Heloo my wee rocky roads ! We have been very busy since the last blog. Biggest highlight was of course our experience at Far Far from Ypres at the Strathclyde Suite in Glasgow. The entire experience was truly beyond my descriptive powers. The night in itself was a brilliant night and I was stunned by the reaction of the audience who gave us a standing ovation at the end of the show. All the big names were superb and great to work with. Barbara Dickson was very nice and Ian Anderson was a great guy. Dick Gaughan was superb to work with and he was keen to point out that he would have liked to have been more involved with us. Ian Bruce and Stephen Quigg were great fun and of course Ian McCallman was as solid as a rock at the helm. It was also good to work with the Sangsters and to see our old friend John Blackwood again. John took my place in Tartan Whisky all these years ago when I left the band. He is now playing with the Sangsters and Kinrick and a superb singer and guitarist now. Hope we all manage to stay in touch. It looks as if we will manage another version of the show at some time in the future. I do have kind of mixed feelings about the prospect although in general it would be another tremendous experience for us. The only low spot of the day was our meal in a local KFC. I have never been in one in my life and I will never be in one again. I was served what I am pretty sure was a portion of jakeys toes in some kind of grease soaked batter. Ugh!!!!!.

We were busy over Christmas and we may have to think about our holiday programme in the future. I am certainly keen to avoid playing at Christmas and Hogmany parties in the future. We played the Hogmany do at the Lade and once again we were plagued with the perrennial PA problems. We have not a clue what we are doing with these things. Nuff said !

We were back at the Lade last night for what might be our last Lade Burns Supper.I am certainly tired of trotting Holy Willie out. Peter turned in a fine performance and Holy Willie was well received however the rest of our contribution was a bit of a mixed bag. We have another Burns Night at the Portobello Bowling Club and we are going to curtail the ammount of speeches and recitals in it. One highlight of the night though was the fine contribution from the local choir who sang several songs and gave us a nice break.

I am also performing at Balerno Folk Club at their Burns Supper, where I will be turning out as the tinker. I will be really glad to see the back of that one as well. Too many things to rehearse and it will be great to have some free time again.

I am also presenting the Wednesday Drivetime show on Black Diamond FM between 4pm and 6pm. Iam hoping for my own slot very soon. I really enjoy the radio work and it is fun at the moment.

Great guest night at the Nitten Folk Club this week with Eilidh Grant and I am really looking forward to it. If you get the chance you should drop in. Admission is £5 for non members.

Well thats about it for now. You can also follow the band on Facebook and myself Kenny McDonald.

Well haloooo my wee mini battenburgs !!! Things are moving along at a pace at the moment. Great wee gig at Ravenscroft Sheltered Housing. It was packed to the rafters and very warm. Great time had by all and very nice mini sausage rolls. We were in a tiny wee room and could have got away with an acoustic only gig however the band are seemingly PA obsessed. The compromise was to be one speaker and one mike. We then added an electric pickup for the mando, then a speaker and lead for the bass. Oh and then a second mike. I am more of a folk club person and tend not to worry so much about mikes which only tend to distort the sound anyway. On our last guest night at the Nitten Folk club in the large function hall in front of forty odd people, we had two girls singing without any mikes at all and I was at the back of the hall and heard every word perfectly. Suffice to say that I am doing a wee solo spot for schoolkids next week and I will be leaving the PA in it's box. All said and done it was a great wee gig and with any luck we will be returning there in the New Year.

Peter and I had a novel  experience as guests on the Madelaine Cave, Scottish Folk Show on East CoastFM, on Tuesday 15th November. It was great fun and the couple of hours just flew in. Big thank you to Madelaine who is also a wonderful singer in her own right. Worth giving her CD a look on ITunes. Well worth downloading and some of the tracks are just superb. She was a great host and kept us entertained and involved all the way through.Only howler was that during the show that we never made any mention of Cass on air. He sat through the entire show making recordings for us all. Not to worry he won't let us forget it in a hurry.

Busy this weekend with rehearsals for the Robert Burns operetta with members of the Nitten Folk Club. I took part last year and this year a few clubs have invited us along to perform the show. It is a fairly short piece set in Poosie Nancies drinking den. I have one song and it is fairly short and I play the part of the Tinkler. (worker in metals). On Sunday the band will be heading to Ian McCalmans house for the first rehearsal for the Far Far from Ypres show at Celtic Connections in January. It will be interesting to see how the show will be expanded from our previous twenty minute spot. It will be nice to meet some new and old friends. Slightly anxious to see how it will unwind. Still we are in safe hands with Ian McCalman. On Tuesday I am headed for Penicuik to sing in front of a couple of classes of P5's in a project to introduce them to Scottish Folk Music. It should be great fun and I am looking forward to it. The weekend will see us bound for the Lade again for our last show there prior to the busy festive period.

We are now up and running on both ITunes and Amazon so no excuses for not having our CD. Amazon is cheapest at the moment. Check them out though and you can also listen to samples of all the tracks. Well I suppose that I better get myself out and about. Theme night at Nitten Folk Club tonight and I am scratching my head a bit looking for a song to sing. Hope you have the chance to come along to a gig in the near future. Both the band and Peter and I are on Facebook (and Cass sort of) so feel free to send us friend requests. Remeber to get yourself along to your local folk club or music group.

All the best

Kenny

Well haloooo ma we rocky roads !!!!! We have been having some fun since the last blog. Friday night saw us back at the Roslin British legion again and we had a great time. Still had problems with the PA and we had a fairly lively discussion about its pros and cons. Peter and I have completely different views. Pedro is of the opinion that we should buy a bigger system whilst my view is that it is not the lack of power that is the issue, it is in fact lack of our understanding of the system. I have used various systems throughout this year and I would say that ours is the worst. We actually own two systems and for ninety per cent of our gigs our small system is more than enough.  Sure we will have more discussion ahead. We did have one other wee slip when we failed to let our audience know about the sale of CD's. Pretty sure we could have sold five or six however you have to either display them or at least tell people that they are on sale.  Many thanks to our friends from Nitten Folk Club for attending and giving their support.I would also like to mention my good friend Irene Wilson who brought along her relatives from perth Australia. They all contributed to the happy friendly atmosphere of the evening. Safe journey home to Perth next week. Please feel free to hook up with me Kenny McDonald on facebook. Loving the new video linking on facebook by the way. Give it a try.

Saturday evening saw us at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh as part of the Pals Singers with George Archibald and Charlie Milne of Ragged Glory, The McCalmans, Robin Laing and Ian Bruce to perform at the Geentraxx 25th Anniversary concert. honest folks it was one of my best ever experiences in the Folk bizz. we were on the bill with Barbara Dickson, Dick Gaughan, Paul McKenna band and numerous others.I wish I could give you some juicy diva stories but I have to say that everybody made us feel so welcome. Nick Keir, Stephen Quigg, erobin laing and Ian Bruce were brilliant company and when it came to the actual performance they were magnificent. We nearly blew the roof off the place. The atmosphere was electric and I must have gone through every emotion on stage. It was so thrilling although over all too quick. I do hope that we get the chance to repeat the experience at some time in the future. (Watch this space). Hospitality area was full of famous faces from the Folk World and we found it a bit daunting to begin with. It was funny that when we arrived in the hospitality area and lifted a couple of sandwiches that we were challenged by a member of staff. " Excuse me. Who are you ???" He must have thought that we were a couple of jakeys sneaked in from the street for a drink and a sandwich. he was very polite when we identified ourselves. We had tickets for the after show party however I was falling asleep in my seat long before then. Norman and Maureen attended and kept the bands end up. I would also like to thank Ian Bruce for his generosity in providing me with a copy of his new triple album and dvd . He was a great bloke as well and we had several laughs during the evening.

We have kind of ground to a halt as far as promoting the CD and it is all becoming a bit frustrating. The next stage is going to I tunes and Amazon and I hope that we make strides within the next fourteen days. We have to get the album pushed to the radio stations as well. We are coming into our sheltered housing gigs season now and I have to say that I really enjoy these shows. For one thing we can do most of them acoustically. Secondly the folks genuinely seem to enjoy the entertainment.

I have a couple of projects in mind for writing songs at the moment and I have been gripped by the story of the Black Friday Disaster at Eyemouth and |Burnmouth in 1881.Initially I was thinking of one song  however the story is so massive and tragic that I might have to write a few.

Well ithink that is about all for now. keep it live and keep in touch with yourselves.

Kenny

Haloo ma wee strawberry fancies.!!! This is my fifth attempt at blogging and I am losing patience with our web service provider Mr S*ite. The website is not very user friendly and it is rather expensive. The site has let us down quite badly and we are likely to be taking our custom elsewhere.I even hate the wee logo man and I think he has the smug arrogant look of a  greedy wee money grabber. Enough and lets go!!!!

Our CD Happy Times is now out and we are delighted with the result. The CD priced at £10 can be obtained from band members or from The Lade Inn at Kilmahog.  You should get in while you can before my old Ma buys up all the copies. I am really chuffed that CD contains eight songs written or co written by Peter and myself. We are discussing wider distrubution at the moment and there may well be more info to follow soon. It is likely that we will be selling on Amazon, I Tunes etc in MP3 form within the next month or so.

We had a great time at the Acoustic Music Centre on our two dates at the Edinburgh Fringe. We were in the backroom and sold out both our shows and gained the Fringe Laurel. Peter is thinking big for next year and we are looking at the possibility of the big two hundred and fifty seater venue. The problem is that the decision has to be made quite soon as the decent dates are snapped up very quickly.

Big Peter has been unwell recently and we had to cancel our September date at the Lade Inn. Apologies if you were hoping to see us. The good news is that Peter is much better and we will be back in the game again very shortly.

Peter, Norman and I  have been asked to join up with a couple of lads from Ragged Glory to form up as backing singers for Ian Bruce at a prestigious gig at the Queens Hall to celebrate twenty five years of Greentraxx records. Pretty cool eh ! Dick Gaughan, Barbara Dickson and all the big names in the folk world are paricipating so it will be nice to mingle with the big boys and girls.

We have now added Cass to our line up. He has retired now and has more free time on his hands. His addition should allow us to add an extra wee dimension. He is a smashing bass player and good general musician/vocalist who can turn his hand to most instruments. He is pretty good at the Tech side of things as well and has already uploaded some tracks from our album on to Youtube. We hope to have them linked to the site soon.

I have been to Balerno Folk Club this week to see Jez Low and as usual he was outstanding. If you get the chance to see him you should grab it. He is in my opinion the very best in the folk world. He is clever and witty and his songs just always hit the mark. He is a brilliant musician as well. I have seen him twice this year and I have booked him for the Nitten Folk club for next year. On the subject of Nitten I have booked Fiddlers Leap for Thursday 6th October. If you are in the area you should pop in. Admission is £5 for non members. They are brilliant and well worth a visit.

End of Summer for me that's a bummer. Maybe a song in that. As we head for Autumn we are picking up more gigs again and so I hope you might come along a nd see us. Don't be shy come up and have a chat as we are all fairly sociable. Take care and I will blog again soon.

Kenny Banjo

Well Haloo ma wee treacle scones. Lovely weather right now so I won't rant on. Just to bring you up to speed with our busy upcoming schedule. The long awaited CD "Happy Times" should be available at our next gig at the Lade on 26th July. It will be priced at £10 and initially it will be available from band members or at the Lade Inn, and Kilmahog, Sandy Bells, Forrest Road, Edinburgh. I am a bit biased however I still maintain that it is a cracking piece of work with lots of original songs on it as well as some of our favourites.  I enjoyed the recording process and Poor Ian McCalman was tested like a saint. Glad that it is all at an end at last. Never imagined that it would take all this time.

Our Edinburgh Fringe shows are selling seriously well and I know it seems early, I would urge you to step in quickly if you have any ambition to attend the shows on both 20th and 27th of August. We are also doing a couple of acoustic afternoon sets from 1430hrs Wednesday 10th and 17th August in the famous Sandy Bells. It will be pretty informal and great fun again no doubt.

Hope we can manage a short break after the Fringe however we have a load of promotional and admin type stuff to do in relation to the CD's. Never knew that there was so much work involved. The paperwork alone would do your heid in. It has all been so distracting that I have not managed to write any more songs. Hope to get the chance to sit down and work on a few ideas soon.

I attended a night at Stirling Folk Club last night to see the brilliant Steve Turner in action. He was a class act and a tremendous musician and singer. Very nice club which holds all it's club nights at the Stirling County Rugby club. I will definately be going back there. If you stay in the area you should give it a go. In fact all of you out there should find your local club and give it some support.  Go on you know you'll love it.

Well that is about it for now. Hope to see you soon and don't be afraid to come up to talk to us. We know that with the CD and all that we are superstars now however we will always be available to our humble public who made us what we are today. Just Kidding.

Cheers

Kenny the Banjo

Heloooo my wee summer fruit pavlovas. Smashin gig last night at the Lade again. The place was rockin. Very lively audience particularly the twenty five ladies on a hen party. Must also mention a very nice couple from Ardrossan who enjoyed the night. Heres a strange thing though. We actually made £15 in tips as well. Acouple of nice people stuffed cash into Peters shirt pocket as they left. Mind you Peter is used to that kind of thing from his lap dancing days. All in all it was yet another wonderful evening although exhausting. It was nice to actually be out and about instead of in the recording studio.

On the subject of the studio. We have thirteen tracks recorded and partially mixed. The process has slowed down a bit due to a combination of circumstances. It looks like the CD will be out at the end of June or beginning of July. Ian McCallman has done a great job for us, (Yes the Ian McCalman). He has recorded the thing for us and has made the whole experience, great fun. It is great to work with a real pro. There are just some admin type fiddly stuff to get out of the way and then we can send the master off for pressing. Really looking forward to hearing the polished product.

For those of you on Facebook, you can link to our Edinburgh Festival Fringe gigs by writing Soopna backroom in the facebook browser. There are sites for me ( Kenny McDonald) the band and the gigs. We always like to hear from you. Don't be shy stick on a friend request.

Peter and I are off to Spain on Thursday with our pals Kenny Hanworth and Dougie Ronaldson for our annual rest and contemplation. We will be appearing at the Torrieviecha Folk Club next Tuesday. Probably the only gig we ever do in shorts. It should be good fun and I hope to get back into the song writing groove. Last year I really managed to write a few songs whilst chilling out in the sun. I am really enjoying the process now and feel a lot more confident.

When we get back we will be fully into the CD launch mode and rehearsals for the festival etc. I also have one or two bits and pieces myself. Forgot to mention that I have now retired from my work so at least I have more free time for music. Yes full time musician thats me. Mmmmh ???

That should be you back up to speed so I will leave off for now. I am heading down to my village hall with the banjo to sing a few songs at a surprise birthday party. I will blog again on return from holiday.

Take care.

Well haloo ma wee treacle scones.......First Thursday in March saw us at the Nitten Folk Club, Newtongrange, for a hastily arranged guest night. It was fantastic and one of our best ever. We had Cass on board again and he once again added considerably to the quality. Amazing how he does it with so little practice. Certainly makes a huge difference to the overall quality. Several of the audience commented on the vast improvement. Our set was a bit of a risk as well with half a dozen or so home cooked songs. The gamble paid off handsomely and were all very well received. Pretty sure that the gig would not have been anywhere near so well received if we had stuck with the safe tired old standards. Peter was on fire and his heckle put downs were razor sharp and never missed the mark. Norman was on top form with mando guitar and had the sound on the PA tuned to perfection. Cass was rock solid on the bass. By the way people keep asking me why he is called Cass. (His real name is Gordon Stewart.)Sorry I don't know. Peter and I have known him for over forty years and we have just always known him a s Cass. Hats off as well to the members of Nitten Folk Club who were excellent hosts and provided excellent floor spots as well on the night. The club were most hospitable. If you have a chance on a Thursday night you should go along. You can just go along and sit and listen or join in if you wish. They have guest acts on the first Thursday every month. Check out www.nittenfolk.com

As I speak we are about a third of the way through recording our CD. With any luck it should be available around May/ June. The CD is a mix of old favourites and self penned songs. We will anounce a launch nearer the time and we intend selling the album at our two Fringe shows at the Acoustic Music Centre in Edinburgh. Pretty hard going in the recording studio though at the moment however Ian McCallman, (yes from the McCalmans) is producing the album for us. It is all a very steep learning curve although pretty exciting just the same.

