diary

Oh, what I am tired tonight! Firefern's been learning the drums and keeping the whole neighbourhood including me awake with them. I do believe I fell asleep for a moment on the Thorin's Hall inn-table before! But I am looking forward to playing with percussion in the band - there doesn't seem to be another band around that can get percussion right. Also, being the location scout I'm excluded from carrying the heavy things around... We were practising some new songs for the inn tonight, but just as we were going to play, Glamua felt poorly. So Firefern came up with some trio pieces instead.

Setlist tonight: Benno Underhill's Escape (from angry hobbit lasses) Hobbiton Fayre - quartet (had only played a trio version before) Under a Violet Moon Concerning Hobbits The Old Took's Canon Encore: Always look on the bright side. We're definitely getting better. Got so much applause today I'm still all dizzy! We'll have to practice a lot harder to top that!

Another night in Thorin's Hall. Firefern tried to make us practice a new arrangement of "Four Pies" but something's not quite right yet. Someone is playing off-key! We have to practice some more before we can put that one on stage. Other than that, we played: The Friendly Woodtroll Over The Hills and Far Away (requested by a Dwarf) Always look on the bright side of life (requested by Chief Alariana) Enveloped by Tenderness

Another practice tonight. Silkweed found us a fourth member - a nice Hobbit-girl called Glamua. She plays about everything, just like the rest of us, and seems quite proper. We decided on the name of the band now! It was (sort of) my suggestion. We threw around pie-related names, so I said "Pies and Pipes". We shortened it to "Pied Pipers" after a few rounds because nobody could remember whether the pies or the pipes came first. I hope nobody will think we're exterminators now, but in any case it sounds good enough!

Another gig for the kin; this time we were not performing in the Shire though, but at the Dwarves' place! Silkweed complained about the smell of the horses the entire ride. Apparently she "doesn't do" horses. Arcialac hasn't turned up - apparently he did take my cutting him off at the last practice harder than I thought. Pfft. Pansy Hobbit boys! All I did was ask him to stop his strumming for a minute so that we could actually hear Silkweed trying to tell us something. Ah well.

Well, the event was fun! (hic.) The event was in the Golden Perch in Stock. Nice inn. Okay beer, but not better than Green Dragon's Breath ale. Apparently the event was organized by our employers, the People of Shire. Some kind of militia group consisting mainly of Bounders. Well, as long as they pay me I don't mind what else they do! We played an old favourite of mine (and many other Hobbits, by the audience reaction), "Bright Side". And then a song I hadn't heard of before, which Mistress Silkweed seems to have set to an old tune. It's called "Four Pies in Isengard".

Well, this looks promising. After all this Bad Business with Bears I seem to finally have gotten a gig again! I'd heard of it from an old colleague of mine from Minstrel training, Firefern. So I went to the tryouts today and what do you know, they liked it! (Well, of course they did. I'm just that good.)