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CC's Summer Travels...
When last we met up Bob and I were heading for the warmth of a Greek Island! I can now report that we had the laziest holiday either of us have ever had! It was quite spectacular the amount of nothing we managed to do. We had allsorts of ideas before we got there as to how we’d spend our time; renting a car for 10 days or so exploring the Island of Zakynthos.
What we actually did was … manage to get out of bed each day, saunter to the quiet beach 2 minutes walk from our apartment, lie down in the healing warmth of the sun, eat lunch, lie down again, eat dinner and then … go to sleep! It was perfect. We both highly recommend it and can’t wait for our next lazy break. Hurrah. 

Once back in the land of the not-so-hot, neither of us could be accused of being bronze exactly … though a healthy glow (if faintly orange in hue) followed us for at least …. Several days! My first date back from hols was the ever wonderful Party on the Lawn at Jo and Rob Selbourne’s beautiful farm Prebendal, in the tiny village of Bishopstone in Wiltshire.
Chris While and Julie Matthews were once again the hosts of this very special event. I took oodles of photographs and hope to put a fair few up on the gallery page as well as have one or two here to illustrate I’m not making it all up! Bob, Helen Watson, Pete Zorn and myself all drove down together the day before and had a wonderful dinner at the local pub, where a glass or 2 of Bees beer were quaffed. An early night was in order though, as a long, if highly entertaining day, lay ahead of us.
The morning of the Party was grey and somewhat damp and many an anxious face could be seen around the farm looking up to the heavens praying for the sun to come out. The mizzle -as I’m reliable informed that kind of  misty rain is called- obligingly disappeared around 11am and managed to stay away for the whole day … apart from the dinner break around 5! So we all counted ourselves very lucky in deed. For a full round up of the festival you could visit: www.whileandmatthews.com.

I had a prime spot at around 3pm. I thought I’d dress for the occasion and share my orange tan … I think my presentation was appreciated … well there was a  wolf whistle which if I think about it was probably Bob!  I was feeling very relaxed still after our holiday and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Helen Watson and Jo Selbourne ( I kept calling her Sherbourne which turned into Shergar! … oops!) joined me for a ragged but fine accapella version of Fred Astaire’s classic : Cheek to Cheek.
They stayed on stage with me the best EVER version of “Dirt in the ground”. Despite the lack of beer consumption so early in the day, the entire audience were on their feet, waving arms, legs and umbrellas with much, gusto! It was a delightful sight … and sound. Chris and Julie then joined us for a rousing version of Guilty … oh those gorgeous harmonies! It was a very heart warming experience … thank you Prebendal!

The entire day was a great success and I’m sure next year will be a scorcher … in more ways than one! Our favourite bit though is the following day when everything’s been cleared up and only a few hard working souls remain. Then … a communal walk on the Ridgeway is in order and right on queue the sun shines! Not only is the walk a most lovely and delightful experience with Jo holding court with her exceptional countryside knowledge but … once back from our wonderful nature ramble … the most splendid feats awaits! It’s as if the feast fairies (thanks Sarah!)  have been and waved a magic party wand and we all sit down, raise our glasses and toast for a return experience next year! Hurrah.

We all now know what took place in London on July 7th and I’m relieved to say that no one I know was directly caught up in those devastating events; though there were many “close calls”, of family and friends being only a few minutes away or missing one or other of the fated trains. Our hearts and minds go out to those people now living daily with the loss of loved ones. 
On Friday July 8th Bob and I walked through a very quiet and almost deserted London, in order to meet Roy Gandy and Gary Bennett at Alchemy Soho, situated on the 29th floor of Centre Point at the top of Tottenham Court Road. We were there to  master the vinyl part of  “love”, the official title of the Rega project! Roy had made many phone calls in order to track down the best possible people to do this very important part of the process. Ray Staff, the mastering engineer, has a pedigree that’s so impressive I couldn’t begin to list all the records he’s been directly involved with over the years (don’t just take it from me, check out his biog at : www.alchemysoho.com ). The views are incredible and the work that goes on there is pretty special too. We all came away with a good feeling.

