The most photogenic person almost obscured by a guitar case

This is turning into my favourite project of all, today we hit Beeston for the first round of impromptu performances for The Random Saturday Sessions. Part of the beauty of this series is the simplicity, it is 100% acoustic music so there's no fannying about setting up and sound checking and the only microphone is the one on the video camera. This means that the YouTube videos can be turned around pretty quickly and it gives me five weeks worth of content (starting next Saturday with Paul Warnin singing in a laundrette) before we have to do it again. Once again it was raining and we had issues with nobody turning up on time (not dissing anyone, I was late too) but we soon got down to business and started at one end of the High Street and working our way down. 

I'd never met Paul before but he fitted right in and played first off in a laundrette, thankfully it was quiet and a couple who were doing their washing kept out of the way, not that we asked them to rather I don't think they wanted to get involved. As an antidote to their discretion a man came in and started emptying a machine right in front of the camera unaware that he will soon be a viral superstar (assuming anyone watches the video). To be honest, this isn't for the general public. That is how I treat all of my work, I do it for my enjoyment and if other people like it then that is a bonus. I love the way that this concept has taken off with the minimal amount of planning, it isn't a new idea by any means - Gerry Trimble was involved with a series called Addistock Sessions a little while ago that filmed performances without amplification in a variety of locations - but it's a wonderful way to promote local musical talent to those who might not usually be exposed to it, whether they like it or not. Incidentally, it was Gerry's idea to do the Hockley Hustle promo video which spawned the idea of making it a regular event.

George Gadd performed in a bicycle shop, Fleets singer Cameron Sinclair-Harris played in the outside seating area of a coffee shop in the pissing rain, Cibele played in the much needed warmth of a bookshop (when her video comes out check what book I'm holding during the introduction, it's a funny in-joke) and Gerry played in a churchyard. One of the best things about the days spent doing this is the social aspect, we had a nice pub lunch and wiled away the afternoon playing pool. 

We have already arranged our next day out in West Bridgford on the 21st of November and the videos will start appearing on Saturdays. I can't be arsed setting up yet another Twitter account (I hate the way you need a different email address each time you set up a separate account) but there is a page on Facebook you can 'like' if you like. I'd like that.

The Sunday Alternative Podcast #60 is available from here

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October Housekeeping

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