jiva - acoustic music duo

jiva at www.jiva.co.uk

2010-03-14T12:50:00.000Z

Important News

We're cutting down our use of Blogger and Blogspot, but you can still keep up with jiva news on our website.

Home page is: www.jiva.co.uk
News is at: www.jiva.co.uk/newsarc.htm

Thanks for dropping by...

Jimmy and Val (jiva)
www.jiva.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/jivauk
www.youtube.com/jivauk

23-Feb-10 Cramlington Folk Club

2010-03-04T12:48:00.000Z

Keith, in decidedly jovial mood, got the night underway shortly after 8:00 pm with the opening verses of a humorous poem, setting the scene for yet another grand Cramlington night. There was the usual varied crop of residents and one new performer that we'd not seen before. We sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Best Friends (jiva)
Louise (Paul Siebel)

It's quite something to have the Cramlington choir in full voice one moment and then having the room in rapt attentive silence the next. It's a smashing place to play - a testament to Keith & Audrey, residents, visitors and audience alike.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

19-Feb-10 How cool is that

2010-03-04T12:27:00.000Z

Imagine the scene... Friday night we're both on our PCs in the study and at 23:10 the telephone rings - it's Anthony John Clarke... He's playing his gig at Leigh Folk Club and has rung us from the stage! He quickly says "listen to this I'm going to play your 'One More Song'" and hands his mobile to his wife Julia to hold while he plays.

Well, we were gobsmacked - how thoughtful and outrageously cool is that! We listened, openmouthed as he sang and as the audience swelled every 'One more song to sing'. It was lovely and when he sang (his own words) 'I'm standing here all alone' the audience responded with 'Aaahh' and he followed with "And Jimmy and Val who wrote this song, they're listening on the telephone" we just couldn't believe our ears.

And we got a text message from a friend asking "Did you hear me singing?"

A lovely lovely end to the day for us, grinning from ear to ear.

Links
jiva website

jiva MySpace
Anthony John Clarke

14-Feb-10 Bishop fm - live concert

2010-02-22T15:36:00.001Z

We were the first guest on Terry Ferdinand's new Sunday live one hour concert series (no name for the show yet) - it's quite something, and indeed an honour, to be 'guinea pigs' for each new project that he dreams up.

We took along our Bose L1 sound system and plugged this straight into the studio desk to ensure the critical jiva balance providing our trademark gentle blend of acoustic guitars and vocal harmony. They also used the studio mics to capture the live room ambience in the mix. It sounded good to us in the studio - Gary and Terry were quite animated with thumbs up signs and scribbled messages on a mini whiteboard... at one point Gary wrote that all he needed was a sofa and a beer and he'd be made (it was a little difficult to concentrate on song lyrics while reading these messages).

We played:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Louise (Paul Siebel)
Dream On (jiva)
Yorkshire Romance (C J Rowe)
Some Way Home (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)

It was an hour long programme - play a couple of songs, chat a bit, play a bit, have a jingle or two, play a bit more, and so on. And there was a live telephone call with Anthony John Clarke as well. Phew! The hour, as usual, just flew by - and before we knew it we had just over 4 minutes left and goodbyes to say and one more song to sing... no we didn't finish with that song - we finished with 'Different Dreams', the final flourish/strum being hit with less than a second to spare (how's that for timing).

Thanks for having us along Terry - we had a great time - and good luck for future shows.

Links
jiva website

jiva MySpace
Terry Ferdinand MySpace
BishopFM

11-Feb-10 MIND Active

2010-02-13T18:50:00.000Z

It's lovely to turn up and find everyone in their chairs ready and eagerly waiting for us to play. We were in the Reception area so there was a fair bit of movement from staff and visitors, but it didn't detract from a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Men were greatly outnumbered by women so they had a bit of a challenge for the men verus women in 'One More Song' so we declared it a draw!

We played:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Louise (Paul Siebel)
Dream On (jiva)
Yorkshire Romance (CJ Rowe)
Passin Thru (Randy Scruggs and Johnny Cash)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

After an hour's performance we had a cup of tea and a chat with residents and staffand there were lots of positive comments and requests for us to come back soon. We left them a copy of our 'Best Friends' CD so they can practice the words and sing along even more at our next visit.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

08-Feb-10 Nanci Griffith at The Sage Gateshead

2010-02-13T18:41:00.000Z

Although we both enjoy listening to our Nanci Griffith CDs neither of us had seen Nanci Griffith in concert, so we'd been looking forward for some time to a night out at the Sage. The evening got underway prompt at 19:30 with the support act - singer/songwriter Edwina Hayes. She's making quite a name for herself...someone to definitely watch out for.

There was a short break and then it was time for Nanci Griffith. She had two members of the Blue Moon Orchestra with her, a guitarist and drummer/percussionist, and began with the John Prine song, 'Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness'. Before too long she did 'Love At The Five And Dime' (a song oh hers that's not only in our own repertoire but also on our 'Best Friends' CD).

There were lots of good songs, and Nanci and the boys performed in a very laid back and relaxed style, enhanced by the good work done by the soundman who ensured clarity at a comfortable volume. We can't remember all the titles of the songs, but it was a smashing evening and we had a great time. The evening just seemed to whizz by.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Nanci Griffith website

07-Feb-10 Guisborough Folk Club

2010-02-13T18:20:00.000Z

First visit this year - bad weather had kept us away in January.

Not quite as busy as some nights we have been to, but there was the usual friendly welcome from performers and audience.

We were on in the first half and, like everyone else, got two songs. We did Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith) and Louise (Paul Siebel).

Customary beer break and raffle selling followed before the night got underway again with performers who had not got on in the first half and then with repeat of some performers. We didn't get on again (shame), but we did win a prize in the raffle!

As we were putting our guitars back in their cases at the end of the night we received lots of lovely comments from performers and audience alike... and more still as we loaded our stuff into the car for the 60 mile journey home.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Guisborough Folk Club website

06-Feb-10 Comrades Club, Whitley Bay

2010-02-07T17:46:00.004Z

We'd not been to one of John Jeffrey's acoustic/folk nights since October 2009, so were pleased to be back in familiar surroundings among comrades in the local music scene. Although these nights did start as purely acoustic (ie no PA), Gerry Beldon has provided such gear for a few evenings now, and it looks set to continue in this vein. That's fine with us as long as (like the Comrades Club acoustic nights) it continues to be used to lift/enhance the sound slightly - we definitely don't like things too loud... apart from spoiling the ambience it can permanently damage the hearing of audience and artists alike.

OK - rant over...

John and Fraser got the first half started with 2 songs, accompanying their vocals with 6 and 12-string guitars. Then we had a solo performer doing a Ralph McTell song followed by Simon and Garfunkel's boxer. There were 3 banjos in the room and, in a somewhat strange running order, John decided to have all the banjo players perform their 2 songs immediately after each other. We didn't catch the name of the first guy, but the second and third were our good friends Doug Wood and Maurice Baker. Gerry finished the first half with 3 songs.

Then, after a short break, John asked us to start the second half with a 20 to 25 minute slot. This evening we had planned to do numbers with us both playing 6-string guitars so we performed:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Best Friends (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Louise (Paul Siebel)

John and Fraser got up again to do 2 more songs, then John sang a solo a capella number before inviting Gerry back for another 3 songs before Few Broth finished the night in fine style with mostly Geordie songs that had people singing along with gusto.

Thanks for the invite, John... we can't make the next one, but will hopefully get to the one after that.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

02-Feb-20 MIND Active

2010-02-07T15:08:00.002Z

We arrived in good time to find the room set up and ready - the residents were just finishing their lunch and we were told they would be along soon. We were playing in the 'cinema room' so called because they have a pull down screen, projector and a Wii!

We had plenty of time to set up the gear before the residents came in. Today they were all women. We played the usual two sets of five songs in each with a small break in the middle for re-tune and gargle. We played:

Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Yorkshire Romance (CJ Rowe)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Best Friends (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

One particular resident was over the moon with us - she gave us both a kiss and a cuddle! It was a lovely afternoon.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

27-Jan-10 Acoustic Wednesday Beamish Mary

2010-01-31T22:52:00.001Z

This is a new club - or rather an old club rising phoenix-like from the ashes. It was started anew at the beginning of the year by Steve (the Bass player with the trio Fool's Gold) and this was our first visit under the new management. We have been to the Beamish Mary before when there was a club run by John Brindle and before that by Rita Mawson.

The separate music room has been 'done up' - the bar has been removed and a small stage built in the corner. It's an acoustic set up (ie no instruments plugged in) though Steve has a PA and mikes up the instruments and voices which made for a very natural sound - the ambience being further supplemented with a basic lighting rig (very close and bright for the performers).

There was quite a good turn out with about a dozen performers, and it was good to catch up with Andy and Cath (Acoustica) who sang two songs new to us.

It was two each round the room which took us to 10:00 pm and then one each to get around again. Some people had gone home so the last act got to finish with two more songs and then Fool's Gold rounded off the night with a song.

We sang

Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Best Friends (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)

There were varied styles and quite a few performers we had not seen before. It was a grand night - we'll be back. Well done Steve!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Stephen Wilson MySpace

21-Jan-10 MIND Active

2010-01-22T21:30:00.001Z

Quick change of venue for today's outing for MIND Active. The home we were due to play in was 'out of bounds' with sickness. But some quick re-arranging had us booked in to play at a different home... our first visit there for nearly a year.

We arrived in good time and got our gear set up and were ready to play. We played the usual two sets of five songs in each with a small break in the middle for re-tune and gargle. We played:

Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Yorkshire Romance (CJ Rowe)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Best Friends (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

There was some lovely joining in from the residents and the whole hour was relaxed and cosy.

All too soon it was time to head home again leaving some smiling residents and taking some happy memories and good wishes with us.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

20-Jan-10 Comrades Folk 'n Local

2010-01-22T21:26:00.000Z

We'd been invited along to the Comrades Club in Whitley Bay by John Jeffrey (he runs the occasional Saturday folk acoustic music nights there). The 'entertainment' for the evening was a group called Folk 'n Local... We'd not heard of them before and didn't know what to expect, so we headed off just to chill out and have an evening off from our own music and PCs and recording and designing etc.

Folk 'n Local are a 4-piece who sing Geordie traditional/fun/music hall type songs and some stuff from the 50s through to 70s pop era too with the odd modern pop song thrown in for good measure. Instrumentation was guitars, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, Northumbrian pipes and even a drinks tray acting as a makeshift tambourine.

There was a canny buffet at half time and we managed to have a natter with Few Broth too.

Thanks for the invite, John.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

20-Jan-10 Recording Stewart Shackleton

2010-01-22T21:17:00.000Z

Stewart is a resident of Cramlington Folk Club. He asked if we could help him as he would like to record some of his songs for a CD. We agreed 'terms and conditions' and he duly turned up at the allotted time. After a bit of chat and chinwag he got straight down to it. Three hours later, two cups of tea each and a biscuit and ten songs recorded! Phew!

Now begins the work of listening and tweaking and adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that jiva magic then we'll be sending an initial mix for Stewart to listen to.

Watch this space for developments...

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
jiva design website

19-Jan-10 Foggy Furze Folk Club

2010-01-22T21:13:00.000Z

The awful snowy weather has really taken it's toll on jiva outings... only our second time out playing so far this year found us at the Foggy Furze in Hartlepool. The club is run by Ian and Kay D'eath and on non-guest nights is run on a singaround basis.

It's was fairly a quiet night but a fair mix with guitars, mandolin, accordion, harmonica and a cappella singing as well.

We were asked to start the night and began with the title track from our recent CD release 'Best Friends' (jiva) and followed this with 'Yorkshire Romance' (CJ Rowe) and then it was around the room with everyone else doing two at a time as well.

By 10:00 pm we stopped for a swift beer break before going round the room again. This time we sang our own 'Some Way Home' and 'One More Song'.

There was time at the end of the night for two more songs from jiva and we sang two more self-penned numbers, 'Different Dreams' and 'When'.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Foggy Furze website

19-Jan-10 Anthony John Clarke songbook 'An Acquaintance' 50 Songs

2010-01-22T00:59:00.001Z

In October 2009 when Anthony John Clarke was the guest at Cramlington Folk Club he came to stay with us for a couple of days and we were surprised, but delighted and thrilled, when he asked if we could design a songbook for him... oh, and he'd like it done by the end of 2009 if possible! We said yes, no problem, we'd love to!

Anthony John worked through the songs providing lyric sheets, chord shapes and photographs. We got all the photos (some paper and some electronic) onto our computer system, painstakingly drew every chord box and formatted the lyrics into a consistent format. Then we assembled the songs into alphabetical order and inserted the chord shapes for each song.

As the initial drafts were emailed and edited it became obvious that we needed to spend a day or two together to confirm and finalise the chords, choose from the assembled gallery of photographs and add that personal touch from Anthony John himself. So towards the end of November Anthony John came up north again and we all worked very hard to ensure that we got as much done as humanly possible... The book was now starting to take shape and the excitement and anticipation was starting to grow.

During the following week we managed to fit in listening to every one of the songs on CD, ensuring that the lyrics were word-for-word in the book. Then it was back to the chords, and trying out the final lyrics with the tunings and chords and confirming capo positions. Additionally, there were new photos needed, some old photos to be improved/doctored, and cover design to be finalised... All this while we were preparing for our Netherton guest spot and CD launch followed 3 days later by our Croxdale Folk Club Guest spot!

Then the draft was hand-delivered to the printer for a proof print - nothing more to be done except wait... the proof version came out with some concerns over greyscale picture quality and so we frantically re-examined all our work to date, went over every possible setting with a fine-tooth comb, braved the snow to drive to a couple of print shops to try a few things out, came back home, checked, re-checked, got some higher resolution photos, and still found no difference from the original on our own equipment.

After a tormented and exhausting week-end we got in touch with the printers and were somewhat exasperated but very relieved to find that the problem had been at their end, and that our submitted work was fine! Ah well, the time had also been usefully spent in going through the printed proof very thoroughly and we and Anthony John came up with a few tweaks before submitting the final version for the production run.

So, with a lot of hard work by all concerned, we had everything drafted, proofed, tweaked and with the printers before their Christmas break - everything that we could do was 'done'... but the printers wouldn't be able to complete the order until some time in January.

We're pleased to report that the book is now published and about to hit the streets!

148 pages, 50 songs with chords and 'twiddly bits', photographs, quotes etc., it's a great book and A5 wiro bound so you can open it up and lay it flat while learning to play his songs.

A must buy for any Anthony John Clarke fan.

Oh yes, we are thrilled to bits that Anthony John has included our very own 'One More Song' in the songbook... he now includes it in his live set too! Wowee!!

Links
jiva website
jiva design website
jiva MySpace
Anthony John Clarke website

12-Jan-10 Cramlington Folk Club

2010-01-16T17:39:00.002Z

After a longer than usual Christmas and New Year break we were pleased to head off to Cramlington Folk Club for a singers night. Apart from the snow and ice making travel difficult (with many clubs having to cancel their evenings) we had suffered a slight setback ourselves... while making hardware changes to a PC Jimmy cut his right hand index finger. Even after a fortnight it hadn't fully healed, but we decided that we just had to get on with things and get back to playing!

As always Keith got the night underway shortly after 8:00 pm, and there was a good crop of performers including acts that we had either not seen before (Fools Gold) and who were new to Cramlington (John Jeffrey). We were on fairly late in the first half and played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva), both of which had the Cramlington Choir in full swing.

There was quite an array of instruments - multiple guitars (including parlour guitars and a twin-neck 6 and 12 string Ovation), two banjos, mandolin, two double basses and harmonica.

It was a night of varied styles and genres... another grand Cramlington night.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

31-Dec-09 2009 Overview

2009-12-31T20:25:00.002Z

Hi

And so, here we are again… another year on, and what a year it has been! They just get better and better and busier and busier.

Apart from our usual round of performing at local clubs we’ve been to Lincolnshire, Blackpool, Bradford, the North West, Belgium and the USA!

The main big big news is that we have at last got married… 40 years after we first met!

We travelled to the USA and were married in the Taylor Guitar Factory complex in El Cajon, California. Wow! What an adventure and what a place and what an experience.

We are keen Taylor guitar players (we are sometimes referred to as the Taylor twins!) and all our performing guitars are Taylor guitars.

This picture was taken by the Taylor Guitars photographer and as you can see we were, well… somewhat happy.

It was a smashing day… but more later when we get to August.

January saw us playing at a few clubs and venues, five new to us, an appearance on Bishop FM radio and also recording our friend Jim Wigfield for his second CD. We started Tai Chi classes and we went to the wedding reception of two friends of ours. One of the new performing venues was our local Community Hospital. Through Cramlington Folk Club we went along to the hospital and went from floor to floor, ward to ward, and bay to bay playing two or three songs in each as we went along. It was great. We enjoyed it - and the patients, visitors and staff enjoyed it too.

It was a fairly quiet February performing wise as we were building up to a jiva concert at Seaton Delaval Arts Centre on the 21st. This is an old Salvation Army Hall which has been refurbished and done up and it hosts concerts, pantomimes, plays, dinners, etc. The room was decked out cabaret style and it was good to see so many of our friends and contemporaries in the audience along with some of the locals. We also took on a website design commission for some musician friends of ours, and a new recording commission for a chap called Daniel who wanted to put down a few songs for his family. We paid a first visit to Carlisle Folk Club to see Anthony John Clarke (if you ever get the chance to see him don’t miss it – you’ll love him… guaranteed).

