When Rain Falls

After a couple of hours of sunshine I hear the soothing sound of raindrops falling on the roof like waves coming and going with the wind. I'm sitting in the conservatory of Jennifer's house, face the Loch and the mountains while siver light reflects off the lake. I'm playing around on the guitar and sing words and sounds that come to my mind. Suddenly there is a melody from nowhere and like the rain it sounds familiar, seems to blend in with my pensive mood, carrying me away. "When Rain Falls" will be a new song. I love creating and seeing something through from the beginning. Where does inspiration come from? Where does it go when it leaves me? Will it ever come back? The Scottish highlands are for sure a source of inspiration and I take in as much as I can, hoping it lasts for ever.
After a couple of photos in the backyard we leave and are finally on our way to Applecross. We stop at Eilean Donan, an ancient castle and are tourists for a while. Jamie plays a tune in the historic dining room which probably gets us another show for next years tour. After that we're on the way to UK's highest mountain pass.

Here is a pic of the pass


I'll got to get some pictures up as soon as I can connect my own computer to the Internet. It's impossible to describe the views. I mentioned stunning and beautiful but that is not enough. This time the weather is on our side and we cruise slowly over the pass to Applecross a little village right on the Scottish coast.



After dining like old kings we're ready to set up and play. It's our first pub gig since a long time and it takes a moment to get used to it but than it's fine. Some guests come from Austria and Germany and I have a great time chatting with them. One German lady asks me to repeat a song that I sang in the concert and we're having a nicle little private concert after that. Than it's time to go to bed and get some rest for whatever will be tomorrow

Drastic change of plans

Bless the internet! While taking care of emails we get an urgent message from our agent that there was a confusion about show dates and it turns out that we haven't an off day but a show two hours from now.
What a change of plans, I saw myself already cuddled under cover with my Dylan book and a cup of tea - well, that's tour life. We figure it's about 70 miles but we probably need more than two hours because it's all one lane streets across the scottish highlands. We try anyway and leave Fort Williams in a hurry. After about 10 miles the scenery becomes unreal, mountains and Lochs and nobody anywhere not even cars.
After about 50 miles we're deep in the highlands and I can't believe that there is a show waiting for us somewhere out there bu6 the itinerary says next stop Plockton, whatever that is. WE make it in time and at exactly 8 pm we arrive at the concert hall.Plockton is a small village right by the sea just a couple of miles before the Isle of Skye with mostly tourists and weekend guests but also a great school that manages to bring out artists for workshops and concerts. Well, we missed the workshop but at least we make the concert. Jennifer the organizer is awaiting us in front of the building reliefed when she sees me waving. No time to really get ready so we just grab our instruments and walk on stage. There is no sound system, the guy that was supposed to do it left hours ago thinking we're not showing up. So we play all acoustic which turns out to be the right thing to do anyway considering the size of the room and the acoustics. We're pretty tired but as soon as it starts it's magic! The audience is great and loves it. In the break everybody comes up to shake hands and chat a bit.
After the show Jennifer and her husband take us to their home which is about 15 minutes away. Well I think it's 15 scottish minutes which turns out to be an eternity in the dark on small highland roads. I have absolutely no clue where we are. Our hosts are lovely and we're sitting in the kitchen eating Pizza and Chocolate cake until two in the morning.
When I wake up I open the shades and am completely taken with the view. They live right on a Loch and the sun is reflecting of it and you can see all the mountains, some of them still in the morning mist. I wish I could make everybody see that. There is some underlying peace in it that is hard to describe but I feel perfectly balanced and everything is good.

