Michael Day's personal notebook and e-diary

 

My last personal blog saw me having just returned from a European road trip with the FD where we had attended five Wishbone Ash gigs in Belgium and Germany whilst taking in many fabulous sights and wonderful scenery.

As you read this we are shortly to embark on another trip. This time to Croatia where we shall spend a week on board the MV Emanuel (just 30 passengers) visiting five of the islands off the Dalmatian coast as well as the mainland cities of Dubrovnik and Split. No doubt I shall report on this adventure in my next blog.

Music has, as always, featured significantly in the last few weeks and I was delighted to take delivery of my custom built Chimaera guitar by Emerald Guitars from Ireland. This wonderful guitar has twin necks (6 and 12 string) and is an electro acoustic. It is made entirely of carbon fibre and has a Bubinga wood veneer top. I think it looks and sounds beautiful. With 18 strings all I need now is the patience to tune it!

Gig wise I have seen Chantel McGregor, Del Bromham’s Blues Devils, Red Butler, The Good Old Boys, Guy Tortora, Dan Reed, Wishbone Ash, The Barnes Blues Band and Sari Schorr and the Engine Room.

All the gigs were good but the stand-out nights were Dan Reed at the 100 Club and Sari Schorr at the Borderline. If you are not familiar with these artists, I urge you to look them up. Dan Reed and his Network have been around for years and he is a wonderful songwriter and performer. Sari Schorr is newer on the scene in her own right and I predict a huge future for her. She is original but in the same mould as Beth Hart. In fact I fully expect to look back in years to come and be able to say “I was there.” So impressed was I that I am seeing her again in April later in her European tour.

Gigs lined up over the coming weeks include: Sari Schoor and the Engine Room, Tee’d Up, Spike Drivers, Doris Brendel, The Cadillac Kings and King King. As always, I shall be attending the Wallingford Beer and Blues Festival in early June where a number of artists will be performing.

Home has seen more building works being undertaken to create a raised patio area to the side of the house. It looks like a stage and so some form of gig may be needed to officially open it!

Family wise it has been a seemingly never ending run of grandchildren’s birthdays and these continue over the coming weeks with the major event this year being the impending birth of my sixth grandchild – a girl – due to my son and his partner in early July. Needless to say we can’t wait!

As reported in my last blog, Watford FC have become increasingly disappointing as the season progresses. Apart from a fabulous away win at Arsenal they have been really poor and have slipped closer to the wrong end of the table. Whilst I don’t see any danger of relegation and, as I write, a single win could put us back in the top ten, it has however been a poor year given the investments and high hopes created. The style of play has been unattractive and I predict another large clear out and change of personnel this summer.