Silvertone Files: Back in England - 1 more week till home

Good morning - I'm back here in Brighton today - I've spent the last two nights down here after getting back from Ireland and playing a show on Friday night at a little place in town called the Tic Toc Cafe. It's been fun still and it's going to be very strange to be back in California next week - back to work. Later today I'm heading back up to London - try to see some music an meet up with some friends.
The trip to Ireland was pretty amazing. My hotel room for the last two nights was in a good spot - close to the City Centre - and it made walking home from the Temple Bar area quick and easy - with was a good thing, especially since on the second night after the bars were closing, the rain started coming down. So I made it safe and fast back to my room.
There was just so much to see while in Dublin and I walked around the city trying to take it all in. That first night in Dublin I went into one of the bars to watch the Euro 12 football match between Spain and Portugal. I've watched a lot of football over here - everyone is so into it - and too bad England didn't do better. So the bar was crowded with people watching - and right after it was over the music started up.
I watched for a while and was about to go out to another bar when I heard music from the 2nd floor. So I headed up and it was another group playing more traditional music. They were good so I stuck around. Then they had some Irish dancers do their thing in the 11 o'clock hour. I heard more music downstairs so I went to check it out and there was a whole crowd down there hanging out.
So I stayed the whole time there - which wasn't what I was planning on but it's what happened. I went to the different floors throughout the rest of the night until 3 - and the rain was coming down. But like I said, my hotel room wasn't too far away - about a 10 minute walk - and there were plenty of people still out - walking around - so I felt fairly safe - and I crashed out and caught up on sleep.
It was 12:30 by the time I got up - which I was surprised by - but I hadn't slept all that well the first night. I got myself together and went out walking - down through Grafton Street and into St. Stephen's Green Park - it was a nice sunny day and lots of people were out enjoying the sun.
That evening I was planning to head up to the seaside town called Skerries to see a band called I See Hawks In LA - who were over doing a tour of Ireland and England. I had seen them a bunch of times in LA and was looking forward to seeing some fellow Angelenos - and enjoy some great music - West Coast country rock.
I caught the train and rolled out of Dublin - I put on Van Morrison's Astral Weeks - watched the Irish landscape flash by - fields of green, houses on hills, roads and cars, lakes, and in the distance to the east, the sea.
Skerries was a nice little town and it was an easy walk from the train station to the town center. There were two windmills in view from the road, and I found the bar Raff's On The Corner quite easily. Since I got there early I took a walk along the coast line and it was quite an amazing view - very beautiful to see as the sun was going down.
By the time I made it back it was almost time for the music to start, although there was a game on - Germany versus Italy - and sort of surprising Italy won (I had heard several people saying that they expected Germany to win the whole thing - and not just from the German people I had encountered).Then I saw the band take their places, I said a hello, and sat down and enjoyed the night of music in that little Irish town.
Since the trains had stopped at a certain hour, I ended up taking the bus, the last bus into town. I sat up on the top and watched as we passed through the quiet little towns on the way back to Dublin. It was quite nice.
When I got back it was about 1:30am and was still in the mood for another pint so I headed back to the Temple Bar - walked past the old Post Office where in the 1916 the Irish declared their independence from Britain - they have a stone inscription with the declaration in the window. It's where they had a stand off with the British army on Easter that year - I guess there are still bullet holes in the pillars.
After a couple rounds I was ready for bed since I knew I had to be up early to catch a plane back to London.
The flight back was easy and then I headed down to Brighton where I was going to be playing a show in a cafe with my friend Birte. I was tired and wanted to take a nap but I never got the opportunity. We walked down to the cafe, passing through the narrow Lanes and got ready to play. The cafe was cozy and some people showed up - and we had a good night playing - good food, good wine, good friends.
I ended up staying another night down in Brighton and am just making my way back out to where I'm staying in Enfield. I've got to take the tube and then a short train ride, drop my stuff off, and then head back to the east side of London for a music festival.
I'm looking forward to playing a proper 45 minute set on Tuesday at The 12 Bar Club in Soho. I'm hoping some of my new friends make it out - I'll be on around 7:30 and then there are 3 more acts to follow - so we'll see.
I've got to head out now
yours truly,
Jeremiah