It was off to the Ingleton Festival Fundraiser again in March though this time we didn’t stay for a week. We drove there in time for our evening slot and drove back the same night. A Hiring Fair found us at The Station in Loftus on the15th and on the 21st we made our way down to Faldingworth Live in Lincolnshire to do a 30-minute support slot. This is a wonderful club run by Les Worrall. As it would have been a long drive back he’d arranged for us to stay over with some local residents. Then another guest spot on Bishop fm Radio followed by another visit to The Clarence in Blackpool (we went there last March). This time we had been asked by our friends in the north west, Penny Black, to take part in an evening concert. There were four acts, ourselves included. Earlier in the month we had seen one of our favourite singer/songwriters Anthony John Clarke at The Davy Lamp in Washington and he told us he would come over to see us play at The Clarence. We met up beforehand for fish and chips courtesy of Anthony John. He was scheduled to play at Gregson Lane Folk Club near Preston the following night so we stayed over so we wouldn’t miss his performance. We finished the month with a support slot at Cramlington Folk Club for Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby.

And if that wasn’t enough we also had time to meet up with Timi from Texas! Timi had become a huge fan of Bishop fm and good friends with Terry Ferdinand who does the Folk Show and she came over to the UK (and Ireland) to meet everyone. We had them all round for dinner one evening and we again met up with Timi at a few of the clubs we played at.

April was a little quieter! It began with lunch in Leeds with Allan Taylor and a Golden Wedding reception for Keith and Audrey Taylor who run Cramlington Folk Club. Then playing at a friends party, and a first appearance on the Lionheart Radio folk programme. Lionheart are based in Alnwick and the programme is DJ’d by Dave Forshaw whom we first met some years ago. He also organises the Clennell Hall Folk Festival. There was another appearance on Bishop fm, this time with our friend Richard Robinson, an appearance at a new club in Bishop Auckland and finally a 30-minute spot for a charity concert in Morpeth. More time was spent with the Jim Wigfield recording and mixing and also a lot of time on our new website commission. And we had friends to stay for a couple of nights as well.

Things picked up apace for May. There was yet another Bishop fm appearance to help promote an album called ‘Forget Me Not’. This had been put together by Eamon from Ireland and had contributions from 26 musicians/performers from around the globe. He had chosen our song ‘Some Way Home’ for inclusion in the album and proceeds from the sale go to Alzheimer’s Ireland. Quite a milestone this… our first track on an album for commercial internet download from CD Baby… Then we were off to Clennell Hall Folk Festival where we had bar spots, a marquee spot and we were also running some of the sessions. On the day for our marquee spot the rain poured and a storm broke with the howling wind almost tearing the marquee from the ground so we had to go indoors into the cellar for our turn. The marquee was off limits for safety reasons! Throughout the month there were lots of performances at folk clubs and other venues, a party at some musician friends of ours, Acoustica, culminating in a support slot at Rothbury Roots for Jez Lowe. Oh yes, and we went to see Melanie in Manchester.

June – oh where to begin! We had been assisting Allan Taylor throughout the year with a special weekend to take place in Brussels for a showing of the film which has been made about his life on the road ‘The Endless Highway’. We look after Allan’s mailing list and had been the contact inviting people from all over the world to the event. Henri in Brussels was co-ordinating hotel and venue arrangements. A short time before the event Allan had a health scare and had to pull out but it was too late to cancel everything. Whilst some people chose not to come there was a good turnout and it was great to get to meet so many other Allan Taylor fans from all around Europe. After the film showing we all returned to the hotel and took over the bar area where musician friends of Allan’s played and sang. We were asked to play, and happily borrowed two guitars and played a couple of songs – it was wonderful. Everyone was friendly and thinking about and missing Allan Taylor.

We went to see Ewen Carruthers at Cramlington Folk Club, local band The Caffreys at Porters in Tynemouth, Eric Bogle at The Davy Lamp Folk Club and our friends Acoustica at Seaton Delaval Arts Centre. We also had our initial visit with Ron Angus, professional sound recording engineer – we were at last going to get ourselves a commercial album done. Mid month we had invited Terry and Catherine Ferdinand around for dinner… but we had a devious ulterior motive as well. Terry had been producing ‘Folk Up Front’ programmes for his folk show (a kinda Desert Island Discs) and we had decided to ‘turn the tables’ on him. We had primed many of his MySpace friends about this and had questions sent in by them so we had our script ready, our front room set up ready with mics and recording gear ready to go. Terry is such a good sport he took it all in his stride and we had a great time. Tell you what though… we’re much happier being the performer rather than presenter.

And if all that wasn’t enough we also took part in The Big Folk Gathering and a Hiring Fair Concert as part of the Durham Traditional Music Festival and of course, and also found time to pop in to a few local clubs as well.

Things really were a bit quieter for July as we were busily trying to catch up and tie up all loose ends before leaving for the USA at the end of the month. We had two sessions in the studio with Ron Angus which went really well. We finished off Jim’s second album and artwork and sent it off for replication and packaging etc. There was more work on Allan Taylor’s second songbook which saw Allan come to visit us twice. Performances included a 15-minute spot at Nature’s World Folk Festival, a guest gig at The Smugglers in Morecambe and a 30-minute slot at Hiring Concert in Rotherham!

Then came August - not long till the wedding day! We flew out on the 3rd August and went first to Florida for four nights. We stayed in Titusville which is where the Kennedy Space Center is and the place is just incredible! Jaw-dropping for the two days we spent there. Then on the Friday we flew over to La Jolla just north of San Diego for 7 nights. We were to be married on the 12th. We hadn’t been allowed to apply for a marriage licence on-line, so on the 10th we went off to the County Clerk’s office in El Cajon to arrange this and make our first visit to the Taylor Guitar Factory where we met with Chalise, Public Relations Manager and our contact… yes, it was really true, we were getting married in the Taylor Guitar Factory. We had our own personal tour that day and tied up arrangements for the wedding day. We were to be married in their Marketing Suite, wall to wall Taylor guitars and we were invited to pick up any of the guitars and play them. Well, of course we did. Chalise said we could use the guitars on our wedding day if we wanted! Val had fallen in love with a Custom Build 12-string. Val’s son, Richard, arrived the day before the wedding and then the wedding day arrived! To say it was wonderful is an understatement is was just WOW! Timi from Texas came over for the wedding as well. And the 12-string guitar… Val played it while Jimmy used a 6-string and we sang an Allan Taylor song ‘Back Home To You’ during our wedding ceremony. The guitar is now in our front room – we just had to buy it. After the wedding we all went out for a Mexican meal. What a day.

Richard left the following day to travel to San Francisco to stay with a friend for a week and we stayed on for another day, enjoying a honeymoon hot air balloon flight. We left La Jolla on the Friday and took the long drive all the way up the west coast, through Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Big Sur etc till we reached Tacoma, Washington State (not far from Seattle). It was a very long drive and probably one we should have taken two weeks doing instead of four days as we hardly had time to sightsee as it was all drive, eat and sleep. But the scenery was magnificent and an adventure all the same. We stayed with musician friends, Steve and Kristi Nebel, in Tacoma for ten days. They showed us the sights, Mount Rainier, took us to visit relatives in Anacortes, went to a real American County Fair where they were playing – wonderful. We borrowed a couple of 6-string guitars throughout our stay in Tacoma and we played at an open mic night which was broadcast live on the radio. Then it was a long journey home just in time for the Bank Holiday weekend.

No rest for the wicked it seems. September kicked off on the 4th with a first time performing visit to a singers night at Carlisle Folk Club. We were up first with three songs. The 5th we were at The Davy Lamp to see Allan Taylor who came home with us because on the 6th we had a Wedding Celebration ‘do’ for friends and Allan had kindly agreed to play. We did a 30-minute set, had some food, cut the cake and then Allan played... with us joining him on stage for the last number. It was a smashing night. There was the usual visit to singers nights at folk clubs and we also paid a first time visit to The Topic Folk Club in Bradford. We had arranged to have a support slot for the guest night of Dana and Susan Robinson (a couple from America whom we always make a point of seeing when they are over here in the UK).

Then it was back to Ron’s studio to finish recording and a further visit to liaise on the mixing and it was done. 12 tracks, mastered and ready for us to start on our artwork for the booklet etc. That kept us very busy, trying to get the right purple was tricky and finding that black isn’t really black was kinda interesting. But we got there and everything was sent off to be glass mastered, replicated and packaged. Finger biting waiting for the CD to come… we’d been given a date of early November.

Then at the end of the month we were off to Ingleton for a week. We had been booked to take part in the Ingleton Folk Festival so we hired the cottage we had stayed in the year before, for the week. This gave us the opportunity for return visits to clubs we had visited last year – The Plough Sessions near Blackpool, Coppull Folk Club, Wigan Folk Club and, after a 5 year break, the Hale & Hearty Folk Club in Milnthorpe. We also paid a first time visit to The Bothy in Southport.

This took us into October and after getting home very late on the 3rd (4 o’clock in the morning) after 2 afternoon slots at the festival and an evening gig in Morecambe we were up and over to Amble to do some songs for a ‘day after the wedding ceremony’ celebration at the couple’s house. Allan’s songbook was ready from the printers so we picked them up in eager anticipation… nothing to worry about it looked great… and drove down to Allan to take him some copies. Val did a few days temping work at a solicitors in Morpeth and we did a new care home in Morpeth during one of her temping days! We had friends to stay and took them to see Show of Hands in Durham and finished up the month with a support slot at Cramlington for Anthony John Clarke. He and his road manager John stayed with us fro two days before travelling back up to Scotland for his next gig. On the Wednesday we had a gig at The Bridge in Newcastle and we were roadied there by John and Anthony John – we felt like celebrities!

November… not much time for playing out. We had a new commission… Anthony John Clarke had asked us to do him a Songbook, look after his website and his MySpace. He said he’d like, if possible, to have the songbook out by the end of the year!

jiva CD ‘Best Friends’ arrived – colours were just fine. Phew! But no time to get out there promoting it… we were busy with the songbook! Anthony John came to stay for two days and we worked solidly through the book, page by page, chord by chord putting in pictures and quotes. Hard work but thoroughly enjoyable.

28th November – guest gig and CD launch at Netherton Folk Club. Also, Jack who runs the club, had retired the day before and it was his birthday the following day. We had a great night… and sold some CDs and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jack as his candlelit cake was brought in. He joined us in our last song of the night ‘One More Song’ (he has added this to his repertoire). Magic.

So here we are, back again at December. 1st December we had a guest gig at Croxdale Folk Club and it was good to see some friends there and we’ve been back on Bishop fm (it’s been off the air since May and is no longer internet based… it’s fully fledged FM – on 105.9)… then there was the Cramlington Christmas dinner, and our last performance outing of the year was to Low Row over Brampton way. We’ve taken the final electronic version of of Anthony John Clarke's songbook to the printer, and are anxiously awaiting the January call to tell us that there are 1,000 A5 wirobound songbooks ready and waiting. Two Songbook Launch concerts have been arranged for February – one in Liverpool the other in Manchester and we shall be performing as Special Guests. So timing and prioritising has been critical.

The highlight of this month was Anthony John doing our song ‘One More Song’. He has added this to his repertoire and debuted it on BBC Radio Lancashire – it was wonderful. We are just thrilled, speechless and delighted that he likes the song so much. And it’s in the songbook too!

After a brief Christmas visit by Val's son Richard, we spent the last few days of the year in Liverpool staying with Anthony John and Julia - time to just relax and chill out away from the deadlines and pressures of design, publishing, performing, recording, writing, rehearsing, etc.

And now here we are, New Year's Eve - back home, rounding off a remarkable year, trying to continue in relaxing vein as we look forward to what looks like being an extremely busy and fulfilling 2010.

We hope you all had a good Christmas and we send you our sincere best wishes for the coming new year. Hopefully our paths will cross soon.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
jiva design website

15-Dec-09 Low Row Folk Session

2009-12-16T17:41:00.006Z

First visit since getting married so we took our netbook loaded with the video slideshow of some of our wedding photos for everyone to see. This set the night up for many references to wedding and happiness and joy etc - quite appropriate as tonight's theme was Christmas, winter and joy.

The club is run on a singaround basis, one each (or two for duos) at a time. Tonight there was a good mix of songs, poetry, short stories and instrumentals too. Most sing unaccompanied but there was also flute, recorder, melodeon and tambour tonight.

No break and no raffle so time for lots of songs and chat with time to go around the room four times - so we did four stints of two songs per go. We sang:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Best Friends (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
Silent Night (Christmas carol)
Dream On (jiva)
Louise (Paul Siebel)

with appreciative listening and joining in from those present.

It was a fun night and we all joined in singing a Christmas carol as a round to the tune of Ilkley Moor Baht 'at!

Links
jiva website

jiva MySpace
Low Row Folk Session

07-Dec-09 jiva on Terry Ferdinand's Bishop fm Folk Show

2009-12-09T01:14:00.000Z

Terry Ferdinand's folk show on Bishop fm is back... new studio, new time, 7:00pm (only 1 hour at the moment), and only on fm so no internet listeners. It was great to be back on his show.

Interspersed with news, ads and, of course, other music, we performed three songs:

Different Dreams (jiva)
Best Friends (jiva)
Silent Night (Christmas carol)

Terry takes videos of his guests performing and you can find videos of us at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4NtzsgHkCc - Different Dreams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vnFDteaYGM - Best Friends
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuB2k4KsV8c - Silent Night

Thanks Terry, we had a smashing time... keep up the good work and here's hoping your show is extended to two hours!

Links
jiva website

jiva MySpace
Terry Ferdinand MySpace
BishopFM

05-Dec-09 Cathryn Craig & Brian Willoughby at Ovington Social Club

2009-12-07T14:03:00.001Z

It's always good to see Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby (we'd not seen them since March at Cramlington Folk Club) and there was time for a bit of natter with them about what we'd been up to, including our wedding and CD launch and loads of other stuff. There was quite a good crowd in at the Ovington Social Club and everyone was in good spirits.

The night was kicked off by local band The Bridge End Buskers getting things underway (electric and loud!) - 7 of them on stage with drums, bass, accordion, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, harmonica, saxophone and barely discernable vocals.

After a short break, allowing Cathryn and Brian to disentangle the mass of cables, the main act started their first set with the apt and beautiful 'That Old Guitar' - and from then on it was fabulous singing and amazing guitar dexterity interspersed with background stories and humour... well balanced sound with every nuance audible.

There was quite a long break for the raffle (we've never seen so many prizes) which was being held in support of RDA (Riding for the Disabled). However, despite the numerous prizes, we didn't win anything!

Cathryn and Brian came back on for their second set and very kindly and warmly dedicated 'Two Hearts' to us. It was gorgeous. Then more great songs, and an encore, and all too soon the evening came to an end. So we we donned our hats and coats and scarves, said our farewells, and made our way home warmed by the glow of friendship and wonderful music from Cathryn and Brian.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby

04-Dec-09 Anthony John Clarke singing 'One More Song' on BBC Radio

2009-12-07T13:26:00.001Z

We had been eagerly awaiting the broadcasting of 'The Drift', Phil Brown's folk programme on BBC Radio Lancashire as we knew that Anthony John had debuted his version of our song 'One More Song'. Karen Coupe had posted a video on YouTube which brought a tear or two, and we were eager to hear the whole show.

Anthony John Clarke at BBC Radio Lancashire
01 December 2009
Song: One More Song (© jiva)
Filmed by: Karen Coupe

Most of the hour-long show was Anthony John and Ray Baguley performing in front of a live audience and, for once, we took a rest from web design, book design, MySpace, Facebook, Folk Show ning and music rehearsing just to relax and listen. It was a great show, and the icing on the cake for us was Anthony John's introduction and the actual song where they were joined by Phil Brown (presenter) on low whistle... absolutely priceless!

We were stunned into silence, and hardly spoke a word during the next hour as if not to break the magical spell.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Anthony John Clarke website

03-Dec-09 MIND Active

2009-12-07T13:00:00.000Z

Lovely care home in Newbiggin - playing in the front room and through the window the sea just feet away. The room was full and we chatted easily with the residents while setting up our guitars. One had remembered we were getting married (it's a year since we've been at this home) and we happily told them all about our trip to the USA in August.

To a great relaxed atmosphere we sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Best Friends (jiva)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
All Day Every Day (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
Silent Night (Christmas Carol) segueing into
One More Song (jiva)

Everyone in the room joined in on 'Silent Night' - it was just beautiful and they carried on joining in at all the right places on 'One More Song' as well! It was lovely.

All too soon again it was time to head home... lots of thankyous and wishes for a merry Christmas and happy new year.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

01-Dec-09 jiva at Croxdale Folk Club

2009-12-07T12:54:00.000Z

We've been to Croxdale many times, either doing floorspots or watching some of our favourite performers, or both... but it's especially nice when a club organiser asks us to top the bill. And so it was we journeyed to Croxdale for our guest night.

We were all so busy nattering that there was no time for floor singers before our first set. We got the night underway with our first 40-minute set. We'd had to set our Bose L1 system up in a corner (rather than the usual directly behind us) but no problems, the Bose has such a small footprint with less cables and clutter than conventional systems... and the the sound was great as usual - warm and clear at comfortable volume for performers and audience alike.

For our first set we sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Best Friends (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Galway To Graceland (Richard Thompson)
No Telling (Linda Thompson)
Back Again (Allan Taylor)
Small Town (jiva)

There was the obligatory raffle ticket selling in the break and we even won a bottle of wine!

Phil Graham, John Brindle and Chris Milner started second part of the night... thanks guys! For our second set we sang:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
All Day Every Day (jiva)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Jimmy's Song (Allan Taylor)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)

It had been a grand night and after shouts of "more" we finished off with 'Silent Night' (Christmas Carol) - segueing this, much to everyone's surprise, with our own 'One More Song'.

