Bloody interesting old time this last month or so, up's, down's, and all rounds.
Where'd we leave off?
"My Inspiration" Video is out! Had a cool little sesh down at the Dog and Whistle in Hertford (http://www.dogandwhistlepub.co.uk) on the 15th December to screen it. I felt like crap and could barely growl a note, neither of the artists that were due to play rocked up and we had a right old time trying to set up the projector. None the less ABI (http://www.abiofficial.com) stepped up and played a last minute set for us, saving the eve, Janet (http://www.janetdevlin.com) jumped up and sang a track for us to, the video was well received, and I managed to grunt out a few tunes before totally loosing all vocal ability. It turned out to be a well cool jaunt and thanks to all who made it down and if you've not caught "My Inspiration" yet here it is, share about!
Shortly after I headed of to do The Winter Inspiration Tour and this was when it got real fruity.
I chugged my way in to town and parked up to load in.
It started to piss it down (I later established it does this an awful lot in the valleys)
There was a nice festive vibe in the Caffe and the staff were cool, it wasn't the busiest store in britain but the tunes were well received and Steve from BRFM had come down to say hi as after the show I was heading up to his studios to have a chat and a play.
Caffe Nero Abbergavenny, Taa very much for having me!
Next stop was BRfm Studios, I loaded up the old banger and slowly, really slowly climbed in to the valley's whilst being blown left right and centre by gales and wipers on full blast desperately attempting to regain some visibility through a waterfall of a windscreen.
I eventually I arrived at BRfm lakeside studio's and the best way to describe it is The Boat that Rocked, minus the boat. A really awesome bunch of guys all having a jolly and running a station for the love of it, I felt well at home and would highly recommend any artists, bands to call in if your ever that way, you'll be greeted with a brew and a smile.
Here's the pod cast of my chat with Stephen http://podcast.canstream.co.uk/brfm/audio/brfm_18-12-13_3-17_1387386001.mp3
I was gonna be crashing in the studio car park that night but as the wind and rain was relentless Angel, another DJ at BRfm invited me to come back to his mrs place and have a feed, a warm bed for the night and a shower in the morn which I gladly accepted and off we went to chill and drink whiskey till the early hours. This was to be my first experience of the legendary Welsh hospitality!
Me and Angel, thanks for every thing man!
The view in the morning
After Angel dropping me back at Pickle I got going on day 2 of the tour, next stop Cardiff. Or not!
I got about 15 mins in to my journey and hit a pretty long hill, the heating light came on, Pickle was pissing out coolant all over the road.
I called the AA of which after this year they probably all know me by name and visa versa, made a sandwich and waited.
Derrick came to the rescue, wicked cool gent but unfortunately couldn't assist at road side but tightened my fan belt as it was whistling and towed me to Pontypridd to the nearest Halfords repair centre.
The guys faces sunk when Pickle arrived to be saved and I'm not surprised, how ever they said that they would have a look asap and figure out what we could do but I wasn't going any where fast. I called the next couple of Caffe's to make my apologies and Derrick asked if I needed a lift any where, As I had no where to go we bundled my busking gear in to his van and he dropped me in town to make my self useful.
A couple of hours and a few quid later Julian (halfords manager) gave me a holler to head back and see what's what.
what's what, was the bloody coolant flange had shat its self and this is a part that cant be sourced by any of halfords contractors. Balls!
Julian then goes and finds the part number, says that if I order the part they'll fit it, and He'll put my number plate on their car park register and I can stay there till we get it sorted (welsh hospitality). I went to the local Pub, Bunch Of Grapes, http://www.bunchofgrapes.org.uk/ just on the other side of my car park, to use the internet and have a jar, and what a local I had acquired.
8 or more local real ales, log burner, awesome staff, and patrons.
It wasn't long before I'd got chatting away to Gareth at the bar and landed a gig for the following evening for the satisfying fee of beer and food.
The next day I ordered the part I needed from Just Kampers www.justkampers.com, thanks again dudes you've not let me down yet, then headed in to town again for a bit of a busk before the gig.
If your unfamiliar with Ponty its not a big town but is full of generosity, history, and character. The people are real friendly, often stopping for a chat, and there's a wicked indoor market with all kinds of jazz going.
I rocked up to the Bunch Of Grapes around 8 to set up and then played from 9 through the evening. The tunes were well recieved by a merry bunch of locals warming up for the fast approaching festivities, especially by a young student teacher who had some wonderful moves with my mic stand, Ha! she was funny.
