Val x 2

One of the regular themes of our daft hobby is the period of momentum and optimism quickly followed by a grinding halt and wading through treacle towards stagnation. It's treacle time! For no particular reason, except for everyone having 'real' lives that selfishly get in the way of what should be our inexorable march towards world domination, we've recently hit one of those patches again. The recorded new tracks are still sitting in their box waiting for us to find the right time and place to release them into the wild, and a bunch of 'nearly ready' original songs continue to gather dust. Whilst we've had some great gigs so far this year, and had a brill time meeting up with old friends and making new ones, is also feels like we've been kicking our heels and missing opportunities to push on. It's the eternal clash between the opposing voices on my shoulders - one reminding me of the ticking rock n roll clock and my 'wanna do' list for the band, the other sensibly telling me to just enjoy what we've got and accept the positives. Anyway, on the upside, we've bagged a great slot at the Spring Festival in Ludlow Castle for May. We're last on stage on the Saturday night which will mean the biggest hometown audience we've been stuck in front of. What's more, playing before us will be the Barsteward Sons of Val Doonican. Doonican vs Demure - which Val is your favourite? How it's that way around I don't know but hey, we'll take it. We've been following the Doonicans since they were pop-up buskers at Beautiful Days many years ago. These days they regularly play before adoring crowds at some of the best festivals in the UK. They're a fabulous booking for Ludlow, and if it wasn't already going to be a packed marquee, it will be now. Before that we have dates in Hereford, Loopfest in Shrewsbury and a lovely little fundraiser along with some superb acts at Bands at the Tree in Onibury to look forward to.