http://www.soopna.com en-gb soopna.com 2012-1-28T00:00:00Z soopna.com http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#111319 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 ... 2012-1-28 16:10:36 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#107032 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 its box. All said and done it was a gr... 2011-11-17 13:02:30 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#104839 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 CDs. 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 ... 2011-10-17 17:52:48 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#102733 Haloo ma wee strawberry fancies. This is my fifth attempt at blogging and I am losing patience with our web service provider Mr Site. 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 16310 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 da... 2011-9-18 15:19:42 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#99183 Well Haloo ma wee treacle scones. Lovely weather right now so I wont 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 16310 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 ... 2011-7-26 16:14:19 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#94483 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 16315 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 t... 2011-5-22 13:21:16 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#88650 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.S... 2011-3-7 15:31:05 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#85269 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 1635 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 als... 2011-1-23 15:19:13 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#83671 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 dos 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 dont 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 dont 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 ... 2011-1-2 13:48:47 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#74723 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 e... 2010-9-5 13:05:12 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#71712 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 New... 2010-7-30 14:29:01 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#68435 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 gu... 2010-6-20 19:01:03 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#62759 Well haloooo ma wee french fancies Its 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 coul... 2010-4-11 12:12:17 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#61023 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 josephs Chur... 2010-3-21 16:18:33 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#56917 Well hellooo ma wee toffee puddings Well at last that is our Burns Nights out of the road. I have had enough and I feel that I have scunnered myself. I tackled Holy Willies 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 ... 2010-1-24 18:26:14 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#55095 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 Maureens culinary skills. Yes you guessed it she managed to burn the mini pizzas again and set the fire alarm off. I dont 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 givi... 2009-12-28 13:14:11 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#53976 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 dont want to be drowned out by a band. We soldiered on manfully without any success and it was clear... 2009-12-5 12:52:11 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#53618 Well halloo ma wee caramel cheesecakes Its been a wee while since my last blog. Just seems like yeterday too. Last night Saturday 28112009 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 ... 2009-11-29 15:50:23 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#51738 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 enjo... 2009-11-1 14:01:20 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#51336 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 f... 2009-10-25 12:58:58 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#50284 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.Dont tell Peter and Norman though that I almost lost us our we... 2009-10-9 12:36:42 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#48259 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. I... 2009-9-6 14:05:10 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#47003 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. Its 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 bi... 2009-8-16 19:37:35 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#46317 Well hello again my wee Cornish Pasties. Good news at last on the DVDYoutube 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... 2009-8-5 11:29:16 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#45602 Yes its 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 tho... 2009-7-26 13:49:50 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#44398 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 Im famous Im 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. Dont worry. Its 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. Ill 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 its first outing and ... 2009-7-5 19:31:08 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#42880 Bonjour mes petit amis. Hello ma wee pals. Its 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 its own beers and Frank and Rita always ensure a warm welcome. There is live folk music every ... 2009-6-6 19:29:47 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#42163 Its 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 Normans 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 Engl... 2009-5-24 11:43:55 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#41320 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 60s. We had some great times and its 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 ... 2009-5-9 19:51:00 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#40552 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 agai... 2009-4-26 16:27:01 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#40125 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 avai... 2009-4-19 19:41:36 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#39602 Hello there ma wee tattie scones Not much to report other than that we are all systems go for the North Middleton night. Only 1635 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. mailsoopna.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 sis... 2009-4-10 19:51:53 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#38882 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 ... 2009-3-29 11:24:22 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#38503 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 Josephs. 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 referri... 2009-3-21 11:10:52 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#37819 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 1635 per head and wi... 2009-3-8 12:28:04 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#37065 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 its debut shortly possibly the next trip to the Lade Inn. I bought it last Tuesday and made my way straight to Peters 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 wont 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 s... 2009-2-22 15:22:31 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#36287 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 h... 2009-2-8 12:11:37 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#35498 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 n... 2009-1-25 14:46:39 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#35145 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 ret... 2009-1-18 14:23:58 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#34506 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 subj... 2009-1-4 11:15:54 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#33785 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... 2008-12-14 16:55:31 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#33389 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. Its 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 a... 2008-12-7 11:17:08 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#32718 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 Normans house for a band practice. My mood was not lifted by the flurries o... 2008-11-22 16:03:17 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#32368 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 we... 2008-11-14 15:06:08 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#31852 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 its 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 ... 2008-11-2 11:51:27 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#31577 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 dont know. Ill 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 b... 2008-10-26 01:26:40 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#31333 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 ba... 2008-10-20 19:29:32 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#31064 This morning the band had a practice at Peters 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 Petes 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 Ameri... 2008-10-15 16:47:54 http://www.soopna.com/page5.htm#30810 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 dont 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 ... 2008-10-10 23:15:54