Ok so here’s my side of the story… as far as I remember.
Sair and I had just come back from the National Folk Festival and were starting to think about when to have the launch. My friends George and Davydd had suggested that we do a joint event, as they had just recorded their first album also. After seeing them perform at the National, Sair and I were set on the idea of a double launch (seriously – these guys are amazing!) and were ready to discuss our options. We had a list of venues to consider and were throwing around a few different ideas when George announced that he was leaving on a 7 week tour with his family band, before leaving for America. This meant that to do a double launch, we had 1 available date, and it was in 2 weeks time.
From my knowledge of the function world, I figured that most places would simply laugh at us for suggesting that this type of even could be pulled together in under 2 weeks. But the Jubilee Hotel came to our rescue, and through many many emails, lists and ‘teacher moments’, I managed to squeeze some preferences out of the other 5 and convey what we wanted (quite specifically) to the Jube.
This would have all been fine… until the day before the launch. I woke up feeling ok. Had some breakfast, went for a walk… and had a bit of a pain in the stomach. Within an hour, I couldn’t move and off we went to the GP. He barely looked at me before sending me off to the hospital and another hour later I was in surgery. Of course I took it all very well…. Or maybe not… My poor family had to deal with a very distressed daughter going through lists and details just in case I wasn’t able to make it to the launch. My surgeon was extremely supportive (Thanks Dr Adib!!) and said that he would put it on my chart to have me discharged in time for the launch. (Mind you at this stage he thought I was just attending, not playing). The nurses however, thought I was totally insane for attempting to go out, let alone play in a concert less than 24 hours after surgery….
Anyway, as you all know, I made it. Very tired and sore, loaded with painkillers and possibly still a little sedated, I made it to the launch about 15mins before the doors opened. From here, I remember very little. I know that there were a lot of people there (thank you and I’m sorry if I was a little vague), there was food and drink involved (which I was not allowed any of), and there was music (some of which apparently came from me!). Mannie followed me around making sure that I was sitting down and not doing anything too stupid, Sarah was equally concerned stopping me from lifting things, and Paul… sent me a tray of mini-appendix-looking sausage things and told me that I could be easily replaced! (Feel the love)
Ok, well that’s the end of my launch experience. I am now almost fully recovered and will be back to gigging this weekend at Fiddler’s Green. Thanks to everyone for looking out for me at the launch, and I hope you all had a great time. I think the others have thanked just about everyone else, so I’ll just echo what they said and leave you there until next time…
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