Fairport Convention Tour Diary Blog - Part 3
of writes:
One really nice thing about the van is that it gets you to the gigs.
Another really other nice thing about it is our driver Mick Peters. To just call him a van driver doesn't begin to do him justice, for he is a man of many talents - so many in fact that even he doesn't know what they all are!
He's also great company and so are our merchandising team, Gareth and Frances.
I can't imagine being on tour without these guys! Thanks, too, to Geoff Curtis and Owain Richards, our sound guys, and our tour manager Nigel Reavill.
We're lucky to have opening our shows.
Ken is a fantastic musician whose guitar virtuosity blows people away every night.
As for Phil Cool, we've heard his routines every night for over two weeks now and we still laugh just as much every show - it's brilliant!
There was a time when was Fairport's only multi-instrumentalist.
But on this tour we are all multi-instrumentalists (though Chris is far more multi than the rest of us who are really semi-multi-instrumentalists).
This has come about through the magic of the . Chris, and myself have been ukulele nuts for ages and a few weeks before the tour started Peggy said: "Ric, you must come up with a ukulele feature for the tour."
So I played around with a few ideas on the uke. Now I'm a writer of instrumentals, not songs, but one just popped out.
I liked the tune and chord sequence but my lyrics left a little to be desired. So I did the sensible thing and invited Chris Leslie round to have a listen.
He recorded the song on his phone and drove away promising he'd have a go at it. And the very next morning (quite early too) he was back with new words.
I was absolutely knocked out with his choice of subject - the history of the ukulele - and how his lyric fitted my tune to perfection.
Thus Ukulele Central was born and now we play it every night.
Chris, Peggy and I play ukes, Simon Nicol plays bass (becoming a semi-multi-instrumentalist) and our drummer Gerry Conway, much to our surprise and delight, has acquired a concert washboard.
Not only does it fit the song perfectly but he can earn a few extra bob by doing the band's laundry.
The ukulele is the perfect instrument for plunking away in hotel rooms because it's a gentle sound that doesn't carry to other rooms. When I play the violin in hotel rooms I usually get complaints - come to think of it, I get complaints wherever I play the thing!
But whatever I play on tour, it's a joy to on the road with Fairport, especially at the end of the evening when we meet our extended Fairport family in the foyer.
Without our wonderful fans, there'd be no Fairport - so a huge "thank you" to everyone who comes to hear us play.
Comment number 1.
At 23rd Feb 2009, hmsscarab wrote:Modesty is a virtue but Ric is telling porkies... No one has ever complained about his violin playing which is equal to the best in the world.
Everyone who reads this - go see the show while there is still time - great evening for all.
And all the Fairport people are the most decent and friendly professionals in public life today. Despite being tired after days on the road they stayed for ages to chat to supporters and sign CDs until everyone had their turn.
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