Thanks to John Kelly for asking us to be guests... we'll be back.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Croxdale Folk Club MySpace

30-Nov-09 MIND Active

2009-11-30T23:22:00.000Z

Our fifteenth visit since 2004 to this residential care home in Bedlington - we look forward to visiting and we know the residents look forward to our visits too! There were lots of 'Hello's and much chat before we launched into two thirty-minute slots with only the briefest of intervals for a quick gulp of tea. We sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Louise (Paul Siebel)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
All Day Every Day (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
Silent Night (Christmas Carol)

And then, all too soon it was time to head home... amid thumbs up and thankyous from the residents and promises from us to return in the new year.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

29-Nov-09 South Shields Folk Club

2009-11-30T22:58:00.001Z

It's been ten months since we last visited this club - where does the time go?

It was a blustery, rainy night... but we decided to brave the elements and visit South Shields for one of their rare singers nights... the weather had no doubt kept a few cosy at home, but it was nonetheless a good night. There was the usual mix of unaccompanied traditional and classic songs, flute playing, blues guitar and (of course) the gentle jiva blend, all mixed together with lots of humour and good natured banter.

We were the final act in the first half and also finished the night at the end of the second half. For our first two-song slot we did 'Love At The Five And Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Best Friends' (jiva), both of which went down well with lots of joining in on the choruses. Our closing set was 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'Silent Night' (Christmas Carol) - again there was lots of singing.

A canny night - just the way to banish those rainy day blues!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
South Shields Folk Club

20-Jan-09 Low Row Folk Session

2009-11-30T22:44:00.000Z

First visit to this club held at the Railway Inn at Low Row, not far from Brampton in Cumbria.

In the early part of the evening most people sang unaccompanied (apart from us!). Later another singer had her guitar and there was also a chap with a bodhran. We were made very welcome and soon settled into the around the room singaround night. The performers all seemed very knowledgeable about the songs they chose, and so there was plenty of introductory chat.

As there was no break and no raffle there was time to go around the room five times - so we did five stints of two songs per go, with appreciative listening and some joining in from those present. We were really pleased with the way everyone got into our final song ('One More Song'), singing heartily. And to cap it all, Maddy Prior was one of the singers that night... and she came across at the end to say that she had enjoyed our stuff.

The club runs once a month, and we'll certainly be back in a few months time.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Low Row Folk Session

28-Nov-09 jiva at Netherton Folk Club: Guest Night and CD Launch

2009-11-30T22:30:00.006Z

What a great night! Wow... it was wonderful. We're indebted to club organiser Jack Wilkinson for agreeing we could have our CD launch at his club, one of the friendliest places we play. We put a couple of bottles of Bucks Fizz on each table so everyone could help themselves and join us in the night of celebration.

We arrived at the venue (Netherton Memorial Hall) in good time to get our gear set up and also to have a natter and catch up with Jack.

L to R: 'Missy' Taylor 12-string, 'Rio' Taylor 6-string, Bose L1 system,
CDs and promo packs, 'Chalise' Taylor 12-string, 'Nams' Taylor 6-string

There was a good mix of floor singers including our good friends Jim Wigfield, Mike Jessop, Andy & Cath (Acoustica), some club regulars and a few we hadn't seen before. For our first set we performed:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Best Friends (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Peaceful Easy Feeling (Eagles)
Galway To Graceland (Richard Thompson)
No Telling (Linda Thompson)
Back Again (Allan Taylor)
Small Town (jiva)

We then led the whole room in singing "Happy birthday" to Jack Wilkinson as a guitar shaped chocolate cake complete with lighted candles was brought into the room much to the surprise and joy of Jack whose 65th birthday was the following day!

During the break we chatted at length to people and also sold a few CDs... there was the mandatory raffle (we even won a bottle of wine), and then it was back to the music with a few more floor spots before our second set in which we sang:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
All Day Every Day (jiva)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Jimmy's Song (Allan Taylor)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
Silent Night (Christmas Carol)

For the encore we did our very own 'One More Song' with Jack stepping up behind the microphone to join us as he includes this song as part of his repertoire... thanks, Jack! A great way to finish a truly memorable night.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Netherton Folk Club MySpace

26-Nov-09 Allan Taylor at Darlington Folk Club

2009-11-30T21:26:00.000Z

Allan Taylor, just back after a six week tour of Germany, was on great form this evening at Darlington Folk Club. It was great to catch up with him.

Tom Hughes, club organiser and MC, got the evening underway with his support slot - he got the audience nicely warmed up for the main act.

Allan began with a newish song, as yet unreleased, called 'Endless Highway'. This was written after filming had finished for his soon to be released DVD about his life on the road called...'The Endless Highway'! A great start and it just got better and better as Allan played and sang two great sets mixing old and new songs and telling many tales of his life on the road.

The audience loved him, we loved him... and it was a smashing night. He finished off the night with another unreleased song called 'I'm Going Home' and he had the whole room joining in from the first couple of lines through to the end. A wonderful night!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Allan Taylor

20-Nov-09 MIND Active

2009-11-23T13:05:00.001Z

Our fourth visit to this residential care home in Newbiggin. There was a good crowd waiting for us in the lounge and as we got our guitars out and set up we chatted with some of the residents like long lost friends.

A lovely relaxed afternoon and it was great to see them tapping their feet in time to our music. As usual we played two 30-minute spots with a short break for a gargle and tuning of the guitars. We sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
All Day, Every Day (jiva)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)

Then

Dream On (jiva)
Best Friends (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

There were lots of thumbs up and thankyous from the residents as we left.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

17-Nov-09 Marian Bradfield at Cramlington Folk Club

2009-11-23T12:59:00.002Z

Time again for Marian Bradfield - we had received a call earlier in the day from club organiser Keith asking for our help! Could we put Marian up for the night? Well, of course, we were delighed to help out. Marian and her American agent Mike arrived at our house around 5pm and after some chat and quick dinner it was off to Cramlington in one car.

Usual format for a guest night - two floor spots with 4 songs each before Marian's first set and then after the obligatory raffle in the break on again with 2 songs apiece and then final set from the guest.

Marian was on good form tonight with Mike doing her sound for her so a well earned rest for resident soundman Dave Page. All too soon the night came to an end and after shouts for 'More' Marian duly obliged and we all went home happy after a great night.

A few glasses of wine when we got home, more chat and then off to bed after a very long and good day.

Marian is often referred to as "Ireland's best kept secret"... very appropriate, very apt. She's not yet a household name, but she ought to be - her writing and singing are great... professional, entertaining, heartfelt and warm with that certain Irish twinkle to top it all off. And she's a lovely person too. We look forward to catching up with her again.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website
Marian Bradfield website

10-Nov-09 Croxdale Folk Club

2009-11-14T23:29:00.000Z

Antoher singers night at Croxdale Folk Club. Thanks again to Terry Ferdinand for being the audience. Performers were us, Gary Wingfield, John and another John and his wife and Michael Woods.

Gary set things rolling with everyone getting two songs. For our first two we played, at the request of the first John, 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffiths) followed by the title track of our new CD 'Best Friends'. Next time round we did 'Jimmy's Song' (Allan Taylor) and our own 'All Day, Every Day'. We finished the night with 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'One More Song' (jiva).

In between songs there was plenty of time for chit chat and raffle (no we didn't win) and it was a relaxed evening.

We'll be back at Croxdale on the 1st December when we are the main act - hope to see you there.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Croxdale Folk Club MySpace

09-Nov-09 Hugh and Katy Moffatt in Castleford

2009-11-14T23:24:00.000Z

We picked up a thread from Maggie Gee on Facebook (thank you Maggie) that Hugh and Katy Moffatt (brother and sister) singer songwriters from the USA were to be in Castleford and we just had to make the trip down there. It was a 2 hour and a bit drive but worth every mile.

We had first come across Hugh Moffatt when we were at a songwriting workshop in Germany in 2006 with Allan Taylor. One of the attendees (Arno from Germany) sang the song 'Jack and Lucy' especially for us - he was reminded of it by our story... and we just loved it! And yes, they did do the song on Monday night and it was wonderful.

It was a superb night all round. Katy did a set with Hugh coming on for the last two songs, then Hugh did his set with Katy coming on for the last two songs and then they did a set together as well. So it was 11:30pm by the time we left for the long drive home but we were happy.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

08-Nov-09 Marian Bradfield at Guisborough Folk Club

2009-11-14T22:59:00.000Z

Back again after only a week but this time to see their guest, Irish singer songwriter, Marian Bradfield. We had first seen her at Cramlington Folk Club last year and vowed we would be sure to try and and see her every time she was nearby - she was great. We bumped into her outside and she was surprised and delighted to see us there and we had a good 'chin wag'.

The night began with some floor spots, we were on after the MC and did 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson) and our own 'Best Friends' (the title track from our new CD). After a few more floor spots it was time for the guest's first set. No PA, just her and her guitar... lovely... and she even recounted the audience the story of our wedding at Taylor Guitars and dedicated a song just to us!

Then there was the break and the obligatory raffle, a few more floor spots and then Marian's second spot.

Too soon the evening was over, it was a grand night and very much worth the trip. And the good news is she's on at Cramlington on the 17th so we'll get to see her again soon.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Guisborough Folk Club website

06-Nov-09 jiva CD 'Best Friends' Now Available

2009-11-06T23:21:00.003Z

We're pleased to announce that our CD 'Best Friends' is now available! You can see the track list, listen to extracts, link to lyrics and background info, and even buy it from our website at www.jiva.co.uk/cd.htm - and naturally we'll carry a few with us when we're out performing.

The 'official' launch will be our guest night at Netherton Folk Club on Saturday November 28th at Netherton Memorial Hall. Normal folk club admission charges apply, and there is no bar, so bring your own refreshments... but there'll be a complimentary glass on us for everyone. We'd love to see you there!

www.northumberlandlife.org/netherton-folk-club

Happy listening!

Links

jiva website
jiva MySpace

01-Nov-09 Guisborough Folk Club

2009-11-02T22:38:00.001Z

It's been well over a year since we last made the 120 miles round trip to Guisborough Folk Club, but as soon as we walked in we were treated like long lost friends...

It was a good night with some enthusiastic performances and audience participation. We got two 2-song spots in which we played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva) in the first half followed by 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva) for the second spot.

We mustn't leave it so long before we go back again - in fact, we'll be back next week to see Marian Bradfield... and possibly do a floor spot if time permits.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Guisborough Folk Club website

31-Oct-09 Comrades Club, Whitley Bay

2009-10-31T18:45:00.006Z

Another in the series of Saturday nights of music organised by John Jeffrey.

As always we got there early and had plenty of time to find space for the guitars and even have a bit of a sound check - Gerry Beldon provided PA for the night.

There was a canny turnout with two acts unable to attend being replaced by others who had dropped in 'on the off chance'. It was an eclectic mix ranging through unaccompanied, ukelele, banjo, accordion, harmonica, Northumbrian pipes, whistle and guitars with styles of music covering a diverse range of genres.

People generally kept to their schedules (well done John!) and so by the time we were up as the closing act there was time for four songs allowing us to get the audience smiling and singing to everything we did - verses as well as choruses! We played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'Different Dreams' (jiva), 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva).

There were smiles all around and John thanked everyone for a grand night, giving Gerry one more song for bringing his PA.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

28-Oct-09 Bridge Hotel, Newcastle

2009-10-31T18:44:00.017Z

MySpace friend and singer songwriter Chris Milner had arranged an evening Folk Concert - a kind of 'meet and greet' of MySpace friends.

Anthony John Clarke and John Leigh had volunteered to be our 'roadies' for the night... we travelled to the gig in their car and they helped load and unload our gear. We had taken our Bose L1 with us for our sound.

On the bill was Phil Graham who started the night. He was followed by Chris Milner, then after the break us, and to finish the night Nigel Beck from Lincolnshire (a singer who plays a mean 6 and 12-string guitar style).

We had to be packed and out of the room by 11:00 pm and it was a bit of a squeeze for time - so, despite calls for an encore we limited ourselves to exactly the allotted 20 minutes... we played: 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), and then our own songs; 'Different Dreams', 'When', 'Some Way Home' and 'One More Song'.

Thanks to Chris for organising the gig - it was good to meet with Nigel for the first time and to re-acquaint ourselves with other MySpace friends too.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

27-Oct-09 Anthony John Clarke at Cramlington Folk Club

2009-10-31T18:43:00.014Z

Anthony John Clarke is always popular at Cramlington and there was a good crowd in including friends of ours, John Twist and Yvie Wilkinson and her daughter Haylie and also Terry and Catherine Ferdinand. We're always telling people if you ever get the chance to see Anthony John Clarke then don't miss the opportunity and this was a first for some of them.

Anthony John and his friend John Leigh were staying with us for two nights and we all turned up at the Club in good time for a sound check with John Richardson who was on the sound desk tonight.

In support was us and Geoff Pickard and it was Geoff who kicked off the night with four songs. We followed with four of our own: 'Different Dreams', 'When', 'Some Way Home' and 'One More Song' and it was great to hear the 'Cramlington Choir' gustily joining in on the choruses.

Then it was time for Anthony John's first set and he never disappoints. He was on great form and enjoyed by everyone. At the break there was the obligatory raffle with the prize of a bottle of wine or an Anthony John Clarke CD.

For our two songs in the second half we sang 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson) and our own 'Best Friends'.

Then it was time again for Anthony John and it was a superb second half to the night... no-one wanted it to end. An Anthony John Clarke gig is a special phenomenon... we always come away feeling much refreshed and revitalised.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website
Anthony John Clarke website

24-Oct-09 Show Of Hands at The Gala Theatre, Durham

2009-10-31T18:42:00.011Z

What a busy weekend! We had our friends Bob and Jean from Manchester staying with us so there's been a lot of talking, eating and drinking.

But apart from that we made our way over to Durham and spent the day sightseeing and shopping before arriving at the Durham Gala to see Show of Hands (supported by local singer Flossie Malavialle). Bob is currently doing a 16 week course on radio production and he had arranged to do an interview with Phil Beer before the show to ask him about his experience on the Tall Ships Race! Radio Teesdale want to broadcast the interview. That all went very smoothly and Bob was safely in his seat by 19:20 waiting for the show to start at 19:30.

Flossie did a good opening set and then it was on with the show with Phil Beer, Steve Knightly and Miranda Sykes. The did quite a few of the expected songs but also some of their new album 'Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed' . Also with us were our friends Mike and Hazel and we all enjoyed the show.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Show Of Hands website

20-Oct-09 Cramlington Folk Club

2009-10-31T18:42:00.010Z

It was a singers night at Cramlington and there was a good crowd there - organiser/MC Keith Taylor got things underway at 8:10 pm announcing that the list for performers was now closed as there were already more than enough in the room to easily fill the night.

As always at this club there was a variety of styles (mostly contemporary) and the standard was good - by the time we were on (sixth in the first half) we'd had old time Americana, bluegrass, blues, singer/songwriter, humour, chorus songs, sad songs, jokes... we started with 'Jimmy's Song' (Allan Taylor) and then did 'Yorkshire Romance' (CJ Rowe).

The night carried on with even more variety, some people stepped down to give latecomers a chance to play and the night finished with the customary 'big band everybody playing together' melee.

We'll be back there doing support for Anthony John Clarke next week.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

15-Oct-09 Riverside House, Morpeth

2009-10-21T17:18:00.004+01:00

Our first visit to this modern residential care home in Morpeth. Val was temping that day for a local firm so had taken her 'jiva' clothes to change into and met Jimmy in the car park at the designated time.

We arrived laden with our guitars and guitar stands to find a a good crowd of women (and only one man!) waiting for us. Like last week at a different care home it was exceptionally warm and we had to wipe brows and remove our gilets early on... thankfully Val had remembered the bottle of water this time!

As usual we played two 30-minute spots with a short break for a gargle and tuning of the guitars.

We sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Dream On (jiva)
Yorkshire Romance (C J Rowe)
Different Dreams (jiva)

Then:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Passin Thru (Randy Scruggs & Johnny Cash)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

We had a great time - one of the residents 'danced' in her chair the whole time and loved us! And we got them singing along heartily to 'One More Song' too. Great stuff!
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

13-Oct-09 Prelude at Cramlington Folk Club

2009-10-19T22:05:00.007+01:00

It's been a few years since we've seen Prelude, so we took the opportunity to get down to our local folk club for a night of good entertainment.

First support act was Doug Wood who played banjo and sang traditional old American songs. Second support act was Jimmy & Carol who played guitar and double bass while singing bluegrass songs. Both acts were very well received by an enthusiastic Cramlington audience, and created a good atmosphere in readiness for the main act.

Our memories of Prelude had always been of a trio. Following a few line-up changes Irene and Brian Hume had been performing with Chris Ringer for some time - but tonight we were surprised and pleased to find that Ian Vardy had re-joined them, and so we saw Prelude as a four piece band including re-workings of some of Ian's songs in their set-list. From the word go they had the audience on their side as the Cramlington choir raised their voices to add to the well-honed vocals of this obviously professional and experienced act.

All in all a grand night - well done to MC and organiser Keith Taylor.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

Prelude website

08-Oct-09 MIND Active

2009-10-08T22:09:00.006+01:00

Our second visit to this modern residential care home. It was quite crowded in the lounge (more so than many folk clubs we've seen), and there was an air of quiet expectancy as we set up to play. Boy, it was warm! And we'd somehow managed to forget our usual bottles of water, but staff were on hand to keep us supplied with liquid refreshment.

