from Russia ...

Next concert with Eddie Lawler on 5th February in Clayton Village Hall. (with a bar!) 7.30 pm and £5 a ticket in advance.

Greetings to the several hundred people in Russia who checked out the website yesterday, and the person from Korea. Amazing! I love checking the website stats! Russia was one of the few places in the world who had the skills to make the Orchestral Harp right up until the 70s. I used to do a workshop for visiting children from Chernoble and they were always amazed at how 'small' my harps were! They had never heard of anything other than the large pedal harp and treated it with awe. They all knew of a small stringed instrument which we call a psaltry or cimbala. It is triangular and sits flat on a table-top. All you need is a sheet of paper with 'blobs' on that slips under the strings. Follow the 'blobs' and it guides you up and down the right strings to make a tune.

They also told me of the radio stations in Russia. Apparantly there's no separate station for different music - you get Tchaikovsky followed by U2 - a mixed bag all the time.

I managed to get a bit done on the harps today. I have been learning a tune from 9thC Armenia and needed one more string in the treble ... so I got the drill out and put another on ...