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frustrating. I’d love to do that, but we’re not quite sure where we stand and then we’ve got the
added problem of Brexit because I don’t know how easy or difficult it’s going to be to tour in
Europe again. But hopefully, in 2022, we might be able to get back on track with that, which is
something I’d love to do.
BiTS: Have you got any gigs coming up for this year? Are they creeping back?
GW: Yeah, they’re mainly ones that were cancelled last year. I’ve got probably a couple that will
go ahead. There’s a Music at the Crossroads Festival in Hook Norton, which is July, probably the
3rd, tentatively booked, as is the Mitcheldean Festival in Gloucestershire on Saturday, the 17th of
July. One of particular interest that
I’m really looking forward to is the
Radford Mill Festival of Rhythm and © Karen McBride
Blues. That is Saturday the 14th of
August in Timsbury. That’s near
Bath, and I’m scheduled to be on at
3pm in the afternoon. There’s a good
line up there, including the Milk
Men and I think top of the bill is
Debbie Bond. That’s got the makings
of a great blues festival, so I’m
really looking forward to that one.
Then, later on in the year, hopefully,
the Wooton Blues Festival, which is
near Stroud, Gloucester. That’s 18th
of September and then, fingers
crossed, get back to Wales for the Tenby Blues in November, but obviously, these things are all to
be confirmed. I keep trying to put the latest information on the website and when they are definite,
I’ll say so.
BiTS: Working on BiTS, I see the gigs starting to creep back, I can’t put it any higher than
that. Just before the lockdown, we got up to 300 a month on the gig guide, but I’m lucky if
there’s ten or 12 now, to be honest with you.
GW: Yeah, I know it is a struggle and frustrating and obviously for a lot of people, the financial
impact because gigs are where a lot of the revenue comes from, so if you’re dependent upon that
money, it’s a difficult time. It really is.
BiTS: Do you have any other source of income? Did you have a trade or anything?
GW: Well, I have another source of income in that being old I’ve got a pension now, [chuckles] so
I’ve survived on that, but I am registered as a sole trader so the taxman knows about me, so I’ve
got to justify my existence best I can, so that’s been difficult. I did manage to get a couple of gigs in
locally in Cheltenham. The last one was in December. We were quite lucky because the lockdown
round here was not as severe as other parts of the country, so we social distanced and I managed
to get a couple of outside gigs in the park, which was nice. Kept things ticking over. Looking
forward to doing that again soon too.
BiTS: You started off your life in the Manchester area. Where is it you are now?