Hey Kindred Spirits, 

Dan and Dave here with a little catch up on all things band wise that happened in July and what we have planned in August. 

Overall, a little quieter with various members of the band away from the island, but we did get in a small handful of gigs. 

Ventnor Fringe was magical as always, we played on the opening afternoon on the bandstand as a four piece which we haven't done for a while, had a blast and made some great noise! 

Immediately after that, we headed to the Taverner's for our regular monthly jaunt there, joined by Mark. We think everyone there had a blast! 

Next up was another return to Ventnor to take part in our good friend Andy Roberts' Acoustic Island event as a duo. It's always a fascinating experience taking our songs back to the acoustic roots they originated in and seeing how much they've changed. The whole event was incredible. The opening act was a young duo called Daysi and Amelia and their harmonies were breathtaking. Andy then wrapped up the evening himself and was a delight to watch play. 

The Friday after that we were supposed to leave the island for our first Southampton gig, but Red Funnel had other ideas! Not deterred, we eventually wound up at the Waverley Caravan Park and played a rather raucous gig on their patio. It was a lot of fun! 

So, August! It's already started out well. Gators Down in New Orleans was entered into the Portsmouth Express FM chart and reached number 10 upon its debut. Everyone can vote for us by following this link https://www.expressfm.com/programmes/the-local-music-show/chart/ voting is open until Thursday 6pm after that any votes go into the following week! 

The rest of August consists of headlining the Friday night of the inaugural East Cowes Festival on the 7th. Then after a little break where Pete is taking some time off retirement in the Tenerife sun, we have two gigs at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway festival on the Saturday and Sunday (duo, then full band respectively) before rounding up our month with a gig down at Ventnor Park at the Bandstand. 

That's all for now, we've gotta for a band practice! 

Dan and Dave.