We left London today with too many bags, too many guitars, too many violins, too many records, too many CDs and too many computers, thankfully Biggles drove us to Wimbledon Park where there’s a lift and easier access to the underground. From there the train goes straight to Paddington where we would catch a train to Bristol Parkway to meet Boydie – from his house and with him we would start our UK tour.

I got up earlyish (for me) and went on a wild goose chase looking for tape so I could tape two guitars together as one piece to carry with my limited hands. I had Olivia’s boots with me which I was taking to the friendly cobbler which I dropped off before I walked across the road to the shop where the tape was definitely going to be, nope. The man in there directed me to a place up the road, left, next row of shops on the right, a bit too far considering today’s trip schedule. I got there, it was padlocked. I walked all the way back to find a hardware store at the end of Biggles and Colleen’s road that had exactly what I needed, a short role of trusty gaffa tape, a travelling musician’s best friend.

Getting through the tube system with a lot of bags can be a nightmare but we found a no-hassle route with no stairs. We stood at the top of the escalator at Paddington ready to go to our platform when they announced it. I went off to a shop while Olivia guarded the bags. In the time I was away, Jay Aston from Gene Loves Jezebel strolled by, neither of them quite sure who each other was having only met once, confirming by Messenger that they were who each other thought they were, classic. He’s playing at Chapter 22 – Roots and Records in Bath on Saturday, March 11th, go see him.

The 14.18 train to Cardiff was quick, just an hour and not so bad on the wallet, £70 for two and considering other options, like hire car, Ubers and alternative routes, and considering luggage and the space in Biggles’ car and the train with that extra 12-string guitar from Noel, it all went swimmingly well. A man across the aisle was working on the crossword, and another man working on a sandwich but it wasn’t very busy, this was the best time to travel. Boydie picked us up and everything fitted and we drove to his house where Trish met us and cooked us a great dinner, we have great friends in the world.

Now we are here, in one place, we can rehearse, and your song suggestions are most welcome, we’ll see what we can do. It’s also interesting to see what “the people want”, see if we agree, and see if odd choices are possible.

Music today has been Music for Airports (1978) by Brian Eno. He never did do Music for Train Stations.

Music Of The Daze