Dear all,
Well I am once again back home and a resident of Stafford. It feels good, I’ve bumped into countless people I know, had my regular pub to go to of course and oh it’s just great! I write happily, so what’s been going on since my last entry? Well Walsh and Pound’s hectic April began on the 31st March…which isn’t in April…at Newhampton Folk Club in Wolverhampton. It’s fair to say it wasn’t a classic but still a good night with a wonderful support act in Sunjay Brayne who showed some dazzling blues guitar. A great future awaits for him I’m sure. The next night we were in the capital for Walthamstow Folk Club which was a classic! A great gig at a great club with a great audience. Simples as that irritating advert about markets and meerkats would say. Thanks to all who came, it was quite extraordinary how at 7.45 we were thinking it wasn’t going to be much of a turnout then suddenly in they all came! I guess the tube not really working properly on a Sunday might have had something to do with it…
Next up I’m heading up North again for gigs in York, Newcastle (coincidentally enough) and Barnsley. Should be grand then it’s south next week in Dorking, Basingstoke and Torrington. Hope to see many of you there.
Well I had a quite wonderful train journey back from London. As you know, I have had reason to comment on my rail travel before but this was no fault of British Rail (although they’re still shite). I tell you what if you want a fun train journey try two and a half hours with a very noisy, very drunk couple alternating between kissing, hitting each other, falling over, trying to engage me in a conversation about whether I’m Catholic or Protestant (I’m neither), telling me the story of how they became ‘with child’ (really) and asking my advice on how the woman could endear herself to the man’s parents. And all this because I was foolish enough to help when they asked what station they needed to change at!
Earl Scruggs=Legend Blog Date/Time: 29/03/2012 18:50:53
I have to say here rest in peace the mighty Earl Scruggs, the most influential banjo player of the 20th century who passed away. Gigging virtually to the end, the man invented the most used banjo playing style in the world and pretty much co-invented bluegrass. The man is quite simply astonishing and will leave an immeasurable legacy. When I first got a banjo at the age of 13 I knew nothing of different banjo styles, or even different banjos, but his was one of the first names I heard and I remember encountering the term scruggs style. I watched a documentary on the BBC about the birth of bluegrass where it really dawned on me just how immense this guy was and what an influence he was. He played a bit in the programme and was still a seriously impressive player and I was intrigued as to how old he was as I knew he was around in the 20s and 30s and was astonished that by this stage he was into his 80s! If I can play anything like that at that age I’ll consider myself a minor miracle! But it isn’t just his longevity that he deserves to be remembered for. As I say, he co-invented a genre of music and created the most commonly used way of playing an instrument, so much so it’s named after him. What greater tribute can there be? Earl Scruggs, you were the ultimate banjoist.