Before I get started on today’s blog, I’d like to say a big hello to my new friends and followers from Thornsett Road. In today’s blog, I’m going to tell the others about last Friday night, because, as I said, it was a bit of a new experience to me. First though I’m going to tell you about this blog generally, in case you’re new here.
Hello. I’m Jon. To cut a long story short, by the time I reached my mid thirties I was playing so much music, I quit my day job in construction and landscaping to pursue music full time. I teach guitar and ukulele, run three acoustic music clubs near Chichester in Sussex, and have run numerous Open Mic nights over the last fifteen years. I play in bands, mostly a country inspired covers band ‘The Alabama Stills’, but also in one of the U.K.s only R.E.M. tribute bands, ‘REMbrandt’, who play various theatres and festivals throughout the south east. My original music, ‘WestingWay’ is new for 2024, although I've been writing on and off for a few years.
Blogs in general...
This blog is to share the musical experiences, teaching ideas, instruments and songs which i encounter in my line of work. Sometimes, friends and students contribute blogs about subjects they are passionate about, but that is an open invitation to anyone. If you have anything music related you’d like to share with some like minded individuals, this is the place. This is my 101st blog. You can search for older posts by groupings and keywords.
By signing up, you’re basically agreeing to receive an email every month or so which summarises the blogs I’ve written, and tells you what’s going on. You can then choose, or not, to read the articles that interest you. Your email address is held by my website provider, it will not be used for any other purpose!
I think that’s about it, it’s great to have you here.
You might remember a little while back, I explained how I’d basically crashed the Southampton festival ‘Music In The City’ by meeting up with a guy called Chris on the social media platform ‘Threads’. Chris is in a duo called ‘The Long Shorts’ - they’ve just released their debut EP by the way, you should check it out. I went to see them play in Southampton, the guy after them didn’t show, I stepped in….you can read it all here….
Music In The City Blog:
The Long Shorts on Spotify:
Following that, Chris asked me to perform at an event called ‘Live At Thornsett Road’, which happened last Friday night. It was near Beckenham he said, which might be a bit far, but he promised a good night out, would I be prepared to play for 30-40 minutes? Absolutely! That kind of question doesn’t require much thought for me. I decided a while ago that with the number of gigs I’ve done in various guises, the ones that most interested me were the more unusual, special ones. This one qualified as it wasn’t at a venue at all, it was in Chris’s living room. Thirty or so paying guests, some food, and a bit of live music from myself, supporting a duo called Elizabeth & Jameson (aka Hannah and Griff).
We got there about 6:15 in the evening, after a typical but bearable amount of traffic up from our way. Hannah and Griff were already there, having made the trip down from St Albans. Introductions were made, particularly to Chris’s dog Rosie, who aside from being excited by new friends, was on a particular high after snaffling a piece of dropped pizza. It was pretty obvious within the first few minutes that the evening was going to be a lovely, chilled out thing. Everybody was very cool, instruments were stowed, we chatted, and plans for a mutual encore were made. By 7.30 / 8pm people were piling in, squeezing into the lounge to find seats, or vying for a vantage point from the kitchen.
It was genuinely quite a different experience for me. Most of my musical life is pretty loud. Pubs, venues….theatres are quieter obviously but there’s still the amplification element. This was ‘pin drop’ stuff - which is lovely because you can play as loud or as quietly as you feel. I talk about ‘dynamics’ quite a lot, and how it’s difficult sometimes to get that variation in volume and intensity in certain situations - not so here. Everybody’s really close, and listening really closely.
I was pretty happy with my set. A few fluffs, but that’s the beauty of playing your own material, half the time people don’t know when you get it wrong. If anyone who was there has a good memory, please feel free to check out my Soundcloud and Spotify accounts for inaccuracies ;-) the songs that I played on the night are all there in one form or another.
WestingWay On Spotify:
WestingWay On SoundCloud:
Listen via my website:
And then I finished with a very calm version of ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ with a lovely bit of good natured and restrained ‘Oi!’ from the audience in the appropriate spots ;-)
Hannah and Griff put in a great set too. They have a great sound: the instruments and the vocal harmonies are just magic, you should absolutely check them out. They have a folky vibe, but it's modern and feels relevant, and comfortable. It's just great music, who needs genre labels??
On Spotify:
To close the evening off, I joined Hannah and Griff in front of the fireplace for a version of ‘Wagon Wheel’, all good stuff.
So... Are home concerts the way to go?
COVID aside, Chris has been doing this at his home now for ten years. Four concerts are theoretically planned for 2025. He said that the inspiration for the concept simply came from wanting to continue to engage with live music whilst his children were young. I’d be interested to know if anybody has any knowledge of a similar regular event in my neck of the woods? Certainly, as a singer songwriter I can see the advantages of being able to interact closely with an audience, and getting a good chance to meet them afterwards. Social media follows and likes all have their place, but a meaningful connection with a person who actually takes the time to talk appreciatively about your work is the absolute best. This kind of space is ideal for that.
I’m pretty new to the whole ‘original music’ scene, and there does genuinely appear to be opportunities to play in my area. I did my first proper originals gig in Alton last April, and I feel like I’ve had a pretty good run of stuff this year, without having much of a plan. I’ve been fortunate to meet some like minded people this year who are really supercharging my interest to do more, and to you people, thank you. (Chris, you’re one of them, Cheers).
This’ll be my last blog before Christmas, so I’m going to take the opportunity to wish you all the very best, and here’s to new musical adventures in 2025!
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