Double anniversary at The Weavers ...
Once again, the very first gig on our New Year's calendar was at The Weavers in Sherborne, and - true to form - we were treated to a packed audience and the usual enthusiastic support. As it happened, the very first Blog post on our 'new look' website - just one year ago - recorded our 2018 New Year kicking off at this very venue, as it has done for many years, and more than one member of the band could hardly believe how quickly 2018 had disappeared in a welter of medication and hospital visits, not to mention many a mile travelled to sundry gigs! In addition to that relatively minor landmark, a rather more significant anniversary was flagged up when our Glorious Leader reminded everyone that the band was now embarking on its thirtieth year! Not that any of us - apart from Mike - were in at the beginning, though Pete Ward has been playing bass with the band for so long that he can't remember when he joined! ...
We were sorry that Cyril wasn't well enough to be with us at the beginning of 2019, and also greatly missed our favourite banjo man, Eddie Edwards, currently in hospital (and no doubt entertaining the nurses!), but at least (as always!) Geoff, Sherborne's Washboard King, was on hand to give his usual virtuoso display on Tiger Rag. The band also took the opportunity to give their latest repertoire items their first public airing since our pre-Christmas rehearsal - Duke Ellington's Rockin' In Rhythm, Cotton Club Stomp #1, Old Man Blues, Jelly Roll Morton's The Pearls, plus Short Dress Gal and Shake It And Break It from the early days of Keppard and Oliver all seemed to please the audience and certainly kept the band on its collective toes! All so much more enjoyable for both band and audience than the dreaded same-old-same-old hackneyed stuff like Bill Bailey or Sheik Of Araby - aaaarrgh! Thus was another year under way ...