I have been out at a few different folk clubs at gigs recently. I took atrip down to see our pals "Ragged Glory" at the Rolling Hills Folk Club, Melrose. It was a smashing night and a really nice friendly club. The Raggeds are all members of Nitten Folk Club. May on vocals, Jim vocals bass and gutar, Charlie and George, vocals and guitar. They are all great singers and musicians and are well worth a visit if you get the chance, although not if it means missing one of our gigs.

Second Tuesday in the month saw me at the Penicuik Folk Club at the Roadhouse, Penicuik  to see a folk Giant, namely Jez Lowe. He was as expected totally awsome. One of the best gigs I have seen from a single performer. Brilliant singer and musician and a very nicy guy. His two sets were flawless and he had us all singing along. It was all his own stuff. Loads of bands have recorded his songs however he does them best.  Would love to see him at the Nitten Club.

As far as gigs for the band, we are concentrating on the CD at the moment and we will be back at the Lade Inn in early April. Check out their web site. Might see you there. I am still in song writing mode and I have around a dozen in the mix. Some we are already performing and a couple are with Peter. Peter has been doing a good job providing tunes for the songs. It is kind of a touchy subject. I am not keen on other people making changes to my songs and I discussed this with a rather famous songwriter, who shall remain nameless, and he toldan interesting wee tale. He wrote a well known song in the 1970's and it had a traditional feel to it. His band at the time would do what they wished with his written work and this annoyed him. He told them that the new song was a traditional song he had found. The band did not make a single change and just got on with it. None would change a song that was traditional. It turned out to be a costly experiment because the author got no payments however, he said it was a worthwhile experiment though.

Well I had better get on my way. Get yourselves out to see some live music from proper musicians or take up a new instrument. Much better than watching that mince on the telly.

Take care

Kenny

Well haloooooooo ma wee coconut tarts. Here I am under the weather and stuffed with the cold at the worst possible time. We have Burns stuff on Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and Friday and I cannae manage a single note at the momment. So whats new ? The cruel amongst you might ask. I seem to be past the worst of it . It was agony when it was in my chest  and the coughing has made my ribs ache and I now appear to have some kind of hernia in the region of my belly button. Still at least January will be past soon and before we know it there will be daffs and crocuses all over the place.

We need a good turnout at the Nitten Folk Club on Thursday 3rd February, Lounge Bar Dean Tavern, Main Street, Newtongrange. Tickets are £5 on the door on the night. 2030hrs start. Go on make the effort it will be a good night. Really friendly folk club and a great atmosphere. Less than ten minutes from the Sheriffhall Roundabout on the A7. We are going with our four man lineup with Cass on bass.

There are also tickets available for The Lade Inn Burns night on the 28th. Smashing meal with some great crack and good old songs. It is always a great night.

Hope I make a recovery in time for Nitten Folk Club Burns night on 27th. We are giving a performance of The Jolly Beggars. I am playing the Tinkler. "My bonny lass I work in Brass a tinkler is my station. I've travelled round all christian ground in this my occupation, I've taen the gold an been enrolled in many a noble squadron, In vain they searched when off I marched tae go an clout the cauldron." Its a rare piece and a treat to get the chance to perform it. We are actually thinking about taking it on the road next year.

I am quite excited at doing a bit of talent scouting for the Folk club. I am now the booking secretary for the club and although we are fully booked until the end of the year I will be on the lookout for some fresh talent. I  must make the effort and get around a few other clubs. I t will also give me the chance to pinch some new material as well.

Well thats about all for a week or two. So keep warm and keep yer simmet tucked in. Hope to see you at a gig soon.

Cheers

Kenny

Happy New Year, mah wee chocolate fingers !!!!! We had a terrific Hogmany at the Lade where Peter and Norman played out of their skins and kept the punters happy. It was one of these do's where dance music and pop stuff was required as well as our usual folk stuff. We were admirably aided by the super talented Lana Thomson on accordion. Lana who is eighteen years of age and lives locally, has won several competitions. Remember the name. Check her out on YOUTUBE. She is sensational. I was useless as I don't have much of the pop stuff in my locker. Confirmed folkie me. Norman and Peter kept rattling out the sixties and Beatles stuff and the crowd loved it. It all went terribly well in the end. Hard work for the lads though and don't know if they are too keen to repeat the experience next year. We also played last week from lunch time on Boxing day to great effect. We were indeed fortunate that some of our od friends and their families turned up and created a brilliant atmosphere.

Bit of time off now until we do our Burns supper at the end of January. We are going to fill our time in by polishing our material for our prposed CD. Peter will be making a few enquiries in the next few weeks and with any luck we should be starting studio work in March/April. We are hoping to have four or five songs of our own on the CD as well as some of our old favourites. We hope to have a proper launch date and some promo gigs at the festival this year so watch this space.

The old songwriting has been going well. The band are now performing two of my songs and I have around another six in the pipeline. Peter has written the music for a few and they are crackers. Hope to start performing them in the next few months. It is strange that I just do not seem to have the time to sit down and write lyrics at the moment. May have to wait until I am on the beach in Spain with the lads before I find the time to write more. It really gives me a buzz to hear harmonies and arrangements for my humble efforts.

We have a big gig coming off next month on the first Thursday in February at the Nitten Folk Club, Lounge bar of the Dean Tavern, Main Street, Newtongrange. Admission is £5 and all are welcome. It's a smashing venue and well worth a visit. Only five minutes from the City Bypass at Sheriffhall. Should be a great night.

On the subject of the Nitten Folk club, regular readers might recall last January's blog where one of my New Years resolutions for last year was to check out the Nitten Folk club. I can tell you it was well worth the visit. Very friendly people and all are made very welcome. Do yourself a favour and get yourself along. The club meets every Thursday from 2030hrs, with guest nights, theme nights and open singers nights. Very informal with very nice people. (By the way I am now on the commitee). Check out their website www.nittenfolk.co.ukmore up to date and I will certainly keep you posted re the CD. Hope to see you either at a gig or at the Nitten Folk club some time in the future. All the best for 2011.

Kenny

Well haloo ma wee chocolate Hob Nobs. Two gigs down this week and we are in the groove again. Big Pedro is on the mend and Norman is fighting fit and in tip top form and I am of course just hingin by a snotter. We appear to be firing on all cylinders and we will probably be slowly increasing our workload in the coming months. We are still keen on producing a CD and we are in the process at looking at some options. Might have to bite the bullet and dig into the pockets to try and produce something that is worthwhile. Watch this space though.

Last week at the Lade was a hoot and the place was rocking. Great audience with another international strong international feel. There were a group of Germans who seemed tickled pink with Peters patter. It was amusing to watch. The lady of the group was clearly the best English speaker and she would grasp the gags immediately and then she would explain to the group who then dissolved into laughter. Bizarre...but funny. The place was packed to the extent that the punters were nearly right on top of us. You could smell the fear from our seats. It was a super night with a fantastic crowd. The Lade is a brilliant place and well worth a visit if you are up in the Trossachs. Live music every Friday and Saturday in a small cosy wee bar. Real ale and good food as well. One of the highlights of the night was being forced into singing Sam the Skull where we had Rita (Landlord Frank's wife) up beside us leading the actions that go with song. We also had a big lad, slightly worse for wear up with us singing the Fields of Athenry. Very funny to watch and great fun. All said we were on sparkling form and the result was one of our best nights at the Lade. Possibly one of our best gigs.

Thursday night saw us at the Nitten Folk Club for the start of the McCallmans farewell tour. We were roped in to open the night with a floor spot. We gave them our tried and trusted "A Mans a Man". it was a bit cheeky given that we do the first and last verses acapella with three part harmony. It was pretty good apart from me forgetting the words on my solo verse. I never stopped though and ploughed on with a couple of lines of drivel. The Macs were just superb. Different level altogether. Three great singers and good entertainers to boot. Fantastic night. They will be a real miss.

Saturday night saw us back at the Portobello Bowling Club with Cass back in the lineup playing bass. It turned out to be a pretty decent night although the club was half empty. My normal moan was that we were playing with the big PA kit which is pretty temperamental and we just have not quite mastered it. As for that big galoot McCulloch,I had noticed him taking interest in the Mac's PA system on the Thursday gig. They did not have leads for their instruments and just used microphones for the instruments. Remember the early blogs after all our tiaras and tantrums we finally got a decent sound and I spent a small fortune on a Stelling Banjo pickup. He suggested that we should go back to using mikes again. Fortunately Norman and I jumped in to squash the idea promptly. If it aint broke don't fix it.   Having said that, the sound was not quite right last night. Not bad but we obviously do not get as much practice with the big system as we do with our lighter set up. Highlight of the night for me was the plentiful supply of sausage rolls. I suppose if the crowd had been bigger then we would not have got so many. It's a terrible shame that Norman can't eat gluten products so I had to hoover his rations as well.

I must also mention that another big event for me this week was running into a long lost pal. Big Jim Butchart was a legend at our work and we had some terrific times back in the late 70's early 80's. We were great pals both in and out of work. Big Jim was always keen on Celtic music and was learning the whistle and pipes when we both moved on. I have not seen him for over twenty years. I was visiting Dryburgh Abbey and I heard a deep voice behind the counter and lo and behold was Jim looking as smart as a soldier. He looked even fitter than he did all these years ago and even younger now that he was minus his moustache. He got me into big trouble with my wife because it took him so long to recognise me due to the couple of extra pounds I have put on here and there. It was brilliant chatting to him and he was telling me that he is still into his music. With any luck we can stay in touch and arrange a few we music sessions. Unfortunately I will have to lose several stones before we try our other passion for hillwalking again. If you know big Jim ask him about our hillwalking exploits. They were a hoot!!!

I am on holiday for another three weeks and I hope to press on with my song writing. I have now performed four of my songs in public and I am close with numbers five and six. At least two are possibles for performing with the band. Nitten Folk Club have a competition in November and it has to be a brand new song so I have a couple of irons in the fire there as well. If any of you out there are living in the area you should really give the Nitten Folk Club a visit. It is a really friendly club and all are welcome. It is great fun. You can just come along and sit if you want.

Well thats about it for now. Hope to see you at a gig or if you have been at one then thanks for the support. Never mind that X Factor pish. Get out and support live music with proper musicians and singers.

Hellooooo my we blueberry muffins. Just a wee update on the band situation. We are still not taking on any new work although we are in the main going to try and do as many of our booked gigs as possible starting with the Lade Inn on Saturday 31st July.  We have a couple of new songs to run out and we are looking forward to it. We also hope to be back at the Lade next month as well.

They have been working in the lab on Peter and they have managed to get him put back together with recycled materials. There are one or two bits that they forgot to put back in so it should be interesting to see how he manages. It certainly has not improved his looks any. We have also pulled Norman back out of the wardrobe and he seems to be in good order aside for some dust and cobwebs. I am of course, as fit as a weasel and in top fighting order.

I am now a regular fixture and member at the Newtongrange Folk club. The club meets every Thursday within the function hall at the Dean Tavern in main street, Newtongrange, from 2030 to 2300hrs. Very friendly club where all are made welcome. I am really enjoying my music at the moment and I look forward to fully retiring when i will have more time to practice on my instruments.

Sopna have one or two wee projects in mind at the moment and we have a few ideas on making a CD of our best stuff. We would hope to have something produced by the end of the year. We have not decided if it will be something we decide to produce in large numbers or whether we decide to keep it for our personal satisfaction. Watch this space. on a personal note I am thinking along the same lines myself in relation to my own songs. I hope by around Spring 2011 that I might have a decent number for a CD. At the moment I have three which I quite like and I can perform. I have three more awaiting music and a further five which require a bit of refinement with the lyrics. I should have sufficient very soon.

We are bang in the middle of the Folk Festival season and I am hoping to attend a few in the coming weeks. I had a look at the Rolling Hills Folk Festival in Melrose where the high spot was the Sunday performance by my pals Fiddlers Leap. They are brilliant and I urge you to go and see them if the chance arises. Innerleithen and Linlithgow are coming up very soon and I intend to give them a visit providing they don't clash with my Hibs games. (Yes I know it's sad.

Just bedore I go I would recommend that you have a look at youtube. there is some brilliant folk stuff there including us of course. My recommended star of the month is Jez Lowe. Go on and give him a look. Hope to see you soon.

Well haloooo my wee spam fritters. Long time since I have updated and I am afraid that I will be fairly short and sweet. I am afraid that we are not gettin any younger and all of the band are subject to some wear and tear. Due to problems with our health we have been forced to cancel our gigs for June, July and possibly August. By that time we should with any luck be up and about and fighting fit. We will be reviewing the situation around August and I will keep you posted.

I am starting to get into my stride as a songwriter and I am hoping that in the not too distant future that I will be able to attend sessions and sing only my own work. I only have about four songs of my own to call upon although I have another three or four written with only the music to be added. I am kind of going down a folky trad root with most of the songs telling stories from history. This is quite a nice way of writing and a good deal more interesting than listening to some personal teen angst keech, ( I was guilty of this in my much younger days.) I also enjoy finding the stories. I have recently joined Historic Scotland and I have a years pass which gives me free entry to loads of interesting historic sites. You can buy a family pass for less than seven quid a month and three months extra free if you do it by direct debit. There are great stories lurking in these places. The latest one to take my fancy is the gruesome tale of the North Berwick witches. I had never heard of it before however it was yet another plot against King James sixth. Anyhow look out for my song.

For any of you out there interested there will be a "Come all ye" music session in the North Middleton Village Hall. 1930hours Sunday 27th June 2010. Bring your own refreshments and a small donation towards the hall costs. You can either play or listen and you will be sure of a friendly welcome. All kinds of music tastes are catered for. The Hall is in the village of North Middleton which is on the A7 just south of Birkenside. About fifteen minutes south of Sheriffhall roundabout. Once you see the layby with Colins snackbar it is the first on your left. Then sharp first on your left once you are in the village. I will of course be singing a song or two and who knows I might even whip out one of my own songs. Well the World Cup beckons. (It is the worst world cup ever so far.) Have a good summer and with any luck we will see you again later in the year.

Love and Kisses

Kenny Banjo

Well haloooo ma wee french fancies !!!! It's a while since we last played and I did not feel the urge to update the blog. Last night we played the Woodburn Miners Club and we enjoyed ourselves. Peter still in pain, did a grand job and he had them in his grasp until the end of the night. Most of the songs were nice and tight and the harmonies were fairly true. Norman had a new gizmo for boosting his mandolin pickup and it worked a treat and it was nice to hear his wee intricate runs a bit clearer than usual. We also had Cass on board with the bass which also added that bit extra. The PA coped pretty well with the venue which was fairly large by our standards. Fantastic audience who contributed to the fun and enjoyment of the evening. Hope to be returning there in the future and we also had a couple of enquiries from other folks there.Big thanks to the club and in particular to Willie for taking the gamble to book us. I had one near nasty wee moment when in the middle of my mouthie solo I could feel a horrible big snotter emerging from my right nostril during a blaw section. A quick hard sniff saved the day but I will have to be more careful with the mouthie when I have a cold.

We have not been practicing much these days and we have not added as many new songs as we would normally do. There are a few good ones in the pipeline. I have picked up loads of potential stuff through the Nitten Folk club. Smashing club where all are welcome. Club is on every Thursday in the Dean Tavern, Main Street, Newtongrange, from 2030 to 2300hrs. See www.nittenfolk.co.uk for details. Dont be a big fearty like me and hang back for years. There is nothing to it. You can just come along and listen if you wish.

I have to report that I have been a bit of a daft laddie again. I went to Guitar Guitar in Corstorphine to buy a gig bag for my twelve string and came out with a 1979 USA original Ovation. Love at first sight I'm afraid. I blew next seasons Hibs season ticket money on it. I was quite pleased that at least I managed to haggle a chunk off the asking price. It has already been played at the Folk Club and was much admired. Once again I just don't know where I will get all the time to practice on all my instruments. I am also having another go with the big Low D whistle and it is sounding much better. All down to practice of course. Hope we can incorporate the big whistle into some of our songs.

I have bought a couple of decent CD's recently. My favourite is the McCalmans "The Greentraxx years" 46 tracks from the early Hamish Bain and Derek Moffat years up until the new lineups retiral. All their stuff is great however I have to say that I prefer the early stuff which in the main is more traditional. The more recent stuff is still of the highest calibre. Just my personal taste and thats all. They will be greatly missed on the folk scene.

