A good acoustic music club last night, great to get Alex, Simon & Phil together again, it's been a while since we were all available for an open mic.

I had good fun with Amie, Sold, Volcano, I'd do anything, the Professor, Cannonball & Sail away... Far too many covers though, I need to start playing more of my originals, the Splash needs the covers because they can be a tough crowd but at things like the music club I must start banging out my own tunes, I am also getting rusty...

Things are looking up on the open mic scene, we have the Splash and the Wine bar acoustic clubs and now Alex has been asked to look after the Monkey Monday gigs at the Blue Note Bar. So lots of opportunities to work at the craft and try new things.

Also, Alex mentioned Gorey Fete in August which usually attracts a few thousand people. Three bands to play the live music slot and hopefully JT can be one of them.

I am going to try and get a contact name for the +Positiv festival later this summer, I'd like to test my festival skills and see how the songs go down in that environment. TV studios, bars and clubs are one thing, big open air stage ~ whole new ball game.

Also must get my arse in gear and send out some CDs, I am so slack. Once my living arrangements are sorted I will get some focus.

A guy (quite drunk mind you) came up to me last night and said that he had only popped out for a drink and was glad he did because the music touched him... Not really into touching drunk men but music wise... That's what this is all about.

Also got chatting to a young bloke whilst I wasn't playing and he asked me about my influences and how I got into playing acoustic singer/songwriter stuff... It stumped me actually as apart from the obvious Damien Rice influence, I wasn't sure myself. So we had a good chat about Jeff Buckley, Alice in Chains, Led Zeppelin and Free and some of the stuff I am getting into now, including Damien Rice, Ben Harper and Tom McRae... Oh and David Gray of course, who whilst a slow operator album wise, is still a grand master of all things singer songwritery (is that a word?)

I must mention Blind Melon, Goo Goo Dolls, Mother Love Bone, Tesla and Mansun too when talking about influences, they all added some flavour to JT, especially on vocals. Guitar wise, my main influence is simply hours and hours of playing and making those soft little pads you get on your finger tips as a guitar player!!! There has never really been someone who has made me want to learn every note they played, it's always been about playing what is needed to deliver the song. I did go through years of wanting to be a shredder and loved Satriani, Vai, Steve Morse, Lynch and Paul Gilbert, but always had a love for the 'feel' guitar players like Jimmy Page and Paul Kossof from Free... And I guess my old mate Sean Conway who was my guitar teacher for years, I still love listening to him kick out the jams, he can play 'feel' and he can shred at the drop of a hat, awesome.

Woah, was I ranting? JT out for now.