I woke before the birds on 12th April to snow flying horizontally outside the window of the room where I was staying. I wasn't expecting to see nearly half-a-foot of snow on the ground. Weirdly, back in the UK at the same time it was super hot and sunny.
One of my earliest memories is being read Robert Frost's “Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.” I can still picture the illustrations and hear the words: “Whose woods these are I think I know”….and the final couplet…."and miles to go before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep." The snowy view outside my window reminds me of this poem. As much as I am enjoying floating along on this recollection, I too have miles to go, and driving on snowy or icy roads is not something I find at all pleasurable.
As it turns out it wasn't so bad. The initial part was a slow slog, from the minor snow-covered roads to the major less-snowy ones, but eventually the snow began to rain (isn't that a Dan Fogelberg line?) and it was smooth(ish) sailing all the way to my next gig. The blueberry scone I picked up from the Harrisville General Store before starting my journey was welcome sustenance on the move. I found myself wishing I'd got two.
This Working Holiday Solo Acoustic Tour in the northeast USA is really fun. Revisiting venues or towns that have featured prominently in my years of living the troubadour life. In each case the booker and I tried to determine the first time I played there. The nearest we got was: a long time ago. Fans/friends from ‘a long time ago’ as well as from more recent years came out of the woods (literally!) to see the concerts. It was fun and, if I'm honest, a little bit emotional.
As I pulled into Nazareth, so to speak, one very kind venue volunteer met me at my car and asked if he could help carry all my gear into the venue. Even though I was fine carrying everything I had with me - a guitar, rucksack and small roller case - I said ‘sure, that would be great.’ I've always had this obsession with traveling light. It's a little weird, I know, but I have to admit to spending an inordinate amount of time strategising the perfect amount of kit one should take on tour. 'Never travel with more than you can run away with if you're being chased,' is a conflation of two bits of advice I was given at some point: ‘don’t take more than you can carry' and ‘don’t wear shoes you can't run in.'
When Aaron Catlow and I flew to The Netherlands in March for our mini-tour - which we loved, by the way! - he put me to shame by having only a rucksack and his fiddle. I realised if we were being chased by a pack of hyenas, he is definitely the one more likely to survive, natural selection favouring the unencumbered. Amen to that.
TOUR TIME UK (mostly) 2025
All solo except where noted
April
24th Loughton Folk Club, Loughton, Essex
25th Milverton Music Club, Victoria Rooms, Somerset (w/ Aaron Catlow)
26th St Saviour’s Community Centre (aka Pies, Peas & Performance!), Retford, Nottinghamshire
27th The Green Note (1:30pm Show!), Camden, London
May
1st The Doublet, Glasgow, Scotland
2nd Stonehaven Folk Club, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
4th Bothy Folk Club, Southport, Merseyside
8th Folk At The Bridge, Milford On Sea, Hampshire
9th Rampton Village Hall, Rampton, Cambridgeshire
10th Folk On The Pier, Cromer, Norfolk
11th Tredegar House Festival, Newport, South Wales
14th Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, Cumbria
15th House Concert, Seaton Sluice, Northumberland
18th Hitchin Folk Club, Hitchin, Hertfordshire (co-bill w Steve Tilston)
31st Knox Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA USA (LA Fires Benefit)
June
6th-7th Arisaig Americana Festival, Inverness-shire, Scotland UK
14th Beardy Folk Festival, (Nr) Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire (w/ Dan Walsh)
15th Brackley Folk & Acoustic Club, Brackley, Northamptonshire
27th Bingham Folk Club, Bingham, Nottinghamshire
LOS ANGELES EATON FIRE CHARITY CONCERT
Jo and I watched the news reports of the fires around Los Angeles a few months ago with great concern. Like many of you, we have friends out there and we were worried about them. Some were okay and some lost everything. It's a devastation I can only imagine. So it made total sense to do a concert in greater Los Angeles with our friends at Knox Presbyterian Church in Pasadena and donate all the proceeds to Door of Hope's Eaton Fire Housing Assistance Program. The concert is Saturday, 31st May 2025, at 7:30pm. If you're there at that time we hope to see you!
READ MORE ABOUT IT
SPRING'S SOLO SOJOURN PLAYLIST 2505
Spring's arriving. Solo sojourns await. We go.
Use the code at the bottom of this email to access the tracks.
BROOKS & AARON NEWS!
In Brooks & Aaron world, our intrepid duo have a few gigs dotted here and there throughout the spring and summer (Note concert in Milverton on Friday, 25 April…..check it out!). Not only do we go on tour again in September - including four shows with our 3rd Musketeer, Jon Short, on double bass - but we're also in the studio recording album number 4! Stay tuned for album launch shows in 2026 as well. We remain your ever-so-humble hellions.
Thank You For Your Support
With your very generous help, the benefit concert for ACT (Addenbrookes (Hospital) Charitable Trust) raised £1,180.00. Thank you for joining me in this endeavour!
