Three Bills In One Day

The first Bill I dealt with today was the one presented to me by the dentist. £70 thank-you very much. A day spent in agony as the dentist (who appears to be about 12 years old) puts his knee on my chest and right royally pokes about.

This is good for me I tell myself as I hand over the cash. It reminds me of the consequences of not taking care of business. It tells me that I should be more on the ball when things start to go wrong instead of stoically enduring it as though this were a noble thing to be doing.

The second Bill was the Bruford variety. Bill is busy running his label and doing press for the release of his Bruford dvd. I was happy to help with a couple of press addresses along the way. I'm looking forward to this one. I recall the show at the time. "Hells Bells" is one of my all-time favourite dance-about-like-a-madman track. Joyous, uplifting and a ton of wit to boot.

The third Bill of the day was Bill Rieflin who rang in from Seattle to talk about talk about Slow Music. Instad, he gets ten minutes of my bad jaw, down-in-the-mouth routine. Probably the politest man on the planet, Bill listens courteously and makes all the right “ouch” noises.

I’ve been listening to all of the Slow Music gigs and making notes as to which sets might be likely for release. The Seattle show at the Showbox on May 6^th this year sounds vague and noodly, as if finding the music was a struggle.

To my delight Bill agrees citing it as one of the most difficult concerts of the tour. Why was I delighted? Because sometimes when it comes to something as subjective as listening and evaluating music, you’re in the land of maybe and what if.

When one of the musicians involved in the process agrees with your judgement it’s a reassuring validation, a reminder that my ears are on right. The first show at Portland and the El Rey stand out as something rather special.

Bill had rung to catch up with things whilst I was away in Shaldon. Debra’s daughter Alys had taken the call, telling Bill that she’d been left behind whilst everyone else was away enjoying themselves on holiday. Bill had empathised, describing me as “a rotter.”

Needless to say Alys was thrilled to tell her chums that she’d chinwagging with the drummer from REM – who happen to be one of her favourite groups no less.