Bank Holiday Music

Well, that was fun. I hadn't bought any music in bloody ages due to financial restrictions, but today the embargo has been well and truly lifted.

It started with Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures) and Bjork (Debut) at 2 for £10 in HMV this afternoon, closely followed by Kathryn Williams (Over Fly Over) in Solo Music.

The real fun started this evening though. I went with Anthony to Three Fat Fish in Exeter this evening (well, yesterday evening now, as it's gone midnight), and they had some live music on - a bit of an open mic evening by all accounts. Exactly the sort of relaxed evening we were looking for.

When we got there the woman who was playing was making quite a few mistakes with her words, but she took it with such good humour that it really didn't matter. Her music and her singing (despite the sound system being a couple of notches too loud for the speakers) were beautiful and we really enjoyed it.

Within a few songs, she was replaced by another girl, who was a sort of a strange cross between Tori Amos and The Cranberries and PJ Harvey. She was followed by a bloke called Simon who looked a bit like a Scandinavian architect.

Several more, equally good, acts came and went, and then Anthony went home. I was enjoying the music too much though so stayed to the end. I took the opportunity at this point to buy the first girl's CD, and had a lovely chat with her too. She's called Rebecka Slater Lyons, and the album I picked up is Water Carvings.

From my brief chat with her I discovered that she had been singing all her life, but had only been playing the guitar since she was fifteen. She asked if I was playing tonight, but I soon put her straight. Although, I did tell her about Nick's impulse-buy guitar, on which I still make various positive noises about learning to play.

As various acts came and went, I became worried that maybe I had jumped the gun and had bought the wrong person's CD, as they were all very good, but on arriving home I'm very happy with the purchase.

It wasn't the only thing I came home with, however. Anybody who had bought four shots of Jack Daniel's in the last month was entered into a draw to win an official Jack Daniel's electric guitar, and some Jack Daniel's tat. Three other lucky punters would also win tat. Of course, I hadn't bought any of the stuff, so I couldn't win.

They drew the first ticket, and some girl won and posed for the camera with her new guitar. Then they pulled out the second ticket, and it was the same girl. So, she suggested that the first person to the front should have her prize. I was sat right at the front at this point, of course, surrounded by the musicians. None of them were going to claim it, so I thought it would be a little unfair if I stood up first.

So I waited for someone from the back to rush forward. And no one did. After about 20 seconds of silence, I eventually stood up and said, "Oh go on then, I'll have it."

Hence, I am now the proud possessor of a Jack Daniel's t-shirt, a Jack Daniel's placemat, and a Jack Daniel's poster. I don't think I really deserve it though, so I might give it away on Saturday n London when we do the thing about the thing that I'm not allowed to mention.