I’m sitting in my sisters house in Bridgend – myself on one end of the couch, Adam on the other, and Jasper (the dog) asleep in the middle. I have a can of sugar free energy drink, which I know is bad for me, but just occasionally.. it seems ok to start the day off with an artificial and hearty kick. Thus is the life we lead.. enjoy in moderation.. happiness is a way of life, etc. etc. Insert arbitrary inspirational meme. These can be found in their thousands online, or you could just ask a more experienced adult to say something wise about the world.

I asked my sister Leanne to say something wise about the world. She thought for a moment, and then said the best words I’ve heard in quite some time..

‘Take time to be in the world’

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Last week we travelled (by car) to Sandbach. We were blessed with the privilege of playing an hours worth of songs to a full house of music lovers – unplugged – in a bike shop. Mike Willacy’s ‘The Cycle Junction’ hosts these Shop Sessions once a month; he is a music lover, through and through, and he promotes each event to the moon and back. The whole thing was fantastic – I feel proud and excited to have been a part of it. Good people (lovely people), making an effort to seek out unheard, original music and live performances, rather than sitting back and blindly accepting whatever is blasted through mainstream media – it seems like something of a mini revolution.

This was also my nephew Rohan’s very first live gig. He liked it a lot, and promises to spread word about it at his next baby group. If all goes to plan, this upcoming generation will have incredibly intelligent taste in music, and will rightfully blow their own trumpets – in the most skillful and beautiful manner possible. Stay tuned for more updates on that.

This month we head to Folk on the Water; a riverside festival spanning across a couple of weeks. Aside from performing to new people –  songs which would otherwise lay heavy on my heart (or my mind) – one of the best things about being a musician is meeting and experiencing other similar minded creative people. This one should be a lot of fun – boat people, musical people, beer drinking people. I can’t wait.

We are ‘proper boaters’ now. We can move up and down the river; using the engine, no less. Everything works – including the oven – which is wonderful (previous meals have been anything you can cook in a wok. Turns out you can actually cook quite a lot in a wok.. stir frys, hash browns, chocolate pudding.  Sadly though, not pizza.) There has been a lot of pizza these past few weeks. Each one was the best pizza we’d ever had. We will have to stay in shape of course.. Fortunately (?!) I’m about to sign up for a seven mile mud run with my sister; training will commence asap. (NB: ‘training’ = walking slightly faster than usual through the mud leading back to the boat, and climbing one extra tree per journey.)

In the past couple of months we have had a fair few wonderful experiences. We played at The Troubadour in London, to an incredible crowd, met some great people from other bands. We played the Oxford Folk Weekend; had our picture in the newspaper, jamming on top of castle mound. We have worked in between gigs to keep ourselves going – I work in a fruit and nut shop, Adam works in random places, doing various jobs, often involving him wearing a delightful beard net.

Northern Gold

Last week after the Sandbach gig we remained up North and caught up with family. I went to the market on Saturday with my Mum and Grandad (professional market goers; their guidance was irreplaceable.) It was incredible – I took a tenner, came home with two jumpers, one top, a pair of jeans, a pair of khakis, 600 rubber bands, three pairs of earrings, two bottles of mouthwash.. and some change ! Before now the same three outfits had been recycled on a weekly basis, since the mould and/or rat had eaten all our other clothes. I am not averse to, nor ashamed of, a bloody great bargain when I see one. Clothes are to keep you warm and prevent inappropriate nakedness. I almost bought a bike for 30 quid, but it wouldn’t fit in the car  – for now we will have to stick with the one bike between two, taking turns to drive/ backy into town; one means getting very quickly warn out, the other means getting badly nettled legs and a slightly sore arse.

This week we are back in Bridgend, until Thursday evening. Then it’s back to the boat, back to the nut shop, and soon (dare I even say it) soon – in the next three weeks – we will relocate to Oxford. 12 months later than expected.. everything happens for a reason. The first half of this year has been brilliant. Much has been learnt, lots of fun has been had, lots of clarity gained and focus maintained, many wonderful people met, many new songs written, many new skills developed (musically, and somewhat in the engineering department. Please don’t ask me to take a look at your engine though.. I can hardly look ours in the eye anymore.)

When it came time to fixing the engine once and for all it turned out there was a moor hen living in our engine bay. After the rat, him, the regular swans tapping on the boat for food, the field mouse peeping in through the window.. I kind of feel like a stowaway myself. I go out to work, go out to find adventure, then curl up here to sleep.. wake up in a new place everyday. I love it 🙂

New Music, Nearly Here..

I’ll write again soon because way too much has happened for one short story. My latest lyrics are on the site, and I can confirm we are currently recording not one, but two EP’s, due for release in July. I can’t express how excited I am for you all to hear them, so I won’t even try.. You know what it means to me 🙂

Alright.. Thanks for keeping an eye on us. See you very soon.

Bex x x