How is business regarding the boozer ? We need some decent weather I think to really assess how pubs will cope
It's been strange. People who would come in every day have been in but complained that it's too expensive compared to the cost of drinking at home and have only been in a few days. I think it's going to take a while for people to adapt to the idea of paying more to drink out. Other pubs put their prices up but we have held ours - only Wetherspoons are cheaper, and we can't compete with them, but we are still charging more than people want to pay. Other puibs are all quiet as well, we had the largest refill order from the draymen on Friday, but it needs to get better.
Good list. Accoustic numbers probably wouldn't suit pub atmosphere, but a few of my favourites are Jackie and Murphy by Martin Simpson, and various numbers by Coope Boyes and Simpson, like Hanging from the old Barbed Wire , and Hill of Little Shoes. Green Fields of France by Eric Bogle is another.
I don't know any of these, I will see if I can locate copies. My show is never played in the bar, apart from one occasion when a temporary barmaid got it on her 'phone and played it through the bluetooth speaker. Customer opinion was divided ... I am happy to play accoustic songs on the show, they add to the overall dynamic.
I think the social side of going to a pub has gone - no standing at the bar, temporary booths put up with social distancing and having to queue up to book in - it’s taken away the popping in for a quick draught pint and a chat , and that’s what I miss mate
Yes, that doesn't help and neither does the weather allow use of the garden. Hopefully the weather will improve in June and with the lifting of restrictions on 21st June, unless Johnson resiles from his promise, we can have people back at hte bar. It's been very frustrating.
Hope it gets back to “normal “ (what ever that may be ) for you mate - we CAN’T lose anymore British boozers !
For those of a musical persuasion Bob Dylan turned 80 this week. I have put together 105 covers of Dylan songs from my collection for the show tomorrow as well as a song written by Loudon Wainwright for his 50th birthday.. Here is a link to the full 106. I am at present selecting the 25 that will make the cut for tomorrow. https://we.tl/t-duaff1SKqw
Martin Carthy was also 80, just a few days before Dylan. He may not be mainstream, but he was/is a damned fine guitarist and musician, and so is his daughter Eliza, a singer and fiddler. I first saw him and the great fiddler Dave Swarbrick at a pub in Prestwick in 1967, playing to about 20 people. There aren't many left from that era of self-taught musicians, the survivors deserve to be revered, and they all had distinctive styles. Carthy still considers Dylan his mate from the early days touring the clubs before they achieved success.
There are several Fairport Convention covers of Dylan songs in the link. I once played drums in an open mike night behind several FC members when they toured the Far East. On the same night Dave Mattacks was invited to join the house band as the bar owner didn't know who he was. Happy days
