#000

The Egerton Arms, Little Budworth

Third of May twenty-twenty-five. First solo gig, but mostly cover songs, hence the “000”. But I’d feel bad not having this one here because they were the first people who gave me a slot. Liz Preston, the manager, had heard me nervously bashing out my own songs at their open mic nights, and for whatever reason felt compelled to get me in front of a larger crowd, for which I’ll be forever grateful. Wonderful pub, wonderful people. And while everyone goes for the pizza, I’m all about the massive box of hot pork scratchings on the bar. Unreal.

Also shout-out to Seeing Red, the actual band for the night, who belted out a few hours of awesomeness when I’d finished my sweaty shouting match.

Highlight: A nice lady eating pizza just to the right of me saying, “that was really good”, in a tone reminiscent of an encouraging mother.

Lowlight: Losing my man-card by asking for help to manoeuvre an antique leather armchair through the front door of the pub. I should’ve just performed sitting in the chair, like an angry Jackanory.

Set List:

• Johnny Cash - “Big River”

• Sons of the North

• The SteelDrivers - “If It Hadn’t Been for Love”

• Father Knows Best

• Sabrina Carpenter - “Please Please Please”

• Jason Isbell - “Cover Me Up”

• Spectrum

• The Civil Wars - “Devil’s Backbone”

• Tyler Childers - “All Your’n”

• The SteelDrivers - “Blue Side of the Mountain”