HOWDY DOODY
I’m fresh off of tour and have decided to celebrate by finally using capital letters in my newsletters from now on. Hello to all my new newsletter subscribers! Please expect weekly dispatches about my music, geology, and things on the internet that made me go “ha!”. You can always leave a comment or hit reply to this email to share your thoughts. I love to hear from you!
So yeah, Scotland! My guitarist Nic and I played shows in Inverness, Aberdeen and Glasgow, and I gotta say, I’m really proud of myself. This was my first tour all booked and funded independently, I didn’t break even but I came damn close for a first try, and had a great time all the while.
Lately I’ve been reading through Lynda Barry’s books. She’s a cartoonist whose main bread-and-butter art practice is to keep daily diaries with little observations and doodles. Keeping in with this, I kept a diary of my own, taking notice of the little things that happened whilst I was out and about. i think it’s probably the best way to recap on tour, since it’s always the little details which really paint a picture:
London → Inverness
my iphone, somersaulting with acrobatic grace, on to the train tracks at Ealing Broadway station, never to be returned (until one week later)
the rubberiest crepe I’ve ever paid good money for at Crepe Affaire (it was… a crepe affaire)
a lonely pint glass on the floor between gates at Luton Airport
a husky crossing the road with their owner, howling for a bite of an ice-cream sandwich
audience member asking me if i thought he looked like an “auld relic” because I wondered if anyone was a geologist at the show
giant Jenga and Connect Four in the green room at Eden Court
our black lab Milo having a slight meltdown that Dad might either be drowning in the hot tub or just enjoying the hot tub without him (it was the latter)
a Dulux dog being fed an ice-cream cone (justice for ice-cream wanting dogs)
my sister and her boyfriend, aka the stars of the ‘When You Walk In’ music video, doing the famous line dance in front of the stage
Inverness → Aberdeen
Milo splashing in Loch Morlich with all the vim and vigour of a young doggy
an airhorn that you have to grab off the wall and toot yourself as a fire alarm in an Aviemore cafe
Milo (again) scarfing down a chunky corner of some lemon blueberry loaf
a little bird spread out on the dirt to cool down in the hot sun
a girl running in and out of the fountains outside Marischal College
Aberdeen → Glasgow (via Edinburgh)
the sunset melting on to Arthur’s Seat
a well-dressed tourist step on an upturned ice-cream cone, her look of disgust (it was Raspberry Ripple)
an advert for viagra which just said “wiener”
Nic trying Irn Bru for the first time (was not impressed)
old old friends at the show! one I described as someone I knew when we were “pre-born” just because I forgot the words for “our mums were pregnant”
people playing bingo at my show
Yes, there was bingo! A last minute attempt at creating a bit of fun at the Glasgow show had me making bingo cards for song lyrics and exciting events such as “there’s a silly green water bottle on stage” and “Olivia makes self-deprecating joke.” I thought this was an excellent idea, and it was, however I didn’t consider how hard it would be to keep a straight face when you’re singing a delicate song about life and death and someone in front of you has just scored another bingo point.
Thank you to everyone who came to my shows, it really made the tour a big success for me.
If you’re keen to show more support and help cover future music recording, then consider buying one of my works on Bandcamp or leaving a virtual tip on Paypal.
things i liked
I read two sci-fi books over the last week or so: Mickey7 by Edward Ashton and Planetfall by Emma Newman, both great reads
I am very enjoying this K-drama about fencing and not just because my personal dreamboat Nam Joo-hyuk is in it
elephant helicopters at an airshow in India, circa 1970
THIS. LITTLE. GUY.
really loving this cover of Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Nick of Time’
two songs which sound sparkly — Glasgow by Jockstrap and Lost Track by HAIM
Thanks for reading this newsletter, organically sourced from my brain and lovingly hand-crafted by my fingers (hmm). When we get to the end of the newsletter, we all click the ❤️ heart❤️ button and then click this link to see what our weekly prize is. Congrats! Now you are initiated.
‘til next week,
olivia 🦞