60/60 – Jenny Lind, Hastings – 11/8/24
Hastings Aug24-01photo by Alex Thomas Hastings Aug24-2 Hastings Aug24-03photo by Alex Thomas Hastings Aug24-04photo by Alex Thomas Jenny Lind 3 Jenny Lind 2 Jenny Lind 1 This was it – gig number 60 in the series. We’d shared it around on social media that...
59/60 – Little Arts Festival, Rushlake Green – 8/8/24
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Little Arts Festival 2024 (@littleartsfestival2024) This was a fabulous stage, great hall, bar, easy access and lovely organisers. All it was missing was the audience numbers that this little festival deserves. Little Arts...
58/60 – Bluebell Roots, 28/7/24
It was a scamper to get ready to leave for Bluebell Roots, having got back from Bridport at 4.30pm. But we know what a lovely evening we’ll have every time so it was no hardship and it’s only a five minute drive from home. Chris and Dan, The Long Shorts,...
57/60 – Bridport Folk Festival, 27/7/24
We set off form our layby kip at about 8am, stopping en route for a fresh coffee and biscuit (£9!) and at Dorchester Jim popped into the music shop as it opened to buy a new guitar lead. After taking it in turns driving, we arrived at Bridport at 11.so, waved into the...
56/60 – Colindale Barnet Folk Club, 26/7/24
Ah, this was a lovely gig, We had played for the Colindale Folk Club on 2 previous occasions when it was at the Chandos Arms in Colindale, North London. It was a pub so had more of an open mic feel to it than a sit down folk club, but was good fun and Mark who runs it...
55/60 – Hailsham Library, Your Stories In Song – 18/7/24
We had no idea what to expect from this ‘Your Stories in Song’ gig, fully anticipating an empty library, but were pleasantly surprised. Three people had come specifically and came to sit with us for the whole set, a few others wandered over and sat for a...
54/60 – St Pancras Church, Arlington – 7/7/24
We were approached by a neighbour who was putting on a fundraiser concert (for local refugees) at our local church to ask if we’d be prepared to play a set. Of course we said yes but we did then find that a big family do had been planned for that afternoon so we...
53/60 – Bluebell Roots, 30/6/24
Bluebell Roots with The Browns. Jim arrived early at the Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen to set up while I stayed at home to sort out our spare room as our son was coming to stay the night. I managed to persuade Mum to come round to the gig and she really enjoyed it...
52/60 – Pickhams, Your Stories In Song – 15/6/24
‘Your Stories In Song’ is a year long lottery funded project run by Summer Trifle and delivered by Milton Hide. Summer Trifle is a not for profit organisation set up with the original aim to run accessible arts events at and around Pickhams in Wilmington /...
51/60 – Dorking folk Club, 12/6/24
We managed to tie in my art demo with this gig, heading to West Meon the day before and camping overnight, then back up to Dorking Golf Club after lunch. A little less driving than returning home between. We took the caravan to a lovely little site at West Meon which...
50/60 – Old oak Inn – Bungaroosh Fundraiser, 1/6/24
Kate and Paul at The Old Oak are really big supporters of Milton Hide. When we we put out our Bungaroosh fundraiser campaign email, Kate got in touch to say ‘come here and do a fundraiser gig!”. We quickly put the word out and had a good turnout of...
49/60 – Yacht Club Open Mic, Fishguard Folk Festival – 26/5/24
In the morning, after another good night’s sleep in the caravan, we drove up for a flying visit to some friends living nearby. A quick downpour of rain but then the sun came out as we headed back to Fishguard to set up for the Open Mic we were scheduled to run...
48/60 – St Mary’s Church, Fishguard Folk Festival – 25/5/24
We had a good night’s kip in the caravan then had another band practice in the morning before a lunch of leftover pizza from last night. Then drove into town with the gear – didn’t realise we could have parked inside the gates of the church so parked...
47/60 – Ffrwn, Fishguard Folk Festival – 24/5/24
We had two days at home after the Glossop gig before heading off to Wales ready for the Fishguard Folk Festival. We booked a campsite for the little caravan at Llandow close to Llantrisant Folk Club intending to visit the club and do a couple of numbers, but when we...
