After three albums since 2020, and with Colin and Andy now both over 70 (“surely not!” I hear you cry) how much longer can we carry on? Certainly Bern has no difficulty coming up with new material. It’s now a year since we last played a gig but we’ve been in and out of the studio, trying out new songs. If we decide to do so, we could probably put out two albums next year.
Despite only one of us having a full-time job, it is amazing how busy retired gentlefolk can be. Most of us have grandchildren; Colin has a 95-year-old mother. Priorities change over the years and physical strength and stamina do wane – though Andrew seems to have the constitution of a yeti.
The main factor, as always, is motivation. Motivation and momentum. Would you rather spend a week in Alicante or in a rehearsal studio in Cumnor? Of course it can be both, but getting four or five people in the same place at the same time when we’re strewn over southern England has been difficult. Nevertheless, we have half a dozen songs which are not far off being finished, with more at an earlier stage of development.
Bernard, an Essex man by birth, has returned to his roots with a suite of songs that celebrate the attractions, or not, of Manningtree, Chelmsford, Tollesbury, Southend.. and even Frinton. Those iconic locations are the hooks on which he hangs his stories. The emotional turmoil of adolescence: desire, fear, ambition and utter confusion. Some things don’t diminish with age! But that’s only one aspect of what we are doing now. There are other songs, some gentle, others full-on.
The satisfaction that comes from being in a team trying to create something new, to the best of its ability, is immense. It’s a pleasure we would never want to forgo.
One for the Wall 