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I attended the première of Peace, My Heart yesterday morning at St. Bride’s Church, Fleet Street. As a performer I rarely if ever get nervous, but when a piece of mine is receiving an airing the tension mounts and I am all frets and worries. Thankfully, as seems to be becoming the norm these days, I needn’t have worried, as Robert Jones and his choir gave a great account of the piece, very close indeed to what I had in my head. However many times I hear it there (in my head) encountering the notes for the first time in real life is always an interesting experience. Here the moments I had feared were too conservative were, in fact, nothing of the sort. If anything, the music was more modern than I had expected, but choir and audience alike seemed to like it. There may be an opportunity to listen to the work online at some point, in which case I will mention it here.

I had been up even brighter and earlier on Saturday, heading into town and then back out again, and taking the day off after a major wobble on Friday, which had promised to be a day full of work, but had instead turned out to be nothing of the sort. I did fit in a little arranging, however, which took the edge off my unease, and meant that I relaxed a little more readily on Saturday. From today, though, I really do need to grasp the nettle with both hands, as I need to do decent shifts over the next few days in order to hit my various deadlines.

After travelling into London for Peace, My Heart I pointed my Toyota westwards, driving to Bristol for a JEBO production rehearsal for the gigs this week, most importantly the one at the Apollo on Friday. I had expected a three hour slugfest, but instead we ran through our half hour set twice in a freezing warehouse and then adjourned to the kitchen for tea, coffee and chat. We have a new bassist in the fold, who is as solid as the proverbial rock, and it took almost no time to slip back into gear.

My route home was rather circuitous, travelling via Ilminster to pick up some board games, fodder for one of my few hobbies, and listening rather aptly to a programme about reason versus desire on Radio 4 on the way back. My rather large selection of gaming pleasure eyed me guiltily from the back seat all the way through this particular broadcast. And, yes, I did listen to a bit of Tubular Bells on the way down, although eventually I settled on some Jason Falkner and some revision of the first JEBO album.

Saturday evening was my first evening at home for over two weeks, and being out all the time is not a situation of which I am particularly fond, although, of course, needs must. This week appears, at least at the moment, to be much more balanced, and offers me enough time in which to get my work done, as long as I apply myself properly. In terms of my writing, it is all about arranging for the next few weeks, while the nearest performances will be those given by the Parliament Choir next month, in Cardiff and London. At least I now have my first première of the year into the records. It also seems as though there might be some money coming in this week to match the work I am doing, which will be as pleasant as will be welcome.

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