I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside...

That's a bit of a given really and I'm fortunate to live within a short walk down a leafy lane to the beach. But, my current reason is that I'm anticipating this weekend's Tenby Blues Festival. Once again, I'll be involved as the host of the free Blues Trail which sees many individual performers and ensembles playing sets in the cafes, bars and restaurants of Tenby during the daytime on Saturday and Sunday. This year, my new friend Bud will be sharing the duties with me. He's another great Bluesic fan and we often jam together at a local pub. The Blues Trail is a really popular part of the weekend experience and brings the faithful to the streets of the town migrating from venue to venue following the performers. See the Tenby Blues Festival website for full details.

In the run-up to the weekend, I went to Radio Pembrokeshire's studio earlier this week to record an interview with B.B. Skone for his Sunday night show. It was a true déjà vu experience as the studio equipment was very similar to that which I'd used for over thirteen years at GTFM. I have to confess that I still miss the Live-to-Air experience which brought with it particular challenges. Speaking directly to the audience dictated that you had to really concentrate on what you were saying and doing whilst getting timings spot on so you didn't appear like a bumbling fool. Receiving emails whilst 'on air' was also a part of the Live show experience. Pre-recording a show, with the ability to edit and amend, just doesn't carry the same level of edginess.  I was recently offered the chance to do a weekly live broadcast by one of the stations already airing the Blues Exclusive but the downside of living in a rural idyll is that the wifi signal is unreliable so wouldn't guarantee continuous transmission for a two-hour show. I didn't feel able to take the risk.

Back to the weekend: The festival runs from Friday night (November 10) through to Sunday night (November 12) with a programme of top acts offering Blues in its many forms; acoustic, piano, harmonica-led Chicago-style, Blues-Rock and even what is described as 'World' music, a fusion of Blues and African music - a really creative and entertaining sonic delight. I'm really looking forward to the whole programme in what will be, I'm certain, another superb weekend. Take a look for yourself. Better still: take a look at the website, get out your credit card and book some tickets. I hope to see you there.