I have been doing a wee bit of singing with my pal Kenny Hanworth and we did three songs at the Lesley Hale memorial gig at the Dean a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty good but we never quite acheived the standard which we had managed in rehearsal. It is a different experience singing with Kenny and I find it quite natural to slot in a high harmony as his natural key is a bit lower than mine. His twelve string also combines nicely with the banjo. Hope to play some other wee bits and pieces in the future. Kenny is off to his house in Alicante to make it ready for the bad boys tour at the end of next month. Peter and I will take our instruments with us and we will foist our music upon the unsuspecting locals. I think we are going to put in an appearance at the local folk club.

Not much to put on the gig list at the moment as we are still in a kind of state of limbo until we get the big mans pins sorted out. In any event when are pulling back a bit. We are all too old for running about like dafties. It should be fun for us as well as our audience. We have a gig in May at the Roslin Legion which should be good fun. I will put it on the list when I confirm the date.

Hope to see you at a gig or come along to the Nitten Folk club. Come on you know you want to !!!!

Take care Now.

Haloooooo ma wee cream cookies !!!!!!! Long time since my last blog although there has been a lot happening. We have cut back on our gigs due to our personal circumstances and although we will consider every offer I think we are all a lot happier in ourselves that we will pick and choose where we will play. If we are not enjoying it then we will not do it. Hope this means that we will be taking on more gigs for pensioners  groups and project groups. I have not updated the gig list yet as we are only doing one gig in April and one in May and both these events are in Clubs. We are getting a bit older and ideally a couple of gigs a month is enough for us.

This week has been St Patricks week and we had gigs on Friday and Saturday. Both were enjoyable and we played very well however I am not keen on doing gigs on consecutive nights. Okay I am a moaning old git, but I just find it all a bit tiring. Both nights were cracking nights as well. Friday saw us back with our old friends at St joseph's Church in Broomhouse and we had a great fun evening with smashing people. Saturday night saw us back at the Lade Inn in Kilmahog. Couple of things I will long remember from the evening. We had a smashing crowd again and we played very well. Even I can notice a vast improvement in our level of performance over the past year or so.It was a lovely clear evening and the view from the bar was breathtaking. The peaks and valleys looked at their very best. I can't remeber us having a better view.

I have recently joined the Newtongrange Folk Club and I would urge any of you out there in the Midlothain are to give it a go. Smashing friendly people and the music and crack is great. You are welcome to just come along and watch or you can have a wee sing song if you wish. They have a web site Nitten Folk. com if you want a wee look. There is a charity concert on Friday 26th March 2010, £5 per ticket. Tickets are selling fast for what will be a great night. I am teaming up with my good pal Kenny Hanworth and we are performing in the second half. Not sure yet what we will sing since we have changed our minds about half a dozen times already. Now don't get me wrong I love Norman and Peter like brothers however it is nice to play with someone else every now and again. Kenny and I are both into the more folksy type music. It is nice to try something different. The club meets in the Dean Tavern, Newtongrange, every Thursday 2030hrs to 2300hrs.

Well I think that will do me for now. Sad to say that I am following the Hibees now and back to the old bad habit. Up to Dingwall on Tuesday for the cup replay. Not too much hope  with the way they are playing at the moment. Take care and I hope to see you at one of our gigs.

Well hellooo ma wee toffee puddings !!!!! Well at last that is our Burns Night's out of the road. I have had enough and I feel that I have scunnered myself. I tackled Holy Willie's Prayer this year and although I was pleased with the results I have to question the price of taking on such a project. I suppose that at least now I will aways have him in the locker so to speak and I could bring him out at some date in the future. I went the whole hog and bought nightshirt, nightcap, antique candle holder, wigs and makeup. It was good fun although I have to question the distraction factor. We have all worked so hard on our speeches and poems etc and as a consequence lost out on valuable rehearsal time and it showed. Both gigs at the Lade and 28 York Place, I felt were musically under par. Still we will get back to basics and get in about some new material.   A mention at this stage for poor old Norman who has been under the weather now for over a fortnight. Had I been in his position I would not even have turned up for our last couple of gigs but he just rolled up his sleeves and got on with it.

  Great performance as well from our Peter on both Burns Nights. He put in a terrific amount of work and kept the audiences in stitches. It was nice though to see so many old friends though. Tom Leadbetter gave a smashing speech as an appreciation of Robert Burns. He is a smashing guy and he is retiring in a few weeks. We wish him all the best. Grant Rolland was once again our piper and he kept us entertained with a lively selection of tunes. He was good last year however he was even better this time around. His dad Gordon was beaming with pride with every justification. Both Gordon and Grant were great company at our table. Thanks to Gordon for volunteering to be my prompt during Holy Willie.( Not that he was needed you understand.) I would also like to mention our friend Davy Legge who kept us going with his calm and easy banter. Staff at the Club were once again excellent and did a great job with the meal. Alistair can take a bow as can our pal Alister McDermott www.seemyscotland.com. Ali was the man who did a great job of arranging the event. Final thanks to my pals Irene Somerville and Joe Wilson for their continuing support. Shamoan !!!! Oh, one more mention for my pal Keith Wilson, it was brilliant to see him again. Watch yourself on these bikes son.

I am off to a wee music session in the local village hall tonight. It will be nice to just play a few tunes for a change. I am going to broaden my horizons a bit in the coming weeks and I intend to take a look at the Nitten Folk club and the Loanhead Guitar club. Watch this space for further reports. I am also doing a bit of work on music theory. I know that its abit late. I used to read a bit of music about forty years ago but I seem to have forgotten how. Still I will give it a go. I have also decided to improve my language skills particularly my French and possibly Spanish as well. I have to replace Burns with something.

The band are off for the month and we are looking at taking a crack at some recordings of our best stuff.We have several new songs in the pipeline and it will be good to get into the groove again. It will be just what we need to tighten things up. Some interesting possibilities gigs wise coming up in the next few months. I will save these for a future blog.

Currently reading up on Edward the first, the hammer of the Scots. Sorry to report that I am finding him to be a remarkable figure in history. He was a huge man in more ways than one. He was a renowned fighter from the age of 16 years. Set off for the crusades in his early 20's and won wars and battles all over the place. He also introduced genuine consultation with the masses and in his early years was not the power crazed loon that we were brought up to believe. Really interesting stuff although I don't think I would have liked to have lived in that era. Rough times indeed.

Well I suppose I better get ready for heading out to the village Hall. If you do fancy attending a session just drop me   a note on my email or leave a message on the contact form. Stick in and the sun will be coming soon.

Helooooo ma wee sultana cakes !!!! Hope you all had a great Christmas. Simce my last blog we have played three gigs all in Edinburgh and all private functions for our more mature citizens. Big thanks to the Ripple project down Restalrig way. We had a lovely afternoon down there and the local kids put on a smashing panto as well. Hope to see you again.

We were also back at St Nicholas Court with our old pals. Remember last time when we had a dig at Maureen's culinary skills. Yes, you guessed it, she managed to burn the mini pizzas again and set the fire alarm off. I don't fancy being there for their Burns Night, Get it ? It was still another good night and a great laugh when we could see through the smoke. As usual "the hankie chorus" proved to be a popular choice yet again.

Last and not least we played at the Homecairn Centre for the first time and once again had a smashing night. Charming residents who were both appreciative and attentive. It makes all the difference when the audience are giving their full attention. They were lucky though as we did not unleash " the hankie" at this venue. I am sure we will return there next year sometime.

The week before Christmas I had bitten off more than I could chew with some days playing two gigs. I was playing at different senior citizens groups around Dalkeith with a variety of friends. It was all very nice although a lot more demanding than I thought it would be. I do love playing at these places however I am resolved to cut down the number of such gigs in the New Year. I had to take the week off from my work and I got little by way of rest. Not quite the rock and roll lifestyle I expected. I  am just getting too old and grumpy I suppose.

Hope Santa was good to you. My best pressie was an e book reader. I have already loaded it with a dozen books. It is a great wee gizmo. It fits in the palm of your hand and it means that you don't have to have bulky books in your luggage. It fits nicely in the pocket. I am back reading the Count of Monte Cristo. It is one of my favourites. I suppose it was nice to have a white Christmas as well but the novelty is starting to wear off.

I am very lucky living in a rural area which is rich in wildlife. I have a load of wild bird feeding stations in the garden and with eight inches of snow on the ground the wee birds are rattlin through the food. I try and keep the food topped up all the time. Even if you have a small garden you can help the wee birdies out. Today is a beautiful sunny day with no wind and I suspect that we will be in for a freezing night. What a variety of birds in the garden. Just seen a big cock pheasant on the wall and there are three deer foraging on the far side of the burn.  So spare a thought for the wee birdies right !

Well almost time for full on Burns Mode. I have one more wee job outwith the band on Hogmany with some old friends at Erskine House in Gilmerton and then it will be nothing but Burns. Looking forward to the Lade Burns Supper. It is nice and informal  and will incidentally be our only January gig available to the public. It will be a fun night with some nice food and great crack. Go on contact Frank at www.theladeinn.com.

Well I am off now for a wee practice on my banjo and bouzouki. Remember and feed the birds and watch yer feet on that ice.

Well haloo ma we strawberry tarts !!!! Just a wee short blog today to get last nights gig at 24 York Place off ma chest. Up until now most of my gig reports have been fairly positive however last night we hit a bit of a blip where the gig was pretty much a train wreck. Hindsight is a great thing and I think we all kind of suspected that we should maybe have declined the gig. The venue is the former Police Club at York Place and we have long fancied the idea of playing there on a Friday teatime slot with the idea being that we would draw in some punters. We took the gig initially thinking that the night would be a normal Friday however a couple of weeks ago we learned that the night we were booked was in fact a retiral do. It was big BOBO Allans retiral do and as anticipated there was a huge turnout. At these events people want to talk and tell stories and meet old friends and understandably don't want to be drowned out by a band. We soldiered on manfully without any success and it was clear from the start that we were not catching the interest of a very noisy audience. On the plus side I met a lot of old pals including John Chunkie Kerr, (who I have loved like a brother), Mike Smith, John Tweedie, Jamie Munro and Keith McGowan. I only hope that Chunkie wakes up without a hangover today. It was a bit of a downer that they did not get the chance to hear us. Mind you they could have booked "Girls Aloud" and they would not have been listened toeither . On the playing side the highspot of the night was playing with Bruce Mackie on stage. He was brilliant but like us unappreciated. Hope we get the chance to paly with Bruce again. Still at least it was another experience and we will think a bit more about the bookings we take.

Looking forward to our gig next week at the Ripple Project where I am sure the audience will be a bit more switched on to the music. These are generally the gigs I enjoy the most. On the week after we are back up to the Lade Inn and then we stop until the New Year and then get serious about our Burns stuff. I will be glad to see January out.

In the coming months I will be looking at some more Folk Clubs and acoustic music clubs so watch this space. If You have a club in the Mid, East, or West Lothianor Borders area, drop me an e mail at mcdken@yahoo.co.uk or leave a message on the board or below the blog.

That about all for now. I must be off to slip into the Hibs 1950's strip and head off to Easter Road. See you soon.

Kenny the Banjo

Well halloo ma wee caramel cheesecakes !!!!! It's been a wee while since my last blog. Just seems like yeterday too. Last night (Saturday 28/11/2009) we had a braw night at the Portobello Bowling Club. Smashing wee club and a great audience. The band were on great form. Peter was on top of his game yet again and Norman was rock solid and did a great job on the mando and with the P.A. Cass played bass for us and gave us a great lift. Thanks as well to our old pal Rev Tam Greig for doing the honours with the camera. The comedy songs went down well although our more serious stuff was also well received. The Loch Tay Boat song was one of the hits of the night along with A Mans a Man. The PA system was just about perfect for the size of the place although my Stelling Banjo Pickup is a bit sensitive and even when turned down can be a bit overpowering. We are going to try a different lead to see if that makes any difference. Still a good performance all round and near perfect had the rest of the lands not let the side down with the dress code. I present my case folks. The gig is billed as St Andrews Night. Which of the following is most appropriate for the occassion ? The white top and dark trousers of England or smart Blue short sleeved Scotland Rugby shirt with Dark Trousers ? I rest my case.

We have already started to fill the diary for next year and we have added a new venue for a try for next March 2010. We have a Saturday night gig on the isle of Skye at the King Haakon bar. It will be a wee adventure for us and we can see how it works.We are also booked in again at the Lade Inn, Callendar,  right up until the end of next year including their Boxing day gig for 2010. Love the Lade and the atmosphere in the cosy wee bothy bar.As you will have noticed, we don't take on too many gigs. The reason being that we are in this for the fun. I am pretty sure that the other lads would agree that if this became a chore that we would just not do it. We all love working on songs and beleive it or not we put a lot of effort in on each number. There is no pleasure in playing in front of audiences who are not interested. We enjoy playing for our friends at St Nicholas court and other sheltered Housing places because the people their want to listen. Hope we might make in roads to one or two more clubs like the Portobello Bowling Club. Part of the fun is meeting new people and hopefully entertaining them.

I am in for a busy wee time in the coming weeks. I am playing a wee gig on 31/11 for my friends at Nazareth House then on Wednesday there is an acoustic Music sesh at the Bruntons in Gorebridge. Feel free to come along and either take part or just to chill out and listen. All are welcome and we are happy to see new faces. I have something like 15 gigs lined up for December, most of which are only one hour slots. Turkey will be oozing out of my pores by the end of the month. Gobble Gobble ! (Steady). I have also been learning a wheen of new songs for both the Band and for my other gigs. I hope to introduce the bouzouki into the band in the future. I am playing it regurlaly in my othe rperformances.It is just the fact that it is another instrument to lug around.

In my search for new songs I bought a load of cd's this week including the triple cd best of English Folk. Now nearly every Irish or Scottish CD gives me two or three songs at the least that I would like to do with the band. I'm afraid that English folk music is just not gripping me at all. Most of it appears to be sung through the nose with a finger in the ear. Okay there are one or two sea shanties that are okay but I just don't get English folk music ( apart from Kat Rusby of course). I will continue my search though and I do enjoy looking for new songs.

Burns night is nearly upon us again and as  a wee foretaste I took a wee look at some of the works of Robert Tannahill. Some lovely stuff there and what a tragic soul he turned out to be. Take a wee look at some of his stuff or have a listen on youtube. I love the Braes o Balquhidder, which as you all know was the song which Will ye go Lassie go originally came from. I much prefer Tannahills original.  Tannahill actually formed the first official Burns Club and was a great admirer of the Bard. The poor man was dogged by depression throughout his tragically short life. Come on Google him and have a look.

Okay ma wee pals just in case I don't blog before hand make sure you have a nice Christmas and don't overdo it.  Couple of serious wee thoughts though. Maybe think about the gift of music for a christmas present. Guitar or mandolin instead of a games console or even an mp3 player or cd's. You just cannae go wrong. Remember the Christmas spirit and have a wee thought for our brothers and sisters who are not so well off. Take care.

Kenny

Well Halooo ma wee lemon cheesecakes. On Halloween we were at the Lade and what a great night it was. Probably the best ever. What a fantastic crowd in the wee bothy bar. My good friends, from my village, Paul and Lisa were there. What a difference it makes to have one or two familair faces in the audience. Peter and I were really stunned when we were called over by Tom amd Margaret Greig who had almost literally stumbled on the place. They were really good friends of ours although we have not seen them for many years. They both looked great and Margaret had hardly changed at all from all these years ago. Tam was in great form and in fact had the audience well warmed up for us before we even arrived. Hope to see them again soon. It was also great to see John and Allison from Callendar again. One of these nights we will manage to get Allison to give us a song. To be fair she had been singing all day at a music festival. Let you off this time Allison.

The entire audience seemed to be enjoying the evening and we had some great fun. At the request of one young lady we had a bash at the Portree Kid and it actually turned out quite well. A lot of words to learn it though. The night was such that it was clear that more people would have come in if they could have found seats and the place was really rocking. They seemed to enjoy the full range of our songs from the comedy to the slowere and more refined stuff. The entire atmosphere of the evening was fabulous and it will take a bit of effort to top that. Audience please take a bow and we can only hope that we see some of you again in the future. Many thanks.

