An evening at Gales

Watch the video here.

During an impromptu Saturday afternoon busk last week, I received a message from none other than Andrew Gale of the legendary Gales Wine Bar in Llangollen, asking if I’d like to play a gig there the following Saturday evening.

Now, busking is something I do a lot, but I play other people’s songs almost exclusively, so I hadn’t even practised my own material in close to a year.

However, it was going to be filmed, and not being one to turn down some sweet exposure, I hastily accepted. Then I proceeded to do absolutely no practice whatsoever, for the entire week 🙈😅

Anyway, we rolled up to Gales and wandered in: a wonderful, dimly lit, oldy-woody smelling proper wine bar. Andrew greeted us, I got set up, sound checked, pretended I was a proper musician and then… I went and wandered the streets of Llangollen with my guitar, listening to my own songs on Spotify and working out how to play them again 👀 Yikes!

We returned to the bar to watch the other musicians, who were excellent (“1987 til present” being a standout for me), and then it was my turn.

I played some covers, but some originals too. All Along The Watchtower quite literally always goes down well, but it was this night at Gales that I somehow reconnected with an old song. You see, we recorded A Certain Kind back in 2018 or so for our album Winter, and while it was definitely the hit song from that record, I personally hate the way that whole album sounds. It’s not the songs but the production, and my own lack of skill as an engineer is to blame. Because of it, I’ve sort of fallen out of love with it.

But there, in Gales, I played it in a different key, in a different way than I used to, and suddenly found myself rediscovering my own song with an entirely fresh ear! It went down a treat, Andrew chose it as the song he would record, and I for one have a sneaking suspicion that A Certain Kind is about to take on a whole new life 🙂

Thanks to Andrew and the Gales Wine Bar crew for having us. What a great evening.