Happy New Year Bluesky chums! It’s 4am and I’m winding down after my Hogmanay gig. Bed time now, but no rest for the wicked as I’m playing another gig in a mere 8 hours. No (proper) sleep until Friday. All the glitz and glamour of rock’n’roll is right here…after a nice cup of tea! Slainte! 🎼❤️🎼

For anyone wishing to bridge the flat spot between Christmas and New Year with some excellent live music, the RAB HOWAT BAND ANNUAL PARTY is happening next Tuesday, 30th December, at Bannermans Bar, Cowgate, Edinburgh from 8pm. Featuring special guests. Free entry! All welcome. Come on down! 🎼👍🎼

“Lingerie. Remember lingerie?” - Bruce Spence as the Gyro Captain in “MAD MAX 2”. “And you may ask yourself. Well, how did I get here?” - Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime.” Unplanned trip to local traditional woman’s outfitters. 😳

“Feed the birds. Tuppence a bag!” as they sang in Mary Poppins. Now I know that was some time ago but I’ve decided recently to regularly feed the birds in my garden and it’s now bloody fourteen hundred and ninety nine pence a bag! Reduced from nineteen hundred pence a bag. Nuts!

This is just brilliant. Brought a tear to my eye and also some happy memories of visiting the Sheriffmuir Inn a few times when I lived and worked in Hercules’s neck of the woods in the early 1980s. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

A favourable review!

Found this in the attic at the bottom of a box. “Mary Of The 4th Form” by The Boomtown Rats, signed by the band in May 1978 at Bruce’s on Edinburgh’s Rose Street. I was never a big fan but I remember the 15 year old me being quite excited at the time. I thought I’d lost this during a move in 2010.

A very brief trip to Glasgow. Wet, but not nearly as wet and windy as the weather forecasters predicted. Parking prices almost as bad as central Edinburgh. £14.40 for 2 hours. I may come back in the summer. Warmth and dryness make all the difference. #LetGlasgowFlourish

Yesterday’s vinyl delivery. The brilliant @hamishhawk.bsky.social channels his inner, and indeed outer, Ivor Cutler with this limited edition pressing. A studio recording of his “Life In A Scotch Sitting Room, Volume 0.” Edinburgh Book Festival stage show celebrating things Cutler-esque.

So, this is Saturday night TV viewing in 2025. Brutal…however the subject of this particular round is at least of some interest to me…

Was thinking about upgrading my Hi-Fi speakers and was lucky enough to discover these guys…and there’s a sale on! 😳😳😳😳😳😳

🎼 ”We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries. We got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these colour TVs. Oh, and we’ve also got to move hundreds of feckin’ Christmas singles on top of the feckin’ wardrobe! ” 🎼 👍🎄👍 #christmassong #christmasmusic youtu.be/KIA9mgwSYUY?...

Dear Bluesky friends. We’d be eternally grateful if you could please add “Cold Christmas”, our festive song for these times to your Spotify playlists. Peace & love. TLH x open.spotify.com/track/7q03My...

Re-released today for Christmas 2025 ! Available on 7” single. I still have hundreds or the buggers! Help me clear them from the top of my spare room wardrobe! 🎼😎🎼

Late to the party as usual. I’ve just discovered Sky Channel 183: “That’s TV3”. They’ve just screened The Bobby Fuller Four playing “I Fought The Law” and now it’s Mungo Jerry!

Another cracking afternoon gig at Bannermans We’ve been resident here every Saturday since December 2002. It’s Edinburgh’s version of Liverpool’s Cavern Club. Some say it’s even better. Come on down and decide for yourself. Saturdays from 3:30-5:30pm. 212 Cowgate, Edinburgh. Free Entry.

Sad and a tad angry to hear about BBC Radio Scotland axing 4 late night music shows, all which featured up and coming artists amongst a playlist of quality tunes. Thanks to The Billy Sloan Show for including my band @thelegendaryhearts.bsky.social right next to some of my heroes back in 2016. 🎼👍🎼

Well, it’s that time of year again! Let four weeks of shameless self promotion commence! Available on 7” vinyl, download or free to listen to in all the usual places.

This was brought to my attention today by ace photographer @marcmarnie.bsky.social. It’s bonkers and brilliant. Magnificent even… youtu.be/ewp1ETyIilM?...

I was busy yesterday so totally forgot about the Scotland v Argentina rugby game. Just heard on BBC Scotland News that we got our arses kicked. After the international football shambles on Saturday I’m now firmly back in “It’s Shite Being Scottish” mode. It breaks my heart. youtu.be/29-LRuuqFT0?...

Cracked a cymbal a few weeks ago and yesterday it died. Many of you probably won’t know much about cymbals so you may be surprised that the price of a replacement is £278 discounted from £329. That’s a lot of ca$h to shell out for something you just whack now and again eh!

Farewell Newcastle (and surrounding area). It was fun. Until the next time…

Breakfast at The Butterfly Cabinet in Heaton. This should certainly set us up for the day!

Now then…what have we here? This is superb. I may have a second pint…possibly even a third…or more… I highly recommend The Free Trade Inn, Newcastle. #beer

I’ve been discussing legendary Scottish rock’n’roller Alex Harvey today and noted that he would’ve been 90 years old earlier this year. Just a month younger than Elvis Presley. Wow!