That night Bob and I drove down to Chris and Ken’s ( Bob’s sister and brother in-law) in Portslade. We were invited to a big family garden party taking place the next day; Bob’s gorgeous daughter, Jo and her equally lovely fiancé Mike, were joining us too.
It was one of those perfect summer days: bright, warm and sunny with clear blue skies. Chris put on a great spread for us  … I think there were 14 of us in all … and everyone had a fab time.

I played Badmington for the first time in decades!! It was great fun.

My next date was Wednesday July 13th at the Luton Hat Factory Arts Centre. My great friend Barb Jungr had asked me to do the last guest spot of the summer at one of her now infamous Caberet Nights. Bob was on the Isle of Man for the week (business you know!) and I thought I’d take advantage of the situation and spend a little quality time with Barb. So we met at her place in Pimlico and drove up to Luton together. It was great fun catching up on all that’s going on in our lives … she’s a great energy to be around, one of life’s human dynamos! 

I’d not played this venue before and didn’t know what to expect. The space we played in is a long narrow room with a dozen or so large armchair/settee type seats with tables and a small bar at the back of the room – all very “cosy” . The PA left a lot to be desired but we made the best of a not so great situation. Barb played with the delightful Adrian York and performed a fabulous first half- I always find Barb inspirational. It was my privilege to finish off the evening and was pleasantly surprised by the warm reception I got. Chris Howarth was in the audience with his infectious chuckle … hurrah! Barb and I drove back into London and I stayed at her lovely flat that night … what a treat!

The following day I met up with Steve Lima to start work on demo-ing songs for the next studio record … this is only the beginning of a much longer process but I’ll make sure it doesn’t take as long as the Rega project! For my own sanity it can’t!

On Sunday July 17th The Dave Kelly Band and I had a warm-up gig at the Grey Horse in Kingston … we were warming-up for a festival in Gloucester the following weekend. The Grey Horse is a well established “pub gig” and had had a various selection of bands and acts on in the main bar room all that afternoon. We had the back concert room for our evening gig and a special no smoking agreement for the night … hurrah! 

We hadn’t seen one another since the end of May, let alone played together and so sound check became a mini rehearsal … mini being the operative word. It had been a hot and sticky day and everyone, including the audience when they turned up, were relieved that the air conditioning worked. We played to a fairly packed room and the excitement was palpable … a proper sweaty rock’n’roll atmosphere … whether we played well or not it “felt” as though we did and the audience were very excited and extremely vocal in there praise. Phew! We got away with it; it boded well for the next week. 

On Monday July 18th, Dave Kelly and I spent the day listening through to the 2 gigs Bill Gautier recorded for us on tour in May : The Stables in Wavendon and The Ashcroft Arts centre in Fareham. I’m delighted to report that we have a very good “Live” cd in the making! We’ll be Mixing it all in September ready for our tour in Feb/March 2006. 

Saturday July 23rd found us driving towards Gloucester and a small Blues Festival in the centre of town. It took us a while to find the venue (the back of a truck!) near an old church yard …a captive audience?! Helen Watson was on the same bill a couple of acts before our own slot and I joined her and Martin Magroarty on the truck for a blues song at the end of their set … very funny – for me coz I hadn’t a clue what the song was- Helen just said “follow me!” and so I tried. 

The festival itself was going on over a 2 week time span and all events were free to the public. Everything over-ran and by the time we “took to the wagon” we were over an hour later than our advertised slot. However, a good crowd had gathered for our set, by this time full of burgers and beer and were in fine fettle.

There were a few minor technical hitches at the beginning of the set but they were admirally dealt with and we managed to keep everyone’s attention; including a very funky troupe of jazz/rock’n’roll dancers – tres cool. It was great fun and reminded us all why we want to do it all again next year. I hope many more of you will be able to come to one or more of the shows. 

