Ralf loves North East folk music and Reggae (he speaks and sings in English with a definite Durham twang.) but for this project he wanted to concentrate on traditional German folk songs, with an electronic backdrop, a.k.a 'Sci-Folk' (see, random!) and wanted the artwork to reflect this. I was intrigued, and looked forward to getting a start. After a few chats during the tour, and some follow up emails once we got back, Ralf sent me the music files to listen to. I loved them. So different, atmospheric and relaxing, and Ralf has a great voice.

Ralf was keen to incorporate a medieval 'Peasant's Feast' into the cover image, 'but with dead bodies' (he's off again) and with a futuristic feel to reference the electronic element of the music. I thought my brain might burst, but eventually I came up with the above image, using an amazing vintage image of a very rowdy worker's booze up, into which I dropped some Danse Macabre skeletons and placed on a digital 'sky'. The colouring took a LONG time, longer than I ever imagined, but I'm really happy with the result, as is Ralf. You may notice a cheeky looking bloke in a hat and specs with a decent pair of legs in the picture. That's Ralf. It's of course only right that he's on his own album cover! Just the CD booklet to sort, which is tricky for me as it's half in German, which I don't speak, so I need Ralf to keep a close eye on, but we will get there. I look forward to sharing the finished article with you once it's all pressed and printed.

'THE BUTCHER BARONET' DOCUMENTARY FILM.

The other week, Gary, Mick and me had a great time being involved in some filming for a documentary about a local historical character and enigma Sir John Duck.

Random as it may sound, Gary's gone and written an opera. Yep, a folk-rock opera. Called ‘The Butcher Baronet’, it tells the story of North East mystery man Sir John Duck – “Durham's Dick Whittington”. It’s a great legend and story about this historically elusive character and his rise to fame and fortune from nothing. He's written enough material for a 2-hour performance and double CD, whilst I'm working on illustrations and design for the visual stuff. Mick has also written a couple of songs.

In an accidentally and fortuitously connected project, Mick, Gary and I are also involved in a documentary about Sir John that’s currently in production by Durham Film Maker Paul Stainthorpe’s company Lone Pine Pictures. Lone Pine’s 2018 film ‘The Little Count’ about another Durham character, Count Jozef Boruwlaski, featured Whisky Priests song ‘Ballad of the Little Count’ as its theme song and has just won first place for Best Documentary at Romford Film Festival.

Mick and Gary will be recording a couple of original songs from the folk-rock opera for use on the film. They have also made a cheeky musical cameo appearance, which is amusing.

For my part, I was interviewed by the Lone Pine lads about my John Duck illustration. Now, because John Duck is a man of mystery, no one is really sure what he actually looked like, despite him being a mayor and really pretty (in-)famous when he was alive. It was good fun doing the interview, but I probably talked total bollocks if I'm honest. I had to describe my reasons for depicting John the way I did. I had studied this painting that John had commissioned when he was at the height of his wealth, and which hung in his Durham mansion, which stood at the head of Silver Street.

If you look closely, you can see a rather rotund, well-dressed figure on the bridge. That's Sir John. I don't think there's another image of him anywhere. I wanted to do my own version of this. The house in my picture is inspired by photos of Sir John's mansion when it still stood proudly on Silver Street, before being demolished in the 60s. I wanted to show in my illustration that he was probably a bit overweight from good living. I imagined gout from too much port and eating swans or whatever, and I wanted to try and capture a bit of a knowing look in his eye. It seems he was always up to some money-making scheme or other, some schemes maybe a bit more self-serving than others. I'm excited to see what the lads from Lone Pine find out from their research! Here's a link to more info about the man himself if you're interested, and a few photos from the filming, which took place at The John Duck pub in Durham.

GARDENS.

Indulge me. We have been grafting REALLY hard on our garden in Durham, that went virtually untouched last year. I need to keep myself motivated on this as the garden is massive. There's a large back yard with pots, a side 'field' that used to be an orchard, and a huge front garden that's kind of three gardens in one. All of this is a total mess. Oh and there's a really overgrown drive at the back. And then there's the garden up here in the Borders to deal with. So, I'm having to force myself to keep going by doing before and after shots. So far Gary and me have cleared a ton of brambles, cut down trees, mowed until the mower could take no more, drank lager, shouted, swore, bled. You get the idea. The 'side bit' has got a massive willow tree in it, so I've made us a little camp under there. Been watching too much Vikings on Prime I think, but we like it.

