2 gigs in the past week. Fernandes Brewery Tap returned to the scene last Thursday for a solo gig, this time playing in the downstairs 'kellar'. It's a great facility, just not very busy I'm afraid, in keeping with the majority of Ossett Brewery gigs! In fact, I ended up playing to nobody which is never a good feeling. This coupled with the fact it was supposed to be a 'trad blues' night meant it was really one to forget. The one consolation being that there was no-one there to complain that I wasn't a Trad Blues artist!

Friday was one of our regular band venues, the Kings Arms at Heaton. Not a bad night, but the noise detector is a bit of a pain. These devices aren't representative of how loud a band actually is. They're more representative of peaking frequencies, particularly when the vocal is un-compressed and has such a vast dynamic range. Playing a gig with a noise meter is a bit like playing Call My Bluff connected to a polygraph. I must point out however that the venue aren't in any way to blame for the need to have a meter, so it's probably a pain in the arse for them too.

Therefore I'm glad to be enjoying a couple of weeks with no gigs! It goes that way sometimes. If only there were more web-based sales, things would be very different. Still, the work of promoting the music must go on and live promotion is still one of the best ways to do this.

I've been working on the cover design for the new album, which is musically now finished. There will soon be tracks to listen to and, in one case, download for free.

In the meantime I'm gearing up for a weekend away at the World Stock Car finals at King's Lynn. This will be spectacular and one I wouldn't miss for anything, even a gig!