I get over to the UK on business 2 or 3 times a year, but I've never taken my guitars with me until this trip. I'm glad I made the decision to do so this time as it was one of my best trips out of many.
I arrived at Heathrow fairly early Saturday morning since a heavy tailwind reduced the flight time to just over 5 hours. That left little time for any sleep. I made my way by train up to St. Neots, near Cambridge and then on to the house in Kimbolton where I was staying. Dropped the bags and headed into Cambridge in order to see StumbleCol on stage at the Portland Arms. Despite parking about 3 miles from the pub, I arrived just after they started playing their 45 minute set. The crowd was sparse early in the afternoon, but the guys put on a great show. I chatted with the guys after their set and my brain was turning into jet lag mush with each passing minute. I decided to leave while they were loading out since I had a 40 minute drive back to the house.
Col gave me one of the band CDs and I listened to it all week. "Work Song" is one of my favorites along with "Stink Eye."
Ate something I don't remember at the Cambridge Services on A14 and parked safely at the house (surprise!). Crashed in the bed and didn't move until 9:00 the next morning. Feeling great I had some toast and headed into Cambridge again with my guitars. It was a beautiful day and everyone was in the city for picnics on the green and shopping. Here's my wheels for the week and my gear for a day out.
I got a real coffee since the house only has instant and wandered around the city looking for any familiar faces among the buskers at each street corner. There were a lot of great performers out on about every corner and I left my share of tips scattered around, but didn't play at all. I got a pasty for lunch and decided to head out to Jesus Green to sit by the River Cam. It is one of my favorite spots in the city.
I got out a guitar and decided to play a bit, just for myself. Soon after, a local artist and musician, Banjo Nick turned up and wanted to check out my guitars. He had a banjo and uke with him and we swapped for a few minutes. I have never played a real banjo and it was a lot of fun. I think with 15 or 20 more minutes I could have really done something with it. Nick asked me "Do you know Belinda?" Who would think that two strangers could meet up from 3,500 miles apart and know of the same person by first name only? Another tick in the box for "small world."
Nick asked if I sang any tunes. I reluctantly offered that I did have one song, but I had never sang in front of anything other than a camera. He suggested I should just sing to the Cam and if it was really bad the worst that would happen is the water would roil violently and that would be a good show to watch. So I played out 16 Tons to a level that satisfied me then went over the chord progression so Nick could play along on the banjo. It was a great time.
He went on his way to collect tips in town and I was about ready to call it a day. Col from StumbleCol rang my phone just then and invited me over to his place to hang out a bit. Since I had a 6PM dinner meeting with my colleagues it was going to be a short visit, but I drove across town to meet up.
Col had our picture taken together with my guitars after we swapped some design ideas and discussed how we go about our crazy obsession with box guitars.
I continued playing after work during the week. I had some time to kill at Paddington Station before taking the Heathrow Express to the airport so I pulled out a guitar an played a bit. The station noise is way too loud for anyone to hear, but a woman stopped to take my picture and mentioned her boyfriend builds cigar box guitars. So I guess I'm about to be famous at least in one household.
It is great that we have this website as a hub of sharing and communications related to CBGs. I've met some great people from here and will continue to cart my guitars around with me when I travel.
