After a hectic evening yesterday we were happy to have a more relaxed day planned ahead of us.  We had another lovely breakfast made by Barbara, and then helped at a session with kids from the  Bridge School, a school for troubled children. This involved dry stone walling in a remote place called the Quantocks. Dry stone walling is building walls using stone without any mortar. Jemma,Rich, and Barney were the youth workers on board for this session. Barney organizes the outdoor activities, such as the one today. After a thirty minute drive we stopped by the side of the road in some woodlands and walked a few minutes up a dirt track to find an old stone wall that had fallen over. Apparently this wall could have been as old as a thousand years, but this didn’t stop us from pulling it apart and redoing it. This involved building two parallel piles of stones with the flat sides facing outwards. The space between was then filled with small stones. In order to keep the structure strong, big stones that can sit across both stone piles were placed in the wall, these big stones are called bridging stones. After about thirty minutes the kids had lost interest so it was time for tea, which oddly enough all the English were quite happy to hear.

Once the tea had been sipped we walked five more minutes up the hill and were greeted by a wonderful view of the surrounding area. We were even able to see the coast of Wales across a nearby bay. Another interesting thing on top of the hill was an old burial mound which according to Barney dated back to the iron age. Following this, much to the delight of the kids we headed back to the bus, they were not fans of the cold. Once on the bus we drove to Bridgewater college to drop Jemma off, before heading back to base. Here we grabbed a soccer ball, or as they call it football, and headed down to a local park for a game. The park had a really good set up with a soccer field in the back corner. So we played a game with Barney and the kids one side, and Rich, a teachers assistant and myself on the other side. It was a close game with some very good plays from the youth, but alas it was not enough to beat the skills of myself and Rich, we won the game.

Following this it was back to base again and the children went back to school, they weren't particularly happy about that. Maidie and I then sat down with James and had a discussion about the rural youth program and how it all works. I will give you a quick overview of the Somerset Rural Youth Project too. There are a few aspects to the program. Firstly workshops are offered in regional towns in both drums and guitar. There are two available, a five week program and a ten week program. These programs are free and are tailored to any skill level and all ages are welcome. Next there's the music academy which works with people one on one or as a band with the goal of getting participants to the point of doing exams, or getting some kind of qualification. Then they work with Bridgewater College to train people in community music with the aim of getting more people involved. Lastly there are the events giving youth a chance to experience all aspects of the music industry. One example is a tour of bands through local towns. Perhaps the most exciting example though is the Big Music Project. This happens every three months and is a concert planned and run by the youth. This involves organizing acts, sound and lighting and marketing and promotion. The music youth workers help guide and mentor them throughout. So all in all some fantastic opportunities for the youth in Somerset.

After the chat with James he gave us a lift back to our B&B. Here we chilled for a bit before Maidie and I went for a walk down to the local pub for a meal. The pub we visited was called the Admirals Table. The food was good, but the best bit was it was two meals for the price of one, it ended up being quite cheap. We went straight to bed when we got back, in anticipation of day six of the exchange.

Day 6

This morning we woke up, had breakfast, then waited for our ride. James arrived right on quarter past ten and we headed to Bridgewater College. In the UK the schooling system is different to back home, seems to be more like the USA. Here there is primary school, high school and then college. So college is year ten to twelve but people can choose areas to specialize in such as IT, music or science. This morning we were going out to meet a group of students who chose to specialize in music and were doing a subject called “Community Music" which James is a lecturer for. To start the lesson off Maidie and I gave them a talk about community music back home, particularly focusing on the work of Dreamfields and the Retro Café in Albury. We also talked about our own musical journeys and how rural life can impact this, but also how Dreamfields has allowed us to overcome some of these limitations. Following our inspiring talk we played a couple of our songs each, which they seemed to enjoy.

After our talk one of the students had an assessment to complete running a drum workshop, so this gave us a bit of an insight into the workshops the project runs for communities. To start the workshop he got the group to split into three, each one of these groups represented a different part of a drum kit. So one group played the high hat beat by slapping their legs, the bass drum group stamped their feet on the floor and the snare group clapped. After a few goes of this we all took turns playing the rhythm on the actual drum kit. It ended up being a tad too easy for the students though as everyone there was a musician so could easily play the beat. He was meant to do it in the community like the other groups, unfortunately the event was called off so we had to help out. After this we were given a bit of a treat with James showing us his new Lowden guitar, which he demonstrated to us by some percussive guitar playing. This was quite magical to listen to with the guitars rich tones and Jame's skill and subtlety really pulling you in.

James now had a meeting with a potential student for the program who was struggling to find interest in his current program. So off to the dining hall we went and got something they call coffee, kind of like a watered down version of our coffee. Here we waited and talked until the student and his teacher arrived. James gave him an overview of the course and explained the options he could pursue, from music production, to playing an instrument or events management. The student seemed quite forthcoming to the idea so James will meet up with him next week.