46/60 – Glossop Labour Club, 18/5/24
We left a day early so that we weren’t playing immediately after a long drive. I was taking hay fever tablets as I had a persistent cough, blocked sinuses and was deaf in one ear, but they make me drowsy so Jim did all of the driving. Nightmare traffic jam on...
45/60 – Sweeps Festival part 2
Part 2 – see 44/60 City Wall Stage Boley Hill Stage 5th May 2024 Jo was recovering from a long lasting chest infection and we even wondered if we were going to be able to do these gigs. She managed to get through both gigs though without seeming to make things...
44/60 – Sweeps Festival Part 1
We were delighted to be invited back to Rochester Sweeps again this year and were booked to play The City Wall (wine bar) Stage and Boley Hill Stage, which is positioned between the Cathedral and Castle. The weather in early May can be tricky but Sweeps was blessed...
43/60 – Bluebell Roots April
with special guest Johnny Campbell. 28th April 2024 at the Bluebell Kitchen. This session was pretty well attended with some regulars who hadn’t been for a while, returning. Jim picked Johnny up from Polegate Station (after a ‘phone call from Johnny to...
42/60 – ELF in Battle part 4
26 April 2024. Final part of ELF, Every Last Friday mini music marathon in Battle. A quick trot down the High Street the The Abbey Hotel. This was our final stop last time we played ELF and we were a bit disappointed then. The bar man (manager/owner?) was unfriendly...
41/60 – ELF in Battle part 3
26 April 2024, Part 3 of ELF, Every Last Friday – music marathon in Battle. Venue 3 this time was Sarah’s Cellar and the duo playing before us had obviously gone down well as the audience were enjoying themselves, They were also obviously enjoying the...
40/60 – ELF in Battle part 2
26th April 2024. On to the Bull for part 2 of ELF (every last Friday, the monthly mini music marathon in Battle). When we played here last time we were on a hiding to nothing with getting ourselves heard so had low expectations. But we were pleasantly surprised. It...
39/60 – ELF in Battle
25th APRIL 2024 We were back again at the monthly mini music marathon in Battle. This time we started at The Kings head (Ye Olde Kings Head) which wasn’t too busy, nice and easy to set up and we started with a few people sitting at the side listening, some...
38/60 – Royal Oak, Tunbridge Wells. 5/4/24
We’re back again! See post number 2 in the series (https://www.miltonhide.com/2-60-the-royal-oak-tunbridge-wells-8-9-23/) . This time our mate Delby couldn’t be there but The Harveys played as a duo to kick off the evening. Pete’s mate did the sound...
37/60 – Bluebell Roots with M G Boulter, 31 March 24
Yes, we were back in the Bluebell Kitchen again – 3 times in one month! This was the March Bluebell Roots event featuring a first half of floor spots and a second half of featured guest this time MG Boulter. We’d met Mat before at the Softly Softly gig in...
36/60 – The Section, 17 March 24
We were pleased to be invited to play at this new event in Arlington organised by Bruce Knapp and friends. We’ve know Bruce for a while now, he’s played on some of our recorded work, and is a brilliant musician and a lovely bloke. The Section is a band...
35/60 – Livestream from Arlington, 13 March 24
A Your Stories in Song event We hadn’t live-streamed for a while using Streamyard, something we did a lot during lockdown, so paid our mate and all round clever techy sound guy and MC, Neil Povey to come and help us for this event. Philippa and Michael Vine very...
34/60 – Live on Radio Reverb, 11 March 24
A whirlwind, hundred-mile-an-hour stop at the Radio Reverb studio in Brighton to chat with the inimitable Pete Jones. This man is a force of nature and was born to be on the radio – no, that doesn’t mean he’s ugly. His enthusiasm just cannot be dampened. He...
33/60 – Twickfolk, 3 March 24
Another memorable evening, a lovely event run by lovely people.The train journey there wasn’t as straightforward as to Croydon and we were wary of being stranded again so decided to drive to Three Bridges as there are more return options. Unrestricted parking in the...
32/60 St Edith Folk, Sevenoaks – 1 March 24
This was our second time playing St Edith Folk Club. It’s in a great hall in Otford, near Sevenoaks. That’s just over an hour’s drive away, not easy accessible by train for us. Car parking is free after 6pm but you have to get a ticket from the machine. The group...
