Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Danger – Musicians At Work

by admin - 10:11 on 06 October 2014

Making music can be a dangerous business, as I discovered last Friday night after the latest get-together of the still-unnamed blues band.

Rehearsals are held in the workshop owned by master woodturner Adrian, the drummer, deep in the middle of nowhere between Inverness and Beauly. Like The Rural Retreat, his home is unbothered by streetlamps, but unlike the Retreat there's no outside light to help visitors when moonlight isn't enough.

That's why, when helping load gear into Michael's Range Rover at the end of the evening, I was able to walk into the upper section of its tailgate which struck just above the bridge of my nose. I escaped with a small cut, minor bruising and scratched glasses; an inch lower and things could have been much worse.

Maybe The Music Gods are dropping hints. Progress is slow and two of the few numbers on the set list have already been axed. The Strays are equally becalmed. The only two gigs on our diary have both been scratched, one for family reasons, the other because it clashes with a holiday. We hope to rearrange them but there's no news yet.

But there's room for optimism. The still-unnamed wedding band held a fruitful first gathering last Thursday; Jim, its leading force, has already spread the word in a bid for financially rewarding gigs.

Even better, out of the blue there's the possibility of replacing the bass player in an existing rock/pop covers band (I won't name them yet) that's already out gigging, busy, and keen to be more busy. Last night I met the guitarist for a jam, at the end of which we were both happy. Sometime this week I'll meet the rest of its members for a proper try-out. Wish me luck – I'm not the only one after the job.

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