White knuckle gig

Yesterday I had a white knuckle gig. Nothing to do with playing the harp, but the DRIVING involved in getting to the gig. It was in a remote venue and the drive was slightly more 'interesting' than usual as for the first time ever my SatNav decided it was not even going to pretend I was on a road anymore.

 So I ended up with that nightmare of driving conditions that you don't need on the way to a gig.

• Having to put my foot dawn on the gas as I needed to be there for the start of the wedding ceremony.
• Single lane track up and down over hills with blind bends and very few passing places for traffic coming towards me.
• Absolutely no signs at all for the venue.
• No one to stop and ask that I was on the right road. 
• No phone signal.

Had I known it was such a remote venue I would have been mentally prepared for it. Unfortunately playing harp at weddings in the UK does mean that you get to play in some remote places, but this was a new one for me. It was that (unfortunately familiar) sinking feeling as you drive from Motorway to A road, to B road, to what is essentially little more than a track. Meanwhile you heartbeat starts to race as you go from...

"oh this is getting a bit narrow" to
"hmm, this isn't really a road anymore" to 
"I'm not enjoying this" to 
"actually I'm a bit scared now and my vertigo is kicking in as I go up this steep bendy hill on a narrow path with a sheer drop to the side".

The actual gig was lovely with a beautiful venue and nice people.
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But I have to admit I spent most of the time thinking about the drive back home and being thankful that I would be doing the return car journey during daylight and that it wasn't raining.

Being an outdoor gig meant as well that I was fighting the wind blowing through my strings and being picked up on my amp. I took a couple of short videos on my phone and unknowingly picked up the craziest effect of  my strings vibrating.
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