UK Tour: Yew hedges, Earls, and black cider.

Cirencester is a party town. Who knew? We played a place called The Vaults, which is in the basement (or vaults, I suppose) of a former English mansion. At one point the building was turned into a private school, but it's now a meeting hall/conference center with a most excellent pub underground.

Last night's show was fun. Neil's band was great (Neil is my most excellent host in Cirencester), and I wish I'd had enough cider in me at that point to dance. After Neil played, there was Carmela from Florida who sang beautifully and with whom I played some accordion. There were also many many friendly folks just hanging around, and I made a few new friends. It seems that everyone in Cirencester has an excellent sense of humor and is quite clever. So after hanging out with the locals, I took the stage for a quick set, yodeled, sawed, and sang.

But not before I discovered Black Cider.

It's John's fault. Neil's bass player and a proper lumberjack. He is responsible for maintaining the Earl's property -- yes, there is a proper Earl, with lands and fields and horses and guest quarters -- including the world's tallest hedge yew. It's an impressive hedge yew, and the Earl's estate is massive. We spent part of the day yesterday on a walk on his lands, enjoying yet another absolutely gorgeous and warm day. Without rain. John the lumberjack also knows how to make cider taste extra good. I'm told it's a teenager's drink, a la Boone's Farm, but it was Black Currant with a pint of Strongbow. Delicious.

I feel great this morning, however, and I think Butch and I are going to do some sightseeing before today's gig in Crumlin, Wales.

One of these days I'll play in a place with WiFi, and I'll figure out how to broadcast the show live on Stickam.com.

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