CAMPFIRE FESTIVAL, BRIGHTON AND HOVE.

For the last three years, our friends Naomi and Paul have organised a gorgeous little woodland festival down in Isfield, East Sussex. Set in beautiful private grounds, it's a really magical setting. Last year, Gary played a solo set but this year he was joined by his Whisky Priests bandmate Mick Tyas.

Also playing were Naomi and Paul, Paul and Cush from The Men They Couldn't Hang, Xan Tyler, and Del Amitri's Justin Currie.

We set off on Saturday morning. We being Gary and I and our friends Mandy and Sid. Mick had already travelled down to Brighton a couple of days earlier as he had a week off work and fancied a bit of an explore. We had arranged to meet him at Campfire. It was a lovely day, sun shining and all that, so we decided to have a stop off in Cambridge for a mooch and a quick thirst quencher on the way down.

As we were going straight to the Campfire venue once we got to Isfield, we stopped off at the nearest big services, at Thurrock, to get changed out of our travelling clothes. Mandy and me tarted ourselves up a bit in the lavs, putting on some nice girly clothes and a bit of slap, ready to relax glamorously in the evening sun, drinking and listening to music in a secret woodland glade.

Ten minutes further down the road, it started to rain. Then it got heavier. By the time we got to Isfield it was pissing down. You couldn't make it up. We felt for poor Naomi and Paul and everyone else who had worked so hard, what a bloody shame.

Once we had driven past the site entrance about four times, we got in, got parked up and got changed again. In the car this time, so I just had to stuff my flouncy dress inside a pair of baggy trousers and cover the lumps and bumps with a far too big Whisky Priests hoodie. I spent the rest of the night looking like I was wearing a fat suit, but who cares, we were still gonna enjoy ourselves!

We wandered round to the performance area, where everyone was still having a great time despite the weather. Young band Shizdniz were performing first, they were great. Gary and Mick next. That's when it went tits up. Mick's mandolin had gone out of tune in the damp, then just as that was sorted... pffft… the electrics shorted and went off. Bugger.

Troopers that they are, Gary and Mick didn't let it stop them and moved to a nearby gazebo. Squeezed in amongst a group of soggy festival goers, it was a pretty intimate gig in the end! The show must go on!

It was decided to use a different power source in another area of the grounds, and it worked great, not only because it was nearer the bar and loos! The gear was set up under a small gazebo and everyone performed their hearts out, ignoring the heavy showers that kept lashing down. What a brilliant atmosphere, after a really worrying start it was an absolute hoot and we had a fantastic night. Good times!

We spent the weekend staying with our lovely friends Gabi and Fraser, who as always, made us all so very welcome in their gorgeous home. They are so knowledgeable about Brighton and Hove, and were our very own personal tourist guides. We must have walked miles over the couple of days, chilling out and doing all the touristy stuff. And taking photos. Many, many photos... here's a few, but I'm not going to bore you with all the 'arty' ones. I'll do that another time...

We met up with Naomi and Paul for a lovely Turkish meal in Hove, which was a great chance for us all to catch up after the bedlam that was Campfire. What a brilliant weekend. We cannot wait for next year!

HEUGH BATTERY MUSEUM BENEFIT GIG.

The end is in sight, you'll be glad to know. On Friday, Gary, Sid and me made our way to Hartlepool. Gary was taking part in a benefit gig at The Fisherman's Arms to raise money for the Heugh Battery Museum, which is in dire need of funds.

As well as Gary, also appearing were keyboard, guitar and vocal duo Woven Project, singer songwriter Charlotte Grayson, and old mate of Gary's Joe Solo. We had a great night, and the gig raised £500 for the Heugh Battery cause which was absolutely brilliant. A massive well done to all the chaps and chapettes involved!