First up, apologies for being a bit quiet in here lately. I've had a ridiculous number of gigs, videos to make, and just to make things interesting, I've been battling a chest infection as well. Apparently my body has decided that 29 years of gigging isn't enough punishment. 😂 Anyway, something happened the other day that got me thinking, and I'd love to hear how the rest of you handle this. I turned up to a gig, ready to work, only to discover I'd been double booked. Two entertainers, one venue, one timeslot. So I got sent home. My agent has told me he'll invoice the venue for the full fee, which I completely agree with. If the venue makes the mistake, the musician shouldn't be the one losing money. We've kept the date available, turned down other potential work, travelled to the gig and fulfilled our side of the agreement. But here's where it gets interesting. What happens when it's the AGENT who makes the mistake? In the 29 years I've worked with my agent, I've been double booked quite a few times. And not once have I asked him for a cancellation fee. To be fair, he's never offered one either. Part of me thinks I've been far too accommodating over the years. But another part of me has always looked at the bigger picture. This is someone who provides me with a lot of work, and I've never wanted to damage a good working relationship over one lost gig. Then again, if I made a mistake that cost someone else several hundred dollars, I'd expect to take responsibility for it. Maybe I'm too nice. Or maybe it's just a case of playing the long game and knowing which battles are worth fighting. And perhaps there's a reasonable compromise here. Rather than expecting the agent to pay the FULL gig fee out of their own pocket, what about a cancellation fee? Maybe 50% of the agreed amount? That way the musician isn't left completely out of pocket, but the agent isn't being punished quite so heavily for what might have been an honest mistake. So here's my question to the group:

Not music, but anyway, our boiler has packed up, and we're without central heating. However, we have a few electric heaters and a log burner in the house. We have a service and repair contract. We go to the gym and have a shower. I'll shave when the hot water is back. So, we 're lucky. So this time of year, in the Northern Hemisphere, look out for that elderly neighbour, see what you can do to help.

One of the things I like about music is its power to evoke emotion. Maybe we forget that sometimes, after repeating that same old song for the 100th time. But for that person in the crowd it could very well bring back happy or bitter sweet memories of that person they love or have loved and lost. In 1979 my girlfriend and I went to see The Rose with Bette Midler. On the way home I asked her to marry me. We had only been going out for 4 months and I had already asked her a couple of weeks after we met (she rightly said maybe see how it goes). This time she said yes and 6 months later we were married. We are still together. So The Rose for me is a very powerful song and always brings a tear of happiness. So here is me trying to do a bit of an instrumental over a backing track, and a song I wrote for my love about our journey. A bit soppy I know.

Let's take a moment to mark the passing of Steve Ellis, lead singer of British 60's group, The Love Affair. Their biggest hits were "Everlasting Love" and "Bringing On Back The Good Times." Just 76. RIP Steve and thanks.

I have had a guitar under the bed since I was 10. No musical person in my life whatsoever. The first one broke so I bought another one on the recommendation of a music store (completely wrong guitar with hindsight). It gathered dust. When I was around 50 we moved and there were some music stores around that did lessons. 'That will do it'. Nah Discovered Guitar Noise on the WWW. All text based then, but learned a lot. Finally got a cheap electric guitar. Found I liked electric a lot better but eventually bought a decent acoustic as I couldn't be bothered plugging things in. Played after work every day until a friend of mine said it wasn't really very good. So away went the guitars. 2007 and I say 'stuff you' I am going to learn the guitar. I discover very early Justin Guitar on YouTube and basically learnt most of what I know from him. He is a very good teacher. The very first song I learnt was Take me home country roads. I would bash at it every evening. Eventually I got it, including the F#m (in A) barre chord. More about this at the end - trying to keep it short (Ha). I went to a community music group. Was introduced to a mic and had to learn to strum my chords, keep my face in the mic and follow my lead sheet without glaring at the fret board. Met some friends there and we started playing together. Really rough stuff, but all fun. It was very on and off as I often had to work away for weeks and months on end, so the music suffered. Finally retired 8 years ago and still playing with the friends. The music group had gone to the dogs, so that was no longer happening. Just before COVID we found a guy learning the drums and he joined us. My wife started learning the bass and playing with us. We did a couple of very shaky gigs at a friend's church and then another at a school centenary. You know the ones - we spent months trying to get things right. Dragged all our gear in their. Nervous as hell. Start playing to the walls with the occasional face appearing in the doorway.