Performing for the BBC at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – August 2019
As I finished my third year at Glasgow Uni, at the end of March, I found myself with 6 months off until I started back at the end of September!
I had a whole load of ideas to fill my time. At the top of the list was training for a half marathon, planning out summer gigs and getting several new songs produced and ready for release at the end of the year.
As I look back now, at the end of September, it’s been an eventful six months but I couldn’t have imagined how bizarre the last Sunday, in this six month period would end up!
Songwriting
During the months of April & May, it was all about getting five songs ready for the production studio. I decided to go with Mark Morrow for the production and booked him for five days at the start of September.
The production of the new songs was not the only thing I booked in May…. I also registered for my first ever half marathon in Glasgow. Running is not my thing & I’d never done anything like this before, so this was going to be a real challenge!
Summer Gigs
As July approached, the summer gigs started increasing and it was only going to get busier. I found myself booked to perform at the Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Golf Club in East Lothian.
The only other person performing that day was ex-Westlife star, Brian McFadden! Lovely guy and I learnt quite a bit from his on stage patter – he definitely knows a thing or two on how to hold a crowd!
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019
I ended up with 20+ gigs over the Edinburgh Festival in August, most notable were a couple of gigs for the BBC and a gig at Malones, supporting the Hoosiers. The guys were in town doing a Fringe show called ‘Felix & the Scootermen: Self-Help Yourself Famous’.
Their Fringe event was a spoof/comic show based on life in the music industry. Irwin & Alan took on the personas of Felix Scoot & Lee Delamare, AKA ‘Felix & the Scootermen’ – I thoroughly enjoyed it!
It was great getting to chat to them both after our gig at Malones and pick up some valuable advice on the way.
Production Studio: Mark Morrow
September got under way with five days in the production studio with Mark Morrow. I felt well prepared for this and Mark was great to work with. Mark is mixing and mastering the tracks at the moment and I’ll be releasing the first, of these songs, during November.
Solheim Cup
The following week, I was provisionally booked to perform a private event at the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite get it sorted in time. I still managed to get tickets and catch some of the golf, sun and beers on the Friday!
Dunhill Links Championship
This leads me on to this last weekend – the final one of my six months off Uni! I was booked to perform two gigs at the Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews on Friday & Sunday evenings. I also had the small matter of my biggest challenge of the year on the Sunday morning in Glasgow!
Firstly, on the Friday night, I was playing at the St. Andrews Brewing company. This was the third year I’d done this event and it was as good as ever!
Great Scottish Run Half Marathon
Secondly, I was up earlier than usual on what turned out to be a bizarre Sunday. I was running my first ever half marathon, The Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run Half Marathon, and fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support.
I had some doubts over the last few months but I was determinedto do it – I had trained for it and hoped the training would pay off. I’m glad to say that 2 Hours 3 mins after starting, I completed this challenge and achieved my £500 fund raising target. So grateful to everyone who contributed – thank you!
There wasn’t too much time for celebrations, though! A private event at the Dunhill Links Championship back in St. Andrews that evening beckoned.
The Final Twist…
Finally, after the Sunday evening event, I was invited back to an ‘after-party’ and, as I had my guitar with me, I ended up playing a few tunes. The bizarre bit happened when, out of the blue, Hollywood actor, Bill Murray appeared right next to me and asked if we could do ‘Loch Lomond’ – I didn’t even realise he was at the party!
Here’s a Facebook link to a short video I posted earlier today of Bill Murray and me singing ‘The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond‘ last night – click here. Afterwards, he kindly had a beer with me and passed on some useful advice.
As if the night couldn’t get any stranger, there was a knock on the door & it was the police, asking us to keep the noise down…. the guitar got put away after that!
Bill Murray got up and apologised to the police. He got everyone’s attention and told them to respect what the police said… and we did! Bill Murray is a lovely man but it was a very odd evening indeed.
Six month ago, I couldn’t imagine running a half marathon in Glasgow, never mind finishing the day off in St. Andrews, singing with Bill Murray and having a beer with him! It certainly has been an eventful summer… with a bizarre twist at the end!
New tracks will be coming out from November onwards, so please watch this space!
Cheers
Hugh