mostly david ephgrave

Yesterday, in an attempt to break the tedium while waiting for a parcel to be delivered, I decided to treat myself to a little musical interlude by pulling out my acoustic to play through a couple of songs before having a jam on the piano too. The last time I’d played the guitar was almost a month ago, when I took it to the Sun Hotel for that night’s Mostly Comedy, after receiving a text from Phil Kay asking if he could borrow it for his set. Knowing how manic Phil can be, my impromptu busk after tuning it up for him felt like saying goodbye before it was sent to battle, perhaps never to return, at least not in one piece; I prayed to the God of Contents Insurance for a little mercy, before sticking it in a guitar stand on-stage to await its final destiny. For someone who’s earned a living (of sorts) from music in the past, I felt guilty for how long I hadn’t even taken my acoustic out of its case. Like my other guitars, it has remained untouched at...

The Film Night Theme has been the underscore of my day.  I downloaded it this afternoon to use as the soundtrack to a new bit I was thinking of adding to tomorrow's preview, and it only took one listen for it to take root in my head. Even as I watched an old episode of The X Files tonight, its jaunty jazz piano strains completely usurped the programme's moody synth strings. I almost expected Barry Norman's voice to strike up over it, offering Mulder & Scully a critique.  While I could do without the earworm, trying out the piece of material it underscores gave the rushed run I did at the end of the day a bit of a jolt that saw me through to the end. Again, it's been a day where endless admin overshadowed the meat and potatoes of actual show-prep.  This afternoon, I went to look at the space where I'm doing my final preview in Letchworth on Friday. It's an intimate room that should work well, keeping things pleasingly low-key. I just hope I get an audience...