Roy Rogers Is Riding Tonight

Being in England feels familiar yet always exotic enough to keep me interested and intrigued. "Fit for viewing by persons GENERALLY" reads the symbol on a DVD in my goddaughter Daisy's collection of films and having watched the movie in question (some godawful Disney tripe called "Spooky Buddies" - guess I've been away from the world of kids' movies for awhile because I thought Disney was a mark of some kind of quality?) I'm even more confused by what they mean. Persons generally, as in not every person or persons generally meaning animals would probably benefit more from watching talking dogs in Halloween costumes. And I'm usually a pushover for animals talking.

I guess I should detail all the places we've played so far: Chichester, Bristol, Coventry and Hull. The shows have gone well with surprisingly good-sized audiences (though Bristol was a little slim...it's often that way but I still always enjoy playing there and they have some of the best Chinese restaurants in the country). When we collected the guitars from baggage claim, the headstock on the Harmony was broken so I've been struggling on a borrowed Gibson while our pal Andy fixes the damage. It'll hopefully result in just a characterful scar - I miss that guitar. I just don't click with the Gibson electric like I do with the Harmony. Come back old friend, please, in time for the London show on Saturday!

Sometimes it feels like I've written about every kind of gig and venue and there's nothing more to say without repeating myself or boring myself and anyone bothering to read things here. There - that's a shocking thing I realize from being out on tour: people actually read things I write on this blog or Twitter or Facebook. I find it amazing that a person in...Chichester would arrive with two Harmony guitars in the back of his car because he read that we were down a guitar. Maybe that's part of what makes going around and around again not a slog - I might feel tired of filthy stage carpet and nasty dressing room couches I couldn't imagine sitting on, but I'll never get tired of knowing something I wrote or sang or said connected with somebody halfway across the world.

And there is always something new to see, a wild frontier to conquer. We drove through Lincolnshire the other day. It was eerie with mist, big flat spaces and the occasional cabbage. My only association with the place is that as a teenager obsessively reading liner notes and band biographical material I learned it was where Bernie Taupin, Elton John's songwriting partner came from. Now that I've seen it, it makes sense that he'd fantasize and write lyrics about America's Old West - or anywhere that wasn't Lincolnshire. As much sense as a girl growing up in Pittsburgh would listen to a song called "Grimsby", completely miss the irony and long to travel and see this wondrous place.

So tonight, it's Louth. Not quite Grimsby, not yet. But there's always the next tour.