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Going back to May 2014, it was a relatively quiet time for The Buddy
Beat gang, with no events on the horizon throughout the early
summer. It was business as usual every Thursday though where we
continued to help and support one another and have fun together.
It is at times like these that we can work on something new to take
to the world. Jane came up trumps with “Shiko”- which is a
traditional African musical piece. We worked away at it for a good
while- the rhythms we got into our brains fairly smoothly, but the
altogether never before tried armography was an altogether
different matter. We must have looked like a set of drunken octopus
at times and then we realised that sitting in a circle was very
confusing when we are all meant to be moving in unison. Then we had
the bright idea to sit in a line- what you might call “A Lightbulb
moment”- and hey presto! We had it nailed. Now we had to wait to
debut this new wonder piece, but more of that later.
In July we said goodbye to The
Life Church for the 2nd time
(who can forget our infamous
15 minutes at Mile End Mill in
February?). We flitted about
thirty feet down the street to
The Pockets Snooker Club,
which remains our home to this day. We had three years at The Life
Church, but a move was the right thing to do for us.
In early August, we had our 4th annual day out, and we travelled to
Largs for the third year in succession. It seemed that everyone
wanted to go, which is the way it should be. This was something new
for Alistair,
Andrew and Marian
and we headed
straight to the
beach.
The sun was on our side and sat for a good hour, bringing out
everything in our repertoire. If we had brought the kitchen sink
with us then know doubt that would have been chucked into the
arena. A lady passed by and asked if she could join in and it turned
out that she was a member of a Kirkcaldy drumming group called
Beatroot. When we said that we were The Buddy Beat she exclaimed
“I have heard of you guys. I can’t wait until I get back home and tell
my lot that I have been drumming with Buddy Beat!”
Afterwards, we retired to Nardinis and filled our bellies with fish &
chips and ice-cream. It was arguably our best day out ever.
Then we got the
chance to finally show
off “Shiko” when we
were asked to perform
at the official launch
of “The Sunshine
Recovery Café” in St
Matthews Church in
Paisley, on August
13th. This was Andrew’s first gig and it all went off with a bang and
our rhythms and moving arms went down a treat indeed!
August was also the month when the money from Tom’s 2013 DVD
bought us handbells and chime bars, and we have certainly put those
to good use.
In September, group member Carolyn asked if we would join her
choir Rockus at a MacMillan Coffee Morning in the Salvation Army
Hall in Mill Street, Paisley. Jane couldn’t make it sadly, but we went
anyway and we helped raise over £1200.00. The highlight of that
morning for us was surely when we invited the kids on stage to be
part of The Buddy Beat and it was a lovely thing to see.
That same evening some of us went down to
Biggar to drum with Jane’s drumming
community and it was a barnstorming two
hours of scintillating rhythms that fair set
our hearts a flutter.
At the start of October, many of us signed up for Beats Work, a
retreat day at Barnbrock Farm near Lochwinnoch. This was part of
the Renfrewshire Mental Health Arts & Film Festival and we were
joined by Sarah Grant, Arts Co-Ordinator from the NHS NetWork
Service. What a day we had there- we split into two and one group
got to write on a large sheet of paper what Buddy Beat meant to
them and then had the chance to decorate this too. The other group
were out in the woods with Jane and had a grand Ukelele lesson.
Then we all swapped over so that we could all experience everything.
The artwork and words were superb and the Ukeleles went down a
real treat. We also had a lunch time sing-along, the chance to play
Jane’s harps and rounded things off with felting and a strange
instrument from Jane that was a long pole with bells on!
A week later and we took part in Art Trail by Rail. We met at
Gilmour Street Station and we were joined by Rockus Choir. Carolyn
was there with two hats on that day and flitted seamlessly between
drums and vocals.
The weather was of the monsoon variety, but we had a great time
getting on and off trains all the way to Port Glasgow, stopping at
each station to examine the artwork displayed there. We
entertained at Bishopton, inspiring people to dance and rocked the
roof at Port Glasgow.
A super day and it was special for two reasons-
Firstly, it was Buddy Beat’s 200th gig, which is an amazing figure for
our little band.
Secondly, a certain young artist named Stacey saw what we were all
about and told Tom that she wanted to join. Result! What a day that
was!
Towards the end of the
Mental Health Arts & Film
Festival, Buddy Beat took
residence in the Festival Hub
in The Paisley Centre and
entertained many passers-by
and more than a few
youngsters tried their hand
at drumming.
At the end of October some of us joined Jane and her mum Eileen
at Paisley’s Piazza for a Fair
Trade Event and even though
horrendous rain that morning
suggested that we would have
to cancel, the sun suddenly
burst through and we had a
great time playing outside and
singing our little heads off.
