AXXIdental 2009...
... was a great deal of fun.I'm behind the curve for saying much of what wants saying, but I'll say it anyway: Rand and Adam were and are terrific musicians and lovely guys. Hitch's sets were masterpieces of eclecticism, ranging as they did from Minnie the Moocher reworked to Ravenscroft partsongs also reworked, via more musical milestones than I could list.

I loved hearing Alexa singing 'My Berlin'. Sometimes, you know, things do get better?

I met a whole lot of new people such as Nat, Unfeasibly Tall Guy and Patchwork Girl with Boots (I know, please don't post their other names, I've been educated, but I *like* my versions. Sorry.) and Alan and Renee, Alan having particularly distinguished himself in the mediaeval dance session KaiKay and I ran.

Well. Annie and Tim Walker pulled a blinder of a set and made me cry - not hard, admittedly, when you're as good as they are, and Annie's poignant lyrics on 'Dead Men Walking'  just make me weep.

The 'Before the Dawn' extravaganza was a whole lot of fun, filk-rock-opera lives! Bardling and Demoneyes made me cry again.

Gwen Knighton Raftery played and sang a truly beautiful set with Magician ably assisting. Really, quite apart from the quality of the songs, the narrative of the whole set and her interaction with the audience was flawless.

And I can't not talk about my own set, can I? Vaurien and Callylevy joined me for selected songs and I realised much later that I hadn't actually done a gig for way too long. Life's been elsewhere and I've been writing and recording, but the impulse to gig has been largely absent  (it must be said, the getting of the gigs and their promotion are aspects of this business I really don't enjoy. Never have,) - but playing to a home crowd at the UK filkcon is like coming home.

A performer doesn't often get the sense, on stage, that everything is in balance and they are going to fly.

I was glad to start acapella with a new and silly piece, and gladder still that my voice, lost for five whole days at the start of the year, was back pretty much where it should be. Believe me, I tried out some ... interesting ways of singing my set when my voice was in my boots and the break was making me yodel - and this was only a couple of weeks ago.

For anyone interested, the setlist was:

TomTom's Diner
Jam Tomorrow
Wolf at Your Door (P joined me onstage for her line, wearing an appropriate red dress and getting a great reaction)
Lucet the Braid (handicrafters waved their work in the air as their own tools were mentioned)
Head of a Pin
Bag Ladies
The High Street (Thanks to Mich Sampson for playing Flanders to my Swann... or the other way around?)
Plum Velvet
Kitchen Heroes

(I had been planning to sing 'Blackthorn Winter' in after Plum Velvet, but dropped it for time and fingersausaging. Played it later inthe lobby for Katie.)

To my intense gobsmackedness, the three last songs I'd sung were all nominated in the 'Serious' category of the Sams awards. To my even greater gobsmackedness, the following day when the awards were presented, 'Kitchen Heroes' won the award.

I'm truly thrilled that it's had such a reaction and been given such an honour, as it's a keystone song for where my music has been for the last couple of years. I'm immensely grateful to all who nominated and voted for my songs.

The best kept secret will be that I penned the Sergeant's Acceptance Speech for V, who was in the pool when the results were announced. He said to me from the water 'Don't suppose you could run me up an acceptance speech in the style of, could you?'

It would appear I could - I nicked a bit of paper from the pad on the con desk and sat behind the door scribbling. Of course we ran it past Mike beforehand - thank you, Mike, for being a good sport about that!

I didn't see much of C, who had a grand old time gaming and geeking and generally hanging out, which is fine. I know he had a good time too, and he did come to watch me sing, which was appreciated.

This has been long. It was fun, people. Now I have this album to finish recording.

Thanks, all! See you again... somewhere and when. Meanwhile, remember:

"It's the stock and the cellar and the hearth and the hive
Will decide who falls and who survives
And we're going to need our kitchen heroes soon"