YARD
OF ALE
Scotland's Premier Folk n' Fun Band
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Newsletter |
April 2013 |
SNOWBALLS IN THE SPRINGTIME
No, I’m not going to talk about the weather. I just hope it’s a bit warmer for our annual trip to Blair Atholl with Dalgety Bay Folk Club in April. The warmth of the good company and whatever we may imbibe should keep us cosy all the same.
We’ve had a busy start
to the year with a variety of gigs, including one in the frozen
north of Forfar and another in Newburgh, Fife. Our first visit
to Canmore Bowling Club proved to be super night with a sell out
crowd and a great reception. In contrast, the concert at The
Steeple Arts Centre saw us play to a very small but very
friendly and enthusiastic audience. However, it’s a long way to
go when the door money amounts
to little more than expenses.
A bit more thought, organisation and
advertising required there, I think.
A chance meeting in an Edinburgh pub with a group of Danish
people two years ago resulted in Isobel and I being invited over
to Denmark in March with me playing as a surprise guest at a
60th birthday party, all expenses paid. We had a wonderful time
and met some lovely people. We stayed, with our new found
friends, in the picturesque seaside town of Faaborg on Funen
island and were treated to so much hospitality it was almost
embarrassing. The band has since been invited to play at the
Faaborg Folk Festival in October, but, unfortunately, we can’t
all fit the trip in, so I’m having to go solo again.
We’ve been busy organising the line-up for what will be our 19th year at the “Caledonian Folk and Blues Festival” at The Guildford Arms, during the Edinburgh Festival. We’ve also confirmed all our guests and have once again managed to gather a strong line-up of great bands and solo artists. New faces this year are “The Whole Shebang”, a seven piece band with a multitude of instruments including fiddle and mandolin and three female singers in the front line in close harmony - bluegrass, country and swing. It should make for an interesting, if not challenging, job for us to get them all set up on stage.
The full line-up will be:
“YARD OF ALE with guests including Eddie Walker, Bedford Falls,
FCUKulele, Sandy Tweeddale and The Whole Shebang”.
Full details will be included in our July newsletter.
Cheers for now.
Alistair
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Pete's Blog |
Greeting Pop Packers!
DJ Pedro in da Zone!!!
Aye, jings, crivvens-exciting news about
the Pedroperson which is me, from here, which is where I am. A recent meeting
was held in a darkened phone box in Athelstaneford between yours sincerely,
Kenzo Stitt-Shifter the laird of Upper Inveresk and Emperor Roskerson of East
Coast FM. As a result of this clandestick activity, I was proudly dragged
screaming into the studio where I confidently spent three weeks asking “what
does this button dae?” I am still there, mainly because there are still a couple
of mistakes I haven’t made yet. The great news for you, dear reader, is that you
can tune in on Sunday afternoons between three and five o’clock to hear the
finest mix of local, national, international, traditional, acoustic, world and
ethnic music you have never heard. We are currently on the interweb at
ecfm.co.uk and will be gaun oot on 107.6 FM from Monday April the 29th,
with the weekend of 27th
and 28th
being a mega-East Coast FM launch party! Any road up, make sure I am transfixed
with all your news, requests, bequests and bewilderments . I look forward to
your particulation.
Hey up, ‘twas a busy old start to the new year as I
staggered across the frozen wastes of the Apache Junction Estate wondering where
the car was buried and going forth into our lauded landscape with the thrill of
anticipation as to whether an audience had managed to turn up. They did, by and
large. And thanks to Mrs. By and Mr. Large, it wouldn’t have been the same
without you. We were well prepared, though, as we faced the emolluents. As my
beloved Mater, the gangster rapper Granny G always said “if you’re heading into
the deepest darkest north country, always wear white for safety. Unless you’re
going to Forfar because you’ll get run over by a snowplough.” Ochone.
The grandchillin’ are all doing well-Rory Gallagher
Stanton, Dean Martin Sauzee and Hank Williams Zidane O’Rourke Obama are looking
forward to Easter and the annual egg hunt. They have great fun chasing the foxes
when they get there first, and of course this year the imminent danger of
breaking your teeth on deep-frozen chocolate. Yum!
Of course, it’s now gearing up towards that time of year
when we head for the hills with the denizens of Dalgety Bay Folk Club and that
popular beat combo from Teuchterville, Bumpkinshire-On The Wagon. Which may well
be what we’re all on after another episode of yelling, yodelling, gargling and
sheep shockery. Onward unto the beach and never say jambo!
Yours Aye, Pedro
Next edition: July 2013