13th October - On the road again

October 15th, 2006 by Billyb | Posted in Road Blog |

Arriving home on Monday afternoon, I had just enough time to kiss the missus, hug the boy, walk the dog and change my underwear before heading out on the road again. As I was whisked off to Birmingham to start the promotional tour for ‘The Progressive Patriot’ I realise that, of the twenty four hours I’ve been home, fourteen of those had been spent asleep.

I had another couple of catnaps on the drive up the Midlands and wonder if the practicalities of doing a gig as an author would be any different to that of a singer-songwriter. The evening’s event, part of the Birmingham Book Festival, took place at a college lecture hall in Digbeth, the sort of space that I am familiar with from my day job. This time, however, rather than being onstage with guitar, I am stood on the floor with a tiny lapel mic and asked to speak for 40 minutes on the book and then take questions from the audience. Those of you who have seen me live will know that I am quite capable of talking for that length of time - often between songs - on subjects from constitutional reform to Morrissey’s spare room.

Confronted with this audience however, I have a moment of panic - what if I forget that I am no longer on tour in North America and start assailing these bibliophiles with impressions of talking cats on You Tube or telling them how billy goats make themselves attractive? A quick flick through my new book calms my nerves and as I step out before the audience, the adrenalin kicks in, dissolving the drowsiness of jet lag.

Starting with the Clash and RAR, I explain what inspired the book and touch on its main themes before bringing the audience in for a Q&A. Jack Straw’s comments on the wearing of the veil come up as do questions about the process of writing a book. All in all, its not that different from the kind of debates I sometimes get into with audience members after the show, the only difference being that the autograph session that always accompanies those after-show chats is separated and moved to the foyer after the Q&A.

On the following night, at the Ilkley Literature Festival, the event has a different format. This time I’m sat onstage with a host who asks me questions before the Q&A. Sitting with us is a local headmaster, Faz Islam, who has read the book and offers his reflections as well as asking questions. I’m also required to give a short reading. I’d never been to Ilkley before so didn’t know what to expect - Tories? - but the audience were very sympathetic and applauded enthusiastically when I said that I’d be willing to accept and ID card if it had a Bill of Rights printed on the back.

Sheffield on Thursday night presented us with a real challenge - how to get into the venue. We traipsed through a series of student bars where packets of Revels were being given away in some promotional drive. Eventually we found the place and the evening went ahead. This time it was just the host and myself, and, although we sometimes struggled not to be distracted by the rustle of Revel bags being explored, the evening was a success. I got involved in a debate with one guy about whether it was right to chop off the head of Charles I. Looking back, I think he was trying to make a point about capital punishment while I was arguing about the realities of 17th century politics and kingship.

Cheltenham on Friday was the big one. If Hay is the Glastonbury of book festivals, then Cheltenham is Reading - long-standing, reliable, reflecting traditional tastes. The atmosphere was more like a rock gig too. We went on late compared to the other events, the town hall was packed, the stage huge and the PA impressive. And I was there until 11.15pm, signing books for what the organisers told me was the longest queue for an author that they had seen during the festival.

Earlier in the day, I had the pleasure of seeing my book on the shelves of a bookshop for the first time, at the Meadowhall Centre in Sheffield. There I was, between Steven Gerrard and Peter Kay, but above David Hasselhoff and Michael Barrymore in the new releases section, while our main rival for Xmas glory in the bestseller stakes, Kerry Katona, glowered at us from the opposite shelf.