I was fed a massive lamb burger and watered with jug upon jug of Otley ales only to then be handed a small brown envelope with a nifty inside. That night I met John and Julie who had recently moved in to the cottage down by the old Glamorganshire canal. During my set I'd been explaining why I was there and what had been going down so John and Julie have cone over after the show and offered up a proper roof over my head and a shower in the morning even though they had a house full already for the Christmas period and didn't know me from Adam (welsh hospitality).
I took them up on the shower alone as I was happy enough in the van overnight, I'd had more than a skin full and was well equipped with a top of the range booze blanket.
The next day I popped over to Johns for a shower and a coffee, and was then invited for Christmas day in the event I couldn't get the van sorted. A truly wonderful family! Thank you so much.As I didn't make it to the Cardiff Nero's I thought I'd grab the busking bag hop on a train and go check out what goes down in Cardiff and try do a bit of christmas shopping.
Cardiff is awesome!
You've got old and new, its not too big nor too small and I made £120 in just over an hour so I will definitely be heading back that way.
After playing the rain set in and it really set in.
I headed back to the van and attempted to dry off and warm up when Rhodri came knocking. Rhodri is one of the guys that works at The Bunch, and had come by to see if I fancied going for a jar or 10.
Through out the night I discovered Rhodri is an independent film maker and is due to be releasing "The Valley of the Demon"later this year, so keep an eye out. Here's links to the trailer and the face book page.
https://www.facebook.com/ValleyofTheDemon?fref=ts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiXrNt4Y1dw
We had a cracking night discussing Ponty's history, film making and potential new productions before heading back out in to the storms and heading our separate ways with a belly full of beer providing disillusioned comfort in the cold wet early hours.
The rain kept coming and the gales blowing, I found my self not only stranded in Wales but confined to a leaky van as well. It just wouldn't let up and I was getting fed up.
Every one had been awesome and I'd been able to keep busy but the weather was getting progressively more violent, I could see power cuts occurring and was really starting to question whether my part would arrive at all.
Sunday became Monday but fuck knows when as it barely got brighter and there was still no sign of my delivery.
I spent most the day sat in the Halfords reception room drinking coffee and chatting to Julian about the hopes for the New year and future in general, waiting for the part to arrive and to see if there was a chance the guys may get Pickle up on the ramp that day.
The parcel came, it had been delivered to the Halfords store on the other side of the building, never the less it seemed everyone wanted their vehicles sorting before Christmas and the boys were to busy to sort the van.
I went to The Bunch for what was potentially my last night in Pontypridd to try and dry some of my gear by the fire.
This turned in to another Jolly!
It only seemed appropriate as it was with a bit of luck my last eve, rude not to right?
Then the power went... in the whole valley. It was off for about a half hour and the remaining three of us in the pub were starting to make ourselves comfortable with the acceptance that we may as well ride it through there as it may not be resolved before Christmas in which case I was gonna be taking John and Julie up on their invite.
The power came back on after an hour or so, still hope.
First thing Carl came to put the van on the ramp and away he went,with in a bout 40 minutes he'd demolished the old flange, as it and all the bolts were so corroded, and got the new one in and all hosed up.
He bled the cooling system, checked tyre pressure, and made sure all was cool to hit the road. It appeared we had won!
I went to see Julian to sort out paperwork and see what I owed and whether any of it could be covered by the AA repair cover. Julian presented me with an invoice totalling a whopping £0 with a message from him and the boys wishing me a Merry Christmas and all success with my music in the future.
Bugger almost had me in tears!
Carl, Julian, me, Mike, and Alan
Dudes I can not thank you enough!
The bad news is that some little fucker nicked my skate board from under the van on the Sunday and when I got to Harpenden the heating light came on again, Pickle sounds like a whining tractor and I need a new water pump.
The good news is that I made it to Abi's https://www.facebook.com/abimusicuk for Christmas and met some of the most genuinely good, generous, and hospitable people I have ever come across!
Happy New Year every one! I've got some great stuff to come this year and I'm really stoked!
Firstly me and the band have got our first London gig on the 31st January at The Brixton Jamm supporting the awesome Finley Quay! Get your tickets soon cos its gonna be a sick night.
Heres the facebook event share it about.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1405720716339920/
Here' a couple of other things to check out:
My new online shop http://www.musicglue.com/tom-dibb/shop/
Me accompanying Janet Devlin singing "Delicate" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJrQMXheAyo
A massive thank you to all for your support in 2013, it was a big jump for me and could have been a lot more difficult if I'd not had the help I have from the people I've met.
Solid blessings x
Special thanks to Derrick from the AA, Gareth and the team at The Bunch Of Grapes, John and Julie, Rhodri, Steve, Angel and all at BRfm, and Julian, Carl, Mike, and Alan at Pontypridd Halfords.
Peace x