We will be taking a break now for a few weeks and Peter is having his arthritis attended to. All the best Pedro. How he has managed the last couple of gigs I just can't imagine it. I did see him in terrible pain a couple of times and he just kept going. I really felt that he should have stayed at home last night but he insisted in turning out. It is  a real worry at the moment. As it turned out he gave a great performance and his stories were well received. Imagine what he will be like when we get him fit again.

I know this all sounds a bit early however I can tell you that our Burns Supper on Saturday 24th January 2010 is nearly sold out. The venue is 24 York Place. I am sure it will be a brilliant night. If you are interested in obtaining a ticket you can call in at the club or contact me through the website  or my e mail mcdken@yahoo.co.uk. I would do it quickly though as we anticipate a sell out with in a week or so. Tickets will be priced at around £16 including your meal of course.We will also be doing the Burns Supper at the Lade Inn on the night before. That is also a night to look forward to in the cozy surroundings of the lade. Contact Frank or Rita at the Lade to confirm a booking.

I will be playing myself, at a couple of wee jam sessions in the Stobsmill Inn (Bruntons), Birkenside on Wednesday 11th November and also on the following Sunday at the North Middleton Village Hall. All are welcome to either come and watch or to join in as you wish. Hope that sounded alright. When I read it back  it looked like an advert for dogging oops !!

I really am a bit of a moody twat. After being off the old banjo for a while, I am finding myself drawn back towards it again. Poor old Bouzouki is becoming more neglected.I have been practicing all kinds of drills and rolls. Hope to improve my playing a bit. Not much chance of me giving it up now. (Until my mood changes.). It is a lot easier to do some practice in this dreary weather.

Well almost time to go. As I write this the rain is lashing down and I feel no urge go out. I think I will have a wee shot of my banjo then tie some flies. Not for some sick form of insect bondage, I mean for the fishing.

Take care and I will blog again in a couple of weeks if you are not careful.

Helooooo ma wee bakewell slices!!!. We are back on the road again. Roslin British Legion was a great success with Peter on the best of form despite the pain. One of his best ever performances and he had the audience in stitches. It also made our night much easier as we did not have to sing even half our prepared set list. Norman also did a great job on our sound system and it was probably as good as it has ever been. Still a pain in the arse though. Just a couple of songs in and Peter had a problem with his guitar which caused a bit of a glitch. The whole evening was a great success. It was great to see John Ward again and he is looking fantastic. He gave us a great start to the night with some great songs and stories. He still looks much better than us and he must be at least eighty seven years old by now. He was one of my teachers at Forrester and I am almost forty two now ! What ??? Ian Cowden was there as well. A true gentleman and a smashing singer himself. Surprised he never gave us a few songs this time around. The audience were a pleasure to play in front of. They listened to every word and their attention was greatly appreciated. We should be returning there sometime in the New Year if all turns out okay and we can get our Peter's pain, sorted out. He is such a good wee sodjer and never complains.

 At the end of the gig there was great interest shown in Norman's mandolin and guitar. As previously mentioned our Norman (apart from being the only nice guy in the band), also crafts his own instruments. They are outstanding quality. His mandolin in particular is one of the finest I have ever seen. Beautiful action and just begs to be played. Next time you are at a gig come and have a look.  We met a couple of guys from the Newtongrange Folk club and I hope we hear from them. One of the lads gave us a wee demo of his skills on Norman's mando and he was excellent.

Saturday saw us back at Platform 3, Linlithgow. We were fronting their party for making the last 3 of the Community Pub of the year. They have been winners previously and runners up last year. Unfortunately they had to settle for second again this year.Congratulations just the same. Great effort and I am sure they will be back next year.

 It is a very tight playing space and Norman and I settled for standing up rather than sitting. The pa was perfect at the start however Peter's guitar lead was playing up. (Does that sound like a familiar theme). We then went through a series of fiddling with the controls for the rest of the evening which resulted in my mike being all but switched off. For the last two songs I actually had the mike in my mouth trying to pick up some sound. I had noticed earlier when playing the whistle that virtually nothing was coming through. Just do not think we are ever going to get to grips with this system which we have been using for two years now. I love my two pals but if I ever hear one of them say "give me a bit more reverb or some bass again" I will Kill them horribly. As soon as they start fiddling and twiddling it all goes tits up. Just too many controls on the board. What I think happens is. At the start of the night everything is fine and dandy. Into the second song Peter or Norman will make a wee adjustment to improve the sound. With the baffling number of controls they will adjust the wrong one. They then attempt to rectify whilst the audience become restive then within seconds half the controls are out of sync and we are miles out by the end of the night. The best bit though is when we end the night then they turn innocently to each other and say " I thought we got the sound just about right tonight" That is usually the cue for my blood pressure to rise to life threatening levels. Are they trying to kill me ? To be fair it was more difficult in the pub where we had to play in front of a noisy audience and we also had to turn down the volume at the request of the management. It was funny that when we did turn the volume down that the punters who appeared to want to listen then left. It  must have been difficult to hear much by the end of our set. All in all though it was a good night.

Well next weekend, on Halloween, we are back at the Lade. I am really looking forward to it. (Minimum electronics. Praise the Lord !!!!!) I have a feeling that it will be a real fun night. Hope that my friends from North Middleton, Paul and Lisa have a good weekend and enjoy the night. Thanks Paul for leaving the comment. The Lade is my number one favourite venue to play. Very small and intimate and the you never know who will be in the audience. Who knows we might even do it in fancy dress.Certainly would not be the first time forour Peter. Mind you Peter and Norman look scary enough as it is. Give yourself a wee treat and get along to the Lade in Callendar for halloween.

Just before I go I have to announce the end of the Atkins diet for me. If you remember at the start of the year I announced Operation Fat B$(*"rd. Things did not go to well and in the first half of the year I probably added to my considerable gut. In June I decided to give the old Atkins diet a go and the results in the first four months were great.The diet suited me and in all honesty it never really felt like a diet as such. I did miss my beer a bit but the rewards countered the sacrifice. I shed almost 3 and a half stones in that period. Now I hear you say. Wow three and a half stone. That is great. Yes it would be great for an ordinary fat person however in my case it is more akin to throwing deckchairs off the Titanic. I am still a long way from being simply overweight. Over the last six weeks things have really slowed down and the losses have been minimal. I have also sufferred a few episodes of gout including a severe bout after the gig last night. Part of the cause of gout is fatty greasy foods which are all major components of the Atkins. I am therfore back on the carbs again and will have to look at other diets and programmes etc. Back to the pie queue for me.Watch this space and check the bif fat belly.

Thanks to Marriane for the enquiry on our website. I am sorry it took so long to get back to you. I hope you can make to one of our gigs soon.

Well halloooooooo!!! ma wee ginger snaps. It has been such a long time since my last rant. With the lads away on holiday and technical problems and my bad temper I seem to have been thwarted at every turn. Not long after my last blog I had problems with my internet connection. I contacted my provider who were hopeless and it was going to take about ten days to put right. I will not name them for legal reasons but if you look out your window and look up you will see the thing which has the same name. Sometimes its blue and in Scotland quite often grey and it has stars in it at night. Got it? My word it took you a while to get there. I understandably lost the plot and in the end told them to stuff their whole package where it was not supposed to be stuffed. I then contacted Bt who now have the pleasure of my custom however the entire process nearly lost me three weeks of internet. All in the past and we are up and flying again.Don't tell Peter and Norman though that I almost lost us our website as well. Just got back online with three days to spare. Phew!!!

Norman and Peter are both back from sunnier climes although poor Peter is not in the best of health at the moment. We are holding off practice until we see how he gets on. Fingers crossed that he gets himself back to being the finely tuned athlete that we have come to know. At least Norman is back to fighting strength after his holiday at cage fighters boot camp.

I have been keeping my paw in so to speak by playing at old folks homes and local socials. It is great fun and there is no pressure at all. I have a raft of local stuff coming up with friends in the next few months and I am looking forward to it. It allows me to try new songs etc before I present them before Norman and Peter. I have also been playing my bouzouki at a lot of these gigs and it sounds great. I am going to have to try it with the electric pickup.

I have also almost learned the whole lot of Holy Willie for our Burns Suppers so I already feel a bit better. Just need to buy some props and then I will be all the way there.

We are looking forward to our return to Roslin British Legion. We had a cracking night there last Spring and I hope we can repeat the feat this time. We are hoping to jam in a couple of practices before then. It will be nice to see Ian Cowden and Joh Ward again. The following night we are back to Linlithgow to Platform 3. Congratulations to them for making it to the final three of the Community Pub of The year competition again. The winners will be announced next week however whatever the result we will have a good old night.

I think I will leave it at that and have a wee cup of tea. I must mention my pal Irene Somerville  who will be celebrating her 40th birthday this weekend. Her daughter Iona also has a birthday and they will be sharing a cake. All the best and have a great time. Have a smashing trip to Oz with Joe next week. Don't even think about staying out there.

Well howdy!!  Ma wee assorted cupcakes. This will be the last blog for a few weeks. The band are now on holiday for the rest of the month. Sods law I suppose. We are probably at the top of our game at the moment then we have an extended break. Still a wee break does no harm at all.

Norman and Peter are off to sunnier climes however for the first year in a long time its a staycation for me. Over the last five main holidays I have been fortunate to travel to Alaska, Canada (twice), United States, Peru and China. Why no holiday this year then ? Well big soft lummox that I am. We have two cats at home and they are now 16 years old and not keeping the best of health and we just could not send them to a cattery anymore.I might manage a couple of nights in Paris though.

On the band front Peter has been sent off to Teneriffe with a mission to find some work for us and if all goes according to plan we will head off to play in Tenners in either December or early in the new year. Watch this space.

It was great to go back to play for our friends at St Nicks Court again. Many happy returns and well done Maureen for not burning the pizza this time. It was a smashing gig and it gave me the chance to introduce the big low d whistle into our repertoire. I had a wee problem with the big whistle when I started practice with it. The hole spaces are a good distance apart and I have a badly broken finger on my right hand. The old finger was smashed about fifty years ago and never set properly. I eventually overcame the problem by strapping the broken finger to my pinkie and hey presto we are playing the old low d nae bother. Must find a few more numbers to include it in. It has a lovely deep tone. Looking forward to returning to St Nicks soon.

Friday saw us back at the Lade and it was one of our best ever nights thanks to a brilliant audience. It was clear that they wanted to listen from the very start of the night. We were able to keep them right until the end and even played a few extra songs. It makes a great difference when you play in front of an appreciative audience. It was also very nice to see some old friends who had come along to see us again. We all really enjoyed the night and the time passed so quickly. We even had some outstanding audience participation. I would like to mention in particular the water skiing joiner from Falkirk and his lady wife and the the Virginian gentleman and his charming lady. Thanks for your support it really makes a difference.

While the lads are away I have a few songs to learn. I am going to buy a super sexy new mp4 player and I will be loading to the max. Amazon actually sell downloads now so I spent a good deal of time downloading the latest Mccalmans album and a double disc of American folk music. I have not yet reviewed the McCalmans album however I am confident that it will be top notch. I cannot say the same of the American album. Mind you I should have known. A price of £4 for 25 songs should have been a warning. I can't see us doin the Ugly Bug Ball any time in the future.  Just before I go I should mention that I was going through some of our early stuff where we all put forward suggestions for songs. Peter must have been on drugs at the time. Pete had us singing Raspberries and Strawberries from the Kingston Trio album. Give it a listen if you want a laugh. Fortunately although we rehearsed the song for several weeks it was never produced in public. McCulloch take the shame !!!!! 

Well almost time to go. Remember get out and get yourself a wee guitar or mando or mouthie it's much better than that shite on the telly. Read a book or go and see some live music.

All the best

Kenny the Bouzouki

Last Wednesday afternoon saw us at Sandy Bells in Forrest Road. It was once again great fun only marred by the lack of talent from our poseurs in white in Norway. Humped 4 - 0 by Norway ? Burley must go !! Apart from the numpties it was a good afternoons work and we will be back on this Wednesday 19th August 2009. At least there is no danger of the Scotland Football team spoiling this afternoon. I am looking forward to road testing my new mouthie. It's a big Tombo F tremelo and a bit of a handful and it just arrived a few days ago. We also have a couple of songs to road test and  we are almost out of gigs before our September break.

It has been a fairly interesting week for me. It was a great pleasure for me to rediscover Planxty. What a band they are. I particularly love the voices of the legenary Christie Moore and Andy Irvine. The musicianship as well is just spellbinding. They have several songs that I would like to take a look at however we would have to simplify the arrangements a bit. I got hold of their 2004 live album and it fair made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I am ordering another couple of albums and I am looking forward to hearing them. I also got hold of a double CD of the Sweeneys Men and it was brilliant as well and we may find a few numbers there to have a go at and one or two new ideas.

I also read Dostoyesvsky's " The Idiot". It was a braw read and I am going to have go at "Crime and Punishment" next. What a life the man had and he was still able to turn out brilliant works. I am into all that classic mince at the moment. I just bought Catcher in the rye, Nicholas Nickelby, Little Dorrit, Tale of Two Cities and To killl a Mocking bird for just under £14 from Amazon. It all looks like good stuff. Do yourself a favour and turn off that keech on the telly and try a wee read instead.

One bad habit I have picked up and it is almost as futile and as bad as smoking is following the Hibs. I  trotted along to Easter Road for the new season where we humbled ten man St Mirren by a score of 2 - 1. Benji is the boy !!! My pal and fellow optimist, John Hislop, (Sloppy), has just been on the phone talking me into the away game at Falkirk. We could be top of the league by the time you read this. Sorry I just can't stop myself. By the end of September I will be completely depressed.

Take care my wee sherbert dabs !! I will probably manage one more blog before our September break.

Well hello again my wee Cornish Pasties. Good news at last on the DVD/Youtube front. Theanks to Cass aka Gordon Stuart and guitarist supreme Stuart Stokes, we are on Youtube. Stuart was able to convert the DVD and upload it for us. So get yourself into Youtube and stick Soopna in the browser and you will be able to watch four of our songs from the Middleton Village Hall performance. I will be creating a proper link from our site to the uploads in the very near future.

On the subject of Stuart, I really must give mention to his skills as a guitarist. He genuinely is brilliant. I have played with loads of guys where people have told me that they are particularly gifted and many have been good however Stuart is a different gravy all together and probably the best I have ever played with. It is worth turning up at the Wednesday sessions at the Bruntons just to hear him play. He is a quite and unassuming chap as well. If I could play even half as well as him then you would never hear the end of it. So Stuart, Many thanks and respect my brother !!!

The band were at the Lade last Friday and it was pretty good. It was packed for the first half with tourists and it was great playing in front of so many nationalities. It was standing room only. Unfortunately the crowd dwindled a bit towards the end of the night with people having to get on the move due to the bad weather. It was a fairly long shift and we used up a fair bit of our repertoire. It was strange as well how I missed the bounce that the bass gave us last week. To my mind it just gives some of our songs a great lift. I am looking forward to our gigs in October and November when we will be reunited with Cass again. All in all it was a pretty good night. I was surprised that Peter's new song " I wish they'd do it now" went down fairly well, as did "Ferry me over". I am personally growing quite fond of "The Lowlands Low". I am a bit more confident with the words and as with everything else, the more you sing in front of an audience the better it becomes.

At every performance, there is always a great interest in Norman's mandolin and guitar. He made them himself and they are stunning. Pete and I thought that his guitars were brilliant until we saw the quality of his mandolin. Not only does it look fantastic, the sound quality is peerless. My bouzouki is pretty decent however it looks shabby in comparison with Normans work. If you turn up at one of our gigs you should give his guitar and Mando a look. The mandolin took a long time to perfect and the results are there for all to see.

Our next couple of gigs are on the 12th and 19th August in the famous Sandy Bells, in Edinburgh. We will be playing from four o clock until around six. It is a regular session which we do during the Edinbuirgh Festival. I love it particularly because it is entirely acoustic with no mikes or pickups. The whole thing is very loose and informal. Just come in and enjoy the crack.