As usual we played two 30-minute spots with a short break for a gargle and tuning of the guitars. We sang:

Some Way Home (jiva)
When (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Yorkshire Romance (C J Rowe)
Sonny (Ron Hynes)

Then

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
Different Dreams (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

Afterwards a few of the residents had their photos taken with us - a few smiling faces for their scrapbook!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

04-Oct-2009 Amble, wedding celebration

2009-10-07T16:39:00.006+01:00

We were really pleased to be asked to play at the wedding celebration of John and Janice who had seen us at the Comrades Club in Whitley Bay. They originally requested the day of the wedding but we were already double booked that day (Ingleton and Morecambe), and they were thrilled that we could do the following day instead when they were having an informal get together at home with friends and family.

What a great day we had - even before we arrived, the emails and phone calls made us feel really welcome. As soon as we got there we were treated like old friends or part of the family... super! There was food and drink a-plenty and we were invited to help ourselves to whatever we wished (we kept to non-alcoholic beverages!).

Playing acoustically in the bay window area of the lounge we decided to do short sets with time in between for food and chat etc. We started with 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'Different Dreams' (jiva) and John and Janice's favourite 'Some Way Home' (jiva). Next set was 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith), 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson), 'Dream On' (jiva), 'Yorkshire Romance' (T J Rowe), and 'When' (jiva). For our last spot we did 'Louise' (Paul Siebel), 'Some Way Home (jiva) again and finished with 'One More Song' (jiva) to leave everyone singing.

Absolutely great! We loved it... and John told us that it would be remembered for years as a really special day... he emailed us to say that everyone thought it was great and were still talking about it... wow!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

03-Oct-2009 The Smugglers Den

2009-10-07T16:23:00.012+01:00

It was good to be back again at the Smugglers, this time with friends from Blackpool, Penny Black (Pete Skinner and John Bond).

As there's not a great deal of room at the Smugglers, rather than set up our own Bose L1 (Model 2) system, we decided to save space by taking a line out from our Bose ToneMatch mixers to Penny Black's Bose Classic (Model 1). Unfortunately we had a few problems with the sound quality for our guitars and vocals but nevertheless it was an enjoyable evening. There was music all night with us kicking off first, alternating half hour slots with Penny Black finishing off the evening at around 20 minutes past midnight!

By the time we packed the gear into the car (again!) it was late but we drove home and hit the sack around 04:00 am. We had to be up early for an afternoon gig the next day!

For our sets we played:

Set 1

Back Again (Allan Taylor)
Small Town (jiva)
Tommy (Kelly Joe Phelps)
Passin Thru (Johnny Cash and Randy Scruggs)
When (jiva)

Set 2

Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Best Friends (jiva)
Dream On (jiva)
Sonny (Ron Hynes)

Set 3

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
An Acquaintance Of Mine (Anthony John Clarke)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
The Smugglers Den

03-Oct-09 Ingleton Folk Weekend

2009-10-06T22:22:00.007+01:00

We'd had good weather all week in Ingleton but when we woke it was raining, and after breakfast it got even worse - so we got a little wet loading the car with all our gear - Bose L1 system, 4 guitars, suitcase etc! We arrived at the venue, the Ex-Servicemen's, in good time and found Chris Milner (performer and MC for the afternoon concert) was already there setting up his PA system ready for sound check. We had decided to use our own system and Chris was providing the sound for himself, Michelle Holding and Peter and Barbara Snape, the other acts who were to make up the afternoon concert.

By the time the concert started the place was filling up nicely, and the audience were very attentive and appreciative. Each act had been given two slots of 20 minutes each (though some did play a little longer - needless to say jiva kept strictly to the allotted time) and for our first turn we did 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith), 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson), and then with Jimmy on downtuned 12-string and Val on 6-string we played '4+20' (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young), finishing with Linda Thompson's 'No Telling'. Then for our second turn, with Val on the 12-string and Jimmy on 6-string throughout , we played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'Different Dreams' (jiva), 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva). We could see and hear the audience joining in on the choruses which was great.

It was a smashing afternoon and it was soon time to pack the gear and drive off to Morecambe for our evening gig at The Smugglers Den.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Ingleton Folk Weekend

02-Oct-09 Hale & Hearty Folk Club, Milnthorpe

2009-10-06T21:24:00.005+01:00

It was 5 years since we'd last played at the Hale & Hearty and they too had moved venue - but this time to a much bigger room than previously. It was good to meet up again with Frank and Sheila Lewis who run the club and there was a good core of residents tonight with some good songs and craic. We were made to feel very welcome.

The club is run on a singaround basis, round and round till time runs out and we were given two at a time. We had taken only 3 guitars tonight and for our turns we played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor)', 'Different Dreams' (jiva), 'Best Friends' (jiva), 'Dream On' (jiva), 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva). It was great to hear them all joining in with the choruses, especially on 'One More Song'.

We'll try not to leave it another 5 years before we visit again.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

01-Oct-09 Wigan Folk Club

2009-10-01T15:12:00.006+01:00

We'd not been to the Wigan club since February 2008 and wondered what had changed since our previous visit - like the Coppull club they've changed venue. They've moved from a massive ballroom sized space to a much smaller room in a small pub. When we arrived with four guitars they decided to move into a slightly larger adjoining room (with pool table in the middle) - it was still cosy and we could put our guitars and stands and cases in the room the club had just vacated! It was indeed very kind of them to do this to accommodate us, and the club still managed to get underway within five minutes of the advertised start time.

Joan runs the club as a very informal singaround in the usual round and round the room as many times as possible until time runs out. As well as guitars, tonight there was a duo both playing ukuleles - some interesting possibilities there!

For our first spot we used two 12-strings (one normal tuning and one with 6th pair dropped to 'D') and performed 'Back Again' (Allan Taylor) and 'Small Town' (jiva). Before it came around to our turn again the pub had laid on soup and sandwiches and goodness knows what else! We politely declined as we thought it would only have been a five minute break while everyone brought back their food and carried on singing... but it was a somewhat lengthier break during which time there was the obligatory raffle (no, we didn't win!). Our second spot was the 12-string and 6-string setup for 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva). Then it was two 6-strings for 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson). For our fourth spot it was back to the 6 and 12-string format for 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva)... by this time it was well after midnight so Joan called an end to the night and sang 'Wild Mountain Thyme'.

Apart from having to battle against the juke box and some noisy customers in the bar (it's an open plan pub with archways connecting the rooms) it had been a night of some good and interesting music encompassing different styles, genres and abilities. Yet again we drove back to the M6 and headed northwards, arriving at Ingleton at 01:50 am.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

Wigan Folk Club

30-Sep-09 Coppull Folk Club

2009-09-30T16:41:00.005+01:00

It's a year and a half since we were last at the Coppull club, and they've since changed pub. So it was a combination of old friends and new venue... as usual we got there early and, as is often the case, were first - even ahead of the organisers. This gave us the chance to re-arrange the tables slightly, find space for our guitars (four tonight) and to make the acquaintance of two lovely cats!

There was a good turnout, and it was great to meet up again with Anthony John Clarke and fill him and John in with the stories around our trip to the USA and our wedding and also the progress on our CD. Among the guitars tonight were three 12-strings - 'Chalise' (our Taylor Custom Jumbo), 'Cissy' (our Taylor 855), and Ellie's Takamine. The songs ranged through unaccompanied, autoharp, guitars, traditional, classic, contemporary, self-penned... the whole gamut.

Simon runs the club as a singaround, going around in a circle with everyone having a song (duos get two songs), and then around again, and again, and again until the end of the night... tonight we finished at just past midnight, the landlord kindly providing sandwiches at around 11:20!

For our first spot we used two 12-strings (one normal tuning and one with 6th pair dropped to 'D') and performed 'Back Again' (Allan Taylor) and 'Small Town' (jiva). Next time around it was the 12-string and 6-string setup for 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'Different Dreams' (jiva). Then it was two 6-strings for 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson). For our fourth spot it was back to 6 and 12 for 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke) and 'When' (jiva). At the end of the night Simon generously asked us to do one more to finish the night - so we stuck with 6 and 12 as we closed with 'One More Song' (jiva) which had everyone joining in heartily at appropriate times... a super way to finish a really good and friendly night.

It was after 02:00 am by the time we climbed the stairs back at Ingleton for some shut-eye, very happily tired.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Coppull Folk Club

29-Sep-09 The Plough Sessions, Staining

2009-09-30T16:39:00.003+01:00

Our friends Penny Black run the evening which generally follows the usual singaround format of the hosts starting things off, then, going around the room in turn, everyone gets the opportunity to play and/or sing... and then around, and again until time runs out. There was a good mix of humour, classics and self-penned with guitars (7 Taylors this evening... 4 of them ours), banjo, bass, drums and whistles. Our new 12-string (Chalise) got a lot of attention and positive comments!

For our first spot we played Allan Taylor's 'Back Home To You' and our own 'Different Dreams'... for our second we did 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke) and 'When' (jiva)... there was a short break before the third round which gave Val the opportunity to change guitars so we could switch to the two 6-string format... we played 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson)... at the end of the night Penny Black kindly asked us to do another one to finish the night, so we obliged with 'Louise' by Paul Siebel...

The wind is blowing cold tonight
Goodnight, Louise... goodnight

A grand night all round with everyone chipping in to the collection box for Arthritis Research - good music, good friends, good craic, and a good cause too... Goodnight, Louise... goodnight.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Plough MySpace

27-Sep-09 Bothy Folk Club, Southport

2009-09-30T16:34:00.006+01:00

First club on our north west itinerary. We set off good and early at 5:45 pm as we'd been told to get there in good time if we wanted to be sure of a sing... it's just as well we did, the traffic on the M6 motorway was abysmal. After battling our way through two massive traffic jams we'd lost the advantage of starting out half an hour ahead of schedule. And then the traffic in and around Southport was really heavy - we learned later that this was due to the air show that week-end. Undeterred, we still managed to get to the Park Club ten minutes before official kick-off time... apart from two people on the door we were the first ones there.

After a slow start, people began arriving and the night got underway only fifteen minutes late - it seems everyone else had been caught up in the air show traffic too! There was a good cross-section of performers, mainly contemporary with some self-penned material and popular classics and traditional tunes and songs too.

We were on in the second half - the penultimate act of the night - and for a single spot decided on the 12-string and 6-string setup (so Val's 6-string didn't make it out of the case). Our first song was Allan Taylor's 'Back Home To You' which had the audience joining in well; then it was our own 'Different Dreams', again with plenty of joining in; last in our set was self-penned 'One More Song' where the singing along was even more hearty... super!

After a canny night at this well-established club we drove back to Ingleton (our base for the week), arriving at 00:45... seven hours, three songs and 121 miles later.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Bothy MySpace

22-Sep-09 Croxdale Folk Club

2009-09-25T13:39:00.004+01:00

Singers night at Croxdale Folk Club but unfortunately very few showed up. There was us, Gary Wingfield and Fred Brierley. Thanks to Terry Ferdinand for being the audience and, of course, John Kelly the MC was there too.

We began the night with 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke) and then play went round the room in turns of two songs each. We also sang 'Different Dreams' (jiva), 'Tommy' (Kelly Joe Phelps), 'When' (jiva) and 'Some Way Home' (jiva).

In between songs there was plenty of time for chit chat and it was a nice relaxed and gentle evening.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Croxdale Folk Club MySpace

20-Sep-09 Dana and Susan Robinson at Alnwick Playhouse

2009-09-21T11:23:00.008+01:00

This was a chance for us to see Dana and Susan Robinson for a second time on this tour. We were unable to catch them at the Davy Lamp Folk Club on the 19th (we were at Netherton Folk Club that night), so it was good that they had another local gig.

They did a concert in the studio theatre at Alnwick Playhouse. The room was set out mostly cabaret style with bottled drinks available at the back of the room next to the PA and lighting rig. The studio had been set up with PA but they did the whole night acoustically. The acoustics in the room were fine (the wooden floor echoing the good applause) and it was a grand night, and the lighting helped create a warm ambience for another fine performance by two of our favourite musician friends.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Dana and Susan Robinson website
Alnwick Playhouse

19-Sep-09 Netherton Folk Club

2009-09-20T13:29:00.004+01:00

This club always feels like a home from home, and tonight was no exception. Jack Wilkinson even presented us with a wedding present from the club - a bottle of Taylor's port! Thank you for the kindness and the humour too... jiva have indelibly stamped two things into people's minds "purple" and "Taylor".

It was quite a busy night and Jack had decided rather than two turns most performers would have their turn in one go. We were on early in the second half and, rather than change guitars, we opted to stick with Val playing the 12-string and Jimmy the 6. We played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor), 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke), 'Different Dreams' (jiva) and 'Some Way Home' (jiva). Jack asked for one more so, cue for a song, we did our very own club favourite 'One More Song' (jiva) with the customary 'competition' getting evryone to join in and sing along.

We'll be back there in November doing a full guest night - we're really looking forward to this return booking, and this time we should have our CD available... we've had loads of requests at Netherton for a CD.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Netherton Folk Club

17-Sep-09 Dana and Susan Robinson at Topic Folk Club

2009-09-20T13:21:00.008+01:00

A first time visit for us to this club in Bradford. Topping the bill were two of our favourites, Dana and Susan Robinson from the USA. We always aim to see them when they are over here touring and Dana said to us that we are 'constants in their life' - they always know they will see us somewhere!

We had pre-arranged for a floor spot of two songs and were up second after the MC, David Kidman. We sang 'Different Dreams' (jiva) and 'One More Song' (jiva) and it was lovely to hear the audience joining in on the choruses.

Dana and Susan put on a great performance - they are accomplished musicians and writers whose love of the land, and the music it inspires, is clearly evident in every show.

In our introduction MC David had mentioned the upcoming release of our debut CD and we were delighted to receive a pre-release order!

We hope to get back to the Topic before too long.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Dana and Susan Robinson website
Topic Folk Club website

15-Sep-09 Foggy Furze Folk Club

2009-09-16T12:34:00.005+01:00

A fairly quiet night at the Foggy but still a good mix of music. Sometimes the acoustics in the fairly large room are not too good but tonight everything was crystal clear. Was it us, or was it maybe the magic of our beautiful new Taylor Custom Jumbo 12-string guitar, Chalise?

The first half was the usual singaround style for non-guest nights - we played 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke). The second half started with a spotlight set by keyboards and guitar vocal duo Dangerous Brothers who were trying out some new material. Then it was back to the singaround again - this time we played 'Love At The Five & Dime' (Nanci Griffith) and 'Two Old Friends' (Chris Simpson). MC Ian D'eath asked us back to do one more, and our last song of the night was our very own 'Different Dreams' which fairly bounced along with lots of joining in from audience and fellow performers.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Foggy Furze website

13-Sep-09 The Monkey Folk Club

2009-09-16T12:10:00.007+01:00

We arrived in good time for the advertised 8:00 pm start to find the room still in darkness! But we put the lights on, got our guitars out and on their stands in readiness for everyone else turning up. We had both 6-string guitars and our new 12-string guitar with us tonight.

Dave Minikin, organiser and MC, got the night underway with a couple of songs and then worked his way through the other performers. With Val on the 12-string and Jimmy on 6-string, we began our first spot with 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor) and wow, the audience were well away, joining in heartily! Then we performed the the gentler 'An Acquaintance Of Mine' (Anthony John Clarke) followed by our own 'Different Dreams' which again had lots of joining in.

After a few more floor spots and a beer break Dave managed to go round the room again and asked us to finish off the night. We happily obliged with 'Maginot Waltz' (Ralph McTell) and 'Dream On' (jiva) - a lovely gentle end to a good, varied evening covering different musical genres.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Monkey Folk Club website

10-Sep-09 Allan Taylor at Cutty Wren Folk Club

2009-09-13T12:57:00.010+01:00

We've visited this club a couple of times on singers nights but this was the first time for a guest night. It takes an hour and a half for us to get there (127 mile round trip) but it's well worth it. John Taylor made us feel very welcome, and even bought us a drink in celebration of our recent marriage! Thank you John.

We hadn't taken our guitars as we were unsure of the format on a guest night, but there was time for plenty of the regulars to do floor spots before Allan got up for his first set. He played acoustically and it was wonderful. He told us he was feeling a little 'under the weather' - but you wouldn't have known it. There was the usual break for the selling of raffle tickets - prizes were a variety of wines, chocolates and vegetables... including a very large marrow!

Then Allan returned for his second set and he had the audience spellbound and joining in at all the appropriate places. It was a smashing night - we were singing Allan's songs all the way home in the car!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cutty Wren MySpace

10-Sep-09 MIND Active

2009-09-13T12:50:00.016+01:00

Only played at this home once before... in 2007... so we were looking forward to getting back there. It was a very warm day so guess where they put us to play? Yes, you guessed it, the conservatory! It was so warm we had to take our gilets off! This was the first time we had played out acoustically with Val's new guitar 'Chalise' and it sounded great.

As usual we played two 30-minute spots with a short break for a gargle and tuning of the guitars. We sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
When (jiva)
Yorkshire Romance (C J Rowe)

Then:

Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
Maginot Waltz (Ralph McTell)
Dream On (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

We had some good chat with the residents and we could see their feet and hands tapping along in time to our music. Great stuff.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
MINDActive website

09-Sep-09 jiva in the Recording Studio - Day Four

2009-09-09T22:19:00.009+01:00

We turned up at the allotted time and this time we were recording a song with us both playing 12-string guitars. Jimmy on 'Missy' (Taylor 855) and Val on 'Chalise' (her new custom build). Then we added some more vocals to a previously recorded song and some guitar work to another track.

That was it! We have now recorded 12 songs which work out at not far under 60 minutes. That should be enough for our debut album. (There are more songs that we would like to record, so we're already planning the next CD... but we certainly won't be rushing back to start recording for quite some time yet.)

