An evening at Gales
So 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 song almost exclusively, so I really haven’t even practiced my own material in close to a year at this point.
However, it was going to be filmed, and not 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, and were greeted by Andrew. 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, 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 it then it came 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 re-connected with an old song. You see, we recorded “A Certain Kind” back in 2018ish for our album Winter, and while it was definitely the hit song for that record, I myself personally hate the way that whole album sounds… it’s not the songs, but the production, which is down to my own lack of skill as an engineer that’s to blame, but 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 I find myself rediscovering my own song with an entirely fresh ear! It went down a treat, Andrew chose it at the song that 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 Andrew and the Gales Wine Bar crew for having us! What a great evening.
