There’s a first time for everything.

Last week I did my first gig with the wonderful Barefoot Doctor under the name Barefoot and Leakster. 

Andy Dovey joined us on percussion half way through and I danced my way through the set, pressing midi pedals, triggering loops and playing guitar and singing. I was too busy at the time to know if the gig was going well so now I've had some time for reflection.

I remember some years ago seeing one of my favorite TV shows called Six Feet Under and one of the characters was an art student and the teacher was saying “You must paint from the eye inside, everything you do should be a surprise to the earth” Well last Wednesday there was a surprise to the earth.  A collection of people in a lovely venue in Chertsey courtesy of the lovely people at Naked Dragon got to see and hear the Barefoot and Leakster experience for the first time. I think it was a positive experience for all concerned. It should be as it was billed as “Positive Message Music” The idea was that we would re-create the album we have been working on this last year in a live environment. The wonderful thing about live is that you don’t know what’s going to happen. This was the first time we would be sharing our music. The first time people would hear it, respond to it and judge it.  What happens if they don’t like it? What happens if they just walk off and we are left singing to an empty room? That’s happened to me before and certainly makes a man of you!

On the night, in the end, there was laughter, fun, some dancing, some clapping, a fair amount of lead guitar histrionics, positive rapping and all in all it seemed to go well. Before the last song called “Connected” I asked people if they would stay connected and fill out some feed back forms and tell us what they really thought. Here’s a selection of comments:

“I had a wonderful evening. I love your music so much - and the messages within
And your energy and presence. Thank you for a wonderful memorable experience” - J.A.

“I left feeling warm and happy, with a contended heart.” – M.E.

“The music was good. For me cool guitar & effects, a mix of blues, soft rock (floydish), soft trance and a bit cafe del mar The lyrics were uplifting (stuff happens but all is good...), made me ponder, connect with emotions and let go” - L.J.

I think that’s wonderful. It shows that the first time we did it… it seems to have connected with some people. That’s good for my ego – it also says we did something right. And I’d like to do it again. I’d like to spread this music to people far and wide because it seems to have the power to move people and connect them and get them singing and their feet tapping. What more do we need in these tumultuous times?

One of my favorite moments from the night was a lady who came and congratulated me on the song “Get Spanky” which deals with focusing on good stuff in order to make it grow. She said that she worked with people who were recovering from addictions and played it to them to help them think about focusing on good things. That was amazing to hear. To know that something I’ve worked on, labored over and poured love into is being received and is of use to people who might be struggling in there lives makes a wonderful connection for me, a wonderful way to give something of myself back to the world. 

There are some great pictures of the event here thanks to Ian Legge and on our facebook page and hopefully some videos to follow soon. Thank you for coming, thank you for listening.