Next step is for Ron to do some mixing and then we will join him in the studio again for some final 'tweaking'. After that Ron will do the mastering and meanwhile we'll be finalising our artwork design for the CD label and jewel case inserts... then it'll be off for putting it all together. We're well on track (intentional pun) for our self imposed deadline of the end of November... seems the CD might be available before then!

We'll keep you informed.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website

08-Sep-09 jiva in the Recording Studio - Day Three

2009-09-09T22:18:00.031+01:00

It had been some weeks since our last recording session with Ron - we'd been away in the USA, and had not played a great deal while out there. Still getting over the jetlag we weren't feeling on top form, but there was no problem - we carried on where we'd left off in July as if it was yesterday.

We continued working on songs featuring Jimmy using his Taylor 910CE-L7 6-string guitar and Val on her new Custom Jumbo Taylor 12-string guitar. What a beautiful sound... and captured perfectly by master craftsman, Ron Angus. It was a very productive day and we recorded 3 songs.

Just one more to go... watch this space!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website

08-Sep-09 Cramlington Folk Club

2009-09-09T22:18:00.030+01:00

It was a singers night at Cramlington and we were looking forward to catching up with everyone. We took some wedding cake which went down very well. and we also had our netbook with us so we could show the slideshow of some photos from our wedding that we have uploaded to YouTube - click click here to see the slideshow with background music from Allan Taylor.

We thanked everyone again for their kindness and generosity - their gift of dollars had paid for a wedding night meal at Alfonso's restaurant in La Jolla, California.

In the first half we played:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
An Acquaintance Of Mine (Anthony John Clarke)

There were quite a few performers in this evening but by 10:30 Keith Taylor had managed to get everyone on, so it was time to pull numbers from the raffle ticket bag to choose people to sing again or nominate performers. So, we did manage to squeeze in one more:

When (jiva)

It was a grand night - good cross section of performers, good humour, and a good time was had by one and all.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

06-Sep-09 Evening Of Celebration

2009-09-09T22:18:00.029+01:00

We wanted to invite friends to help us celebrate our marriage - but we didn't want a formal reception-type event. In the same way that the wedding and its location reflected our music we were looking for a venue in keeping with the same ethos. Having attended some performances at the Seaton Delaval Arts Centre, and having headlined a concert there we thought it would be ideal ... this Salvation Army Hall is being turned into a great venue for performing arts and we give it all the support we can.

They did the catering (superb food, great choice, and plenty of it too), and the wedding cake iced in jiva colours with purple flowers and piping, set the place out in cabaret style, candles on the tables, attentive staff, and created a wonderful friendly ambience for a super evening. Friends came from far and wide, and it was smashing to see people enjoying the food, the wine, the company, the music... everything.

There was an initial 30 or so minutes for guests to arrive, find themselves a table, settle in and have a bit of a chinwag. Then jiva took to the stage amid cheers and applause as we picked up guitars and walked up to the microphones - wow! We started with both playing 6-string guitars and sang:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)

Then, as Jimmy recounted the day at Taylor Guitars in California, Val swapped her 6-string for the latest addition to our Taylor collection - the gorgeous custom build 12-string (Chalise). There had been some singing along to our first two numbers but, once we got into the self-penned songs the audience/guests really let fly with their voices filling the hall with multiple harmonies... better than many folk clubs! The songs were:

Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

jiva - 'One More Song'

After our set we had a few words from Terry Ferdinand, did the cake-cutting bit and then everyone tucked in to the superb buffet, followed by jiva taking the stage again to toast the happy (very happy) couple.

Top of the bill for the evening was Allan Taylor - we're very fortunate to count Allan among our friends, and he readily accepted our invitation to join us for the evening as well as agreeing to sing for us too! He had written a song especially for us as a wedding present (we played a recording of it during the actual wedding ceremony). Allan was superb - and we especially loved the clarity of his sound through our Bose L1 system ... it's not often we get to sit in the audience and hear it - and this was something special! Naturally, he sang our song, and some requested favourites too.

There were cries for more and he duly obliged with an encore - he persuaded us to join him for 'It's Good To See You'... wow! Incredible! Jimmy picked up the new 12-string and he and Val shared a microphone for the choruses. A fabulous way to end the evening's music.

What a magnificent, unforgettable night - we extend our thanks to everyone who accepted the invitation to join us and to the volunteers at Seaton Delaval Arts Centre for 'doing us proud' - thank you, thank you, thank you one and all.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Allan Taylor
Seaton Delaval Arts Centre

05-Sep-09 Allan Taylor at The Davy Lamp

2009-09-09T22:17:00.034+01:00

We are always happy to get to an Allan Taylor concert, and September at the Davy Lamp Folk Cub is a regular treat as he usually opens their season.

Allan was was on top form, obviously enjoying this gig - the audience were well on board as he mixed in some of his newer songs with his earlier favourites. Eric Freeman was up to his usual antics, quipping about the performers and even suggesting that people should pass on their tips to the newlyweds (ie jiva!)... there were a few good 'uns, some laughs and a few that might not be repeatable depending on the company one is keeping.

We were given one song after the break and we sang 'Different Dreams' (jiva) - it was lovely to hear the audience joining in, and it was a pleasure to be asked by a fellow performer if would object to his adding the song to his repertoire ... no problem, Alex - we'd be delighted.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Allan Taylor
The Davy Lamp Folk Club

04-Sep-09 Carlisle Folk Club

2009-09-09T22:17:00.030+01:00

This was our first visit to a singers night at this club... we had been a few months previously to see Anthony John Clarke. Also it was their first night back after the summer break.

As usual for jiva we arrived in good time. The room was already beginning to fill up in readiness for the 8:00pm start. We were the first act of the evening so we were able to get our guitars set up ready and waiting on the small stage. By the time we got up for our three songs the room was buzzing and the atmosphere was good. We sang:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
Different Dreams (jiva)
One More Song (jiva)

Wow! It was great. This was the first public outing of our new 12-string guitar ... and the PA set up was good ... and the audience were on top form joining in at all the right places ... it was pretty much a draw between the men and women for 'One More Song'!

Thank you Carlisle Folk Club for making us feel so welcome... we'll be back.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Carlisle Folk & Blues Club

01-Sep-09 New Guitar - 'Chalise'

2009-09-09T22:16:00.006+01:00

Remember the wedding? If you look at the first photo in that blog you'll see Val playing a gorgeous sunburst 12-string guitar during the ceremony... afterwards we asked if we could buy it (well, hardly surprising) and, to our delight, they said yes and arranged to have it shipped to coincide with our return home.

16 days later we were back in the UK... a few degrees colder, less sunshine, more rain... welcome home. After a long trip (made even longer by a flight delay from London Heathrow) we were very tired by the time we got around to checking through the small mountain of mail on the floor in the hall - and among them was a card from UPS saying that they'd attempted to deliver a parcel but there was no reply so they'd try again the next day. Then we found a second card saying they'd tried again and would try once more. Then we found a third card confirming that as no-one was available to take delivery they would send it back!

Panic quickly set in - customer services was closed for the day (by now it was 22:00 local time on a Friday), and depots would not be open to the public again until Tuesday as it was a bank holiday weekend. We logged on to the UPS website and tracked the package... and, sure enough, it was all laid out on screen - shipment from Taylor, flight to the UK, then on to our local depot, then the failed delivery attempts. Aaarggghhh!!! We submitted an on-line request to allow us to pick it up from the depot and were relieved to see the request actually appear on the tracking page... so went to bed having done all that we could, but still nervous that somehow the internal UPS mechanisms might carry on with returning it to Taylor over the weekend.

On Saturday we phoned UPS and they confirmed that the package would be held at the depot awaiting our collection. As you can imagine it was a very long and frustrating weekend, even more so because of the additional holiday Monday. So, first thing on Tuesday morning we checked the UPS website and to our dismay the note about us collecting it had gone completely and had been replaced with something about return process... oh no! This could not be happening!!! After another call to UPS we were assured that the parcel was still at the depot and, yes, we could collect it any time after 10:00 am.

Needless to say we drove straight off to the depot. After a nerve-wracking wait while they checked the paperwork and searched out the paperwork we were eventually presented with the package - a carton with the Taylor Guitars logo prominently displayed on it. Then we paid the import duty/VAT and signed the appropriate paperwork. We could hardly contain our excitement as we drove home... would it be OK/undamaged?... would it look as good as we remembered?... would it sound as good as we remembered?

We need not have worried! We were overwhelmed and euphoric... as perfect as any guitar could be... and the perfect reminder of our wonderful wedding day. Guitar geeks may wish to read the guitar specification (somewhat cut down version for the blog)... and we apologise to the TMI brigade :>)

Custom Jumbo 12-string
Venetian cutaway
Top: Sitka spruce
Back and Sides: Cocobolo

Nut width 1-7/8"
Scale length: Standard 25-1/2
Nut and Saddle: Bone
Binding: Ivoroid
Trim and Rosette: Abalone
Purfling: Cream
Fretboard Inlay: Abalone 900 series
Tuners: Gotoh 510
Electronics: Expression System
Finish: Gloss, Sunburst
Logo: Mother of Pearl

We've named the guitar Chalise after our contact and friend at Taylor (with her permission of course). She sounds beautiful acoustically as a solo instrument and also paired with our Taylor 910CE 6-string guitars and also with our Taylor 855 Jumbo 12-string guitars too. The sound through our Bose L1 system is just as beautiful but even more so - guitar controls set straight up the middle, select the Taylor Guitars Jumbo preset on the Bose ToneMatch (personal mixer), and leave the Tonematch with no EQ adjustment ... voila!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Taylor Guitars website

27/28-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 25/26... Were back!

2009-08-29T00:38:00.005+01:00

Home again - it's now just over 32 hours since waking in Tacoma for our last day with Steve & Kristi, spending some time at a local farmers market and then they took us into Seattle for sight-seeing and to experience the vibrant market and street musician scene there before we packed our cases into the rental car and headed off to SEA-TAC (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport). The GPS Sat Nav system let us down just as we were approaching the airport and it was a little bit scary negotiating our way through roads and turms that seemed to come every which way in very quick succession. Once through security we were able to enjoy a picturesque sunset glinting on planes coming and going while we waited for our flight. The connecting flight from Heathrow to Newcastle was delayed, and so we spent time aimlessly wandering around Terminal 5 until boarding eventually started. We got back home not long after 9:00 pm local time, and the tiredness is really kicking in.

What a trip it has been - certainly one that we will never forget. The generosity and hospitality that we have been given both before and during the trip has been wonderful... Publishing our daily diary/journal in our blog has enabled us to share it with those who asked to be kept up to date - and the emails, phone calls and messages have warmed our hearts... and for those who might feel that our trip journal is just TMI (too much information), thanks for the heads up - normal service will be resumed as soon as we're rested and back into more performing again.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

26-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 24

2009-08-27T06:45:00.002+01:00

Steve & Kristi took us over to Gig Harbor, stopping off briefly in a National Park and spending some time on the shore before heading off for a gig... it was great to watch them perform a full set as the duo whose music we immediately took a liking to back in 2004 when we first saw them at the Bluestone Folk Club during their UK tour.

On the way back we stopped off to do a little bit of shopping and - would you believe it - at the first place we actually found two purple gilets! Amazing! We have searched in the UK for years without success, and here in Tacoma we found them at last. What amazing serendipity or happenstance.

Denny, a friend of Steve & Kristi, came over in the evening to record in Steve's studio and we shared dinner together - while the recording was in progress Val set about packing the suitcases for our journey home the following day. We then booked our seats and boarding passes online before turning in for the night... a strange sort of evening where our minds were turning towards home as we checked and double-checked that everything was organised and in its place.

21 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website

25-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 23

2009-08-27T06:36:00.006+01:00

Val's Birthday! A great start to the day was Steve & Kristi (with Jimmy too) singing 'Happy birthday to you'... Steve & Kristi had a private gig today so after breakfast we made plans to check out a music store and a few other shops too.

We drove to Guitar Center where we had decided to check out the Bose L1 Compact system with some Taylor guitars. Wow! It was huge... different sections for acoustic guitars, electric guitars, basses, keyboards, drums, PA, recording, accessories - all pretty well stocked. We made a bee-line for the acoustic guitar section... temperature and humidity controlled behind closed doors, nice touch. Although there was a sticker on the door advertising 'Play your guitar through a Bose L1 system' there were no Bose systems in the acoustic guitars section - we saw a Fishmann SoloAmp and a few dedicated guitar amps, but didn't play through them. The staff left us to our own devices, and we were able to pick up any gutars and play (at least, the ones we could reach) - it was good to play some Taylors again!

We then explored the rest of the store, and found three L1 systems with pride of place in the middle of the floor space - the wall areas were crammed with all manner of amps and mixers and rack units and speakers, but the L1s stood out as imposing, modern, sleek, and unique among all the other much bulkier items. The systems (ready to play) were Model 1, Model 2 with single T1 and single B1, and a Compact. The salesman invited us to pick up a guitar from the acoustics room and bring it back and plug in... again there was no hassle from any of the staff, they were accommodating without being intrusive. We played for a short while using a Taylor 614CE through the compact and it sounded spacious and warm... very pleasing. We can see how this system would be ideal for a solo performer and would be a great way to get the wonderful Bose clarity in a simple plug-and-play unit that's so portable - but for us with 4 guitars between us the Model 2 with 2 T1s and 2 B1s is exactly right.

After wandering around a few more stores we made our way back to Steve & Kristi's to find a card and present on the table - they'd left them there before heading off for their afternoon gig. We took the opportunity to shower again (shopping can be hot and tiring) and started to get ready for the evening. Before setting off we met with Marc who had loaned us his Martin D28 guitar - he has a large collection of instruments including some very nice guitars and a mind-boggling selection of banjos... he played us a banjo tune and we played him our self-penned 'Some Way Home' (borrowing two more guitars to do so). We thanked him again for his generosity and re-joined Steve & Kristi to head out on the town. Kristi had booked a table at Harbor Lights, a waterside restaurant, ensuring we had a window table with a smashing view across Puget Sound... and we enjoyed a lovely meal before driving to the Antique Sandwich for an open mic night of music.

We got there nice and early to register for a performing spot and to sign the release form (required because the evening is broadcast live on the radio!), then settled down to take in the atmosphere and chat with other musicians and friends. There were 34 acts registered for the evening, and they all had to be squeezed into 3 hours (7:00 pm to 10:00 pm), so the MC informed everyone that they had a maximum of 6 minutes including setting up time. We were act 14 and Steve & Kristi were number 24. There was a great variety of styles, abilities and genres on the bill - most people did only one song, and kept to their allotted time slot... but some did stray beyond it and by the time we were on stage the MC announced that we were running behind schedule, and he asked if people could do maybe 4 or 5 minutes each. So we kept within that by playing only 'Some Way Home'. The sound was good, and we sensed that the audience were listening intently - and we got great applause with lots of positive comments, one of them smiled broadly telling us it was a heck of a long way to come for one song! The flow of acts continued relentlessy and we were impressed with many of them (although Jimmy was disappointed that one of the acts swallowed up 9 minutes, eating badly into the time left for the remaining performers)... Steve & Kristi brought the house down with their 'Angels Of The Road'.

Then it was off to a bar for a drink or two to finish Val's birthday celebrations. We were joined by Marilyn, a longtime friend of Steve and Kristi.

1 photo today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website

24-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 22

2009-08-25T04:25:00.006+01:00

Today was a day for resting, re-charging our physical and emotional batteries, and returning to some semblance of normal routine for Steve & Kristi - shopping, going to the bank, collecting and sending mail, catching up on meetings and visiting the hospital again. We swapped some videos and photos, generally just hung out together and relaxed with no pressure on entertaining or being anywhere specific at any particular time.

It also gave us time to catch up on blogs and emails and MySpace and the Folk Show ning community and Facebook and do some guitar playing in preparation for appearing at the local open mic the following night. It's really kind of Marc (a friend of Steve & Kristi) to let us borrow his Martin D18, and also Steve kindly lets us play his Garrison and/or Washburn - but we're missing our Taylors tremendously... and to get the absolute signature sound of jiva we need Val playing 12-string and all the guitars we've played (apart from a couple of super guitars in the Taylor factory) have been 6-strings... so it is certainly an interesting challenge for us.

In the evening we rented a DVD, popped some popcorn and drank a few beers while watching 'Frost & Nixon' - an appropriate way to wind down a chill-out day.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website

23-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 21

2009-08-25T04:18:00.005+01:00

We slept a little later, making our way down to the house by 9:00 am for breakfast - we're constantly surprised by the differences in meals here... Elizabeth laid on a fruit starter with peaches and blueberries followed by eggs and Canadian Ham (we've never had salsa with scrambled eggs at breakfast, but it made a tasty and spicy change - very nice, maybe we should try that at home some time... food for thought).

Our itinerary for the day began with a drive down to Twin Bridges Marina where we boarded Tom's boat and headed off for La Conner, a leisurely 20-minute trip. Safely moored, we walked into town to explore and found lots of antique shops and arts & crafts shops and galleries as the sun climbed high above us and the temperatue increased accordingly as we snacked and drank and took in the sights. Then it was back to the boat for the reverse trip back to our starting point. At the marina we saw a multi-storey boat park, yes that's right - boats are lifted out of the water, fork lift trucks then carry them and safely deposit them in place inside the building (we counted at least three floors, but there may have been four).

During the drive back Kristi took a phone call and learned that a relative had been taken into hospital - so we cut our stay short, packed the car and headed back to Tacoma so Steve & Kristi could visit while we walked a few blocks to have a meal at a local Chinese restaurant.

When they returned we talked a while and shared some wine before tiredness finally overcame us and we decided to turn in.

