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.

Musical Chairs

by Russell Turner - 17:01 on 22 January 2016

Life with City Limits is getting complicated. On Wednesday we had a three-person, drummerless run through some new songs; tonight we'd planned a three-person, Ashleyless rehearsal with drummer Sam ahead of his debut at Jacko's next weekend; sometime soon there'll be a full band rehearsal, with drummer Mike (who's alternating stick duties for a few weeks until his successor is up to speed), ahead of a birthday party gig in the wilds of Kinloch Rannoch.

Frustratingly, tonight's jam, which would have been Sam's third with us, has been called off because it's my turn to have the cold that's recently afflicted Keith and Ashley. With luck we'll squeeze something in before Friday or our gig in Nairn will be a very seat-of-the-pants affair.

If that's the case, the trick we seasoned pros use is to never stop and, whatever happens, look as though whatever we play was meant. Few people notice mistakes anyway because they're either ignoring us or too busy having a good time.

The songs we tried on Wednesday won't be heard at Jacko's, as they all feature Ashley's mellifluous tones and it's another outing for our three-piece line-up, but I confidently predict they'll go down a storm at the party and our next appearance in Inverness: You're The One That I Want (from Grease); a mash-up of Eye Of The Tiger and Rolling In The Deep (which works surprisingly well); and Girls Just Want To Have Fun. We'll soon be the go-to band for hen parties.

Publishing Update: More copies of Memories of a Ben Line Man are ready to collect from the printer. Shame they didn't tell me two days ago when I was healthy. So on Monday the book will at last be available from Waterstone's in Inverness and be on its way to Shetland Bookshop and Dornoch Bookshop. And Rosemarkie Connections' author Freda enjoyed publicity in today's Inverness Courier. There will be more in next week's North Star. With luck, sales of both will soar.

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