On the way to Applecross

After breakfast I went down to the local Cafe on Mull Island which has Internet access to check email. After the owner realizes that I’m a musician I get my first cup of coffee for free and she forgets about the timer for the internet usage. She asks me if I have a CD and I show her “Inside Out” which she puts immediately into her stereo and starts humming away. Instead of me paying her she buys the CD and wishes me good luck. I return to the B&B where we get picked up by a bus that drives across the Island to the ferry. Did I already mention that it’s raining? No wonder that people drink a lot...
The ferry ride is kind off tough with relative high waves and I realize I’m not a sea man at all. I have a hard time controlling my stomach and I’m glad when it’s over and we’re sitting in the car on our way up North. Again, despite ongoing rain it is so beautiful and the mountains drop dramatically into the Lochs. In the distance I can see the sun breaking through the dark clouds highlighting a patch of land with a little cottage on it.
We stop in Fort Williams to eat. After that we’re going to drive another hour or so and than take a B&B and chill. Tomorrow we’re going on to Applecross where we have a show in the evening at the Applecross Inn. There is a famous castle close to the village that I hope to check out if we’re getting there early enough.

Here is a pic of Fort Williams during a sunny day

Mull Island

After leaving Lochgoilhead we have a two hour drive through stunningly beautiful landscape. Even the rain stays put for the moment and we can actually see where we are. There are just one lane roads with little spaces to get out of the way if there is a car coming up and more than once I can feel my heartbeat going up because we're close to driving off the road, weel, at least it looks like it. Some turn are hard to find and we get lost a couple of times before getting to Inverary. Luckily we left early enough to make it to the ferry in Oban. That's when the rain hits again. It mixes with sunshine within minutes which is strange for me. Unpacking the car in sunshine and after walking a couple of stepts towards the ticket office I'm wet like a dog.
In the waiting room we meet a couple that runs a B&B on the island and they recognize us from the poster. We're invited for a drink in the bar of the ferry and later on they give us a ride to our performance space which is an old church which was renovated and now holds a gallery and a little concert hall.
Everybody so far was extremely nice and there is an outstanding hospitality that rivals everything I've seen so far. We meet up with Gordon who organized the concert and is also the sound man. He takes us to supper in a smal village restaurant.

Here is a pic with Jamie and me right outside the Concert space


We're back and it's two minutes to showdown. I'm nervous because I haven't played a lot of the stuff for more than three months but I know it'll be back right away. It turns out to be a great show and people love it. Afterwards we sit around and chat up a storm which is just the way I like. The B&B we're staying in is just a short walk away and I'm happy to finally lie in bed. I want to read more of Dylans "Chronicles" which I bought in Seattle before the flight but I'm too tires and fall asleep right away.
Tomorrow we're going further north direction Applecross and it's going to be a long drive.

Rain

I haven’t seen it pouring down like that for a while. Just woke up to the sound of water splashing of the roof. Today we’re leaving for Mull Island. It’s about an three hour drive and than some time on the ferry. We have to leave the car behind due to the exorbitant costs involved taking it over to the island. A bus will pick us up and get us to the venue(An Tobar Village Hall) I’m quite curious how it’s going to be and how the Scots up here take our music. I just hope the rain stops at some point so I can walk around the island and do some sightseeing.

Arriving in Scotland

Finally getting out of the airplane into Glasgow. As I expected it is cold and rainy. We rent a car and try to learn how to drive on the wrong side. It is scary after all especially the turnabouts - which lane was I supposed to be in? and where do I check for oncoming traffic. It's good to have two people in the car. We stop somewhere for breakfast. After that we go on north on the way to Lochgoilhead (what a wonderful name) We pass by Loch Lomont which is a huge impressive looking lake. It is still raining and the wind gets stronger the more we get into the mountains. Our exit is onto a one lane road. I remember that from way up in the Alpes where you had to honk before you drive around a corner. Not here - it's all in the reaction time and at several occasions I can feel my heart beat in my head because I think we're off the road and down the hill. Our destination is Marks and Linda's home right at another Lake which is actually already a small arm of the Atlantic ocean. It is gorgeous here despite the fact that it is pouring down like crazy. I haven't seen such heavy rain for a while. It's amazing. After a snack I'm ready to lie down and get a little rest after basically being awake for almost two days. Tomorrow is going to be our first show and I'm already excited.

First Stop Philadelphia

After coming home late from a concert in Chehalis I got up early and went to the airport. I arrived in Philadelphia after a 5h bump ride. Luckily I was so tired that I slept through half of it but I could feel the tension of the other passengers. Now I have a six hour stop here before my flight to Glasgow. Hope I don't fall asleep on a bench and miss it.