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this gig for many months so I’m delighted that the day has finally arrived. Tonight it’s the excellent Counting Crows supported by the equally excellent James Maddock at the Edinburgh O2. I predict a great night lies ahead!

Beavertown Neck Oil is a decent pint but it’s insanely priced. 18 months ago I paid £6 for a pint in Edinburgh’s Marchmont neighbourhood. Around the same time it was over £7 in Newcastle’s Crown Posada. I’m told it’s now £8.40 on Edinburgh’s over hyped George Street.

I already put all my manual clocks back at 10pm…just to be on the safe side. An extra hour in bed? I’ll take it!

Took a trip to the annual *Peebles Wood Market*. I love a bit of chainsaw carving and couldn’t resist taking these two crackers home. The leaping salmon is from Oban and the eagle is courtesy of a talented father and son team who’d come all the way from Cheshire. Love ‘em!

Just heard from a local spiritualist who tells me Oscar Wilde is absolutely delighted to be getting his library card back. He’ll be using it at the earliest opportunity. Although word is he also owes £89,000 in overdue book fees.

Anybody else Googling Mott The Hoople cushion covers? No? Me neither. Er…actually…I mean…yes! (Photo: Mike Ollier)

Paracetamol. I say Para-see-tamol. You say Para-seh-tamol. You’re probably right, but I’ve been saying it my way for about 50 years. I can’t change.

Not sure what’s going on in Edinburgh this weekend but Travelodge rooms are normally £50-£60, even on weekends. I was going to book one for an event tomorrow but I’m now staying with friends instead. I’m not paying these frankly insane prices for a few hours sleep!

I’ve been playing Wordle pretty much since it started and now I’m beginning to feel like Desmond Hume in “Lost” who had to press a button every 108 minutes, all day, every day.

Grandad with granddaughter Andie. x

After several months where there was so little water in the River Tweed that a toddler could’ve safely “toddled’ across, it’s now looking a bit more respectable. Angry even! Nice to see the swan family are thriving too.

Job hunting…

When you eat something from the back of a cupboard with a “best before” date of 06/29 and it tastes a little bit “off” but you carry on anyway. Then you check the date again the following day and it turns out it’s actually 06/23. That. Still no harm done…so far…hopefully. 😳

Could today actually get any better? First I become a *grandad* then possibly the best thing I’ve ever seen in a pub. Last minute “Too Good To Go” bargains from our local @GreggsOfficial. £3 for a shit load of scran!

*Breaking News from Wilsonworld!* I appear to be a *GRANDAD*!!! Youngest son and his partner have just served up this wee cracker! The young lady arrived today at 9:52am. Mum and baby both doing fine. Still trying to get my head around being a grandparent when I’m still only 21 years old… 😎

Had fun playing with former Bay City Rollers front man Nobby Clark at a charity bash in Edinburgh last week. He was on excellent form with some cracking anecdotes along the way. (Photo credit: Stuart Stott)

Delighted to have been asked to provide the live music programme for this event on Saturday 22nd November. Last year was excellent. This year will be even better! If you love your fine wines, ales, gourmet food…and live music, grab a ticket and come on down to Peebles! Link to tickets in comments.

Psyching myself up for another bus trip to Edinburgh. Today’s mission involves ales, curry and a large helping of this…

Went to the EastgateTheatre cafe in Peebles for lunch and ended up sitting beside “The Lady Boys of Bangkok” who were eating there prior to performing two shows later today. Seemed like nice lads. They were in (relatively) plain clothes. No photo as I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate it.

Ok, I said a while back I’d be buying no more vinyl and I’ve pretty much stuck to that. But nobody mentioned 8-Track tapes! I’ve had my eye on this for a year or so. It was just hanging around on eBay. Deal done. It’ll now be on display unopened in my music room. It’s the first LP I ever bought. 🎼👍🎼

I notice a Swedish fella just bagged $170,000 for breaking his own *World Pole Vault Record*. I’m now sitting here on my couch thinking I should’ve tried harder at the Pole Vault when at school. Sadly, it’s too late now…or is it..?

One of the high points of the “two-gig Saturday” is that I can kill time between shows in this superb and long established Edinburgh eatery. Always welcoming, fairly priced and very, very good. Ladies and gentlemen…I give you…*The Kebab Mahal*!

The welcome albeit brief return of the 4 gig weekend. Cracking memorial gig last night for the late Shorty Rodgers. Today it’s Bannerman’s as usual from 3:30pm followed by a night of Rockpile and Dr Feelgood at B-Bar, Edinburgh at 9pm. Tomorrow it’s deepest Midlothian for some more classic tunes.

As I stumble through my early 60s I’m acutely aware that hospital visits are becoming more frequent. Today’s appointment is 3 months late due to a delayed referral letter. It’s never straightforward either. My current issue has been causing concern for a year…and it’s an odd one to say the least.

Heading off to a rehearsal for the Shorty Rodgers (Ron Woodbridge) Memorial show on Friday. He was from Liverpool originally and was a founder member of The Searchers before relocating to Edinburgh in the 1960s. If you knew Shorty or are simply curious, grab a ticket and come on down!