It’s Saturday afternoon and the sun is threatening to shine its way through the greys of South London. In a burst of near-reckless hedonism I am drinking freshly ground coffee (of the French Vanilla variety), eating unsustainable amounts of Chocolate Orange and listening to the National’s e.p. ‘Cherry Tree’ at an irresponsibly un-neighbourly volume. In short, I am living like a king.
Last weekend I enjoyed the privilege of playing Tunbridge Wells’ The Grey Lady (variously referred to by my father as ‘The Big Lady’, ‘The Grey Granny’ and ‘That Old Thing.’ Incidentally, this is the same man who once called ‘the Gherkin’ ‘the Pumpkin.’ He is also a medical doctor. Go figure.) The venue is a delightful music lounge nestling in The Pantiles; a beautiful and historic Georgian colonnade sadly lacking in pants, but positively abounding in tiles. There is also a well- a Royal Well no less- where one can drink water that is allegedly restorative and teeming with delicious iron. I have never partaken of the well’s rusty ablutions myself, but am reliably informed that the taste is truly medicinal in the cripplingly nausea-inducing-so-bad-it-must-be-good sort of way.
The audience at the Grey Lady makes a refreshing change from many London venues, given that there is a pretty strict listening etiquette that is respected by all. I reckon a pin drop could literally be heard, which makes performing a rare treat, if not a touch surreal. It does have the unsettling side effect of making my mid-set banter sound decidedly unhinged given the lack of punter interaction, but I can happily take the rough with the smooth. After my opening salvo of melancholic acoustica, the well mannered crowd were able to enjoy a set from the passionate and impressively dreadlocked Paul Cheese, whose vocals had an inflection of Brian Molko about them. Next up the newly formed Drifting Embers gave a rough round the edges performance with some truly beautiful melodies and harmonies shining through. Steve McCormack wrapped up the night with his effortlessly impressive guitar skills proving to be as bewitching as always.
It’s actually one of the really great things about being an unknown hack of a gigging musician, that I am nearly always sharing a stage with other acts who I can be inspired by and learn from. I made the decision a long while ago to not bother being jealous of other people’s superior skills. Constantly holding up one’s own chops, pipes or song-writing abilities up against those of others is ultimately exhausting and soul destroying. After all, there is always someone better than you. Always. As such, inspiration wins against jealousy every time. Gigging also gives me the opportunity to meet plenty of other outlandishly talented people. This time round for example, I had the pleasure of meeting Miriam Kendrick, who creates lovely art and writes cartoons every day, which is pretty bloody impressive in my book. Stuff like this, which makes me chuckle every time.
All in all, it was a decent gig, graciously hosted by all round top banana Paul Dunton. Unless something unexpectedly pops up in the coming fortnight, I’ll next be playing on the 9th February at Heroes in Camden, so why not come along and say hi? Until then, be well, do good work and keep in touch.