193 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website

22-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 20

2009-08-25T04:00:00.011+01:00

We woke early, enjoying the tranquility of this delightful location - the sun was streaming in, the scene outside our windows was picturesque... while Jimmy showered Val wandered out onto the patio overlooking the lawn and the pond... it was the kind of scene that would seem too perfect to be real - but real it was. Sunrise and Jessica prepared us a super breakfast, setting us up well for the long trip back north. Instruments and cases were brought upstairs from where we'd played the previous night, and the car was duly packed. As we said our goodbyes and thankyous with lots of hugs Sunrise suggested that we share a musical moment together... he sang a note, and each of us in turn added another note either in harmony or unison and we held that acapella chord for a while - an exhilarating 'friends together' experience.

Steve & Kristi had a long drive north via Tacoma, past Seattle, making for Anacortes on the west coast. We visited Steve's sister (Elizabeth) and her husband (Tom), spending the night at their home overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Since arriving in the USA we hadn't stopped to enjoy a single sunset over the ocean... but, wow, this one was worth waiting for! After a brief dip in the pool and time relaxing in the adjoining hot tub we witnessed a glorious sun setting behind occasional clouds as it sank large and orange towards the water, re-appearing below the clouds before finally disappearing behind the hills on the islands just a few miles to our west. And then, an al fresco dinner as the light gradually faded... the stuff of dreams that many aspire to.

Music next! We retired downstairs and took turns with Steve & Kristi to play songs for our hosts. The jiva contribution to the evening's entertainment was:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Best Friends (jiva)
Louise (Paul Siebel)
One More Song (jiva)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
When (jiva)

We even had Elizabeth and Tom joining in on 'One More Song'! Again there was much chat beyond the midnight hour and we walked outside to our guest apartment, taking a long look at the ocean and up into the pitch black sky peppered with stars that shone brighter than we could ever recollect having seen before, the Milky Way forming a glittering ribbon across the sky. A short walk up the hill and we were back inside - we resisted the temptation to 'pump iron' with the weights or jog on the treadmill or practice on the ski-machine or excercise bike... sleep was calling to us.

193 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website

21-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 19

2009-08-25T03:48:00.007+01:00

Up prompt this morning as we were all going away for the weekend. The Celluloid Cowboys (Steve and Kristi and their friends Bill and Lynne) were booked to play at the Wahkiakum County Fair - about a 3 hour drive south of Tacoma. The traffic was heavy but we made it to the County Fair ground by 5:00pm so they could check in (due to play at 7:00pm) and then we made our way to the Bed and Breakfast - The Inn at Lucky Mud... in Skamokawa... a wonderful house set in magnificent grounds... the scenery was just breathtaking.

The Lucky Mud is run by long time friends of Steve and Kristi called Jessica and Sunrise. We were made very welcome, quickly shown our rooms (wow! more of that later) and then all sat down to creamed broccolli soup and homemade bread - yum. We then made our way back to the fair ground in good time for The Celluloid Cowboys to get their gear set up and to have a sound check.

This gave us a chance to take a look around the fair... there were the usual stands and we popped our head into one of the tents and were handed free spin tickets by two girls who asked 'Do you want free spin the wheel tickets?' We weren't sure what to expect but went along and Val won a bright green necklace and Jimmy some football stickers!

Then we made our way back to the bleachers in front of the music stage. The Celluloid Cowboys gave a good performance encompassing American classics, swing, Hawaiian, contemporary, and self-penned numbers. The fair organisers immediately booked them for next year's event.

After the fair closed we drove back to the Lucky Mud where we had a singaround, eating, drinking and playing session that went on into the night with evryone singing/playing together and individually with ad hoc accompaniments being added to many songs. Songs from the jiva repertoire were:

Different Dreams (jiva)
Louise (Paul Siebel)
Some Way Home (jiva)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Yorkshire Romance (CJ Rowe)

A great way to end a great evening in the company of great friends and great hosts.

63 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website

20-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 18

2009-08-21T21:11:00.008+01:00

After a breakfast of omelette and toast Steve & Kristi took us on a drive to Mount Rainier - we'd seen the impressive snow-capped peak on our journey north from Springfield to Tacoma, but today we were driven up there through the National Park. There were masses of trees lining the steep winding roads and covering the mountainsides. Our first stop was at Paradise and we managed to get some great pictures and then it was on to Sunrise (yes, these really are names of real places) where we took some more. We also walked the trail for a while but it was very hot so that didn't last too long. The mountain is spectacular and the scenery breathtaking... and big, very big.

We made our way back down the mountain and went to visit friends Bill and Lynne (music friends of Steve and Kristi) who had invited us all round for dinner. We had a beer, a lovely mexican dish, wine and then all played music together for a while. A new experience for us to have people joining in playing mandolin, slide guitar and washboard! Songs from the jiva repertoire were:

Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
One More Song (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Some Way Home (jiva)

After ice cream we headed home with Steve & Kristi - many thanks to Bill & Lynne for making us so welcome. Naturally the conversation turned again to music and we swapped anecdotes about places that we/they had played, and about some of the characters met along the way, and about performing and songwriting, and audiences and venues (good and bad). We then listened to some CD tracks, copied photos and videos onto the netbook, backed up the netbook to our portable USB-powered 500 GBdrive, checked our emails and updated the blogs as the time ticked remorselessly on and we were all ready to turn in with a busy weekend ahead of us!

165 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website

19-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 17

2009-08-21T21:04:00.004+01:00

Steve & Kristi decided that, as we'd missed out on breakfast waffles during the drive north, they would make us some waffles for our first breakfast in their home - great fun and great taste. They had a rehearsal that morning prior to an afternoon performance in Seattle with the Celluloid Cowboys, so we got to meet Bill and Lynne who also tucked into waffles before the band rehearsed.

This gave us a good opportunity to catch up on the domestics and we drove a few blocks to a local laundromat - the few folks there were mostly reading books or magazines while the machines did their stuff, but not jiva... we had the netbook with us, so we had time to catch up on some of our blog drafts.

We explored the area for a few blocks, eventually finding a pharmacy where we sought advice regarding what appeared to be a couple of bites - Val always ends up being bitten wherever we go, the major drawback of hot and sunny climes for us. And boy is it hot, reminiscent of Florida with the temperature in the 80s.

In the evening we decided to go see a movie and we came away having learned a lot of distressing things about farming and food production and large corporations - we'll certainly look at burgers differently from now on, thinking twice about what we eat and where it came from.

Back at Steve & Kristi's we talked until the early hours before getting some shut-eye before the next day's trip to Mount Rainier.

11 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website

18-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 16

2009-08-21T09:08:00.002+01:00

We slept a little longer than usual and made our way for breakfast at around 08:30 - and this again was a further step up - there was a waffle machine, but no-one used it while we we were watching, so we still didn't chance it! Ah well, we made up for it with fruit juice and coffee and eggs and pancakes (for Jimmy) and cereal, and cookies and a Danish pastry each.

The drive to Tacoma was all on the I-5 highway - varying between 2 and 5 lanes and very very straight (it can be quite tiring to drive over 60 miles with hardly moving the steering wheel except for the very occasional lane change). We didn't detour much as we were keen to get to Tacoma at a reasonable time. Driving through/around Portland was incredible... bridges over water, flyovers, underpasses, 5 lanes, 4, 3, 2, lots of lights and exit ramps and joining lanes (a shock to the system after driving for so long without having to think much about direction and other traffic).

After a short break for a Big Mac and a milk shake we set off again for more and more miles of straight highway - this very last leg seemed to be getting more difficult to concentrate as Tacoma was getting tantalisingly closer and closer.

And then, we were there - turning off the main highway, negotiating roadworks and then some gentle driving through some suburbs to the street where Steve & Kristi live... we'd be staying with friends and musicians Steve and Kristi Nebel for a few days and were mighty relieved to ring the doorbell and find we'd reached our destination after some 1500 miles of driving... phew! Time to relax and chat and make ourselves at home in a house among good friends! (Great after B&B inns and anonymous motels for so long...)

After sampling Kristi's delicious home cooking we were driven down to the shore of Puget Sound and, as well as some lovely views over the water (and two great bridges) we saw some raccoons. Next we called in to a local open mic club to listen to some of the local talent - we'd hardly played and sang (apart from our wedding) since arriving in America so decided not to play... but we may get back there next week. There was a good cross section of performers ranging from fiddle tunes on autoharp and mandolin through to singer/songwriters old and young and some cover songs... all well organised with a very quick turnaround by the resident MC. The audience were attentive and appreciative and the place had a positive, warm and friendly listening feel to it.

We headed back home to Steve & Kristi's for a relatively early night.

202 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

17-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 15

2009-08-21T09:01:00.003+01:00

Breakfast was a much more pleasant affair than our previous two Rodeway Inn stays - actually having a breakfast room was a step back to civilisation... and there was a much better selection of hot and cold foods on offer. We saw people making waffles with the ease of knowledge gained through much experience... but, not knowing how it worked, we didn't try it out.

The drive north to Springfield (the home of the Simpsons cartoon family?) started with a filling station pump that refused to work either for us or for the attendant, but a switch of pumps soon got us filled up and underway. There was more beautiful coastline, and spectacular views, and scary sharp curves on mountain roads, and beautiful cooling drives through more Redwoods. This drive took us inland and we spent a fair amount of time on wider highways travelling at a comfortable 65 mph.

The accommodation at Springfield was a Comfort Suite - a further step up from Eureka's Comfort Inn... bedroom, lounge/office with corner spa bath and then a separate bathroom too. It seemed that the further north we were, the better the accommodation and the better the prices too. We took our customary walk to the nearest shopping mall, checking out the wide variety of eating places along the way. We finally settled on an iHop restaurant where the waitress immediately spotted that we were 'senior citizens' and therefore eligible for special discount (did we really look so travel worn and weary?)... Jimmy had spotted Hawaiian pancakes and was determined to giove it a go. So we ordered what we thought would be a relatively small main course (barbequed ribs for Jimmy and chicken salad for Val) and a couple of tropical twist coolers to gently wash it down. Well... the spare ribs were somewhat large, and Val's salad was a veritable mountain! So we took our time, were treated to free refills and ice water while making our way through it all (maybe not quite all, but a fair amount), and somehow found room for the pancake and a free ice cream too!

Then it was an easy stroll back and we just had to have a go at the corner spa bathtub in our room - so we luxuriated in a mass of bubbles - if we were the idle rich types we'd have had champagne and candles on the side, but we were absolutely fine without those additional trappings. More computer stuff and then a reasonably early night in readiness for the final driving stretch the following morning.

296 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

16-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 14

2009-08-21T08:48:00.003+01:00

We woke early and showered. It was an interesting affair getting breakfast as we were on the first floor. We took our tray to the reception room to find the only food on offer was sticky buns... so we had two each!

We set off about 8:00 am (yes on a Sunday morning - no lie in for us this holiday) and made our way to the 101 North which was to take us over the Golden Gate Bridge. Woah! The roads down to the bridge were way steep... you've seen them on the cops and robber shows on tv and they're true! And the bridge itself, well, it was great. We travelled over and then parked at a vista point to take photos. Alcatraz was rising out of the mist.

Then it was on our way for the long drive to Eureka along some beautiful coastline. There was some breathtaking views and a lot of hairpin bends to manoeuvre around as we travelled up and down the mountains. We passed by some magnicent Redwood trees - so tall and the trunks so wide! We stopped off for a rest and a bite to eat in Mendocino - Mendocino county was wonderful... at moments serene and gentle scenic vistas, the next moment sharp bends and panoramic views over the Pacific. This felt like the best part of our drive so far.

The Comfort Inn at Eureka was like a breath of fresh air after our San Francisco ordeal - so much space and comfort and attention to detail. We walked along to a local shopping mall and called in at a Chinese restaurant on the way back - the notice said Sunday closing was at 9:05 pm and we got there at 8:55 wondering if perhaps we were too late, but they were happy for us to sit right down and enjoy a delicious meal. Suitably refreshed we walked back to the Inn and relaxed in our spa bath tub testing out Archimedes' Principle [in Eureka of all places!] before the final round of emails, MySpace, Facebook, Folk Show, etc and then turning in for the night.

428 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

15-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 13

2009-08-16T06:31:00.006+01:00

It was a kinda help yourself breakfast at the Rodeway Inn... we had to go to reception and choose what we wanted to eat, put it on a tray and take it back to the room! So it was fruit, toasted bagel (for Jimmy), sticky bun (for Val) and a cup of coffee and tea. By 8:15 am we were on our way for leg 2 of our journey north.

We got a good start up the west coast of California passing by such places as Carmel and Monterey. We stopped off in Monterey, and found ourselves at another McDonalds so we fortified ourselves with a burger and milkshake each. We didn't have time to explore Monterey but it seems like a very popular seaside resort with losts of water sports. There were lots of fabulous views (some a little like Scotland) as we drove along the Big Sur - wow! The road was often very winding and perilously close to the cliff edge but fortunately we were on the inside with the sheer drops mostly to our left on the other side of the road.

We made it to Santa Cruz without problem, but spent a frustratingly long time trying to re-connect to the Highway number 1. We went around the city a few times trying different routes pointing to Highway 1 North... but we discovered that in Santa Cruz roadsign arrows pointing left don't necessarily mean turn left... they can also mean go straight on!

Thankful to have successfully managed our way out of Santa Cruz we drove for a while before seeing a few helicopters swarming around - in fact they were scooping up water and dropping it on the forest fires which have been raging through the area. Luckily, the firest hadn't reached far enough west to close Highway 1 although we did see some blackened tree trunks not very far too our right.

We stopped in Half Moon Bay at a most delightful watering hole which was a combination of wine bar, deli and cafe set back from the road in a newly built one street shopping mall modelled on the typical main street in old American western films (it even had an old railway caboose in the yard, but no engineer... and no cowboys).

Then came the hard bit as our destination was a Rodeway Inn in downtown San Francisco. From what had been mostly two way traffic we suddenly found ourselves on a three lane highway which quickly became seven lanes splitting off in all directions. The sat nav coped reasonably well and, with only a couple of missed turns we made it through... phew!

We had booked this particular motel as it seemed reasonably close to the main highways and it has guaranteed parking for guests. It turns out that we've ended up in a pretty undesirable part of the city. Richard was staying with a friend in San Francisco, so we met up for a brief chat and she told us of a few OK places nearby - but she also warned us not to talk to anyone on our way back later, and to keep tight hold of each other... ooh err... it was a no-brainer that we just grab a quick bite to eat and head on back before dark.

Then we worked our way through emails, blogs (including this one!), MySpace, Facebook... all the usual stuff as the high speed wifi internet connection was working well. Jimmy was feeling particularly uneasy as we could hear police sirens on a regular basis, subway trains rumbling and shaking the building, a fair amount of traffic and quite a few voices as the city went about its business as day turned into night. Ho hum - early start tomorrow - he can't wait to be outta here!

168 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

14-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 12

2009-08-16T06:23:00.006+01:00

We woke bright and early as we wanted to get a good start. We had pre-arranged to have breakfast at 7:30 and they especially made us scrambled egg and we also had a bowl of fruit and some toast and jam - just the stuff to fortify us for morning traffic. We had packed just about everything the night before so we had a last minute check around the room, opening cupboards and drawers to make sure we hadn't missed anything - checked out - and then we were on our way.

It was a long drive today - planned to be 7 hours but this turned into nearly 12 as the traffic coming up to and getting through the outskirts of Los Angeles was... to put it mildly... very slow. It was nose to bumper as everyone seemed to be making their way to the coast. As we drove we passed through places that had only been names before but which now became a reality, and we stopped for a well earned break, pizza and beer at Malibu beach.

We reached our destination of Morro Bay at around 8:30 pm - just missing the sun setting behind the rocks as we drove into the car park. So, after a quick walk (it was dark by now), picking up some milk and Liptons tea bags from a local store on the way (Val's first proper cup of tea since arriving in the USA) and a frustrating check of the emails (the internet connection was very poor) we turned in for a much needed sleep.

309 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

13-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 11

2009-08-16T06:07:00.005+01:00

After all the excitement of the wedding day we awoke refreshed and happy and went down for breakfast. Today's fare was mushroom omelette with feta cheese, and the usual fruit, and also some toast and jam.

We went off to meet up with Richard to spend some time with him before he jetted off to San Francisco for 8 days. He is staying with friends he met 5 years ago in Cambridge (where he lives) and they have promised to show him the sights and sounds of the city.

After he left there was just enough time for us to check our emails and My Space etc before setting off for a hot air balloon ride! We had pre-arranged this before leaving England and after ringing the company 3 times to check the flight was on (unsettled weather had prevented them operating for the past 3 days) we were told it was all systems to go and were given directions where to meet in Del Mar - a coastal resort about 10 miles north of La Jolla. Neither of us had done a hot air balloon flight before and so we were both excited and a little apprehensive as we made our way to the rendezvous. We arrived a little early and so took advantage of the nearby McDonald's where we each had a milk shake (yummy) before meeting with Panorama Balloons.

The other six participants turned up and we all jumped into the van and drove to the take-off point. It was great fun watching the balloon and basket being prepared and once the balloon was inflated it was a mad and ungainly scramble as we all had to clamber into the basket quickly before it took off without us! The rope holding us to the ground was untied and then we were up and slowly rising into the sky - it was wonderful and so serene.

