Stop the presses…I’m blogging. No wait, start the presses…no wait, this is digital. Never mind. I’m blogging for the first time in (exactly) a month. Why haven’t you heard from me? Well dear reader I apologise to have deprived your regular consumption of my semi compos mentis musings but I happen to have been a rather busy boy. Don’t look at me like that, I’m back now and I’m going to tell you all about my August exploits in a post I have, perhaps clumsily, entitled: Blogust (It’s a portmanteau of August and Blog. I know, it doesn’t work if I have to explain it…don’t judge me).
SHOCKING NEWS!!!
Let me begin by making a shocking announcement. I had two Saturdays off this August (I know. Are you sitting down?). But in between all of that I was descended upon by a plethora of mid week weddings at some delightfully picturesque locations. I began my August exploits by taking a rather long journey to the edge of the world, Nottingham. Well, it’s the edge of my work world, I don’t tend to venture into the more southerly districts of our fair land. Hang on, back up, I actually started August off by trapping my finger in a car door and almost losing the tip of it. Why is that relevant? Because it was the index finger on my left hand which is responsible for anchoring many of the chords I play on the guitar. Having stumbled to the doctors, turning slightly boss eyed and a shade of pale green my finger was strapped heavily for Rebecca and James’ wedding at Colwick Hall in Nottingham. I played for their ceremony and their drinks reception. The wedding venue was very large and was hosting two weddings that day. The other was a large wedding of 400 guests who were playing some rather loud Bollywood style dance music. It was like a mutli cultural music festival. The sun beat down as we enjoyed a drink or two in the sun to the sounds of me playing my regular set list while trying not to squeal in pain at every chord. Hey, the guests had a great time. We sang and laughed together after Rebecca and James tied the knot in a wonderful ceremony.
Onward to a Lancashire Wedding
Nina and David qualify as possibly one of the most down to earth couples I’ve ever met. They hired me for the full day at Charnock Farm in Chorley and we rocked through their ceremony, wedding breakfast and evening where a couple of the guests who were musicians themselves jumped onto the mic and guitar wowing us all with a rendition of Hey Jude!
Facebook Live
After a successful start to my new Facebook Live Request Show I headed over to Skipbridge Country Weddings to host my first venue based show in front of a live audience. Among the festoon lights and lashings of whiskey I took requests from the online audience for 90 minutes where the video reached over 15,000 people’s news feeds. A special thanks goes to Colin Murdoch for contributing some wonderful photos of the event.
Small Mid-Week Weddings
It was a pleasure to provide music for Amy and Matt at their teeny tiny barn wedding at one of my favourite venues in Leeds, The Chilli Barn on Otley Chevin. I also had the pleasure of working with Bex, a super talented wedding planner based in Bradford. You ought to check her website out and get her involved in your wedding. She’s one of those people who combines super organisation with a sense of fun and relaxation. Oakleaf Weddings.
Skipbridge Again
Back at my old haunt, Skipbridge Country Weddings I provided music for Mark and Fiona across their day and into the night around the fire pit in the Grain Silo. I love travelling to York to do so many weddings at Skipbridge, it’s such a beautiful rural venue.
After that I did me another DIY wedding for Laura and Miles, this time at Oakwell Hall in Leeds, a gorgeous barn venue. I also had a videographer come along to that one so the results should be out soon.
We topped off August with ANOTHER DIY wedding (Hmmm, it’s like I kind of do a lot of them isn’t it?) at Clay House in Halifax for Eleanor and Pete. We danced into the night and enjoyed music til out feet were sore and our eyes were red. The next day I dragged my zombified body to Leeds and then Wakefield for Amy and Scott’s wedding before finishing off a bonanza weekend (and August) at Yorkshire Sculpture park to be a wedding singer for Kristie and Andrew.
OK, sleep. That’s the order of the day right now. See y’all soon yeah?