In 2026 updating a written blog on a website feels pretty quaint, or so it seems to me as I sit here typing these words by the light of one wee candle in my garret. Outside an arctic gale is blasting the slums of EH7. Even the foxes that live in the bins downstairs have stopped making horrible ghoulish noises and found somewhere warm to hide. It's grim out there folks.
Anyway, blogs. I'm mostly writing this because it takes less time than making fancy videos for you all to watch, and time is at a premium just now. We're busy, you see.
Last year we wrote a lot of new material, and now it's time to learn how to play it. In the past it'd be as simple as that. We'd write some music, arrange it in the computer, learn it, then get on stage and play it.
This sounds pretty obvious and sensible until you get to the part of the track where the enormous synth line that sounds so great on the record happens, and all of a sudden no-one on stage has anything to do. Awkwardly you stand staring over the audiences heads at the fire exit sign at the back of the hall, hoping that the lighting engineer is carrying this part of the gig. They aren’t.
To avoid this, we'll be road testing new material at two upcoming gigs - one in Glasgow at Slay this Saturday (31st of January) and one in Edinburgh at Stramash (13th of March - FREE ENTRY btw).
We have other things booked - big exciting gigs in far away places - they can wait for now though.
We also have a live video for a track called 'Snakes On A Boat', which is having the final touches put to it by the wonderful Glenda Rome. That should be finished shortly, and we'll make sure you know all about it when you do.
We had something of a band night out to go see our pals The Chair at Celtic Connections, alongside their fellow Orcadians Fara and Gnoss.
Truth be told, we missed Gnoss - Lewis's commitment to what he's calling 'vibes based navigation' means that our arrival times can vary somewhat. Allow 3 to 5 working days for delivery etc. Anyway, once his vibes had aligned with the harsh geographical realities of Glasgow, Fara were predictably excellent, and the Chair absolutely tore the roof off of the Barrowlands with a beefed up version of their already formidable big band trad sound.
Helen, Lewis and myself ended our night in the Festival Club watching... well, there was certainly music, and it was good. I seem to remember seeing a man playing the piano, singing and tap-dancing all at once. Wonderful. Anyway, next thing I know, it's morning and I'm a shivering bundle of sweat and regret, convinced that I was dying an agonizing death in a cheap hotel somewhere near Central Station. Fortunately, I survived.
We're back in Glasgow on Saturday for a show at Slay. It's our pal Mark McGhee's book launch, at the Friction Burns Supper. Mark has always been very supportive of us, and we really appreciate any opportunity to head west for a show.
I've never played a book launch before, so I don't know what to expect. Hopefully everyone will wait until after we've played before they start reading the book. Maybe they'll have finished it before we play. I'll update the blog after. You can read all about what happened after you finish Mark's book.