So now we enter August, my ‘On My Own’ tour has come to an end. This was such a fun tour and I couldn’t be more grateful to the venues, audiences and other musicians that were involved. I wanted to give you a little blog update of what we got up to and where….
The tour started with a relaxed festival style gig on the 6th July at ‘Farmival’ in Dorset, where my dad, Tom, joined me on bass – we played a relaxed set on probably one of the hottest stages ever – but it was good fun nonetheless.
Next up was one of my favourite venues – now actually in a new place much to our confusion – Mr Wolf’s in Bristol. I was joined on this one by my brother, Dom, on the saxophone. There was a great vibe at this gig and we shared the stage with some other muso’s and were greeted by a welcoming and attentive audience.
On the 20th July we drove down to Salisbury – my hometown – for a headline gig at The Winchester Gate. We played this as a trio and had a fantastic evening in the company of good friends. As per usual the sound was great and we had old friend and local photographer – John Palmer – taking some snaps, some of which you can see below. The next day it was a swift drive up to Maidenhead Festival in Maidenhead for a solo show on the main stage.
This isn’t a festival I’ve attended before but they had some serious gear on a very prestigious stage which was great fun to play on…Thank you to Maidenhead fest!
On Tuesday 23rd July, my first time being and playing in Oxford. Wow what a beautiful city, I don’t think I was far off taking out a few lampposts whilst admiring the stunning architecture on my way in! This gig was at ‘Sandy’s Piano Bar’ an intimate venue tucked away on a small side street that echoed the vibe of the city just right. I shared the stage with two other fantastic female musicians and was lucky to have an audience who were interested in the lyrics and stories behind the songs which can make a change to some venues – a great evening.
The next two gigs took me to a different country all together. The journey started in France and much to my happinesses with a large meal of ‘Moules & Frites.’ We then drove up to Antwerp, Belgium where we stayed for the night, then in the morning we headed to Amsterdam. On the 27th July I played my first ever gig in the Netherlands at Terrasmus which is in Erasmus park just outside of the heart of Amsterdam. This was a sweet little cafe / drinks spot overlooking a beautiful sun-filled park and I had a great afternoon playing here. On the 28th July I played my second gig in Amsterdam at Hannekes Boom which was near enough in the heart of the action, but just far enough out to avoid being a tourist hot-spot and more a bar and eatery loved by the locals. It was right on the canal and served a mean beer!
This takes me to my final gig of the tour on August 1st which was a cracking evening at Forest Arts Centre, New Milton. This is a well attended local arts centre which had a lovely appreciative audience that hung on every word you said. It makes me smile to see these arts centres so well used and appreciated by the community.
So that concludes my July tour. A big thank you again to everyone involved – you know who you are – and here’s to the next! But don’t forget I’ve got lots of other gigs coming up, so check my ‘Tour’ page for more info!
Thanks for reading, Isobel x
Maidenhead Festival 
Hannekes Boom 
Terrasmus 
Winchester Gate – John Palmer 
Winchester Gate – John Palmer 
Mr Wolfs 
Winchester Gate – John Palmer
