Album tour ... South Wales

Wednesday September 28th: Cafe Jazz, Cardiff.

This week I had three gigs in the book - Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - so I decided to turn it into a bit of a holiday and get away from London for an extra day, so on the Tuesday night I took a train out of the big smoke to spend an evening in Appledore (North Devon) with my boyfriend and sister.  My sister, Anna, is cycling around the coast of Great Britain and has been travelling for almost 2 months so far.  She's got just 2 weeks to go.

(I joined her on the third and fourth day of her mammoth journey and wrote about it here: www.sarahellenhughes.blogspot.com/2011/09/august-news-round-up)

(She's writing a superb blog herself, which is well-worth a read: www.eatsleepcycle-anna.blogspot.com)

Anna arrives in Appledore

We arrived into Appledore at about 5:30 and settled down to a pint and cup of tea on the seafront, which I enjoyed for a full minute before getting a frantic call... "Sarah can you meet me off the ferry... Do you have £3?  I spent my last £3 on sweets!"  Oh, Anna!  So while my tea got cold I rushed down and struggled to find the ferry landing spot (there was no jetty), but got there in time to see a small (tiny) ferry being battered about by the wind and carrying a waving sister!  Hooray!  It was great to see Anna as I hadn't seen her since we waved goodbye in the rain on 5th August in Cromer.  Since then she's travelled all the way up and round Scotland, and back down to Devon via the bays and coves of Wales.  Now she's only a few counties away from home (Tower Bridge is the finishing point on Tuesday 11th October, at about 6pm... for those of you living in London who fancy joining her welcome home party.  I've been instructed to bring champagne!)

Outside the Cafe Jazz. 

So after enjoying a small holiday in Devon, James and I got the train to Cardiff for my gig at Cafe Jazz on the Wednesday.  With this weather like it is, it's easy to think of the whole tour as a holiday.  We had all afternoon to enjoy the city so wandered up and down the shopping street, enjoying our leisure.

I had performed at Cafe Jazz once before, and remembered it as being a friendly venue with an appreciative crowd and good sound.  This gig was no different.  Good staff, great sound, and a good amount of jazz fans in the audience.  I was joined by local musicians Dave Cottle on piano, Alun Vaughan on bass, and Tom Cottle on drums.  They did a great job coping with my difficult charts, and we had a very enjoyable gig.  A reviewer was there, who both bought a CD and added himself to my mailing list - always a good sign!  Read the review by clicking HERE.


Thursday 29th September: Porthcawl Pavilion

Porthcawl is only about 25 miles away from Cardiff, so I didn't have much travelling to do.  I could relax, enjoy the sun, and take advantage of the free wifi at Cafe Jazz, before getting a lift with the drummer to Porthcawl.  This was another seaside venue.  The last time I did a gig at the seaside was in February in Scarborough, and it had been raining, so it was brilliant to visit the seaside again on a beautiful day.  We arrived with the sun ready to set and I got my hotel organised, then wandered onto the seafront.  There is a beach here although it's not really for swimming - large rocks loomed out of the breaking waves, and an even larger sign saying 'bathing dangerous' accompanied the promenade.

The sun sets over Porthcawl.  Thank goodness for digital
cameras.  A few years ago, this would have ruined my film!

Children brave the waves then run away at the last minute.

Once again, we had a very enjoyable gig.  The jazz nights at the Pavilion are organised by Sue Scott, who does a great job at getting about 80 people in each time.  We had a few less this month (ironically, some had been kept away by the nice weather, deciding to take a holiday instead).  The performance was in the downstairs room which is set up like an intimate jazz club and everything, apart from the stage piano which had seen better days, was great.  An early finish meant that I could enjoy a drink in the hotel bar before bed, and prepare for tomorrow's gig.

Friday 30th September: Cornerstone Arts Centre, Didcot.

The quartet on stage.

After checking out this morning, I spent about 20 minutes sitting on the seafront, my hair being whipped up by the sea breeze and listening to the waves crash up to the beach.  It was so glorious; I can see why people retire to the seaside.  I caught quite an early train to Didcot so spent most of my day sitting in the cafe next to the box office, reading and working.  Every so often people would come in and ask what was on tonight and the receptionist would big me up massively, unaware that I was sitting right there!  This happened too at Cafe Jazz in Cardiff, when I was waiting to check in to the hotel above the club, and the receptionist was telling a gentleman next to me about tonight's gig... "Well, it's a very talented young singer," at which point I piped up and said "It's me!"  Very amusing.

The gig at Cornerstone was amazing; I definitely hope to return.  We had a great audience - about 80 people, and I sold and signed plenty of CDs at the end of the show.  Touring is great when you get gigs like that - appreciative audience, helpful venue, and a good lot of merchandise sold.  So here's hoping the next two months has lots more great gigs in store!