Onto Tuesday July 26th and the Hoy at Anchor folk club, in Leigh-on-sea Essex. I played here last spring and remembered it to be a really good venue, run by very nice people. I had forgotten the trains rattling through just a few hundred yards away but the memory was soon restored! The trains became part of the set … I may incorporate train noises in all of my shows from now on! It was one of those very funny evenings where everything seems … well … funny. Lucky for me the Hoy at Anchor club thought so too. 
We spent a very pleasant weekend once again at the Ansell’s  wonderful home near Newark,where Eldest daughter Emma was the Wicked Witch of the West in her school’s adaptation of the Wizard of Oz; something she and I share! I played the same roll at the same age … 11.

She was definitely the best performer in it … it was a very enjoyable show. She also introduced us to her newly acquired special-breed egg-laying hen’s … I think she has 10 which have been added to since with the help of the internet and an incubator … all fascinating stuff.

Brian’s garden was looking particularly lush and I had a great time wandering around taking snaps with my camera. The whole weekend was a great success and we’ll no doubt be taking advantage of their wonderful hospitality again soon! 

Another big event took place on Friday August 5th. Bob and I were back at Alchemy Soho, this time with Terry Batemen, chief research engineer from Rega ( Roy was on holiday in the lakes- lucky him!) to master the cd! We chose Ray Staff once again as he seemed very sympathetic towards the whole idea of keeping everything as analogue friendly as possible. Though obviously going to cd brings us very much into the digital world, we wanted to preserve as much of the analogue information to digital format as possible. Ray is definitely the man! I think the end result is great. I’m hoping that you’ll all be able to find out this Autumn!
Next came Cropredy! When I found out that Richard and Danny Thompson (not related!) were playing on the Friday night (August 12th) I emailed RT to see if I could sing with him … something I love to do whenever an opportunity arises. He wrote back to say … Yes! Hurrah. I haven’t been to Cropredy for years but always remembered it as a great festival with an unrivalled atmosphere and Bob, who’d not been before, was really looking forward to it.

We arrived mid afternoon towards the end of Chris While and Julie Matthews set … they were magnificent and the enormous crowd showed their appreciation in no uncertain terms … it must have been an enormous buzz for them. Bob and I enjoyed strong coffee and Native American food … well actually mine was a burger but it was advertised as Native American … it was delicious! 

Walking through the crowd was fantastic not least because every few yards we met someone we knew – Paul Leitch and his lovely girlfriend Julie, Pam and Martin Drury, Ian and Sue- Mr and Mrs M25- and their son Rob, PJ Wright (Little Johnny England and The Dylan Project and friend for over 20 years!), Simon Nicol of course, David Hughs … and many , many more … it was great! Helen Watson and Jo Selbourne  met us at the bar as arranged and we continued our walk-about. Later, Helen, Bob and I wandered through the stalls at the far side of the field and made several purchases! Well Helen and I did … Bob made very encouraging noises … well done Bob!