31/60 – Bluebell Roots with Daria Kulesh, 24 February 24
Daria Kulesh is lovely and was really helpful getting us set up as we arrived pretty late, always rushing and that makes it very stressful. We’d had a busy morning then friends over for lunch and hadn’t managed to take the dog for a walk so had to exercise her first...
30/60 – Crowborough U3A, 15 Feb 24.
A Your Stories in Song event. Crowborough Community Centre is a bit special – it’s a HUGE hall with an enormous stage suitable for several levels of flats. Seating for 300 and a built in PA. We’d taken out own PA which was OK as the audience was about 100 and we...
29/60 – Croydon folk club, 12 Feb 2024
It’s always a pleasure coming to Croydon Folk Club. Brian and Jenny are a lovely couple who run the club, always the first to arrive to set up display boards, chairs, stage, banners, ticket desk, raffle and lighting. We’d actually arrived even earlier as we came by...
28/60 – Acoustic Sessions, Rainham, February 10th.
This is a very special gig and this was the second time we have played it. Held in the lovely Oasthouse Theatre in Rainham www.oasthousetheatre.co.uk, the evening is run by Luke Bailey as totally acoustic for a listening audience every 2 months or so –...
27/60 – Old Oak Inn, Arlington. 9th Feb 2024.
Back once again in our local. There was a good crowd when we got there including some of our neighbours and friends form Bluebell Roots, and most people stayed around, which is often not the case in food pubs – people will eat then leave. A group at one table,...
26 /60 – Frontier Bar, Eastbourne. February 7th, 2024.
This event was organised as a Your Stories In Song event (our first one) with Compass Community Arts. They had wanted to hold the event as part of Eastbourne Alive, arts celebrations alongside the Turner Prize at the Towner. We had originally talked about holding it...
22 – 25 of 60 – Bluebell Roots sessions
I had managed to miss out the Bluebell Roots monthly sessions in my earlier ’60 by 60’ write ups so am going back to October, November of 2023 and January of 2024 (I’d already written about the December 2023 session as it was a Milton Hide special). In case you...
21/60 E.L.F Battle – Abbey Hotel
Part 5 of 5 gigs for E.L.F – Every Last Friday in Battle. The previous duo were still playing when we arrived at the final venue, the Abbey Hotel. And then they got an encore so played another one while we were standing by the door with all of our gear waiting...
20/60 E.L.F Battle – Sarah’s Cellar
Part 4 of 5 gigs for E.L.F – Every Last Friday in Battle. The next venue, a bit further down the High Street and down a sideway, was Sarah’s Cellar which was like a breath of fresh air when we walked in. It was so much quieter than The Bull in volume and...
19/60 E.L.F Battle – The Bull
Part 3 of 5 gigs for E.L.F – Every Last Friday in Battle. Next up was The Bull, right opposite the Taproom. It did take quite a while to cross the road though as Battle high Street is surprisingly busy with traffic on a Friday night! We played in The Bull once...
18/60 E.L.F Battle – King’s Head
Part 2 of 5 gigs for E.L.F – Every Last Friday in Battle. We finished the previous gig on time, got packed up quick, and we’re into the next venue with a couple of minutes to spare. The duo in front of us were just getting their stuff out of the door so we could...
17/60 E.L.F Battle – Brewery Taproom
Friday 26th January 2024 We had been in conversation with Darren Watson about playing at E.L.F in Battle in April. Every Last Friday is a mini music marathon in 5 different venues in Battle. We did it once before a few years back and enjoyed it. One venue, a...
16/60 Bluebell Roots
16/60 Bluebell Roots24 Dec 202317/12/23 Christmas Special in ArlingtonWe have written before about the wonder that is Bluebell Roots. For the Christmas Special we invited some of our regular floor spot performers to do longer sets and Philippa and Michael Vine served...
15/60 – Live at Thornsett Road. 16/12/2023
VIDEO – https://youtu.be/6QZzOeiU4Hc?si=bvfKRozYtqJn-SmU House Concert in Penge When we first started performing we looked at the gigs that artist friends were playing, especially those artists who we think we are similar to in style. In fact we still do this in...