The Fun Boy 3-Tom,
Jamie & Andrew
Into November and we
were invited to attend
Caledonia University in
Glasgow. This was a
conference for 200
student occupational therapists & was entitled Students of
Occupational Therapy Links Scotland or SOTLS for short. Two
workshops were held in the morning and the students asked many
questions, which is always a good sign. In the afternoon we closed
the event with a super performance topped off with a Boomwhacker
Bonanza. Also, Stacey made her debut there, just two short weeks
after joining.
At the end of November we had a special celebration night at our
monthly Open Night at The Charleston Centre. It marked the fifth
anniversary of the first one and this group has turned into a terrific
little collection of characters and we always have a good time
together.
At the start of December, we went to The Glynhill Hotel
in Renfrew for our 6th annual Christmas Party Night. It
was great fun and the good company and music was the
perfect combination for a great night. We always scrub
up well at these things! Around this time Jane came up
with the idea of writing our own song- well we all know
how that turned out. We all chipped in suggestions for
lyrics and quite quickly “The Buddy Beat Blues” was born,
but more of that later. We rounded off 2014 with our
Christmas Party and Tom delivered The Buddy Beat Awards and sent
everyone home with a tube of sweeties.
Into the New Year and towards the end of January a
new group member arrived in the shape of Gordon,
who has eased seamlessly into the group. Gordon has
made us more musical, with his Ukelele and Banjo
playing.
Jane came up with the idea of having a Member of the Month award,
and with the help of someone whose identity is a closely guarded
secret; the 1st recipient was Andrew and was then followed by
Eileen, Carolyn, Gordon, Christine. It has turned out to be something
rather splendid, and it is heart-warming to hear what each person
has to say about the particular person being awarded. Perhaps Eileen
summed it up best when she exclaimed ‘It’s just like “This is Your
Life!”’ Was it a great idea Jane? - No, it was a beautiful one, that is
altogether special. Fear not if you have not been awarded yet dear
fellow drummers- Jane will get to everyone in time!
In February, ROAR wanted us back for some more musical fun and
we had an 8 date tour which took in clubs at Erskine twice,
Johnstone, Paisley West End & Paisley Sherwood, Lochwinnoch,
Linwood and more. We entertained the best part of 200 people
during this, and we also slipped in a little workshop for a group of
Flexi-care teenagers. Special mention must go to Alistair for braving
the first one with just Jane for support. The ladies loved him though
and even laughed at his jokes. Gordon also braved the gig at
Sherwood ROAR with just Jane for company and we should salute
Gordon for attending 7 of the 8 ROAR gigs. Now that is what we call
commitment! One of the best comments was made to Marion B at
Erskine ROAR when a little lady told her as we were packing up
“That was one of the best days we have ever had here.”
Around this time a shy (?) young chap called Derek also came
to the fold. Derek is a Support Worker at Dykebar Hospital
and the idea was for Derek to attend Buddy Beat for a
couple of weeks so that he could pass on the benefit to
patients. Lucky for us, Derek fell in love with us all and he
doesn’t want to leave.
We have always had lots of visitors over the years, whether they
are student nurses or student occupational therapists. One such was
the lovely Helen, who had seen Buddy Beat at the SECC in 2013 and
also at SOTLS on November. Helen wanted to come along for a while
to sample what we do and it’s fair to say that Helen is smitten, and
has been nothing short of a sweetheart to us all and we hope that
she continues to visit as often as she likes.
Moving into May and we
kicked the month off
with an event at Paisley
Lagoon Centre. It was
called SOOPIR-
Strengthening
Opportunities for Older
People in Renfrewshire.
In a ginormous hall, we closed the event and entertained 150 people,
with a performance and Boomwhackers/Percussion session. It was a
great day and the group loved it.
At the end of May two things happened- Graham returned
to us and we were all very pleased to see him.
And we took delivery of our newest Baby and have called her Adele
and we hope that she will flourish and stay with us.
So what of “The Buddy Beat Blues”? Well, as we all know, on Tuesday
16th June at Paisley Arts Centre we debuted this after many months
of rehearsal. The genie was finally out of the bottle and we all
looked great in our colours. The audience loved what they heard and
I am sure that we will sing this for years to come!
So that is the last year and what another great year it has been for
The Buddy Beat. We have had plenty of great events and workshops
to remember fondly. Lots of thrills and fun along the way and we
somehow managed to survive Alistair’s jokes, although Derek is
challenging him for his crown.
Also, we need to send a huge thank you to Jane for keeping us all
going and in line when needed- “Is it about drumming?” Jane is
fabulous at keeping things fresh and interesting and is the twinkling
star in The Buddy Beat universe.
We have grown in number and been enriched by this and become
stronger. We can look forward to another year of great rhythm and
exciting adventures. Bring it on!
Tom Chalmers/The Buddy Beat/June 18 2015