So what’s been happening since my last blog in May 2022?

Actually a lot in fact it’s been a very busy Summer and year generally, because I have been enjoying the freedom of travel with my family and friends also; there’s nothing cool about being grounded like we were in 2020/21. This year I have visited Finland (Helsinki), Canary Islands (Fuerteventura) and America (twice) celebrating anything that seemed a good excuse. But don’t worry music is never forgotten and 1 of the reasons I visited America was to See Mötley Crüe in concert with Def Leppard, Joan Jett and Poison at Bostons Fenway Park Stadium which was bloody brilliant. All very significant bands in my life to date and i have to admit Tommy Lee is a hero. We also visited Vermont for a moment of picturesqueness where we popped into a house owned by the Lincoln family where there is a 1000 pipe organ in the entrance hallway - well that was a decent excuse to go if not for the history and hope of buying a chimney hat. However the organ was sadly not allowed to be played by the public and actually played itself. I did ask about the organ but the people employed to give tours didn’t seem to want to talk about anything not on their script! A minor anticlimax but we enjoyed the trip.

Some people do think that I don’t get out much and spend all my time in the barn - well I don’t! I love travelling and seeing things for myself.

The second trip to the States was purely self indulgent but a private celebration of my hitting 50 with 2 best mates and a mission of visiting as many craft Bourbon distilleries as possible in 6 days - So we rented a Dodge (of course) and needless to say we did well, clocking up 16 I think in the end. I’m now a minor expert in making Moonshine too but thats another story. At the Wild Turkey distillery I managed to find a unique instrument called the Gobble Call which sounds like a turkey and is now on display at the studio with other world instruments - make of that what you will!! Somehow in the 800 miles of rampaging thru Kentucky in search of fried chicken (harder than you might think - we saw only 3 and 2 were closed) we found a Hard Rock Cafe - in Cincinatti which is in Ohio - so we nipped in there for lunch.

So, this has accidentally turned into a blog about my American adventures oops - I shall do the blog on stranger things happening at the studio next!