PF Hot Seats, reporting back to blogging duty after SO SO SO many years away. I will admit, it is harder for me to write posts when we are not traveling and playing music. There’s something about endless highways, bottomless coffee, and vegetable-less diets that really excites the old writing bug in me! Probably the sleep deprivation helps - the old brain goes into fight or flight mode and gets all chatty.
Well well well, lookee who’s on tour? It’s us! The Hot Seats. The current lineup is comprised of Benny, Jake and yours truly, with the new addition of the one and only Rudy Bee, who has adjusted immediately to the slapdash and silly way we like to travel, sliding into his van seat as though it was molded to his posterior.
We are having a great time visiting some familiar places and some new ones. As I type, I am sitting in the green room/dining area at Brae Village Hall - our first gig of the fabulous Shetland Festival, but more on that in a moment. Let’s take a step back to discuss the places we’ve been!
I will mention a few things off the bat so as to not repeat myself.
Every crowd so far has been fabulous. Not all of them huge in number, but every one of them has been super appreciative, responsive, and a joy to play for.
Every sound situation has been great (not always a given for this band). The UK has a real thing for professional sound people, unfazed by our mics and our tubas, and we are grateful for it.
The band is sounding pretty dang tight.
April 23: We emerge from Heathrow, groggy but excited. We retrieve the rental van - a brand spanking new Renault diesel 9 seater - and head into London. The first gig of tour was at the Green Note in Camden - a spot we have hit on multiple occasions. It was a typically great evening - a small but appreciatice crowd, great sound, and tasty vegan eats. We revved up a set of old favorites as it was this ensemble’s virgin voyage. We hit the road for our hotel in the town of Boxmoor (well, Apsley, actually) and crashed hard.
April 24: The Fishery Wharf Cafe in Boxmoor. We had visited this spot and its owner, Al, once before, but only to drop off a bass. It is super cool. Boxmoor is an offshoot of a larger London suburb and exists right on the Grand Union Canal. There is a whole subculture of people who live in these really fascinating canal boats - tied up along the canal or moving up and down through the locks. It seems very appealing to us.
April 25: Selby Town Hall: We celebrated the fact that we had last been here almost exactly one decade ago (ah, remember 2015? The cautious optimism, the relative civility of the world, the lack of creeping fascism? No, I don’t remember it either. . .). A packed room, some special requests, and great times with Chris, the manager of the theater, who we had the pleasure of working with back in that imaginary time period.
Following the gig, we made our way to the house of our dear friends, Jane and Paul. I’ve written about them before - two of our favorite people to impose upon. Formerly residing in Darlington, they now live in an idyllic location directly next to Castle Bolton, not far from Richmond England. As per usual, they spoiled us with food, friendship, and all kinds of hospitality (note to aspiring band patrons: your late night cheese plate must have at LEAST 5 types of cheese in order to pass muster). For more on Jane and Paul, see blog posts of yore.
April 26: Cumberland Arms - Newcastle: We have been visiting Newcastle on a regular basis since 2008(!). As such it was a treat to see so many familiar faces, including Graham of the Jumping Hot Club, who put us on at the Cluny in our very first tour. It’s fun to change up the kinds of rooms we play, and the Cumberland Arms falls more into the bar mode than the theater or club mode, which gave the show a more informal feel. We had support from Niles (fiddler of a group called the Often Herd) and Bertie. They played some very pretty tunes and songs, providing a good contrast to our . . . rougher sounds. We head back to Castle Bolton following the gig for more late night cheeses and chats.
April 27th: Glad Cafe - Glasgow: This was a new venue for us in a very familiar city. It was an afternoon show, which we were trepidatious about, but it very quickly became apparent that this crowd was there for the party! It was made more raucous by the presence of our beloved Gerald Roche, his two sons, and our former agent and current friend Loudon Temple, not to mention our old pal Graham from the band Bensider. We had a great show, followed by some more delicious vegan food.
Why do I feel the need to bring up the vegan cuisine? Sometimes the presence of green things on one’s plate is a notable moment, what can I say?
After the gig, we headed north towards our hotel in the lovely town of Carrbridge, smack dab in the middle of the Cairngorms (I know these sound like made up things, but I swear they are REAL). The Cairngorms are a bit like the Blue Ridge Mountains, full of crinkly hills and cool metamorphic rock features. We took full advantage, going on a number of cool walks in the woods and rivers, skipping stones, and generally living out our full Scottish Huck Finn fantasies – pants rolled up, chewing straws, etc.
April 28th: Duffus Village Hall – Duffus: This is a town all the way up in NE Scotland, right on the coast. Not far from the towns of Findhorn or Portsoy, where we have previously visited. Our hosts, Brian and Camille, along with Brian’s energetic and switched-on brother David, are excellent people who are VERY into the arts and specifically folk music. It was gratifying to have a town hall jammed with people be so appreciative. We ended the evening with a couple of songs in the middle of the crowd, which resulted in eruptions of impromptu dancing. Do be careful, ladies and gentlemen, this is known to happen. Be sure to gird your loins in preparation.
Because of their aforementioned focus on folk music (oh, and whiskey), the band ended up jamming and talking at Brian and Camille’s house until the sun was peeping over the horizon.
The following morning, they took us on a great walk to some caves on the coast, where we tossed rocks into the ocean, explored the beach, and confronted our inner Jungian ideals in caves.
April 29th: Montrose Folk Club – Montrose: This represents our very first time playing in front of a giant movie screen! I made a few hilarious Dolby sound jokes, which went over about as well as they probably are right now as you read this. I also tried to sing “let’s go out to the lobby” to general silence. It was a great show and a lively crowd in a very dead room – not bereft of energy, but just no reverberations at all, which can make a group of guys like us a little nervous sometimes. Nonetheless, they were very appreciative and we got to see our pal Ruth as well as Colin, who has been seeing us ever since our very first tour with the Wilders, back in 2008!
We spent the night at a cool hotel near Lunan Bay on the east coast. After having our various full English breakfasts (no beans, no thanks. Black pudding and mushrooms? Hell yes!), we took a hike past an old castle and down to the beach, where we stripped to our skivvies and took VERY cold dips in the water!
OK, I have gotten us up to the point of the Shetland Folk Festival, which I will tackle in my next offing. A few other notable things:
· Being American in 2025: you might expect that people would be demanding answers from us, or at least wanting to talk about the goings on of our absolutely bat-shit stupid government. However, mostly we are being treated like refugees from a failed state – i.e. compassionately. Which is just fine with us.
· Being in our 40s on tour: Unsurprisingly (or maybe not?), we are generally tamer and calmer than we once were – more interested in quiet rooms of friends and comfortable beds than in late night pubs and random couches. That being said, we have entered Shetland time, where no one sleeps and everyone gets wild as hell, so you’ll find out more in the next post!
