Welcome to Arundel, West Sussex, United Kingdom where it's currently 61 degrees with a 17mph SW wind and 78% humidity....all in all, not too shabby. Arundel is located in the South of England 49 miles southwest of London and just 18 miles to the west of Brighton. Arundel is home to Arundel Castle which is which is the Seat of the Dukes of Norfolk. I digress.....
We arrived in the UK 7 days ago on a pretty uneventful Delta flight #38 with only a two day touch of jet lag. After the usual 2 1/2 hour Tube ride we were in Walthamstow at our good friends Alex and Vanessa's who have now begun to refer the October as Josh and Jess season.
The first show of the tour was in Camden at the Green Note, a great acoustic spot right in the heart of the borough. The Green Note was recommended to us by our good fried Rod Picott whom we met in Sheffield last year. The show went great and it was also an opening slot for Eric Taylor! You may recognize his name as being the fellow who penned a tune called If I Had A Boat for Lyle Lovett and well as countless others for several other musicians.
Next came a day off in London, a fair amount of walking(a lot), the British Museum, double decker buses, and the new rental car. We did turn the car back in though as it really wasn't economical at all...and it was orange!
Day 3 we picked up the next rental car. We had reserved a Vauxhall, which is much like the Panda we had last year. Refer to previous posts for photos and further information. Dollar Thrifty had mistakenly given our car to someone else so we were forced to take an upgrade at no extra charge. Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2012 tour machine....The Silver Bullet. This thing has leather interior, something like a 29 speaker stereo, 6 speed transmission, and a big ol diesel engine that still manages about 55 MPG...and it's hard to drive slow. Apparently this is what all the starving musicians are driving these days.
We then flew the Silver Bullet to Worth Matravers in Dorset for another visit to the Square and Compass, exactly 363 days after our first. The Square and Compass is one of the best places on the planet complete with lodging, housemade cider (3 varieties), endless miles of hiking, and a fossil museum...and it's a great place to play. And we were able to hook up with David, Nicola, Bev, and Beck! Again, refer to previous tour posts for more information. Thanks so much to Kevin, Jean, Charlie and Kath for a wonderful time!
Oh goodness, I forgot the Railway Hotel and Freehouse! So the night before the Square and Compass it was cold and rainy so we decided an inn above a pub with a fireplace was what we needed. We decided for no particular reason to pull off the motorway at Ringwood and pulled up to the very first of such looking places we came across. The bartender/innkeeper showed us one of two rooms upstairs which we took and then proceeded downstairs for a bite. We started chatting with Tricia and Keith, the proprietors, and a few others. Eventually, the music subject came up and the next thing I knew the guitar was out for an impromptu show. This led to our only night off this week (Friday) getting booked. So we'll be returning to Ringwood in a couple days. Not that I'm complaining. . .
That brings us to last night and the Amberley Folk Club but that's going to have to be included in the next post.....I'm late.
take care and thanks for checking in the tour!
Josh
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I managed to see you in Brighton this week. Thanks for the show. You have something special.
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