My daughters partner, Gerry Hilman was visiting the house a few nights back and he was good enough to remind me of Planxty. He sent me a link from Youtube and I was captivated. I had forgotten just how good they were. Christy Moore and Andy Irvine look better now than they did all these years ago. I particularly liked their  version of the Jolly Beggar and I am going to give it a go. Peter was not so impressed but I will persevere. They have a load of other stuff as well which might be worth a go. I should also mention that it is no secret that I like a bit of an old sea shanty and I have a couple of them up my sleeve as well.

The band will be taking a break after the Lade Inn on the first week in September while we all head off on holiday.I am staying at home this year and will probably bum around at a few music sessions in Midlothian. I have one or two new ones to try and I will keep you posted. Remember to give us a look on Youtube. I am the phntom banjo player by the way. I was far too good looking to be seen in the full light and I didn't want Peter and Norman to get jealous.

I had better go. You will not believe this but they are shooting a movie just directly across from my back garden. It is the "Wicker Tree" . It is the follow up to the "Wicker Man" with pretty much the same plot with different venue. The victims are a couple of American youngsters who are devoutly religous. I beleive the unfortunate man is to be barbecued later today. The tree is magnificent and over thirty feet high. I was over last night and spoke to the artist who was completing the work. He was a nice chap and he makes a living now from wicker sculptures. He builds the wicker man every year in Galloway for the Wicker festival. I will be sad when they burn the tree tonight. There are bus loads of extras and Police and Fire Tenders. There is to be a scene in the field shortly where all the villagers will be dancing in the buff. I will have to make sure that my eyes are tight shut. I have a couple of arm chairs set in the garden as we speak. They did want me for the nude scenes but I am not sure that the public are ready for that yet. In any case, enven though it is August running about in this wind in my birthday suit does not appeal.

Anyhow Ta Ta for now

Lights, camera Action !!!!!!

 Yes it's me again with yet another rant about the pa systems. Following our debacle at the last gig when we had to phone from Callendar to Edinburgh to have two cables sent up. It was the turn of the Juniper Green Bowling Club for the next episode of our pa comedy farce. We arrived a good hour and a half before kick off (Why ?) and as usual I stood back to watch the experts at work. An hour later I could see that there was still concern with the system. Norman and Peter who have had nearly two years to master the system were aided by our bass player Cass, who has a wealth of experience with electronics. Plugs were being pulled out of mikes and switches were being flicked all to no avail. Ten minutes before our start time Peter discovered that his lead was not in the right plug hole. Wah wah wah !!! I am not in a great position to mock to be fair. I took no interest from the word go and I would have been a liability in the purchase or the setting up. There must be simpler systems out there though.

Cass, aka Gordon Stewart turned out for us playing bass and he was brilliant. The bass gave several of the songs a lift and it kind of gives us and extra dimension. The only problem for us is the limited performing space for us. It was ideal last night and will be at club venues however some of our regular haunts are very cramped for us as it is. Watch this space for further news. Cass was one of the founder members of Tartan Whisky with Peter and I. I have been playing with him at several local functions over the past year and I am a big fan. He is a smashing musician and fair vocalist to boot. He is also a bit of a techno wizard and he is now on the case of our DVD.Remember the Village hall performance. My sister Fiona is also on the case and so I hope for some footage for upload to the site in the very near future.

I had hoped to update the gallery with some nice photos form last night's gig, however if you remember our pal Kenny Hanworth,(previously described as Europe's worst photographer). I gave him a chance to redeem himself last night at the Juniper green Bowling Club and he failed miserably. Sorry Kenny. They were either too dark or partial shots. I have no idea what you were doing. I took two snaps of you and they were perfect.

The gig went fairly well at the bowling club. The first half was pretty good however it seemed to lose a wee bit of pace in the second half. Normally it runs the other way for us.  All in all it was pretty good.

Peter has another couple of songs in the pipeline and I have to admit that I have serious misgivings about one of them. It's a kind of old English style comedy song and it is already doing in my napper. Peter has added his own siganture to it with a couple of verses so we will see how it pans out. He has also learned another Dougie MacLean song which has a nice wee chorus and melody. They might well get an airing at the Lade next week along with our version of the Rolling Hills O the Borders.

I have decided that in the coming few weeks that I will spend less time on the bouzouki and get back into the banjo. I seem to have reached a wee block with the banjo. When I look at the bouzouki I can see definite improvement whereas with the banjo I seem to be treading water.  I have a couple of decent books including the book considered to be the banjo players bible, by Earl Scruggs and they are very interesting and perhaps they will give me som inspiration.  Well I best be off for now. Remember we are at the Lade next week and we hope to see you there.

Well here I am back again. Where have you been ? I hear you ask. Well the honest answer is that the web site and the blogging and that are starting to loose their shine. It was great to begin with "Look ma I'm famous I'm on the world wide web".  I suppose that now with the braw summer evenings and other attractions that it just feels like a bit of a chore sitting in front of the old computer absorbing all that passive radiation. (Don't worry. It's harmless.) Besides I am a bit of a torn faced disaster these days and I can make Victor Meldrew look like Ken Dodd on speed. I'll start with the good stuff.

Friday 3rd July at the Corstorphine Society was a great night. I also have to admit that Peter was right and I was wrong about the requirement for the P.A. We just used our wee Yamaha backup system and it worked a treat in the cosy venue. Superb attentive audience as well and I would hope that we will be asked back. Think we made some good friends. Gave the song Lowlands Low it's first outing and it was pretty good. It was one of these smashing evenings when the time just flys past and we never got through half of our repertoire. We have quite a few new songs to add to the songlist although some of our earlier stuff we have all but dumped. Whatever happened to the Night Visitors Song, eh ? I did kind of cock up on this coming weekend 10th July, when I volunteered to work overtime on Saturday morning. Thought we were playing the Myrtle on Saturday night but of course it is Friday night. I won't be home much before 0300hours. Still I like playing the Myrtle and hope it is as good as the last time. If you are up that way, pop in and see us. It is just on the south side of Callendar just near to the camp site. A very friendly place where you can grab an evening meal as well as a nice drink.

I am becoming a bit obsessed with my bouzouki these days. I have taken it along to a couple of sessions where it has pretty much held its own. I now have couple of hornpipes and one reel to play to a reasonable standard and I have performed a few songs as well. Just put a new set of strings on and they make it really hum. I am going to try my hand at a music club in Pathhead this week where I am told that the standard of music it pretty good and see how we go. I am kind of just treading water with the banjo at the moment. It even crossed my mind to sell the Stelling however I came to my senses and I am going to givie it another twelve months and see where I am.I have picked up a couple of useful wee tricks recently and I have some interesting reading to do. I am just enjoying playing the twelve string anf the bouzouki so much. Mind you if you ask the boys they will tell you that I change with the weather. There is a music session this week Wednesday 8th July at the Stobsmill Inn so if you are free please drop in. You will be made most welcome. I have given up on the Wednesday sessions until the end of the Summer although the club will continue to run. Just too much to do these days. We also have a session on the last Sunday in the month in the North Middleton Hall. I have to say that the session at the end of July will probably bemy last there until the Autumn. Who knows ?

Thats about all for now. Irene, Iona and Joe have a great holiday.

Bonjour mes petit amis. Hello ma wee pals. It's a wee while since my last blog and I have missed you. Last night Friday 5th June, we were back at the Lade in Callendar and it was a great night. Must mention our new friends from Brittany, France. Jacques, Michelle, Francoise and Louig. Please forgive any incorrect spelling. Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Scotland and I hope that we meet again. We might even get round to a tour of Brittany and Normandy one of those days. I have always been a big fan of France myself and would be happy to live there if only I could convince my wife. Strangely quite a few people have told me to "Get to France" over the past few years. It was yet again a smashing night at the Lade. For those of you who have so far missed out on the Lade. It is a smashing wee restaurant with a small bar just north of Callendar. The food is brilliant and great value. The pub sells it's own beers and Frank and Rita always ensure a warm welcome. There is live folk music every Friday and Saturday evening. It is a very small cosy bar and music books are handed out during the evening. Unfortunately we get caught out regularly and have to busk a few of the numbers as we did last night. It is great fun anyway. We gave the song, Marilyn Monroe an outing last night. I thought it was pretty decent although the moany brothers thought it could have been much better.

Before I go any further, Thanks Gordon for the message re the DVD. It was worth a try. I took your advice and downloaded several of the rippers from the internet. Most of them invoved paying cash for the full download. We are still stuck and I am thinking that the simplest way forward might be to take my sister's camera into PC World and buying the replacement USB connection cable. Watch this Space. Might wait for a better filming opportunity.

The band are on yet another wee holiday break whilst Peter heads off to Spain for eight days. No more gigs until July. I am keeping my hand in though with a couple of appearrances in Midlothian. I am playing in front of a few community groups for fun and I am looking forward to it. I have been becoming more attached to my big Yamaha 12 string. It is a bit like a crutch on stage. When I am doing stuff with guys outside the band I have found that due to lack of practice that other musicians playing with me are not able to easily read my banjo chords and it can lead to problems for me when I am singing the leads. The advantage with the twelve string is that it has a deep powerful sound and other guitarists can easily read my chord shapes. Plus I have always thought that playing the banjo has been killing my sex appeal. Surely not !!!! I hear you thinking. No seriously I think that I have such a short attention span that I cannot just concentrate on one instrument and attempt to become reasonably profficient. I can play loads of instruments at a very mediocre standard. I don't care I'm having fun anyway.

This is my first Saturday night for a while in and I was looking forward to it. I am already bored oot ma heid. The rain is rattlin off the window and the telly is mince. I lasted two minutes on this years Big Brother. Shut it down. There must be more to life than this.

I have spent loads of time on Youtube looking at old Corries stuff. They were just top of the order. Och I know the finger in the ear brigade will be tut tutting while they chew on their real ale. Don't care.Ronnie Brown, I salute you Sir.  Roy Williamson, sadly stolen from us long before his time and so sadly missed. They are still the tops and probably did more to bring Scottish Folk music to the fore than any other folk group. Do yourself a favour and buy one of their CD's. I guarantee you will be singing along before you reach the end of the track.

Well It's time I went out to my hideout in the garage for a fly puff on my pipe. Now don't start as well. It's bad enough that I have to stare at rotting lungs and blackened teeth on the packets. Why don't Greggs the bakers have to do the same with their stakebakes and Pies ? More people suffer disease from overeating. They could show pictures of big fat bellies and men boobs, or brickies bum cleavages on their paper bags. Where was I ? Yes that's me off for a wee read. Take care and I hope to see you at a gig in July. Stick in with that guitar or mandolin.

It's a wee while since I checked the website and I missed a message from John and Allison, who are good friends from Callendar. Many happy returns to John. It was his birthday last night, (Saturday). I am sure he was well on his way to a Sunday hangover. By the way John, Alison was dropping a hint that she was looking for a nice guitar when her next birthday comes along. I think she said it was her fortieth ?? She particularly liked Norman's Gore guitar. He can make them to order you know. It was a smashing night at the Lade despite what could be best described as a boisterous element in the audience. (Hope she was not the designated driver.) Thank you to Anne McNaughtan and her friends and family for the message in the message book and for your participation during the night. We really do appreciate it when people take the trouble to listen and sing along at the appropriate times. Hope to see you again at one of our gigs. Peter might even have some new jokes by then.   Best wishes to   your English guests as well. Fingers crossed for the old Scottish weather.

We gave a couple of new songs a test run and they both show promise. We have a few others in the cooker at the moment and they may well be ready for a test on our next visit to the lade in a few weeks time. Peter is working on the song 'Marylin Monroe' and I think it could be a winner. Quite quirky and unusual and the chorus is quite catchy.   I am also have a bash at a couple of Burns songs and although they are wee slow ones I think they might be quite nifty.

If there is a computer person out there I would appreciate suggestions for a wee technical problem. I have a DVD of our night at the Middleton Village Hall. My sister Fiona recorded a number of songs on to her camcorder. She has unfortunately lost the USB lead and was unable to   upload to her PC. She converted the format onto DVD. I can play the DVD on my PC however I cannot convert it to upload to my hard drive at the moment. We intend to put three or four of the songs on Youtube   if we can find a way to load it onto a PC. Watch this space.

We have picked up another night at the Juniper Green Bowling club and looks like we will be back to see our friends there in July. July is becoming a busy month for us. We have a booking for every weekend. It is good to be in our position where we by and large only play at the venues that we want to play. It makes it so much more enjoyable for both us and our audience. It also means that we can take a break when we feel like it. It really must be tough when you have to drag yourself out to play every single weekend and play venues that you are not keen on.

Next Sunday 31st May, and there will be another wee jammer at the North Middleton Village Hall. Feel free to come along and play or sing or simply just to listen. I particularly enjoy listening to the singers so that I have the opportunity to steal their songs and material. It is a good fun night so don't be shy and come along. The venue is North Middleton Hall just off the A7 and about fifteen minutes from the Sheriffhall roundabout. I will probably bring along my twelve string Yamaha guitar again and give the banjo a rest. I am going through a wee guitar phase at the moment although I did just buy a new penny whistle which is also a joy to play. Just not enough time in the day. Talking of that, I just bought a great new boys toy yesterday. It was one of the big Karcher pressure cleaners. What a beast it is ! I was playing with it on my decking yesterday and it was great fun. It will remove the most stubborn stains.   I can see that it looks like a braw day outside and I can hear the Karcher calling me. Loads of wee attachments that I have not tried yet.

Come and see us at a gig or if you need some pressure cleaning done just give me shout.

Hola amigos. How are your white bits ?Don Pedro and I have just returned from Spain and are suitably refreshed. We were on holiday with Kenny Hanworth (poor photographer and see gallery) and Doug Ronaldson. Dougie Peter and I were all kids together in the Parkhead area of Edinburgh, and along with Gordon Cass Stewart we formed the folk band Tartan Whisky at the end of the 60's. We had some great times and it's great that we have never lost touch. Peter, Kenny H, Dougie and myself were staying at the hacienda of Kenny H. in Quissada near Alicante in Spain. It was brilliant this year and the weather was really kind to us. Without naming names, some the lads overdid it on the alcohol front however I will leave them to take the shame on their own. At least one of our party would like to say a big thank you to channel XXL which starts after midnight each night. Very entertaining and educational at the same time I am assured.  On the positive side, Kenny Hanworth has collected folders of popular folk songs over the years and he generously allowed us to plunder his collection and we came up with one or two possibles for us to try in the band. All in all it was a worthwhile trip with excellent company and the best of crack. The local scenery was fantastic.(Wink wink, eh Dougie?) and we saw loads of fash and nay Jazz. It was a rare treat sitting on the balcony with G and Ts' each evening watching the sun go down. Back again next year for our fifth tour. Next year we will play at the local Folk club if sober.

It was great to return to the Myrtle Inn in Callendar for our first gig of the season. Great to see mine host Dan on cracking form. The audience were a great bunch and they found our Peter in top form. He even had us stunned with several new gags. It was as well that Peter was on his game as we were plagued once again with electronic problems. Norman manged to a good job playing his mando through a mike however we strangely lost Peter's guitar signal at the start of the second half. All in all though we managed to pull through and gave a decent performance. Praise the lord that our next gig in a fortnight at the Lade will be with minimum electronics. It was a very late end of the night for us though even though we were back to Edinburgh in forty five minutes.

Fiona, my sister has made DVD of our performance at the village hall and I am looking forward to seeing it. Don't get too excited punters, it will not be going on sale. I hope that we might be able to upload some of the songs on to Youtube.  Watch this space !!! She assures me that it is pretty good although Norman and Peter will require some convincing.

Terrific feedback from our gig at Roslin British Legion and by public demand we have been invited back  to give a full evenings entertainmaint in October. I will provide more details later on and nearer the time.

I have a wee secret job to play this week in a good cause and I am really looking forward to it. No worries about PA system. I think that the boys will be looking to come out to North Middleton for practice on Friday however I am not sure yet that I can make it.

Just before I go, I must mention that there is a wee friendly acoustic session at North Middleton Village hall on Sunday 17th May. 1930 to 2230.  Dust off that old guitar or whatever you have and come along for a wee sing song and a bit of friendly banter. You can just come and listen if you want. Just bring your own refreshments. We will take a small voluntary collection to help pay for the hall at the end of the night.

By the way, just before I go. Remember back in January when I mentioned I was hiring a rowing machine as part of operation fatboy. Sadly the operation has not gone as well as I had hoped for. The rowing machine is being returned. I will persevere though.

Ta Ta for now. Where did I put those custard creams ???

