Reborn
10th December 2008, the day my life changed.
Tom, the gentleman who had employed me for the last ten years, told me, “The recession is biting, interest rates are down, and the building work has to stop.”
The decision had already been made to develop a meagre musical skill, which was not good but improving, and to lay aside the bricklayer-builder skills, which were excellent, but now due to old age and ill health, were seriously on the decline.
Tuesday night at “The Dairy Mans Daughter”, Arreton on The Isle of Wight, there is a small folk gathering, where the local musical talent became a catalyst for inspiration. The discovery of a profound skill led to such positive feedback, that signing has become a great passion. However, the problem remains that being a rocker rather than a folk singer meant the local folk fraternity were getting edgy. “Queen” and “The Who” songs were plundering their folk night, people were getting quite peed off.
A style was required, a style of music, which I liked, sounded good, and fitted in with the folk genre. On a visit to a local pub one evening, “The Comical” in Sandown, Isle of Wight, a local rock duo, “She Said”, played Steve Earls “Copper Head Road”. Loved it! Had the crazy notion that the little phrase of music between the verses could be produced on a fiddle. Twenty-five pound secured the required instrument from a car boot sale. The performance was less than perfect, but the crowd loved it. The place erupted, what a buzz, thank you Steve Earl for “Copperhead Road”, and thank you Tom for ending my career as a builder. Now need my fiddle powered up.
Richard Armstrong
Cyber busker |
