travel but this is how it is now and has been for years. We take extra albums for the car and I take snacks for my diabetes. Another nice gig and stay in Yorkshire.

October 1

Waking up again in Yorkshire and off to find another chip shop for chips and batter. A good find. Sadly, the rain fell a lot for the festival. People were still in good spirits as this is the weather in England and festival-goers know this so they make the most of it all. We played in the Christmas Tent so I was pleased and it was a great gig. It was in Derbyshire and we have been asked back to play another festival in Derbyshire and one in Leicestershire.

We will be playing a lot of festivals from now on and, hopefully, more in the North East as it is always nice being home. I got a lot of work done and reading back at the hotel.