Well thats a busy wee weekend away at last. On Friday we were right on the ball at Roslin Brittish Legion and the crowd were loving every minute of it. Peters jokes were all received with enthusiasm and near all our singing was on the money. It was one of these gigs where as soon as you start singing you can sense that the audience are right beside you. Thanks to all who were involved in such a memorable night. Ian Cowden and his singing partner Maureen were great and what a pleasant surprise to bump into my old maths teacher John Ward. I remeber him from his days in the band, Flying Haggis. In the seventies they were a great band and we often shared a venue with them. John looks as good now as he did all these years back. I even think he can wear the same jeans as he wore all these years ago. I would also like to mention Ronnie who sang a couple of numbers. He was honestly different class. He played a lovely acoustic Gibson and he had a superb singing voice. I hope our paths cross again in the future as I never got much time to chat to him. By the way, I should have mentioned that we were using the house PA and not our seemingly unpredictable system.

Saturday afternoon saw us setting up in the Middleton Village Hall. This was really a bonus for us and gave us free time to set up the stage and the sound system. The hall looked pretty good by the time we had finished and our main and monitor pa systems appeared to be on track. Saturday evening and of course our old nemesis the pa failed us again. The monitor sytem would not work at all and during the performance the PA did not appear to be balanced. We had a fair turnout of sixty plus however I have to be honest and say that I was slightly disappointed considering the effort I had made with leaflets and posters. Twenty or thirty more would not have gone amiss. The first half of the show kind of floundered a bit. After a lively discussion during the interval we upped the pace a bit and pulled out the old favourites and manged to pull the situation round. By the end the audience were with us and asking for more. I would like to give Peter's wife Anne a mention in dispatches for forsaking her sick bed in order to help out with the door. She did a great job aided by my wee sister Fiona and my superstar neice Holly Bean McDonald. Fiona also did a great job recording the event on camcorder. It was a great treat to see so many friends in the audience and specially my ma and dad. They have not seen me sing for nearly forty years. They had a great time although my mum spoiled it a bit by how fantastic it was to see Peter again and how nice it was for him to give her a hug and a kiss. He's a right crawler.

Sunday morning saw my wife Cathy and I back at the hall for the cleanup operation. Special thanks must go to Anne Russell for all the help she gave us. We would have toiled without her help. Just as we were doing the final clear up, Norman arrived all the way for Baberton having missed out on all the graft. Still its the thought that counts.

Well it's time to dig out the speedos and sun tan lotion. Peter and I are off to the sun for a week. Not decided yet whether I take out the banjo this year. Might take out some mouthies instead. Looking forward to our first gig of this season at the Myrtle when we get back.

Hope you can make it to one of our gigs soon.

Cheers

Kenny the banjo

First of all a big Thank you to Maureen and Ian from St Nicholas Court, Edinburgh for looking after us. It was a shame that Maureen set fire to the Pizzas. The fire and smoke did not take too much away from a great evening. It was great to see so many old friends in the rudest of health. Hope we can come back in a few months and perhaps we could have a salad night in the interest of health and safety. With the overdone Piza we  could have held a "burns night" (get it ?) (See what I did there). It was smashing singing with no mikes although the night did take a heavy toll on the old tonsils. All in all it was great fun. On my way home I stopped off at the Stobsmill acoustic club and gave them a few songs as well which probably did not help my throat much.

Tickets for the Middleton Village Hall bash, Saturday 25th April, 2009,  are selling fairly briskly and I would recommend that if you are coming you should step in now for a ticket. We did think that there would be a large number of tickets available on the night however at the present sales rate there will not be many available on sale at the door. There is a strict numbers limit at the hall and it is possible that we may have to turn folks away. You can reserve a ticket by contacting us (see contact info page on site) or through Anne at the North Middleton Post Office, 0930 to 1130 hrs. Monday to Friday.

Friday saw us at Peter's house for a practice. There was nearly blood on the carpet during the discussions on just how we should arrange the Broom o the Caudieknowes. When we do the song in C it was difficult for Pete on the high notes however the Mandolin and whistle gave a nice backing to the verse and the harmonies in the chorus were clear and clean. Dropping to B Flat makes it more comfortable for Pete however we loose the whistle and it is an awkward key for the mandolin. Worst of all, for some reason the harmonies suck like a Dyson on steroids. By the end of it  you could stick "his faithers ewes" up his faithers *%@e, as far as I was concerned. Not even sure on what we settled on by the end of the day.

On Saturday Night I was out heading for the Queens Hall in Edinburgh to see the Peatbog Faeries with our pal Kenny Hanworth. Kenny arranged for us to meet in a local hostelry which turned out to be one of the smelliest dirtiest dumps I have been in for some considerable time. For legal reasons I will withold the name of the premises however even the beer had a bad smell. Track suits were the in dress for the night and I was glad I never had to go to the toilet. The concert was fine however I was more impressed by the support act. Findlay Napier and the Bar Room mountaineers opened the show and they were just superb. Should have bought their album last night. Still I bought it on line today and it should be here by Tuesday or Wednesday. The song lyrics were quirky and catchy and the presentation of the songs was first class. They are coming to Sneaky Petes in a caouple of weeks and are well worth catching. The Peatbog's were accomplished musicians and they clearly impressed their enthusiastic followers however I found there stuff a bit samey for me. I admire the musicianship and energy however my preference is for songs rather than tunes. At least 95 per cent of the audience would violently disagree with my assesment. Just not my kind of thing.

Not sure I will manage a blog after the Middleton. I will do my best. What about the Apprentice this year though. There's something about that Yasmina.

Hello there ma wee tattie scones !!!  Not much to report other than that we are all systems go for the North Middleton night. Only £5 per ticket and there is a smashin wee bar as well from 8pm until Midnight. Remember the date Saturday 25th April 2009. I can report that the tickets are selling very well so step in quick. You can obtain tickets by contacting us through the website. mail@soopna.com   or during the mornings from the North Middleton Post Office. See our contacts page.  It could not be easier to get there. Straight down athe A7, past the Scottish Mining Museum, through the traffic lights at the Newtonloan Toll petrol station then stay on the A7 past Birkenside then the road climbs and you pass the council road depot (looks like a big black Pyramid from the distance. About 800metres you will see signs for Borthwick Castle. Turn left and sharply to the left you will see the new North Middleton Village Hall. You better be on your best behaviour because my auld mammy and dad and sisters are coming to see us. Peter had better clean his act up a bit or my mum will be giving him a skelp.

If you live in the Roslin area you might want to check out the Roslin British Legion Club on Friday 24th April when there will be a charirty Folk night. There will be some good entertainment. We will be singing a few and I am sure it will be a good night.

We are picking up a few new numbers and The Broom o the Caudieknowes is sounding pretty sexy. Hope we have it ready for North Middleton. Just one more practice to go. It,s not that I need the practice of course. It's Peter and Norman are bloody hopeless and always forget what we rehearsed.

As per my last blog I mentioned our pal Kenny Hanworth and how he was off to a singing workshop with the legendary Maddy Prior. He is back and he had a great time. I was thinking that we could do something similar. It could be great wee moneyspinner. Come to Gorebridge for a folk singing skills workshop. How to eat a pie during the chorus. Keeping a head on your pint during songs. How to shift the blame when you hit a bum note and best of all how to blame the PA system when you have an off night.I think I'll run it past the boys and see what they think.

Well must go and print off more flyers.

Just one more thing if anyone should bump in to my pal Cass, for God's sake don't ment ion the cruise to him or we'll never hear the end of it.  

Hi Folks, its Kenny the Banjo once more. You must be tingling with anticipation. We had a wee practice on Friday 27th and it went very well. Most of the songs we rehearsed sounded pretty impressive by the end of the day and we decided we would give them an airing on the following night at the Lade Inn.

It was a pleasant trip up to   Kilmahog and we started the night fairly briskly. The first few numbers we did were okay however we got better as the night progressed. We aired our new stuff which went fairly well although some of the harmonies were not what we had rehearsed. All in all I thought it was a really good night however Peter and Norman thought   we could have been much better. Our arrangement of A Mans a Man, is now outstanding and I would say is probably our best song at the moment. Last night the harmonies were spot on and super smooth. A far cry from our first stumbling efforts.   It just shows what hours of practice and a bit of confidence can do for you. During the second half of our set, we were joined by a smashing crowd of Irish visitors who helped give us a lift, with their friendly banter and enthuisiasm. After my moans in my last blog about learning some old Irish favourites for St Patricks night, they came in very handy. Peter was chuffed to bits that we were asked to sing the Fields of Athenry. I thoroughly enjoyed the night and I look forward to our return to the Lade in May.

For all you Folk Fans out there, you might be interested in a website I stumbled upon. (No not that sort of website). It is payplayfm.com. I was looking for some lyrics for Ed Miller songs and came across the site. You can download his music tracks for a small fee. You can download complete albums or individual tracks. The tracks are about 40 to 50p per track. You pay by either card or paypal account. Ed   Miller is an Edinburgh born   Folk star who has lived in Austin, Texas for years. He has written some cracking stuff over the years including Generations of change. His albums are beautifully produced with vocal and instrumental backing. There are some real gems in his albums.

It is now full steam ahead for our Middleton Bash in the North Middleton Village Hall on the 25th April. Norman has produced the tickets priced at £5. At the moment tickets can only be obtained through the band however I hope that Anne in the North Middleton Post Office might help me out by keeping some in the Post Office. The night will be a fun night and the Hall bar will be open from 8pm until midnight. Don't be shy it will be a good night out. It might be your chance to get yourself on youtube. We hope to video part of the night for an upload attachment from our site to youtube. make sure you have your best gear on just in case.

We are now also playing at a charity folk event in the Roslin Legion Club on the night before. We will be meeting some old friends and it looks like it will be a smashing night as well.

I will need to get moving now. Peter is fixing up Posters and I have letters to fix up then I will be heading round the village sticking them through letterboxes just to let them know about our gig.

Hope to see you soon. Come and see us at a gig and dont be shy. Come and speak to us as well. Hope you remembered to put your clocks forward. Yahoo Spring at last !!!!!

Well the top of the mornin to you all and begorra and bejabers etc etc. Only one more Irish stew for me then the seasons over ! First of all, the high spot was a smashing St Patricks Night on Friday 20th at St Joseph's. A packed hall and a very lively audience. Our job was made easier by the large number of willing volunteer singers who came up to give us a song. They were magnificent ! A special mention to three young ladies,( Liz, Patricia and Margaret), who came up to talk to us at the end of the night. Thank you Liz for the song as well. Hope you can make it to one of our gigs sometime.   We also had a wonderful solo Irish dancer who gave a fabulous display. She really was a star. Sheila Hay and her line dancing group also graced us with a super performance. I would also like to thank Paul for doing a great job of compering. (Sorry Paul we will be nicking some of your jokes.) Father John Reid did a great job as well in keeping the night moving along however he gets points deducted for referring to my beautiful Stelling Bellflower as a ukelele.It was also nice to see Tom Carlyon who was an old work colleague of Peter and I. No surprise that he was in charge of the alcohol. He did surprise us with a couple of songs. What a great voice !   Finally a big thank you to Angie Meenan for her fantastic work and for having the good taste to ask us to play at the event. You did a great job with the Irish stew as well.

The hall was packed and we had the PA set up just about right. It was going quite well until Peter suggested singing Irelands Call. I am sorry ! Some songs you take to and others just irritate.   I am afraid that for me it is the latter in this case. I can only hope that we don't have to play it again. It was funny how at practice on the previous week we had a lively discussion about the songs to include for the evening. Peter detests the Fields of Athenry. I quite like it. We sung it last night and it was one of the best received songs of the evening. We were surprised by a request for dance music during the middle of the performance and Norman did a brilliant job plugging the breach. He just dived in and started singing some old Beatles stuff and we followed. All in all it was a great night and sure we have made some new friends.

We have a practice next Friday and we have one or two songs to add to our repertoire. The boys surprised me with a lively rendition of Rollin in My Sweet Baby's Arms. I think it could be a winner. We are also determined to present our arrangement of the old Lindisfarne standard "Meet me on the Corner". Both should be ready for a road test shortly.

Looking forward to Saturday 28th March when we are back up to the Lade Inn in Callendar. If you are in the area be sure to pop in and see us. Spoil yourself and make an evening of it. They do a nice evening meal then you can come through for a sing song. it's only an hour from Edinburgh and its a braw wee place. It is just north of the town in Kilmahog and opposite the Woolen Mill.   We are on from 8.30pm until 11.30ish. Hope to see you there.

I cannot go for my lunch yet until I tell you about our pal Kenny Hanworth (see gallery). Kenny is a Folk singer and musician. He has a house in Spain and is a regular contributer at the local ex pats folk club when he is over there. I phoned him a couple of weeks back and played my bouzouki over the phone. He seemed impressed. A couple of nights ago he phoned me from Inverness. After hearing my bouziouki he decided to visit David Freashwater, the luthier and has ordered a cittern. He also told me in a couple of weeks time he is off for a singing workshop with Maddie Prior.(Steeleye Span, All around my Hat)   We will all be together in Spain shortly and he will be refusing to sing with we mere amateurs. Watch out it will be Celtic Connections next.

Well must go for lunch and hope you can make it to one of our gigs.   Remember our night in the North Middleton Village Hall. 25th April. Tickets are £5 per head. Contact us through the website for tickets.

Well here I am back again from sunny climes as this endless winter rumbles on. 8th of March and up to my erse in snow. Looking forward to getting back into the groove. We are brushing up on our Irish stuff at the moment and old Peter cringes at the thought. He is not the biggest fan of some of the Irish standards. Norman and   I are quite fond of some of the Irish stuff although one or two to carry the "Wild Rover" factor.   On the subject of Peter, I have no doubt that you will have noticed from our message board that he is in something of a middle aged identity crisis at the moment. He is not keen to write a blog however he leaves messages in the guest book as Alexi, or Agnes. (he does like to keep in touch with his feminine side). Bless him !!! It worries me a bit that he actually answers his own messages though.

The band have confirmed a booking for the Middleton Village   Hall on Saturday 25th April. I am sure it will be a cracking night. The tickets will be priced at £5 per head and will be available from North Middleton Post office or from members of the band, or through our website. The hall has a bar which will be open until midnight on the night of the gig. It will be a big sing along and tap your feet night with loads of banter and laughs. North Middleton is just south of Gorebridge/Birkenside on the A7 and only about ten minutes drive from the Sheriffhall roundabout. Tickets will go on sale in a couple of weeks time. Get yourself down for a cracking night. I hope that Peter is going to do the antlers gag again. It's a cracker.

Great that we are going back again to see our friends at St Nicholas Court in Edinburgh again in April. Not only are the people great and really friendly, it is also a perfect venue for us in that we do not use any PA equipment. It is completely unplugged. (If you have never read any previous blogs I hate PA systems )  

Just in case you think we are out of holiday mode, I should also mention that just a couple of days after the North Middleton gig, Peter, (or Agnes)   and I will be off to Alicante for a week to top up on our sunshine quotas. We have been making the trip for the last four years as part of a study of the influences of the Moorish invasions in the eleventh century, on the present architecture of modern buildings. Particularly in relation to modern pubs. It is demanding work however we are dedicated to the cause and normally require bed rest when we return home after a week of such toil.

Band will be back to practice this week and I am looking forward to it. It is either Norman or myself to host. Either way it will be good to get back.

Hasta lavista or whatever.

Hello ma wee sausage suppers!!!. Remember all that mince about sticking with the instruments I have and working sensibly on them and improving skills blah blah blah. I have been out and bought a bouzouki. Just saw it on Gumtree, Edinburgh and it was love at first sight. Its a smashing Freshwater bouzouki, hand made in Inverness. I just love the tone of it. Look out for it making it's debut shortly, possibly the next trip to the Lade Inn.  I bought it last Tuesday and made my way straight to Peter's house to show it to him. I almost needed a baseball bat to get it out of his sticky paws. Just as well that Norman was on holiday or I would never have seen the thing again. I am reluctant to leave it when I set off for Teneriffe. It won't be a proper holiday for me since I have several songs and some poetry to learn. Please give me a thought next week when I will be lying by the pool in the merciless heat and trying to learn Holy Willie and the words to some Irish songs for St Patricks night. As I sit on my balcony in the evening with a G and T (with lemon and ice of course) watching the sun slip behind La Gomera, I will still be working tirelessly  on songs and arrangements all in the interest of entertainment. Please spare me a kindly thought.