14/60 – Bodiam Castle. 09/12/23
What better to do on a day of heavy rain and floods than go and play music in a castle!? We’d been invited, after recommendation from a friend who volunteers for NT, to come and play music in Bodiam Castle (National Trust) for a Christmas Special event. Having...
13/60- Under Ground Theatre, Eastbourne. 2/12/23
This event was a double header with us and Terry Lees & Natasha Norodien. The night was extremely cold with a freezing fog so we were amazed to have any audience turn up at all! But there was a decent crowd of about 25 in the Venton Centre, opposite the railway...
12/60 – The Grove, Eastbourne. 23/11/23
Notes Home at The Grove Theatre, Eastbourne The idea for this event morphed a couple of times before we got to the planning stage. First we had an idea to run a one day music festival at The Grove, booking several acts to perform in both the main auditorium and the...
11/60 The Stag, Hastings. 12/11/23
We had one of our best gigs ever on Sunday. Neither of us could stop grinning. We’ve played here before but never had such the enthusiastic response we had this time. Usually in a pub you expect to be ignored the majority of the time, especially when they serve food,...
10/60 – Old Oak Inn, Arlington. 03/11/23
The Old Oak Inn is our local – we can actually walk here when we haven’t got a load of PA gear to cart about! Owners Paul and Kate (really friendly people) love having music at the pub and encourage all sorts of live music, especially in the summer months...
9/60 – Tenterden Folk Festival – The Saddlery. 8/10/23
Our final gig of the weekend was a bit of a surprise. We honestly thought we would be lucky to get one person at the ‘Meet the Guests’ event. Partly because tickets were £6 (or included in the weekend pass) and partly because it clashed with the final...
8/60 – Tenterden Folk Festival – Free Stage – 8/10/23
We had played the free stage in 2022 and really enjoyed it so were really pleased to be playing again. Sunday morning, just before lunchtime was a good time for us. We made sure to have a hearty breakfast and drove up to the car park by the rec as it was pretty hot...
8a/60 – Tenterden Folk Festival – Ancient Boro. 6/10/23
by Josie Hm, well, not all gigs work out. This one just wasn’t right for us so I’m not including it in the 60 performances, just giving it a nominal 8a listing! As one of our 4 appearances at Tenterden Folk Festival 2023 we were to perform at an event...
7/60 – Tenterden Folk Festival – Afternoon Concert. 6/10/23
Our first appearance at 2023 Tenterden Folk Festival was mid-afternoon on the first day of the event. We were both very excited as we were booked to open the afternoon concert. We were camping at the festival campsite which, although no more than a 15 minute walk from...
6/60 -Bentley Wood Fair. 17/09/2023
When our boys were little we used to regularly go to the Weald Wood Fair at Bentley but we heard that the motor museum and the wildfowl centre had closed down so assumed the wood fair was not longer happening. So we were surprised when we had a message from our friend...
5/60 – The Albion, Hastings – 16/09/2023
We had been warned that there might not be many people in the Albion because the gig clashed with the Seafood and Wine Festival down the road and that most punters would sit outside in the sun, so we went expecting to maybe perform outside. As we pulled up the whole...
4/60 – An Evening With Milton Hide. 13/09/2023
As part of the annual Hailsham Festival (of Arts & Culture) we put on a special evening event at The Bluebell Kitchen in Arlington. This is our regular venue for our monthly Bluebell Roots and Philippa Vine who usually does the cooking for the event was very happy...
3/60 -Cranfest. Larkin’s Alehouse, 9/9/23
We’d not spent any time in Cranbrook before but it is one of the prettiest towns, with white weatherboarded houses lining the streets. Being a scorcher of a day we decided to leave the campsite early and head to the festival to hear some music, hopefully in the shade,...
2/60 – The Royal Oak, Tunbridge Wells. 8/9/23
We decided to make a couple of days of it as we were playing in Cranbrook the following evening, so we hitched up Michelle (Eriba caravan), stuck the canoe on the car roof, and headed for The Hop Farm. It’s only half an hour from T Wells so we arrived in time to cook...