Following this we headed back to base where Maidie and I grabbed some food from the local store. We now had a bit of free time so James let me have a play of his Lowden in the studio. I spent the next thirty minutes trying to emulate his playing, it was clear some more practice is required before I'll be at his level. After a bit of this James had finished in a meeting and he came in with Ben to introduce us. Ben works as another music youth worker and normally does the drum workshops, but has unfortunately been sick, hence why we had not seen him up to this point. We had a good chat to Ben about many things, and hopefully we will see him tomorrow night at the gig. After a few minutes talking Gilo walked in and we went off with him to help with a another youth club.

This time we headed out to Minehead, which was a bit of a drive past the Quantocks to the coast. The group in Minehead was much younger then the North Petherton club with the children aged from five to ten. First up I worked off some of my energy by playing chasey with the children before we all sat down in a circle and Maidie and I played some music. This was good fun with some of the kids getting up and dancing while others joined in with the singing. Eventually it was time to finish, so we said goodbye to the kids and got back into Gilo’s car to head back to Bridgewater.

On the way back Gilo decided to play at being a tour guide for us and took us into Dunster, a medieval town near Minehead. This was a beautiful town with a similar feel to Beachworth with its old style buildings and touristy vibe. The most impressive building was Dunster Castle which sits imposingly over the town. We did not stay too long as we still had to drive back, so after our whistle stop tour it was back on the road. Once back to the B&B it was straight to bed in preparation for our last day in Somerset tomorrow.

Day 7 

Today is our last day of the program, so once again we woke up rather early. Not because we had anywhere to go, more just habit now. Barbara made us breakfast once again and then at eleven James came by with the van. From here we headed to the base. Tonight we have a gig in Taunton so once at Base we started getting the gear together, namely packing up the drum kit in the studio. Once this was done one of the music academy students came in for a music lesson. In order to see all aspects of his job James got us to sit in on the lesson, which would have freaked me out when I was learning guitar. The student preformed well under pressure and didn’t let us get to him too much. The lesson consisted of working through songs for his rock guitar grade one exam, which is very similar to the contempory guitar AMEB exams back home. At the end of the lesson we all grabbed a guitar and had a jam session playing through, Smoke on the Water, Mission Impossible, The Twelve Bar Blues and Eye of the Tiger. 

With the lesson done we loaded the gear into the van, including the drum kit, some chords and floor monitor speakers. James was now driving out to Bath to pick up one of the bands playing so Maidie and I were dropped back at our B&B. Here we had a rest and practised for the nights gig. At five James returned with a bus full of people and we began the drive to Taunton. We stopped at a venue called CICCIC, which was a nice and cosy place for an evening of music. Quite a few acts where lined up with Maidie and I playing at ten. The list of acts where Cirrus Down, Drop the Mic, Havenless, Cherry Trees, Rowe, Eleventh Degree and obviously Maidie and myself. First we had to set up the gear.starting with getting the drum kit sorted while James set up the PA. Once this was all working we proceeded to sound check, For which I was first off the bat. For this I played Pumped up Kicks, much to the delight of the Cirrus Down lead singer as they had apparently played that all day. 

Once sound check was completed it was time for the actual gig, starting off with Havenless. This was a great act with fantastic harmonies between the two singers. While this was going I was helping at the front door, pretending to be a bouncer. We then had Cherry Trees who had a good mix of covers and originals. Following this was an act called Rowe, which was a girl with a wonderful voice playing all originals. Next was Cirrus Down, who without a doubt were the most memorable act of the night. They are a melodic metal band with great guitar work and drums. Their singer though stole the show with some great frontman work, he had a really insane amount of energy. Next was Drop the Mic, which apparently is normally a full band but were only piano and vocals this time. This did not matter at all though with Melissa the singer really cutting through, having  a beautiful voice with incredible control. 

Now after all this it was my turn, which was a bit nerve racking because there is often at least one average act to make everyone else look better, and it had not come yet. So I got up and played firstly my song “Walking in the Same direction”, then “Reckless” by Australian Crawl before finishing with another original “Feel Alive”. Maidie then got up and blew everyone away with her voice playing two originals “Roll Away” and “Brave” before finishing with “Dog Days are Over” by Florence and the Machine. To finish on a high note I then got back up and played “Riptide” by Vance Joy as a duet, which went down quite nicely. We where then followed by Eleventh Degree who were a very professional act, with many members from the Bridgewater college music course. 

Once this was done and our throats where raw from cheering we starting packing up all the gear and putting it in the bus. The trip home was not terribly exciting as I was trying not to fall asleep. Once at the B&B we said our goodbyes to James and presented him with an Albury stubby holder. Might be good to keep his beers warm. So this brings our trip to a close. Thankyou for following along with us each day. A big thankyou to Somerset Rural Youth Project and James and being so welcoming, and teaching us so much, and giving us such a good time. Also a big thankyou to Dreamfields in Albury and Henty Machinery Field Days and other sponsors for making this possible, its been an incredible experience for us both.