My wife and far better half, is on her way back from Alicante today so as you can imagine I am in the middle of a major clean up operation. She has been away for the week although if you saw the house you would think she has been away for months. Just four hours to go and still the hoovering, dishes and cat litter tray to clean. it will be a close run thing.

I had a couple of wee gigs this week with my pals from the Stobsmill Acoustic club and they were great fun. Monday night we played at the old Bonnyrigg library and on Friday we were at the Hibs Club in Easter Road for a charity Auction. Part of the fun of playing with the club is that we never know who will turn up on the night. On Friday we had a pretty strong lineup with Gordon Cass Stewart, Stuart, Jim Tracy, myself and Paul Henderson. Special mention must go to Stuart for his excellent guitar leads and to Cass for not only his bass playing but for his work and energy. It would have been a struggle without them.  It was also great to see Paul up with us again with his tenor banjo and bohdrain. Paul is a smashin guy and due to his heavy work schedule we never see enough of him these days.

It looks as if Soopna will be hosting a wee night of entertainment in the Middleton Village Hall. We are still working on the dates. Easter weekend is a possibility however I will keep you posted. It will be a cracking night and the Village Hall is a smashing venue with a bar etc available at very reasonable prices.  I am sure it would be a cracking night  and an opportunity for Peter to try out some of his new gags. Middleton and Borthwick always give the bands a friendly welcome and I am sure many of our friends would come along and enjoy the evening. I am quite excited about it and I will bring you up to speed when get back from the rigours of Teneriffe. Looking forward to coming back and jumpimg into the St Patricks stuff. Well I must go. So much to do and also my bananna hammock, sun cream and mp3 player to seek out. You will all be in my thoughts. I will leave you with that image.

Cheers

Kenny Bouzouki

Saturday 7th February 2009, saw us at Platform 3 in Linlithgow again,   where we had some great fun with a lively crowd made up largely by Welsh rugby supporters. Smashing bunch they were   and they were not shy about giving us a song. Some great voices there and the atmosphere was great. It was hard but pleasant work keeping the night going especially when you have to keep using your rousing sing along type numbers. This was not the night for the more subtle stuff. The only problem for me was the PA system yet again. The banjo sound was apalling and I am seriously thinking about going back to the mike and removing the pickup. At the start of the night my voice mike was little better and the band overall sound was nowhere near our best level. No idea what had happened. I thought we had mastered the system given that our last three gigs could not have gone better. Just as well that the banjo was okay the first   night we tried it out or the pickup would have been on ebay by now. I could hear it much clearer than the other lads as the speaker was at my ear. It was quite amusing, when during a break I announced that the banjo was sounding fine again and Norman told me that the system was switched off.  

The band are now on a break until the middle of March when we will be doing a St Patricks night. Our holiday home work is brushing up on our Irish material. I find it quite interesting when we have special gigs like Burns or St Pat's when you go back and look at some of your old neglected songs and often during research discover some gems that you have never heard before. We have three or four songs from Burns and St Patricks night which might well become part of our permanent repertoire.

Norman is off to Tenneriffe next week and I am sure that the weather will be kind to him. Remember   to use the suncream Norman, even when its cloudy. He will only be back a couple of days when I head out for ten days to Playa Arena on Teneriffe.   Okay ! I was out there just before Christmas however I have to go out there for health reasons. I am sure that have that S.A.D. I just detest the winter months and our summers are not much better. I am depressed today just   looking at the snow propped up on my window.

Although the band are on a recess, I have one or two wee bits and pieces during the next ten days. I will be playing with some pals at Old Folks Homes and also a charity auction at the Hibs Club. I am loving my old twelve string again and I am thinking about using it at some of the gigs and probably at the guitar club at the Stobsmill Inn on Wednesday. The twelve string is great when you are singing solo. I have to confess that I had a delve and peek at some twelve strings on the internet and was sorely tempted however sensible Kenny stepped in and prevailed. I would like to mention big Martin from our club. Martin is a top class guitarist and up until last year he had a great collection of guitars. He suddenly announced to us that he was selling his collection and taking up the ukelele. He now runs a uke club at the Stobsmill Inn and they meet on Tuesdays. Martin comes along to our club with his uke and he is phenomenal. I just could not imagine a ukelele sounding so great. You can pick up a ukelele for under £20 in most music shops and it does not take too much work to get you up and running. Might be worth a first step towards learning the guitar. Our Martin though does not do things by half and he is now making his own beautiful ukeleles.

That's about enough for now. I will blog again either before or after my dose of the sun.

Keep Picking or plucking or whatever floats your hamster.

Kenny

Well what a week that was. All ran better than we even hoped for although the work and preparation was draining. First mention has to go to Peter. He was magnificent throughout and kept the audiences in stitches. His Tam O Shanter on Thursday night was well worthy of the standing ovation he received. From start to end he had the audiences in the palm of his hand.

Thursday saw us at the Police Club at 28 York Place. It was a tremendous night and thanks are due to Alister at the club and all his staff who served the cause above and beyond. Alister McDermot seemyscotland.com and Bo Bo Allan for a great job of promoting and to the IPA for hosting the event. Great to meet Grant Rolland again who did a superb job on the piping duties. He was only knee high to a grasshopper on the last time I saw him. Biggest salute would have to go to the audience who really embraced the night and enjoyed themselves to the full. The atmosphere was electric and I am sure everyone had a great night.

Friday night saw us take our Burns Roadshow to the Lade Inn where Frank and Rita had prepared a great night. It was much more relaxed for usand once again the audience were magnificent. It was great to meet our old friend Brian again. We met him last year at a gig and he came up specially with his family a few weeks later to see us. He was kind enough to book up again when he saw that we were playing at the Burns Supper. It was a smashing meal and although I was giving a speech I felt relaxed enough to scoff down my haggis. Best I have had in a long long time. One moment of panic when I discovered that I had left my speech at home in North Middleton. I was saved by modern technology when my understanding wife e mailed a copy to the Lade. Phew!!!.

The following night we played at Platform3 in Linlithgow and although we were strting to flag a bit we turned in a nice performance. Smashing crowd in the pub and it was good night all round especially without speeches and recitals.I had my 3rd night of haggis including a haggis pie at Platform 3. I do love it but enough should be enough.

Thanks to Norman who has fitted the electric pickup to my banjo he has done great job. It makes a rare noise now. He has also fitted a new pickup to his mandolin and it has made a huge difference as well. We had both in full swing at Platform 3 and the sound was great. On the downside though I did mange to break my Korg electric tuner so it will be even more money out. Moan moan.

What a releif to have it over and done with. It realy did consume a large chunk of our lives.The speeches and gags take so long to prepare. I feel sorry for my pal Irene from my work. She has had to put up with all my bad moods and attempts to learn my poetry. Never mind Irene it's St Patrick's Night soon and we are learning some new stuff for that.

Wendesday night I will be at the Stobsmill Acoustic Club. Feel free to come along and either play or sit and listen. It's great fun and we don't bite.I should also mention that it does not cost anything. The session starts at around 8 ish and can go on until late. People just leave when they have had enough.

 Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned operation fatbelly. Well this time I really mean it. No more excuses I will get stuck in. By the next blog I hope I can shed a few pounds. See you soon.

Kenny

Well here we are again up late on a Sunday. We got a call from the Lade Inn at short notice and agreed to a gig on Saturday night. as often happens in these cases it was a very pleasant night with a friendly and appreciative audience and we performed well. Special thanks to the Denny contingent and to our English cousins who helped make the evening such great fun. It gave us the opportunity to air some of our Burns material with mixed results however it was useful just to see what needs some work. I will be glad to see the back of this week. Burns has taken over my life. As I write this blog I have fourteen different Burns books around me and I now own nine books on his works. I have also depleted the stocks of the Gorebridge library. Every spare minute is spent reading or learning. If you were thinking about coming along to one of our Burns nights I have to tell you that the night at 28 York Place is now a sell out. I can suggest that you might phone and see if there have been any returns. There are still places available at the Lade Inn on Friday www.theladeinn.com  and it will be a cracking night. On Saturday night we will be returning to Platform 3 in Linlithgow and we can only hope that we have as good a night as we had the last time there.

My Stelling banjo electric pickup arrived this week and the instructions said it would be easy to fit. Naturally I broke it and had to make an SOS to Norman who is the technical expert in the band. I am sure that he will be able to fix it. Norman apart from being a great musician/vocalist is also a dab hand with amps and electrics. On top of that he makes his own instruments. His guitars and mandolin are magnificent quality and a joy to play. He is too modest to refer to himself as a luthier however his work speeks otherwise.

For any of you interested the Stobsmill Inn acoustic club meets this Wednesday 21st in Birkenside. I will miss it this week but the members will make you feel more than welcome. It starts at 8pm and you can stay as long as you like. You can just wander in and listen and it is not compulsory to play or jam. Guitars and banjos welcome and we are always keen to have more fiddlers and mandolin players.

Stand by for more Russian litrature in forthcoming blogs I have just bought a couple of Dostoyevski's best.

Must go and work on my Immortal Memory. Hope to see you soon at a gig.

Happy New Year to one and all. Hope you all had a great time over the festive period. Since my last blog I should have been busy however I was felled on the lead up to Christmas with the flu and I was confined to my scratcher for almost a week. I am not one to complain though. It was sheer hell. Three weeks on and I still have a bit of a chest cold.

  As per my previous blogs I decided not to go for any new instruments as such although I did buy   a new Dixon penny whistle and a blues harp in Low F. Delighted with both. The whistle was a bit more expensive than the normal tin whistle and I love it. It is made of black polymer and a joy to play. I have also dusted off my big Yamaha twelve string guitar and I am enjoying playing it. The broad neck is a bit of a stretch for the fingers and It still feels a bit awkward to hold but what a cracking tone it has. I am going to give my banjo a rest at my next acoustic music club meeting and take the guitar along instead. While I am on the subject, I am sure that some of you out there might have got a new guitar from Santa. Don't be shy and make a few enquiries and get your self round to your local guitar or acoustic music club for a jam. Most clubs are free and very friendly and it is a great way to pick up tips and learn new bits and pieces. I played with our club on New Years Day at the Stobsmill Inn in Birkenside and we had a cracking gig. The pub was heaving and the hospitality was first class.

Saturday night saw the band on the road   again up to our favourtite venue at the Lade Inn. I should also mention that it was my birthday. The lads were not impressed with my list of presents which included membership of the Edinburgh and Midlothian beekeepers association. Oh how I was cruelly mocked by both Norman and Peter. You will be glad to hear that I will keep you posted with my progress during the coming months. To be fair both lads were nursing hangovers from over indulgence on Friday night. The gig went well although the turnout was a bit lighter than usual and considering we had not played together for a while we managed to get through our repertoire without too many glitches.One of the   advantages of the Lade is that the bar is nice and cosy and we need minimum amplification. You are in direct contact with the audience and it is so easy to engage with them. In the main the audience changes with every visit and most are tourists and visitors with a mix of local residents.   I took up my wee banjo for a change and it did not quite work for me. It just would not stay in tune. The volume was probably fine given the small venue. I think I might try it one more time but I miss the quality sound of the Stelling. I should also take this opportunity wish Frank the Landlord of the Lade, a speedy recovery from the flu. We only saw him at the very end of the night and he has clearly been laid low with the bug. Poor Rita has been working overtime on the busy period and done a great job.

The band are now ready to move into Burns mode. I am busy working on my immortal memory and hope to have it completed by next weekend. The problem I find when researching Burns is that the deeper you delve the more confusing it becomes. It all depend on which books you read. In the end I will keep it simple and shorter this year.

One of my resolutions this year is to keep reading Burns work all through the year. Do yourself a favour and nip into the library and have a wee dabble in the complete works of Burns. There is some brilliant stuff in there. Better still buy a copy. You can pick on up for about five or six pounds on Amazon. You really will be surprised. I hope we might see you at one of our Burns nights. We will be at 28 York Place in Edinburghwww.thepoliceclub.com onThursday 22nd January. Tickets priced £15 includes a four course meal can be obtained from the premises. You can also catch us on the following evening at the Lade Inn www.theladeinn.com.

Well thats about it for now. I am about to commence Operation Fat Belly and I am determined to remove some flab this year. The lads will be coming to my house for practice on Wednesday and we have sworn to have healthier breakfasts. No more fry ups before practice. I am also taking delivery of a big proper rowing machine so I will keep you posted. Once again I would like to wish you good health and a happy and prosperous New Year.

This is likely to be my last blog before Christmas so I will take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I am already looking way past Christmas to Burns Night and I have all my books out brushing up on my Burns stuff. I am a might ticked off this year in that I suspect that Burns Night has been hijacked for the purposes of greed and commercialism. I smell a bit of a rat here. Much in the same way that Edinburgh ruined the Hogmany Celebrations several years back for the sake of profit and greed. Under the guise of it being 250 years since his birth we are having a "Homecoming Theme" where exiled Scots from all over the world are being encouraged to return to Scotland for the celebrations.  I am pretty sure we will see more Burns suppers this year than ever before. A good time for McSweens at least.

The band played on Friday night and it was a slightly subdued performance. I attempted to record a number of songs for Youtube however the PA system was just not right. Peter summed it up quite well when he said that PA stands for "pain in the arse".Our best performances always seem to be when we are unplugged. The main difficulties are with consistency with the PA system.Last week the system was near perfect. Each venue presents different problems. You can get there early and have the thing setup sounding great when the place is empty however as the place fills up everything has to be reset. In contrast to Friday I had a gig in St Davids Hall in Dalkeith on Saturday,  with a few friends. We just turned up and plugged our mikes into a borrowed system and off we went with no sound problems at all. I am playing at a few small venues in the coming week with thankfully no need of amplification. My wee music club are holding our Christmas dinner at the Stobsmill Inn, Birkenside on Wednesday 17th December. We will be playing in the public bar thereafter as a wee thank you to the staff and management. Should be a good night and I won't have a mike.

Soopna's first gig of 2009 will fittingly be at the Lade Inn, Callendar, on Saturday 3rd January. The Lade is a great wee venue and a particular favourite of ours. If you are in the area come along and join us for a great night.

If you read my last blog you will have read that I was thinking off adding another musical instrument to the collect. I can tell you that common sense has kicked in and I have put the idea on hold for a while. I have decided to work to improve my skills on my present instruments. On the subject of new instruments remember that this is a good time of the year to give a child a good and lasting gift. Whether it be a guitar or even drums, a musical instrument is a great gift for a child. If you are thinking of buying a guitar for a child I would strongly urge you to go to a proper guitar or music shop and seek advice. Avoid cheap instruments sold by general retailers. Most of these are poorly made and invariably end up discarded in short order.  In any case good luck to you all and once again I say have a Happy Christmas. Hope to see you at one of our gigs soon.

Hi again. Wish I could say that it was good to be back again. I have just spent a restful week in Teneriffe soaking up some rays and it was the bizzo. It was a kind of unexpected holiday and I could easily have been tempted to stay over there for longer. It was a treat to be sitting on the terrace at night in just my simmet. It was also a bit of a lift to have longer days as well. It's funny what a bit of sunshine can do for you. Cathy and I never had a cross word during the   holiday apart from her mention of my rare illness which causes me to leave all my yad lying about the floor and not being able to pick it up.   Arrived back on Friday night to our freezing cold for a reality check.

On Saturday night it was straight back to playing with the band at the Juniper Green Bowling Club. This was our second stint there this year and it is already one of my favourite venues to play. A big thank you   to Mr Charlie Boyle for all his excellent work in booking and promoting the gigs. It was another superb night and an absolute pleasure to play. We ran out a few of our new songs and Peter was once again on top form with his patter. I felt that our first half performance was one of our best and gave a lot of satisfaction. Smashing audience and a super venue. Juniper Green Bowling Club take a bow. Thank you as well to Kenny Hanworth for his sterling efforts with the camera on the night. I don't know what he is doing with the camera but I look fat in every photo he takes . There must be some distortion on the photos.

We have decided this year to take a bit of a break over the Christmas and New Year holiday period and we will now be spending our time polishing our Burns repertoire. More breakfasts and practices coming up. I am also busy with my music clubs particularly in the run up to the holidays. Part of the fun with the clubs is that we are asked to do wee spots at local old folks homes and local groups. Not good for the figure though as it usually means scoffing sausage rolls and cake.

