Refreshed by a festival. Ready for the final push.
So back to school with A levels and GCSE’s in full swing and the gallop towards the final furlong begins. Leavers events, mountains of reports, exam panics, sudden parental interventions – far too late and the inevitable sense for lots that a chapter is closing fast, that friendships must be clung to and savoured before the wind of change blows them all apart. The same goes for parents who suddenly sense the nest becoming emptier and they start to look at who remains with either glee, horror or a souciance of indifference. My sleep has started to feature dreams concerning a sense of loss or unstoppable change although these anxieties remain unconscious as my time as a full-time teacher ebbs away. Rather my idle moments (few to be fair) are filled with schemes and plans. One of which is the conversion of this article to a two-hour weekly Mixcloud broadcast. Sounds from beyond the Shed is, in the words of Phillip Schofield… Going Live! My apologies….
Next week’s article, my hundredth will be the last that recommends three tracks and from then on there will be a link to my show that I broadcast on CRMK every Tuesday night. The link will take you to my AUK show via Mixcloud and hopefully there will be some kind of message board or Facebook page where you can, dare I say it, interact with the show. Or at least send pithy comments about track selection.
Speaking of which, the Red Rooster festival was as ever an inspiration. A glorious three days of music and mayhem involving rum, perudo, old friends and new. Musically there was an impeccable set from Chuck Prophet who made the big top a tiny sweaty bar full of riotous fun, Jason McNiff weaved magic from a windswept porch and The Arlenes reminded everyone that they really should be spoken of in the same breath as The Jayhawks .
As ever take what you want or need.
