2020 - just when it was all going so well ...

We had a great start to the year, beginning with our traditional first-Sunday-in-January session at the Weavers' Club in Sherborne, hosted by the ever-avuncular Cyril, and followed with several very enjoyable gigs at 'The Ropeys' in Bridport, the lovely village of Bishopstone in Wiltshire, a concert at Ilminster Arts Centre, a return visit to Salisbury Jazz Club's spanking premises in Wilton, and a long motorway trip up to The Old Barn in Great Bookham in Surrey, where we were given the usual right royal treatment by Mick Wellstead and his loyal club members (and exceptionally athletic dancers!) ...

Meanwhile, seemingly very remote from these shores, a new and deadly virus appeared to have escaped from China and reached Europe - Italy ... and Spain ... and France ...

At our recording session for our new CD on March 11 in Cheap Street Church in Sherborne (for news of which, please see a separate post) there was some discussion during our lunch break as to whether we may have to curtail our future activities just a tad ... little did we know! The band's final pre-lockdown gig was at the dear old Ropemakers in Bridport, where Keith Hall sang us out with The Clouds Will Soon Roll By ... let's hope they will, but the immediate future looks bleak indeed, as we all gradually learn to accept that the Covid-19 threat puts our relatively mundane daily lives into true perspective as the global death toll mounts ... of course, we miss playing and we miss all our welcoming audiences and promoters, but life has had to change drastically, and patience - and caution! - are of the essence ... so we must just hope to see you all again eventually - some time, some place, some when ...

"Goodbye to stormy weather, the clouds will soon roll by"