I am toying with the idea of taking up another instrument however there are several downsides to this. At the moment I am very much a jack of all trades and master of none. It is all very well being able to knock out a tune on the banjo, whistle, mouthie and guitar. The problem being that I am still not particularly great on any of them. At the moment I can't even decide what if any my next instrument might be. I am down to a short list of five although I really have a hankering for a wee English concertina, or maybe a small accordion, or a tenor banjo, or a six string banjo, or a bouzouki, or an octave mandolin, or a set of Scottish small pipes. In my book, taking up any instrument is better than sitting on the sofa watching the telly all night. Watch this space and we will see what Santa might bring.

Well thats about all for now folks. Mind and wrap up warm. Only a couple of weeks until the days start stretching out again.

Here we are again. As I write this I can see a dusting of snow outside in the garden and its bloody freezin. I am not so bothered having spent the last hour or so sorting out my parking and taxi for my winter sun departure to Teneriffe next week. I will miss my banjo however I will seek consolation in the 29 degree temperatures instead.

I had a great night at The Stobsmill Inn Acoustic Music Club, Birkenside, on Wednesday night. We had a good turnout and another couple of new lads turned up. It was also the first night that I have been able to sit beside Derek McMuldroch our fiddle player and he was in cracking form. Most nights his fiddle music tends to be overpowered by all the other instruments and he normally sits opposite to me and I find it hard to hear him. I was able to listen and appreciate just how good he is. The night just flew in with the good music and lively crack.

On Friday morning it was off to Norman's house for a band practice. My mood was not lifted by the flurries of snow as I left my house. Top points for Norman though for a splendid breakfast. It was bacon, black pudding lettuce and tomato on a toasted panini. Peter thought that a panini was a thing that you kept on the back of a motor bike. I sometimes worry about that laddie. The breakfast was braw though and set us up for a good practice. We did a lot of work on Annie Lawrie which we should be giving an airing this week. It is becoming a bit more complicated these days to remember exactly how we arrange some of these songs. We do now have a decent repertoire however some of our songs tend to be left in the closet and almost forgotten. It can be a bit tricky keeping track of the correct harmony in some of the tunes despite our efforts. All told though it was a great practice.

Friday evening saw me at the Middleton Village Hall to see Welcome the Stranger. They are a smashing proper folk band. Judy Barker fronted the band with her Scottish small pipes and she was backed up Sally Thomas on flute, Gill on electric base and Mike Barker on accordion. They are touring village halls throughout Scotland and are well worth a visit. It certainly beats sitting watching these numpties in the jungle or wherever they are. We sat in the village Hall and had a sing song until long after the band had left. It was a good old night. Well I am off for now for a twang on my banjo as they say.

Kenny

Well just a few weeks since we changed the clocks and I am already cheesed off. Excuse me but where was Autumn ? Just as well I am heading for some winter sun very shortly. The dark nights fair gie me the boak and with my local pub, the Middleton Inn, shutting down we are going from bad to worse. On top of that I had to suffer the horrific effects of Black Monday along with my pal Irene Somerville, (mum of Iona who thinks I look like a fat frog, by the way). We are sworn to secrecy so I will say no more on the subject.  I really feel that I should just go into hibernation for the next five or six months. At least I am lucky and have my music to keep me going.

Nice to see people leaving messages on the guest book pages. It was really nice of Fiona and Jason from the Middleton Inn to leave a positive entry. As for Alexei, we have since traced her to an old folks home in Pumpherston and her real name is Senga. Thanks for the contribution Senga and keep using the cream.

I have been busy this week at a couple of acoustic clubs. I love meeting other musicians and particularly other banjo players. I   feel that playing with different musicians is great for the confidence. In Midlothian we are really lucky and are blessed with some great guitar and acoustic music clubs. If you are out there and you have a guitar, fiddle, banjo or any musical instrument, lying   in the attic, that you have not played for years. Give it a dust down and a wee tune up and get in touch with your local club. You will be surprised at how welcome you are made. I promise.

The band had a practice this morning and it was Peter's turn for the breakfast and he managed to ruin Norman's rolls by leaving them in the microwave for too long. I don't know how many times I've told him. Its eight and a half seconds only. Poor Norman did his best to eat them as they fell to bits in his hands.   He never listens to me.

The practice went off quite smoothly although the songs we were practicing were mostly sing and dance along numbers. We also had yet another bash at Dark Lochnagar. I have no idea how this works. If I am given a complete song to sing. It will be in my memory in a couple of days. On the other hand give me a verse or a part verse then I fall to bits. We have been at this song for months and I sing the second part of the first three verses. I am still struggling although over all the performance of the song is better.   It might get an outing next week at the Bridgend in Callander.

It is also our time of the year where we do a few wee concerts for the old folks.   I really enjoy them as do the audiences. Quite a few of the places we play are entirely acoustic which I particularly enjoy. I hate mikes, amps and pickups. I may have mentioned that before.

My new Bushman mouthie arrived and I have to admit that it does not seem to be up to the standard of the Lee Oskar Blues Harps. Might grow on me though. I am playing the mouthie a lot more now and I had forgotten just how much I used to enjoy it. It is just so difficult to fit in all the practice. I would like to be a better whistle player as well.

As I type this article it is now four o clock and the light is starting to go already. Woe is me. I better get back to that dark Lochnagar and learn it before Peter throws a fit. I have known him from when he was a wee laddie and I would never have thought that he could have turned out so grumpy. It's just as well that Norman is there to counter the forces of darkness.

Remember either go out and listen to some live music or rake out that old guitar and get yourself playing. Hope to see you at one of our gigs soon.

What a busy week that was. I had a wee session on Monday night at the Dalkeith acoustic music club in the upstairs lounge at the Harrow Hotel.It was good fun and the venue was great. The club is just starting so there were not too many there which at least gave us an early exit.I got home around eleven o clock and I read several chapters from Anna Karenina. What a braw book by the way, although I have a feelling of impending doom for the heroine already.On her arrival in Moscow there is an accident at the station and a young railworker falls under the wheels of a train.

Hectic evening on Tuesday when the band made it's debut at 28 York Place, in Edinburgh. It was a great place to play and we had a good night. Slight problem for the venue at present is the fact that the public do not seem sure that they can just walk in off the street. We were playing almost in the window and people were standing outside listening and seemed unsure if they were welcome.   It was a nice relaxed atmosphere and an enjoyable evening all round. I was home at the back of eleven and read some more of my book. Anna has now fallen for Vronsky, a young aristocratic army Officer. At the moment, she is spurning his advances however he seems very determined.

On Wednesday I should have been playing at the Gorebridge and Middleton Music Club where I am a regular however I was excused duty this week due to the band's committments. I just relaxed and read more of my book. Anna who is a respectable married woman with a seven year old son, is concerned that she is falling under the spell of Vronsky and she rushes back to her husband in Petersburg only to find that Vronsky follows her there. Her husband is a high government official and as it turns out a bit of a twat. Anna is now almost resigned to her fate and the tongues in society are beginning to wag about the way that the young handsome army officer always seems to turn up at the same events as Madame Karenina.

Friday Night we had a smashing gig at the Gorgie Mills Bowling club. It was a great venue with a super audience. They were very friendly and got right into the spirit. It was a super night and we had to do a couple of encores at the finale. Now that we have a couple of gigs under the belt we are starting to get right into the groove. Home by one in the morning. Can't go to bed without a read. Anna and Vronsky have now become lovers and Anna's husband has become aware. He is a wimp and for sake of appearance he allows them to continue just as long as Vronsky does not come to the house and that they keep the affair discreet. Anna becomes pregnant and has a dream that she will die in childbirth. Her husband is furious and sets about her ruin. She is forbidden to see her beloved son. At the birth of her daughter, she becomes very ill and the doctors are convinced that she will be dead within days. Both lover and husband are by her bedside. Anna convinced that she is about to die begs her husband's forgiveness. Vronsky,   thinking that she is beyond hope, returns to his home and shoots himself in the chest. Husband forgives her and is full of regret. Anna surprises all and eventually recovers. Her husband decides to show mercy and promises her a divorce. Vronsky recovers from his wound and He and Anna retrteat to Vronsky country estate where they are blissfully happy.

Saturday night and we have a fantastic night at Platform 3 in Linlithgow. By the end of the evening we had the pub jam packed and jumping. It was all too much for one young punter who had to be assisted to the toilet and almost knocked our mikes and instruments over whilst being assisted to the toilet. It was during a verse of the black velvet band and Peter very quickly improvised a verse of the song to include him. It was very well received. The only minor tick of the evening were problems with the PA again. It would seem that Peter's guitar has a faulty pickup. We had   a slight delay in fixing things however this did not detract from a memorable night. The drunk laddie from the Pub turned out to be friendly chap and came up to us as we were loading the gear into the car. He was saying something to us in some strange language and I was horrified to see that he was undoing the front of his trousers. Before we could react he was continuing with his gibberish and pissing on our gear. I managed to direct him away from the immediate vicinity whilst Peter, who well understands drunk people, delivered a lecture on suitable places for relieving oneself. It was still a hoot though. Looking forward to more gigs there. We went down really well and had to give them a good encore. They wouldhave kept us playing all night.

Home in the early hours and back to the book. Anna and Vronsky retire to the country with their daughter however her husband reneges on his agreement.At first they hope that he will change his mind. Anna is shunned by respectable society and she becomes worried that Vronsky is seeing other women and in the end she throws herself in front of a train. What did I tell you!! On that happy note I will take my leave.

Well here I am again.Kenny the Banjo or Kenny the   Blogger as Peter and Norman are calling me.   First of all a big thank you to James M Green who was the first to leave a message in our guest book. Our site has now been picked up by Google and the number of visitors has jumped fairly dramatically. In the coming weeks we are hoping to add some video footage and some better photos for the gallery.

I think that Peter and Norman might be coaxed into adding a posting however they are being very coy at the moment. You should hear the pair of them. "I don't know." "I'll maybe get round to it later." Come on lads the waters warm!!

Busy week coming up and I am really looking forward to it. As I mentioned before we are at 28 York Place in Edinburgh on Tuesday night starting at 1930hrs. If you are in Edinburgh just pop in and if you wish to bring along a guitar and give us a song or a tune you will be made more than welcome.The lounge is just across the street from the bus station entrance. We have been working on one or two new bits and pieces and trying new arrangements on some of our older stuff. It's funny how some smashing songs can just not sound right. We have been labouring for ages on the old Corries classic of Dark Lochnagar and at last, after numerous changes, it may be near to an outing. When you listen to Roy Williamson singing the song with a simple harmony from Ronnie Brown it sounds so good and yet so simple. Working on our presentation has only highlighted the sheer class and talent of the Corries. Their voices were both individually superb and yet even better together.

I am in a bit of a muddle and I am sure banjo players out there will sympathise with me. Peter and Norman both have electric pickups on their instruments. At the moment I have resisted fitting a pickup to my Stelling Bellflower. I use an instrument mike however it does not seem to be producing the best results. I have tried a pickup but it did not do justice to the sound of the Stelling and sounded like an electric guitar. At some venues where we have to crank up the volume we do sometimes lose the sound of the banjo. I have seen a couple of new pickups on the market and I am sorely tempted. One of them is manufactured by Stelling and I am seriously thinking about giving it a go. Any banjo players out there with ideas ? I would be delighted to hear from you.

Finally I forgot to mention my wee sister Fiona McDonald and my niece Holly Bean McDonald who were a great help in starting the website. Both are keeping an eye on things for the band.

Finally: Remember to put your clocks back one hour.

Kenny

Well thats our first gig under the belt and a cracking night it was too. The warm friendly atmosphere provided by the Bridgend House Hotel, Callender  was the backdrop for our return to the live music scene. We were able to try out one or two new numbers and the audience were kind enough to allow us to perform some of our slower more thoughtful items.

During the second half it was nice to see people up dancing during some of the songs. Special mention must got to our friends Gunnar and Britt from Sweden. They enjoyed the music and I am sure they will take home happy memories from Scotland. It was a memorable night all round . The lads are all eagerly anticipating our return there next month.The only real complaint that I had was the lack of wit and conversation on the way back. There I was driving us back and you would have thought that the lads could have made some effort. It was up to me to deliver one of my interesting stories in relation to Pictish history and in particular the battle of Mons Grampus. I then gave up after failing to peak iany interest in the legends of the Knights Templar.  It was around 0300hrs on Sunday morning before I hit my scratcher.

Long lie on Sunday morning then I watched the Derby. When we scored in the second minute Icaused oor wee cat to bolt behind the couch and nothing could coax him out until well into the second half. I suppose a draw was a fair result on reflection. At least the cat has forgiven me.

At the moment have come into possession of the rough copies of the cd's made at the farwell acoustic music session at the Middleton Inn. At the moment we have nearly four hours of music, banter and some bad language. The idea is to whittle it down to approx ten songs and produce them on a cd for personal consumption only. I am quite enjoying the unedited version which gives a much warmer feel to the whole event.

Peter and I are talking about a small rehearsal on Friday to have another crack at Dark Lochnagar. At last the new arrangement looks as if it might be a winner. We are also learning Eric Bogles Wee China Pig. It's a smashing wee song and we might include it Friday nights Charity event.  Probably no more blog until the weekend.

This morning the band had a practice at Peter's house. Once again the breakfast was one of the main highlights. It was agreed at the last meeting that we were to cut down and eat more healthy food. Perhaps we might have a BLT witg some lean bacon. This was all mind you at Pete's insistence. It was clearly the healthy option bacon and sausage and bacon and black pudding rolls which we hoovered doon.

We were a bit rusty and it took us a while to get back into full swing and I think that we made real progress on our version of a tricky wee song. I am really getting into the blues harp and I was attempting to squeeze the mouthie into every number we were doing. On that subject I am going to have to buy a better quality blues harp in F. Norman and I both have very cheap boxed sets however as one would expect at  they are not the best quality. I am looking at buying a Bushman model. for a change. They look like cracking harps. I heard one being played recently whilst I was on holiday in America unfortunately I could not find an outlet to buy one from. looks Like I will be able to buy one for around the £20 mark. This music lark is not as cheap as you think! I never seen to be done buying whistles, strings, picks and now mouthies.

During practice Norman played his beautiful Mandolin. I should have mentioned earlier that Norman builds his own instruments. He has up to date built either four of five stunning guitars and one truly beautiful mandolin. If you watch on Norman at any of our performances you will seehim with his Gore guitar and mandolin. It is quite strange that his last project, which was the mandolin, seemed to take him so long to complete. He explained that all the parts were so small and precise that it took him much more time. The results are there for all to see. It is a truly spectacular mandolin. To play it is a joy for even a hack like me and it almost seems to play itself.

You may have noticed from our gig list that we have added a gig at 28 York Place, Edinburgh strangely enough on the 28th of the month. This is a new acoustic music club. It will be a regular Tuesday night feature from 7 until 10. There will also be open mike sessions for any musicians who may want to try out new material. Don't be shy ! The venue is the lounge bar of the old Police club. It is a nice lounge with a relaxed atmosphere.

Well starting to get bored now so I will be off. Practice again on Friday so it will be Normans shout for the breakfast and I might blog again or perhaps after the gig at the Bridgend House in Callender on Saturday.

Hi,

This is all a bit frantic and new. The band have been on holiday and we will be back in full rehearsal mode for the upcoming gig at the Bridgend Hotel in Callender on Saturday 18th October. We will have some new songs to try out provided we brush out the cobwebs this week. I have not been idle and I put in an appearance at the Musselburgh Folk club on Monday the 6th. It was interesting to say the least and I attempted a few new songs. It also gave me the chance to air a few numbers which we as a band don't regularly run out. At the moment I should be working a bit more on the banjo however my new blues harps   and my penny whistles a proving a bit of a distraction at the moment. I   am champing at the bit to get back with Peter and Norman again and we have a busy period coming up. I got   some good news which will free the band up for Hogmany should   a decent offer come in. Peter has just got back from sunnier climates and I can only hope that he has some new gags and routines for our upcoming gigs. Must go for now and I will have to re string my beautiful Stelling yet again. Having two banjos' is nice but it doubles the upkeep work.