When I was 14 years old, my Dad took me to his local, The Borough Club in Flint, North Wales, to watch the ‘Nidd and Friends Jam Night’. It was made up of Nigel ‘Nidd’ Lovatt and his house band playing all night, while other acts would get up to join them on stage or even showcase their own band.
I was amazed that we had so many talented musicians on our doorstep that I didn’t even know about. Some of the musicians getting up were not much older than me and it soon became the place to be for everyone on a Friday Night.
At the time, I had been writing my own songs and was dying to get on stage myself. I showed Nidd one of my tracks and he had it ready with the house band for the following week. I played it and kept my eyes closed the whole time, but when the song finished, we had a great response.
From that point onwards, my goal was to play there with my own band, so after 3 years and a few sporadic performances with some makeshift outfits along the way, I finally joined a band I was going to stick with: The Tuning.
We gelled together really quick and had a huge repertoire of songs under our belt in the first few months. We were getting a few headline slots at an early stage and winning some big competitions along the way too, but it was The Borough Club that became our home venue. We would always put on regular events and invite other local bands to come and support us there. It was our rehearsal space, our hang out and we didn’t spend much time anywhere else throughout those years.
The Tuning eventually split up as bands sometimes do and The Borough Club sadly shut down and was eventually destroyed. I began playing solo gigs after that and I still do to this day. Nidd & Friends’ Jam Nights are still going strong though and they now take place in The Royal British Legion in Flint.
I will never forget all the great nights that we had at The Borough Club, it was very sad to see it go, but I owe it to that place and Nidd & Friends for giving me the opportunity and confidence to get up on that stage on my own.
Check out my latest playlist of ‘Songs I Never Get Sick Of’ on Spotify, there may be something you’ve never heard before, or something you’ve forgotten about: https://spoti.fi/2qukK6u