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09/08/23 - 709
Blacksmith's Arms Halland3 songs at Open mic night
- On paper wings
- All of the time
- The only problem is
Another enjoyable evening of unplugged music. I gave three of my songs their first outing of 2023. I also played guitar for Heather on, ‘Nothing compares to you’, which went down very well.
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01/08/23 - 708
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly2 songs at Open mic night
- Acoustic blues and me
- Toast for one
Blues night, so I gave the electric guitar a go, for the first time in over a year, which is quite hard to adapt to. Busy night and I was on right at the end, after quite a few of the earlier performers had headed for home - bad form. See video (left) for 'Acoustic blues and me'.
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26/07/23 - 707
The Runt in Tun Heathfield3 songs at Open mic night
- Insomniac's dream
- Toast for one
- Ghosts
A new shirt, a busy and noisy pub. A good evening and a chance to catch-up with some old friends.
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18/07/23 - 706
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly2 songs at Open mic night
- Journey
- Ghosts
Another relaxed evening - I'm enjoying my music.
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15/07/23 - 705
Birthday Party Heathfield
- Cry
- I like to be sad
- Journey
- Ghosts
- Toast for one
Heather and I were invited to play at a friend's birthday party. Great party, good fun.
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12/07/23 - 704
Blacksmith's Arms Halland3 songs at Open mic night
- Journey
- Wreckage
- Ghosts
Lovely evening in the new function room and a chance to revisit a couple of my songs for the first time this year.
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08/07/23 - 703
Captains Bar - Edinburgh4 songs at Open mic night
- Ghosts
- Toast for one
- Little red car
- I like to be sad
We were up in Edinburgh to see, 'The Who'. And in our travels found this great little venue, focused on providing live music. I used the house guitar and really enjoyed the whole vibe of the place.
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04/07/23 - 702
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly2 songs at Open mic night
- I want to sing along
- Take my hand
Another enjoyable and relaxed evening at the Bells.
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14/06/23 - 701
Blacksmith's Arms Halland3 songs at Open mic night
- I want to sing along
- Take my hand
- I like to be sad
A newly refurbished function room, which is a great place to perform acoustic unplugged music. Very nice evening.
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06/06/23 - 700
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly3 songs at Open mic night
- Life's a race
- My mum, Alzheimer's and the care home
- Little red car
My 700th open mic coincided with my 200th night at the Six Bells and I was MC, for the songwriters night. I opened with the same 2-songs I played at my first outing at the Bells back in 2013. Really nice evening - see videos above.
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10/05/23 - 699
Blacksmith's Arms Halland2 songs at Open mic night
- Standing room only
- Xeroxed armies
A nice relaxed and unpluged evening. I played a couple more songs off my album, 'Standing room only'.
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09/05/23 - 698
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly2 songs at Open mic night
- It's only my time
- My only hero
Heather was MC and I was on desk duties. A full evening, with some great performances. See video (left) featuring my opening song.
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25/04/23 - 697
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly2 songs at Open mic night
- Cry
- Insomniac's dream
A busy evening, captured on Frank Tube (see videos above). Laura and her tambourine joined me for my second song and I helped Heather out with bass on, 'Type One'.
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21/04/23 - 696
St Edith Folk Otford Memorial Hall2 songs at Heather's gig
- Next to you
- Toast for one
Heather was supporting Ray Cooper and had asked me to join her on the final part of her set.
We'd done quite a lot of proper rehearsals in preparation for the show!
It was a great evening, with a full house.
The audience were really supportive and Heather was on top form.
I joined her with a bit of narration on her song, ‘Dream’.
I then sang, 'Next to you' with Heather on piano.
Laura joined us on tambourine and we did 'Toast', before I switched to bass for the rest of the show.
Fantastic evening and Heather was a star. We then joined the audience and really enjoyed Ray Cooper's set.
See short video of us all having some fun with the end of Toast (left).
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12/04/23 - 695
Blacksmith's Arms - Halland3 songs at Open mic night
- Norwegian Wood
- My old normality
- The young ones
A bit quite numbers wise, but an enjoyable evening and I had a bit of fun with my song selection.
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11/04/23 - 694
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly2 songs at Open mic night
- Norwegian Wood
- Me and my uncle
A theme night, so I played a couple of covers. Heather played a version of my song, ‘Cry’, which was lovely. See Frank Tube video (left).
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28/03/23 - 693
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly2 songs at Open mic night
- I like to be sad
- The English way
I was on MC duties and opened the evening. A great session with plenty of top performers and their music. See Frank Tube video (left).
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04/03/23 - 692
95.9 Hailsham FM with Des Parker7 songs on the radio
Heather and I back on the radio with Des. Good fun. See Diary for more info and song details.
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16/02/23 - 691
Blacksmith's Arms - Halland4 songs at Open mic night
- Behind the curtain
- My only hero
- The English way
- Toast for one
Just back from holiday and a couple of weeks without playing the guitar. It was going well until I started, 'The English way' and the pub got too noisy, so I went with, 'Toast', ably assisted by Heather on BVs and a couple of the local guitar slingers doing some lead work.
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31/01/23 - 690
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly3 songs at Open mic night
- My mum, Alzheimer's and the care home
- Funked up country
- Ghosts
Love, Peace & Protest songs: Heather was MC and I was on the desk. It was 10-years since my first appearance at the Bells and this my 195th outing there, so I played my mum song, as I did back then on 05/02/13. I added a new topical verse in 'Funked' and finished with 'Ghosts'. Great night, here's to the next 10-years.
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19/01/23 - 689
Blacksmith's Arms Halland2 songs at Open mic night
- Get yourself a good time
- Life's a race
Cold outside, but a really good turn out and a lovely evening of mixed music. A chance to revisit an old song, which I wrote in the 80's.
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17/01/23 - 688
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly2 songs at Open mic night
- Tick tock
- Scrapheap blues
It was a cold night and it took a while to warm the room. I had some fun with my two songs, accompanied by Laura on tambourine and I got the whole room to sing along with, 'Scrapheap blues'.
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03/01/23 - 687
The Six Bells Folk & Blues Club Chiddingly3 songs at Open mic night
- Hair
- Acoustic blues and me
- What's in a life
A new year and some new songs, a first outing for, 'Hair' and a rare outing for, 'What's in a life', as it had been played in the morning on 365 Radio by Dawn Parry, complete with swear word! See Frank Tube video (left).
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