Apart from the occasional sound of the burner (we had to keep swapping places in the basket as our ears and head were becoming very warm - in fact Jimmy's ears were burned a bit), it was incredibly peaceful and serene. We sailed and soared over fields and houses and even talked to people on the ground as they waved to us as we passed by. And then all too soon (but it had been a 45-minutes flight) it was time to land. We had been warned by our pilot that the landing might be bumpy and he had explained to us how we had to turn our backs to the direction of travel, hold on to the ropes in the basket, bend our knees and brace ourselves. But, when it came to it, the landing itself was smooth (although he did manage to clip the top of a fence) and immediately 4 faces appeared over the rim of the basket as burly men desperately held it down as the balloon was keen to go up up and away again. Eventually the basket tipped over on its side and we we had to hold on really tight with no support for our heads. Photos were quickly taken by the pilot and then we were allowed to struggle and squirm our way out.

Time for a little champagne before being driven back to the meeting point.

By now it was nearly 9 pm and so we ate our first McDonalds burgers since arriving in the USA - great stuff.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack - tomorrow we head off for the next part of our adventure... a 5 day drive up the west coast to Tacoma, Seattle.

260 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

12-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 10... WEDDING DAY

2009-08-16T02:17:00.018+01:00

It will come as no surprise that we woke really early, and found it impossible to get back to sleep - so, before showering, we donned the thick and cozy dressing gowns/robes and tiptoed downstairs for freshly baked cookies and coffee. Then we double checked everything that we had already double checked the previous night - clothes, vows, rings, music, marriage licence, cameras... next it was scout through emails, MySpace and Facebook to see if anything needed attending to. Then it was shower, shave for Jimmy, get dressed and then downstairs for breakfast - fruit juice, fresh fruit, coffee, and mushroom and spinach quiche.

We had arranged to spend part of the morning with Val's son, Richard, and so we wandered along Prospect Avenue and down to the beach to see the seals, and squirrels, and seagulls, and pelicans... and people by the hundreds.

It was a hot and sticky morning, so we showered again (and Jimmy shaved again - yes, twice in one day!), and took our time getting ready for the big occasion. So we treble checked everything again and made our way to the car, waited a few minutes for Richard to return from his hotel... and then off we drove, Jimmy driving extra carefully today.

We got to Taylor Guitars at El Cajon 10 minutes ahead of schedule, unpacked the bits from the boot (trunk) of the car and made our way just a few yards to Customer Services/Reception... almost overcome by the heat already. Once inside we met our photographers and videographers (Jessica and Nathan), and the receptionist phoned Chalise to let her know that we had arrived.

There was time for a few pre-wedding shots outside (phew... it was sweltering) and also in the Taylor store before the officiant (Reverend Christopher Tuttle) and our friend Timi from Texas arrived. Then we walked over to the 2000 room (Marketing Suite) - we could have driven, but wanted to savour the walk. Chalise had told us on our previous visit that we should feel free to pick up and play any of the guitars that day and also on the wedding day too... so we changed our original plan of two pieces of pre-recorded music during the ceremony to be one song played live by us and one pre-recorded song.

The Reverend brought us together for the ceremony - dispensing with the traditional groom to his left and bride to his right... we swapped sides so as to be in jiva performance position... nice touch, and so typical of how the Reverend handled things, individual and accommodating and fun. We can't recall every word that was said (however, that will be available for us to treasure in high definition video), but we remember the points about friends and family, and love and trust, and fun and imagination, and the exchange of rings, and the speaking of our own self-written personal vows to each other, the holding hands, the pronouncement of man and wife, the kiss, the applause (yes, really, applause!), the occasional tear being dabbed away, the music... ah yes... the music...

Val played the gorgeous Custom Build Jumbo 12-string that we both fell in love with on our previous visit, and Jimmy chose a beautiful 814CE 6-string... we sang 'Back Home To You' by Allan Taylor... and the pre-recorded song was 'Dancing On A Saturday Night' (written esecially for us by Allan Taylor as a wedding present)... the Taylor Guitar Factory... we played Taylor guitars... and the music was all by Allan Taylor... a bit of a theme there!

The happy couple...
mid-ceremony - not quite Mr and Mrs yet

Timi and Richard were our official witnesses, and they duly signed the official documentation - many thanks to you both for sharing and taking an active part in this special day... we were honoured to have some of the Taylor staff present throughout the ceremony, and there were even some photos taken by the Taylor photographer which might even find their way into a company publication... who knows?

The happy couple...
Mr and Mrs Jimmy and Val Monteith-Towler

Next we were invited to take more of our own personal shots throughout the factory (Chalise acting as resident camera-person for this part) before making our way back to reception where we picked up cards and gifts that resourceful friends had made available to us as a surprise at Taylor Guitars on the actual wedding day. We are indeed humbled and grateful to have such people in our lives.

And so, having said our farewells to Chalise and Co, we left drove back to La Jolla where we enjoyed champagne in the garden of the B&B with Timi and Richard... a lovely touch. Then the four of us strolled along the ocean front before enjoying a Mexican meal at Alfonso's (finishing with fried ice cream and cheesecake... absolutely delicious).

And then it was goodnight to Timi (hugs all round) as she had to drive back to her hotel in San Diego (without a sat nav too), and goodnight to Richard as he made his way back to his hotel.

Finally - 40 years and 17 days after we first met - we got married... Mr and Mrs Monteith-Towler... at last!

We wholehertedly thank everyone who has wished us well and all at Taylor Guitars, and especially Chalise, for making this dream day possible for us.

And the answer to the question that lots of people ask? Yes, we were indeed tempted... watch this space!

186 photos today, with more to come from our official wedding photographers and from Taylor too!.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Taylor Guitars website

11-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 9

2009-08-12T06:10:00.004+01:00

Breakfast today was a delicious pumpkin toast with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and maple syrup topped off with cream (with bacon on the side too), preceded by fresh melon - and the usual orange juice and coffee.

We met Richard at his hotel where he told us that his luggage arrived safely... at 4 in the morning! We sauntered along the beach, stopping to enjoy the seals lazing on the rocks and we watched birds and squirrels too. There were lots of kayaks and swimmers, everyone wanting to be close to the seals... and the beach was crowded even though it was a muggy, overcast morning.

We walked quite a way north along the waterfront (probably about 3 miles or thereabouts), alternately passing grand mansions on the right overlooking the ocean and coves and beaches on the left - at one stage we found ourselves walking by yet another crowded beach... thousands of people, and lots of noise! Eventually we made it to Scripps pier... only to find it closed to public access! Ah well, the lengthy walk would certainly have burned off a few pounds (or, at least, ounces).

Then it was back to the B&B to put our feet up, help ourselves to complimentary cookies and coffee before settling down to check and double check arrangements for tomorrow... paperwork, photographer/videographer, officiant, final check on the all important wedding outfits etc. By the time we'd fired off a couple of emails it was time for the cheese and wine (could become quite habit forming)... and then off we toddled to meet up with Richard again to head off in search of today's evening meal.

Big day tomorrow, so an early night tonight - lights out by 10:45 pm.

251 photos today

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

10-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 8

2009-08-12T00:53:00.005+01:00

We had our best sleep yet at this B&B - not waking up once in the night, despite the slightly noisy air conditioning... even though we have the vent shut it's a little like hearing the wind gently whirling outside - we must be getting used to it. And we woke excited for what the day ahead held in store. An earlier breakfast found us eating a spinach and mushroom omelette with saute potatoes (the chef had called them roast potatoes and we had been wondering what to expect!).

First on the agenda for today was a trip to the county clerk's office to obtain our Marriage Licence. We had arranged an appointment for 10:00 am and arrived there in good time... at 9:30 am. We decided to go straight in and we were warmly welcomed and expected. They couldn't have been nicer and we even got to take a photo of the very helpful clerk (Roberta) and then we had our picture taken with her as well. Wow! It was great.

Then it was straight over to the Taylor Guitar Factory to meet with Chalise, the Public Relations Manager, our Taylor contact. Nothing was too much trouble - she took us on a personal up close tour, and our jaws dropped as we saw the commitment, the quality, the craftsmanship, and the sheer awesome beauty as woods combined with frets and machine heads and purfling and inlays in a precise laser acuuracy with human handiwork and dedication to produce guitars which are not only a joy to play and to hear, but which are also incredibly beautiful to behold. It was heaven to witness this incredibly special process - and everyone was so friendly and ready to explain things and answer whatever questions we had.

Chalise escorted us across to the Marketing Suite where we had a sharp intake of breath as we stepped into a room with a complete wall of Taylor guitars - custom BTO (build to order) models, R Taylors, different finishes, different tonewoods, different appointments, solid body, acoustic, 6-string, 12-string, semi acoustic T3s and T5s and (hush hush projects)... even a Bose L1 sytem that they use for demonstrating amplified and on roadshows. It was awesome, totally mind blowing.

Here's Val playing a guitar that we both fell in love with,
a custom built Jumbo 12-string...
Photo by Chalise Zolezzi, Taylor Guitars

So, the drive back to La Jolla was becoming natural and easy - as if we've been doing it for years. We parked up, then celebrated our fabulous day by having sumptuous ice creams and sorbets before checking out more shops and heading back to the B&B for cheese and wine and grapes and strawberries... well, somene has to do these things.

Tonight Val's son, Richard, flew in from the UK - he's going to spend a few days here in La Jolla, come to the wedding, and then jet off to San Francisco for a week or so before heading back to Cambridge (UK). Unfortunately his luggage got left in Denver with a promise of it being sent on to his hotel by 11:00 pm. We left him at 10:00 pm after dining out at a local Italian restaurant followed by a slow walk back to his hotel - then a 400 yard stroll to our B&B for a relatively early night.

186 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Taylor Guitars website

09-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 7

2009-08-12T00:31:00.005+01:00

A lazy day - got up later than yesterday, popped downstairs for coffee and cookies to help us wake up. Breakfast today was apple & cinnamon strada with crispy crunchy bacon on the side (Jimmy really likes cinnamon - a lot).

We had reserved today for a practice run at driving to the county clerk's office and then on to the Taylor factory. We managed it all without getting lost once - thanks to GPS sat nav for getting us there and to Google Maps for ensuring we knew what things should look like. Then we drove back to La Jolla, had more coffee and cookies... then drove back again to El Cajon so we'd be fully rehearsed for the marriage licence appointment on Monday and the wedding on Wednesday...

Eeeek! It's all happening - these places really do exist - bricks and mortar, not just images on the screen.

Needless to say we took photos of the outside of the Taylor factory... and there'll be lots to see inside tomorrow when we have a pre-wedding visit. Back at La Jolla, after the wine and cheese session in the garden, we had an evening stroll around the shops - purple seems to be coming into fashion again, although none of the designs really caught our eyes. We had a nice Mexican meal at Alfonso's (highly recommended by guests and also local guide publications), and then wandered down to the cove where we wached seals swimming and lazing on the rocks, barking and snorting to each other. The beach path was littered with people, even after sunset there were lots of people out walking and swimming and fishing and watching the waves... it was very much a fun, family and friends atmosphere.

Although it was only 09:30 pm by the time we got back to the B&B, we were both whacked... so, after a brief sojourn into cyberspace to check emails and messages, we turned in for an early night.

37 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

08-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 6

2009-08-12T00:15:00.004+01:00

Got up at 06:30 (yes, honestly!) - showered dressed, and then popped downstairs for complimentary coffee and home baked cookies... scrummy! We weren't due at breaksast until 09:00 so we meandered down to the beach where we saw lots of seals basking on the sand in the early morning sunlight as waves gently lapped about them. Then we had to avoid literally hundreds of joggers of all shapes and sizes as they pounded by - don't yet know whether it's organised groups and/or weekend only or every day... time will tell. Further along an archway festooned with flowers was being put up in readiness for a wedding overlooking the ocean.

After a slow stroll back to the B&B we had a Tex Mex breakfast with lots of fresh orange juice and fruit and as much coffee as we could take. Suitably fed and watered we went off to explore the shops, including a music store where we checked out the Taylor guitars on display. By mid afternoon we were feeling a little peckish so treated ourselves to a couple of Haagen Dazs mint and chocolate biscuit 'Dazzlers'... even the small/standard size cones/dishes are huge!

Back at the B&B we noticed rows of chairs being set out on an adjacent lawn and we joked that they must be preparing for a wedding - yep, sure enough, out came the bride in a long white dress and four or five bridesmaids in blue closely followed by the groom and other men in dark suits, shirts and ties and white floral buttonholes. In close proximity was a photographer who seemed to race around being everywhere at once - stopping the wedding party here and there, posing them, taking loads of shots.

After a glass of iced water we set off to explore the area further and walked down to the beach, turning south along a path that was thronged with sunseekers and barbeques and another wedding party. We decided to walk along the sand - and, there, coming up the steps from the beach was the bride we'd seen earlier and the bridesmaids and the indefategible photographer with two cameras slung around her neck. On the beach there were people of all shapes and sizes, with varying amounts of tan in varying degrees of near nakedness - we did feel somewhat overdressed in our jiva-esque black tee shirts and purple caps! Walking back along La Jolla Boulevard we were reminded that this place is known as one of the most affluent places in the USA - there were dealerships for Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, Maserati, Lotus, Bugatti, Lamborghini and various other expensive marques. The houses are huge, and individually designed so no two are quite the same... and at almost every corner there's another sight to behold.

We got back to the B&B just as the wedding next door was about to officially start - a hundred or so guests were seated and the music was playing (a very kitsch bouncy treatment of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow') as the bridesmaids and groomsmen took up position. Then, after a few bars of Pachelbel's Canon the photographer bounded out of the building just in front of the bride... and almost the whole congrgration stood up to take their own snapshots too. We watched a while as the minister said a few words (he really should invest in a Bose L1, or at least a Bose L1 Compact), We made our way inside and found we were just in time for the complimentary wine and cheese session, so poured a couple of glasses of white wine to wash down some crackers and a selection of cheeses and headed out to the terrace to enjoy it in the early evening sunshine while watching the delightful hummingbirds hovering and flitting about.

Refreshed, we then walked back along the boulevard to a nice Chinese restaurant for our evening meal (the diet will just have to wait until we get home). Then it was a pleasant moonlit stroll back to the B&B - as we approached we could hear the wedding disco in full swing... it was still going strong when we decided to turn in for the night, but we were so tired that we were asleep in moments.

140 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
The Bed & Breakfast Inn at La Jolla website

07-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 5

2009-08-11T23:43:00.003+01:00

We checked out of the Casa relatively early to allow plenty of time to get to Orlando Airport, return the hire car and get ourselves checked in for the flights to San Diego. It's just as well we did - even with a GPS sat nav system it's not always easy to get to exactly where you need to be... and, typically, it wasn't easy to find where to check in... and when we did, the self service boarding pass system would't work for us... so what had started as over an hour in reserve rapidly became no spare time at all!

Changing at Los Angeles was relatively easy and the small local/regional jet plane service was much smoother than we'd anticipated. We arrived at San Diego in good time, but couldn't work out how to get to the National car rental bus stop - so having seen one flash by earlier we managed to flag down the second one and were soon whisked off to pick up our car (yes, after a fairly lengthy wait in a queue). Then we drove to La Jolla (pronounced 'La Hoya') where we'd be staying for seven nights - thank goodness for sat nav - it would have been a difficult drive had we been relying on maps and written instructions.

The La Jolla Bed and Breakfast was very different to the Casa Coquina (Florida)... but just as nice in a different sort of way, and they even laid on champagne to our room to welcome us. By the time we had checked in, unpacked and read our emails it was going on 10:00 pm. We walked through the streets to get the lie of the land and possibly have a snack... the place was heaving, lots of people young and old (but mostly young) in bars and grilles and restaurants and galleries and crowding the pavements... and so much noise and conversation... obviously a very happening, chic and trendy place to be.

Almost midnight local time, and we've been up for 20 hours... so time to sign off another day - see y'all tomorrow!

99 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
The Bed & Breakfast Inn at La Jolla website

06-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 4

2009-08-08T23:42:00.003+01:00

Our second day at the Kennedy Space Center was as enjoyable as the first - the iMax films were awesome, and the Shuttle Launch simulator was great fun (although some of the children were determined to show off and scream louder than the thunderous roar from the 'rocket engines' as we were buffeted and rocked and subjected to some interesting G-force effects).

We had chosen the 'Then And Now' tour for today and we were given a history of space activities at the cape from very early military launches/projects, through to the present day - highlights of the tour included visiting the block house (control room) and the actual launch site of America's first manned space flight and also a somewhat more sobering visit to the site of the Apollo 1 disaster where three astronauts were burned alive as their capsule turned into a blazing inferno during a test countdown on the launch pad.

All too soon it was time to go, and we both felt very sad at leaving such a wonderful place - it felt new and exciting but somehow familiar and friendly as if we'd lived there for years.

312 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Kennedy Space Center website

05-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 3

2009-08-08T23:21:00.004+01:00

We woke bright and early and in good time breakfast at 8:30. The Innkeeper was off today so we got to meet the owner, Linda, before she set off for her day job! We were keen to eat up and be out because today we were to visit the Kennedy Space Center! As we drove the short distance (about 8 miles) to get there we were excited, we didn't know what to expect or what the day would bring but we were keen to get there. And boy were we not disappointed.

The Space Center Visitor Complex is big and beautiful. The garden is full of space rockets from the small (and that was big) to the huge and we mean huge! And, also on exhibit was the actual walkway that Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins walked along before entering Apollo 11 and setting off on their historic journey to the moon... we walked along it, trying to imagine that day, those men, the eyes of the world on their epic journey. We wanted to see and do everything at once but we took our time and looked at everything - we had pre-booked the 'Nasa Up Close' tour and that was mind boggling and we go to see the Saturn V rocket - it was gigantic. There was also opportunity to see modules for the International Space Station (ISS) undergoing tests... and we even glimpsed alligators and lots of vultures too!

Here we are in front of the Vertical Assembly Building
Photo taken by our wonderful tour guide, Ann.

