Sunday 11th April – the day after the night before
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- here we sit – Duffy, DJ Buddha, Lew and Stoo
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- Here We Stand – by Cross The Border
Half of the Celtic Roots band “Cross the Border” popped in for a cuppa and a workshop tour this weekend – the summer sun appeared from somewhere and we drank tea in the warmth of a glorious day. Like most visitors it wasn’t the tea or the amazing conversation they came for. It certainly wasn’t the cake (didn’t have any..ooops..sorry) I think they liked the guitars….
Stoo Nichol and Lew Robinson make up the half that arrived, along with the marvellous music man DJ Buddha who has created an inspiring internet radio station. There was much talk of St Anne of Duffy’s curry…. which is the link between Bailey’s and CSB … Mr Duffy himself. All are part of the Artistic Freedom Collective (AFC) which is a collective of musicians who play and organise events all over the place.
We were honoured that they came down for the Acoustic session on the Saturday – “the best open mike around ” said Stoo. They played a great set – both being guitar players, singers and Lew adding percussion (when not playing the guitar ) and sprinkle of Duffy’s Bouzouki was the cherry on an otherwise delicious trifle.
The band in full swing includes fiddle by Yuuka Yamada and percussion from Kris Padbury and they are all off to Germany in June – a Celtic radio station over there – (schottenradio.de ) has been getting so many requests for their tracks they just have to go
Lew qualifies for the Bailey ‘fastest repair of all time’ award – he went in with a guitar case, we all had a gulp of tea, he came out and said it was fixed. Think it took Mark as long to do the repair as zip the case back up. (if only all repairs were made that way )
Great guys and musicians – we wish them well in all they do. Hoping the cat drawing Buddha’s blood will not stop them visiting again ( more apologies)
Their album “Here We Stand” is a lovely thing to behold – the artwork is great and I do like a CD with a cover you can look at like an LP . Full marks for no plastic shells also.
It is available from http://www.crossthebordermusic.co.uk/ or iTunes Amazon etc , and supports the charity CRY, which raises awareness of Sudden Death Syndrome.