A nice little giglet
I seem to be songwriter-in-residence to a local performance poetry group, the Pulsar Poets. Today they were having one of their quarterly-or-so performance evenings, and trying out a new venue, the Calley Arms in the nearby small village of Hodson. Thissuited me well as Id' noticed thta the Calley Arms often has events, so I though I might be able to slip in a demo and promo pack whilst giving a free taster, so to speak, of my music.
It's a very laid back thing, doing maybe four songs after all the poets have had a go, and then the same again after the interval. I did Jam Tomorrow, My Lady of the Underpass, Red Riding, and Twelve Gold Horses for starters, to a good response, and then went to get a drink in the interval. A nice lady offered to buy me a drink, saying nice things about my music, and she turned out to be the landlady, so that worked out. She'd enjoyed my first mini-set and was delighted to have a demo. Fingers crossed.
I was then coralled into persuading a young lass of maybe 14 into reading - she'd come prepared (not to mention with her family) but was feeling timid. I sat and had a chat with her and she said she'd think about it - something I said must have worked as she went up in the second half and read some very commendable poems with quiet assurance. My second set was Head of a Pin, X-Libris, When I was a Mermaid, and Uffington Hill.
Emily's (the young lass) mum came and thanked me afterwards and we got talking - turns out they're local farmers who have just taken over my local butcher and are stocking him with local lamb. Lovely! I'm a regular there so I said nice things about the butcher and his staff, all true, net result a very positive vibe all round. And an invite to drop in and say hello when I'm next at the butcher's.
We'll be having local lamb for Sunday roast, then.
My spirits were only dampened slightly by the fact that the sunroof on the car seems to be stuck on slightly open somehow, and it's been heavily raining for some time. It was certainly raining in my car all the way home, but I'm drying off. Now I must package up the baking for tomorrow's market befoer heading to bed with Miles Vorkosigan and maybe a row of knitting. Lovely. Goodnight, LJ.
It's a very laid back thing, doing maybe four songs after all the poets have had a go, and then the same again after the interval. I did Jam Tomorrow, My Lady of the Underpass, Red Riding, and Twelve Gold Horses for starters, to a good response, and then went to get a drink in the interval. A nice lady offered to buy me a drink, saying nice things about my music, and she turned out to be the landlady, so that worked out. She'd enjoyed my first mini-set and was delighted to have a demo. Fingers crossed.
I was then coralled into persuading a young lass of maybe 14 into reading - she'd come prepared (not to mention with her family) but was feeling timid. I sat and had a chat with her and she said she'd think about it - something I said must have worked as she went up in the second half and read some very commendable poems with quiet assurance. My second set was Head of a Pin, X-Libris, When I was a Mermaid, and Uffington Hill.
Emily's (the young lass) mum came and thanked me afterwards and we got talking - turns out they're local farmers who have just taken over my local butcher and are stocking him with local lamb. Lovely! I'm a regular there so I said nice things about the butcher and his staff, all true, net result a very positive vibe all round. And an invite to drop in and say hello when I'm next at the butcher's.
We'll be having local lamb for Sunday roast, then.
My spirits were only dampened slightly by the fact that the sunroof on the car seems to be stuck on slightly open somehow, and it's been heavily raining for some time. It was certainly raining in my car all the way home, but I'm drying off. Now I must package up the baking for tomorrow's market befoer heading to bed with Miles Vorkosigan and maybe a row of knitting. Lovely. Goodnight, LJ.