After an exhausting but exhilarating day we walked the 100 yards or so from the Casa to the local restaurant (Mexican and Cuban). The main courses were good, but the dessert was exceptional - luckily Stephanie, our waitress, warned us that the Fried Ice Cream Dessert was rather large... and we might be advised to share one, with the option of a second if we could manage it. Well, no, we most certainly didn't manage to find room for another one!

691 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Kennedy Space Center website

04-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 2

2009-08-08T23:09:00.003+01:00

Surprisingly we were up in good time for a shower and to check emails before breakfast. We met Siobhan, the innkeeper - full of smiles and good nature, nothing was too much trouble.

Today was a day for exploring, and we decided to go for a walk to check out the neighbourhood - there weren't many people walking... everywhere is designed to be accessible to motorists... but the few people we met were friendly, as were shop assistants in the couple of places we visited. The route we took was about five miles - the weather was hot and muggy, and we were somewhat tired by the time we got back to the Casa. Then we took a drive downtown and sampled the delights of the Caffe Chocolat Cafe before heading back for a rest and some advice from Siobhan about where to eat out that evening. We settled on Paul's Smokehouse where we had a lovely meal while looking out over the Indian river... we could see just a few miles across the water was the Kennedy Space Center where we'd be visiting for the next two days.

114 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

03-Aug-09 USA Trip - Day 1

2009-08-08T22:38:00.006+01:00

03:58 The alarm went off.
04:00 The next alarm went off.
04:02 And then the next alarm.
04:04 And the next!
04:06 Last alarm!

Got up, checked emails, got ready, quick breakfast, packed the car...set off for the airport at 04:50. We promised each other when we moved to Blyth seven years ago that we'd share sunrise over our new home town, and this morning we did... there was a surreal quality to the relative stillness of the streets, the lack of traffic, and the gold and red clouds as the sun started its climb into the sky.

On checking in we found that the small suitcase we'd taken as carry-on luggage in the past was now too big, and had to be checked in as normal checked hold baggage. Ah well, so be it - we just hoped that it didn't get lost en route as it held all manner of chargers, adapters, extension leads, connecting cables etc... without those we'd be stumped. Other than that the Newcastle end all went to plan.

At Heathrow we found that our connecting flight to Miami had been delayed by almost an hour, so we wandered aimlessly milling around the shops, killing time. So at 10:30 our 747 Jumbo lifted off on the long stretch over the Atlantic. The on board food was surprisingly good, and we were plied with copious supplies of various liquids - some hot (very!), some cold, some alcoholic, some not. Not a great deal of legroom though, and Val's in flight entertainment system was playing up and had to be re-set twice by the cabin crew.

We made the acquaintance of a delightful young chap (Samuel) who enjoyed playing hide and seek, making faces and catching each other's hands as they sneaked around, above and under the seats. It was very touching when he stretched his arms out so we could hold his hands as we landed in Miami.

The customs guy was really sweet when Val told him our story and how we were to be married in El Cajon. Then we had a half mile trek to the (un-signposted) baggage reclaim area... we then had to get our baggage checked in again before we could get our boarding passes. Check in was simple - hand the cases over and that was it. We then tried unsuccessfully to print our boarding passes using the self-service system and were refused entry to the boarding area, so were referred back to the American Airlines check-in desk only to be told that the flight was now closed and we'd have to wait three hours for another one. In the meantime our baggage had gone on ahead of us on the flight we had missed. So we trailed around the airport shops and food places before settling down to a hot chocolate at Starbucks.

We wandered outside thinking to get a breath of fresh air to clear our heads a little - we'd been awake for 17 hours by this time... oof! The warmth was incredible, intimidating, so we made our way back into the air conditioned airport mall to meander around the shops again ubtil it was time to make our way through security and on to the departure lounge. And there we met Samuel again - his family had also missed their connection to Orlando.

Once seated on the plane we were taken back by the announcement that the weather en-route was forecast to be severe and that we should keep our seatbelts on all the way, and even the cabin crew should do the same... and... and... and... there was only a 75% chance that we'd be able to make it to Orlando - we might have to divert, or even turn back if the conditions were really bad. But it was an uneventful flight and we touched down early at Orlando... and the heavens opened, rain poured down... and were kept waiting for a further 15 minutes while a ground crew could be mustered to guide the plane the last 200 yards to the terminal.

Then we had to find the baggage services area as we couldn't just pick up from baggage reclaim as our cases weren't on the same flight as us! Next we trooped off the car rental area - four people in front of us, all of whom seemed incapable of just picking up their car... it seemed everyone wanted to haggle about insurance and rates and damage waiver and liability and deposits. At last someone took pity on us and beckoned us to an adjacent desk of a different rental company who shared bookings with ours - 5 minutes later we were back out in the steamy heat (the rain had slowed to a moderate drizzle) heading for the car park to pick up our compact Nissan Versa.

A quick bit of familiarisation with the controls of the automatic - plug in the sat nav, and off into the night... but wait, the sat nav wasn't doing its thing... it wasn't updating... it wasn't talking to us. So, after some inspired guesswork we managed to get onto the correct highway heading east to the coast... Val got the sat nav to co-operate and we managed to find our accommodation - the Casa Coquina Bed & Breakfast. Not a B&B in the British sense, more a hotel with our own 3-room suite and large balcony. Upon letting ourselves in we found the place entirely empty as the staff had gone home after we'd phoned and explained the delay in Miami.

Just imagine...
late at night... thunder and lightning...
the place is desrted... you let yourselves in...
there's a juke box playing...
and THIS is what you see...
EEEK!!!

This place is a veritable cornucopia of delights and oddities, too much and too many to explain in detail - it is a place of such character... more on this later... we've been up for 23 hours now, so have to get some shut-eye.

175 photos today.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Casa Coquina website

28-Jul-09 Cramlington Folk Club: A Song For jiva

2009-07-27T15:06:00.004+01:00

During the summer weeks club organiser Keith Taylor takes a rest from running the nights and club members are asked to take on MC duties. Theme nights were part of last year's summer madness, and they were so successful that there are themes for summer 2009 too.

To celebrate our tying the knot (the wedding is on 12th August), Keith declared this week's theme to be "A song for jiva" - what a lovely, thoughtful idea - and guess who was earmarked to run the night? Yep, right first time... jiva... Having run Ashington Folk Club for four years, and having MC'd a few Cramlington nights we were more than happy to oblige, but couldn't help wondering what this particular theme would have in store for us.

It was a great, fun night - full of good spirited humour, warmth and friendship... Cramlington really is THE most happening folk club that we know of, and we're proud to be counted among the core residents.

We started with two Thompson songs - 'Galway To Graceland' by Richard Thompson and 'No Telling' by Linda Thompson - then continued the night as MCs (and Jimmy even manned the PA desk while regular soundman Dave played and sang). There was a great mix of performers (15 acts in all), each playing two songs... many adapted the lyrics of songs to put a jiva slant on them, others sang some of our favourite songs, and there were even four songs that had been especially composed for this evening. And, breaking with jiva tradition, but keeping to the Cramlington Folk Club tradition, the act that started the night got up at the end for one more song - indeed it was our very own 'One More Song'... and we even managed to continue another Cramlington practice by asking other performers to join us in a 'big band' bash.

During the evening we had received good wishes, cards (and even a bottle of Champagne) from friends - and Keith surprised us at the end of the night with a presentation from the whole club... we were almost speechless...

Bless you, Cramlington Folk Club - and thanks again for making our last public performance before the USA trip such a memorable and enjoyable event.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Cramlington Folk Club website

26-Jul-09 Acoustic Rotherham 4

2009-07-27T13:45:00.007+01:00

Acoustic Rotherham is a series of music events organised by the Rawmarsh Mashers. It gives performers the chance to do a 25-minute spot, catch up with friends (real and MySpace/Facebook etc), have a good natter and listen to the other artistes too!

We set off at 08:45, drove to Bishop Auckland to pick up good friend Terry Ferdinand (of Bishop fm fame), said 'Hi' to Catherine over a coffee, then drove to the Monkwood pub on the outskirts of Rotherham, arriving at just gone noon (first there as usual - we always like to get to a venue in good time to cause least disruption to the proceedings, to get a good seat, to find somewhere safe for the guitars, to have a sound-check if we're not taking our own Bose L1 system, to have a chat with those that arrive early enough!)...

It was a day filled with different styles of music, and comings and goings as people arrived and left at various times throughout the proceedings... sadly not everyone who played saw everyone else perform - bit of a shame really, as the whole event is about sharing and networking and enjoying the music and the event that Dickie and Myke work so hard at organising. Performers were: Rawmarsh Mashers, Nigel Lavender, a Rawmarsh local whose name we didn't catch, Tina McKevitt & Matt Hegarty, Taylor Maid (who provided the PA for the whole day), Lou Marriot, Fyrish, Dominic Collins, Michelle Holding, Abbot of Unreason, jiva, Paul Newman... and after proceedings had officially finished another local guy got up to do one song after much chanting and cheering from the locals.

For our set we played:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Best Friends (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)

It was hard work - the guitar sound seemed uncontrollable and overwhelming through the PA with bass feedback wolftones permeating almost our entire performance... our sympathies to the soundman who had his work cut out with 12 acts to look after, and our apologies to audience and friends who definitely didn't get to hear us as we really sound.

After the show we briefly chatted to people, thanked the Mashers, packed the car and headed off via Bishop Auckland, arriving home at gone 11:00 pm some 14 hours and a half hours after setting out.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Acoustic Rotherham MySpace

23-Jul-09 Richard Thompson at The Gala Theatre, Durham

2009-07-27T12:53:00.004+01:00

Richard Thompson is one of those people you must see at least once - we did catch a brief glimpse (only two or three songs) at Alistair Anderson's birthday bash at the Sage some time ago, and we were keen to see Richard solo.

The Gala is a super venue - small enough for intimate performances, but large enough to create a big crowd atmosphere. The support act was Emily Smith... she sang traditional and self-penned songs while accompanying herself on accordion and shaker, ably assisted on guitar and fiddle by Jamie McClellan.

And the man himself? What can we say that hasn't already been said? Whizzo guitarist, great writer, sings with passion, at ease with the audience, at times gentle, at times laughing, at times biting at injustices, and always giving 100%. Two encores pretty much sums up the audience reaction to a true professional... true, you must see Richard Thompson at least once.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Richard Thompson website

22-Jul-09 New Tuners For Rio 910CE-L7

2009-07-27T11:46:00.010+01:00

Rio (Jimmy's Taylor 910CE-L7) was fitted with a new set of machine heads by our friend and great luthier Mark Challinor... the original black ebonoid buttons on gold tuners are smashing, but Jimmy had always been super impressed and a little envious of the smooth Gotoh 510 tuners on Nams (Val's Taylor 910CE).

During a telephone conversation Mark pointed us to the Stewart-MacDonald (StewMac) website where there was a fine array of Gotoh tuners. We were quite taken by the Cosmo Black variant - same gear ratio as Val's, same shape, but with black metal buttons on black tuners with black nut, washer and fixing screw. We bought them online, and they were shipped the same day, airmail to the UK... great service. When they got to the UK there was a delay at DHL - they didn't contact us, but by tracking the shipment online (thanks again to StewMac) we found out that DHL were waiting for us to contact us as they had supposedly been unable to locate our address! Unbelievable! Especially as DHL have delivered numerous items to us in the seven years we've lived here, and also the package was addressed accurately with the full address, house number, and postcode. DHL confirmed our address details and told us to expect a call from the driver so we could guide him to our front door. Needless to say we didn't get a phone call, but we did get the package after it had languished with DHL Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday before delivery on Monday.

OK... rant over...

The tuners looked even better in reality than they did on the web, and we made arrangements with Mark to have them fitted. It was a 200 mile round trip, but well worth it - not only is Mark a master craftsman with great attention to detail and a genuine love of wood and guitars, but he's also a great bloke that we are honoured to have as a friend too. It was a lovely afternoon, swapping news, talking shop and seeing Rio renewed with what we can only describe as a stunning result... Mark says it's the most beautiful headstock he's ever seen, and we have to agree. Thanks Mark, the photo is on its way for your wall!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Mark Challinor

21-Jul-09 Acoustica at Croxdale Folk Club

2009-07-23T11:34:00.009+01:00

Guest night at Croxdale Folk Club with Acoustica (Andy & Cath) - it was a grand night with quite a number of performers in the audience who had come along especially to see them. There was us, Brother Crow, Chris Milner, Phil Graham, Kyle and John Brindle. Marie Little was there too but she didn't play this evening.

MC John Kelly was away on holiday and the evening was ably run by Jackie and Mark who managed to give everyone two songs either side of Acoustica's two sets. We'd had a request from Andy to play Ralph McTell's 'Maginot Waltz' and we gladly obliged and then Jimmy swapped to the 12-string for 'No Telling' (Linda Thompson).

Acoustica by name, acoustic by nature... no PA tonight. We thoroughly enjoyed Andy and Cath's performance - accomplished musicians and talented writers with introductions peppered with good humour. Jimmy finally got his wish - to play a 'shakey egg' accompaniment to their rendition of 'Old Dan's Records' (Gordon Lightfoot) segued with 'Squeezebox' (The Who), and we had great fun yodelling along through 'If I Can't Live Without Her How Come I 'Aint Dead' (Tim O'Brien).

It was good to catch up with Terry Ferdinand, unfortunately no Catherine tonight as she was feeling unwell - get better soon! And... jiva won second prize (bottle of white wine) in the raffle and very generously, Marie Little who won the first prize (bottle of red wine) donated her prize to us as a present for our forthcoming marriage! Thank you Marie.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Acoustica website
Croxdale Folk Club MySpace

18-Jul-09 jiva at The Smugglers Den, Morecambe

2009-07-20T22:06:00.006+01:00

After our first gig here in October 2008 we were delighted to have been asked back by the Landlord, Chris, to play again. And... we'll be back again in October to do a shared night with Blackpool duo, and friends of ours, Penny Black.

It was an interesting two and three quarter hour drive over to Morecambe, we experienced brilliant sunshine interspersed with horrendous torrential rain but followed by the most gorgeous rainbows.

rain...

...bow

We arrived around 8:00 pm which gave us more than enough time to get our gear set up. As the pub is quite small with a very low ceiling in the bar we could only use half the Bose L1 stack wich we set up on a table to our side (its optimum position is behind with us about 7-8 feet in front). But the modular design and adaptability says a lot about the Bose L1 system - so versatile and still a great sound! The standard format at The Smugglers is 3 x 30-minute slots playing at 9:30pm, 10:30pm and 11:30pm and we were still raring to go by the finish at midnight.

Throughout the evening it was a changing audience as people did the round of bars in the area, which is pretty much what you would expect on a Saturday night anywhere - but there were those who settled in to enjoy the music for the entire night.

It was an enjoyable evening and we are looking forward to being back at The Smugglers in October.

Set 1
1. Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)
2. Passin Thru (Johnny Cash and Randy Scruggs)
3. Best Friends (jiva)
4. Maginot Waltz (Ralph McTell)
5. Sonny (Ron Hynes)
6. Galway To Graceland (Richard Thompson)

Set 2
1. Love At The Five And Dime (Nanci Griffith)
2. Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
3. Dream On (jiva)
4. Tommy (Kelly Joe Phelps)
5. 4 + 20 (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
6. No Telling (Linda Thompson)

Set 3
1. Yorkshire Romance (C.J. Rowe)
2. Different Dreams (jiva)
3. When (jiva)
4. Some Way Home (jiva)
5. One More Song (jiva)
6. Louise (Paul Siebel)

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
The Smugglers Den

12-Jul-09 Buskers Night at General Havelock East Sleekburn

2009-07-13T13:14:00.007+01:00

We'd not been to one of Ken Phillipson's nights for some time, and so decided to pay a visit to the General Havelock and play a few songs at the Buskers Night. There were a handful of performers and the PA gear was set up in the corner of the bar area.

We played 6 songs - the first 3 through the PA and the last 3 acoustically. For some reason the guitar cable would not work in Val's Taylor 855 12-string guitar! (Sigh...) Our set was:

Love At The Five & Dime (Nanci Griffith)
Two Old Friends (Chris Simpson)
Dream On (jiva)
Different Dreams (jiva)
Some Way Home (jiva)
Back Home To You (Allan Taylor)

First thing we did when we got back home was to plug Val's 12-string into our Bose L1 system... no problem, it sounded exactly as it should. What is it about cables? We're definitely going to have to carry our own if we want to be 100% certain.

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

11-Jul-09 Natures World Folk Festival

2009-07-13T12:54:00.009+01:00

Friendly atmosphere, good music and the sun shone all day... what more could a folk festival organiser pray for?

Trevor Lister has been organising this event for 17 years and it keeps going from strength to strength... we all want to play there!

For our 15-minute main stage spot we played 'Different Dreams' (jiva) 'Some Way Home' (jiva) and 'Back Home To You' (Allan Taylor). Thanks to MC Dave Kidman for keeping things running smoothly and to Yorkie on the sound desk.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace

10-Jul-09 Day Two jiva in the Recording Studio

2009-07-13T12:47:00.004+01:00

Day two also proved to be a very fruitful and productive day at Studio One in Chester-le-Street, the recording premises of Ron Angus.

We continued working on the songs with both of us using our Taylor 910CE 6-string guitars and both laying down some vocals and then moved onto the jiva 'signature' sound with Jimmy on the 6-string and Val on the Taylor 855 12-string.

We've now recorded 8 songs and are feeling positive about what has been achieved so far. We're booked in for more sessions to record the remaining songs, and then it's on to the mixing and mastering... on schedule so far for a jiva CD launch by November.

Watch this space!

Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Studio One website