Digging The A52s At Wirksworth Hidden Gardens

Another weekend…and it’s another pair of gigs for Parwich’s foremost folk-tinged combo. We like nothing more than spending our free time making music and enjoying the odd inter-song quaff.

The first of our gigs had a horticultural theme, providing music for the Hidden Gardens and Courtyards Of Wirksworth. This charming little event offered the opportunity to wander round 20 or so gardens dotted around the town, listening to various musicians and eating some rather lovely cakes. We were set up in the Wirksworth Community Garden which is tended by a dedicated team of green-fingered local residents. The garden is in its first year but is already looking vibrant. It also has a great vista as it overlooks the town and you look down on the railway station where steam trains travel the tracks. A lovely place to play!

The gig was marked by the first public appearance of the newest member of the A52s gang – Jim Croft. Jim is our new bass man…but more about him in a later post. Needless to say he is a thoroughly sporting chap, knows his way round a fretboard and seems like he was born to play with us. His wife Verity came along too with three of the substantial group of littleuns that make up the Croft family.

We played acoustically so as to fit in with the natural theme of the event. Rhythm was provided through a new addition to The A52s instrument list – a cajón. An afro-peruvian percussion instrument that looks like a tea chest, but has a snare built into it to sound very much like a drum. We all took turns having a go, including Chad’s dad Derek and Roger, the king of the Community Garden. That kept us pushing on nicely. Thanks chaps!

The afternoon drifted by with a mix of tried and tested songs plus a few we quite literally had not played before. Always good to keep on the edge 🙂 . Thanks to Jill and to the Marshall posse for coming along.

The A52s rock the organic way!