I had a particularly nice time in Northampton, of all places, checking Judy Mooch, Twelve Titans and Esteban this weekend. They played at Roadmenders. Good turnout. Good vibes.

Turns out the promoter at Roadmenders is still the same guy who promoted there last century when yours truly swung through. We were on tour with Less Than Jake at the time.

Our bands received good support from the crew at BBC Northampton who plugged the show and played the music. Many thanks.

The night ended in a small pub in one of the villages dotted around the city. The locals gather there every so often to sing songs together. Someone will bring a guitar. There’s a piano in the pub. People take turns playing songs and everyone gets into it. Sure enough, after a few we were all singing along to Phil Collins songs and whatnot. It was great fun.

Of course, eyes eventually turned to the professional musos… someone handed Steve, the singer in Esteban, a guitar and he did a rousing rendition of Have A Little Respect by Erasure. Then Steve, showing no mercy, handed the axe over to me with a sly grin. I had no choice. I concede that the opening gambit was Wonderwall by Oasis. Shortly thereafter I progressed to the piano. I do believe I played Jump by Van Halen at some point. I was better received than a decade earlier when I was in town with a touring band…. well, you get better with age!

The next morning I heard I’d been made an honorary member of the village. I’m touched.

The only time I’ve had a louder reception was at Anfield when I sang the Finnish national anthem at England v Finland footie game. The roar of the Finnish lion outperformed the whimper of the English pussycat. Unfortunately, my team did less well.

The power of music to unite people is amazing. I’m all for a good night out in a cool bar where they play awesome tracks by awesome artists, but nothing compares to making music with your fellow humans. Live, in the same room, with everyone pitching in.

The business of music with all that it entails for new bands… you know… people have to pay £5 to see a band play 30 minutes of music they’ve never heard and aren’t that bothered about…. and most of the time for a good reason, too… where is the fun in that? It seems there is a big disconnect going on.

What happened at the little village pub got me thinking about what music is all about. If it’s about sharing and having a good time, I can vouch that it feels much better than being cool.

What feels even better is that Violet Bones are at No. 1 on the Play.com pre order chart. Not bad at all…