I met Richard an hour before his set and we briefly went through a few numbers along with Danny … I was to join them for the last 4 songs … great! I watched the entire set from the back of the stage – they were mesmerising, as ever – and was thrilled to join them at the end of the encores to rapturous applause. Richard and I sang “A Heart Needs A Home” together first, then Danny joined us for, Wall of Death (of course!), Razor Dance and finally, my favourite, Ghosts in the Wind. What a privilege! I am humbled every time I get to sing with Richard, his talent and generosity never cease to amaze me. Thanks RT and DT! Simon Nicol told me afterwards there was  upwards of 18,000 people there! Wow. I’ve asked if I can play next year … fingers crossed!
We travelled onto the Isle of Man on Saturday and stayed with my mum and dad for 10 days mixing business and pleasure in equal measure. We spent Monday with mum and dad firstly at the Grove in Ramsey for lunch and later at the Lhen to take Peter, their boisterous border collie, for a walk along the beach. At the end of the week I had been invited to sing at a very special event at the Villa Marina in Douglas, celebrating the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s 175th anniversary.
Geoff Corkish – head of PR there- not only wanted me to sing solo but also, if possible , with the Manx Jazz Orchestra! I met up with the band at their last rehearsal before the big date on Wednesday evening. I had no idea what to expect. When Bob and I walked into the hall at St Johns where they practice, it was like walking into a lost episode of Dad’s Army! I don’t want to tell the whole story here, as it makes for very good in between songs chat and I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise for any of you coming to a show this autumn … needless to say it was a memorable hour!
We did, eventually, manage to figure out 2 songs we could do together – Under my skin (alla Frank Sinatra styley!) and Moon River. I had a sound check mid afternoon of the Friday and felt a little better about the band numbers and knew Anglin, my old friend would do a grand job making us sound good. Bob and I were also invited guests at the posh dinner at the main hall. It was all very beautifully decorated and organised: guests were greeted at the entrance and escorted up a ships gang plank into the building. It was a Black tie event (much to Bob’s discomfort … we had to rush out and buy a dickie bow specially!) and the frocks were really spectacular; there was pink champagne on arrival and then an amazing 5 course dinner: salmon and queenies terrine, champagne sorbet, lamb medallions with selected veg (absolutely delicious!) followed by fresh summer fruits with brandy snap boat and mascarpone cheese in a little chocolate turret! And to finish off local Manx cheeses and biscuits accompanied by a very lovely Port! We were sat on a table with the new Lady Mayor of Douglas Glenda Corkish and the Mayoress, Ruth, along with the Ramsey Commissioner and his wife, plus Geoff and Muriel Corkish and captain of a lightship. All very good company.
As with most large numbers of people and the preparation of great food, everything was a little later than expected and after the speeches and a spectacular indoor fireworks display … I eventually went on at midnight! I had planned on doing maybe 5 songs but as the evening went on I whittled it down to 3: Vincent, Gear J’in Ayr and Still Haven’t Found … I probably should have swapped the first two songs but it all went down well and I was proud to take part in such a prestigious event. The Manx Jazz Orchestra struck up immediately after my slot and everyone was up dancing to their swing sound. I joined them towards the end of their set and made it through the fastest version of Got You Under My Skin ever! And finished with Moon River … I’d love to do more of this for sure, singing in front of a 14 piece band was fantastic.
Bob’s natural charm won over the Lady Mayor and she invited us, along with my mum and dad and aunty Sheila and uncle Ken (apparently they’d all been to school together!) to visit her in the Mayors Parlour on Monday August 22nd. We were all very pleased to be invited again and looked forward to it. Unfortunately my uncle Ken, who was really looking forward to it, has been unwell recently, and was feeling under the weather on Monday and couldn’t come – he and aunty Sheila have been invited back when he’s feeling better – hurrah!

The 4 of us who did make it had a wonderful time. Glenda and Ruth were joined by councillor Mike.Bob was once again fascinated with the goings on of a town council and Glenda, Ruth and Mike regaled us with some very funny stories … which I can’t repeat here! It was very entertaining. I was presented with a crystal paper weight which is now in my mum’s safe keeping. 

So … that was my summer. I hope you all had a good time and are feeling refreshed if you’ve been lucky enough to have holidays and outings. Bob and I have another week lined up on the Isle of Man starting Monday next week and then it’s back to begin preparations for this autumn’s dates. As ever I hope to see many of you out on the road; do come up and say hello!

If you’re not on the emailing list or haven’t heard from us in a while do join up, it’s ever so easy and I can keep you informed of tour dates and releases. We should be letting you know about “Love” (the Rega project) very soon! If you haven’t had a go on the discussion board yet, I encourage you to do so … they’re all lovely people and really good fun … I even join in from time to time.

Take care and see you out there!

Much love

Christine xx