Lets Always Build Together!

It’s been quite a week and one that in many ways exposes the way that different people react to the same situation.  Some want to support, encourage and build, while others are more than happy to stand on the side lines and tell you that it’s hopeless and you are wasting your time.

On Wednesday morning I found myself at the Carmarthen Campus of University of Wales Trinity St David.  I’ve always had a soft spot for Trinity because my dad studied to become a teacher there just after the war.

My job was to host the Skills Wales Pop Competition.  The Pop competition wasn’t the only event taking place that day.  In Carmarthen they also had a performing arts competition whilst over the month other competitions will also be held for everything from bricklaying, plumbing and plastering to photography and Web Development.  The idea is that the competition element encourages the young students to produce their best work and a chance to meet others from around Wales.  I should say these are colleges not university students, so ages normally range from 16 to 18.

We had bands from 11 different colleges.  Each band had a 25 minute slot top get set up, sound checked and then to perform 3 songs.  We had 3 judges from various parts of the music industry who were there to give initial feedback before making a final judgement which would be announced in March. 

My job was to keep people informed and keep things moving. I also wanted to encourage them all to mingle and talk.  Like most things in life music careers benefit from networking.  You never know who is in your gig or listening to a song.  It only takes one person to change everything.  It’s also a great time to meet musicians that you could end up playing with for the rest of your life.  When The Jacks needed to find a new drummer in the mid 1990’s ‘Wal’ Coughlan, the band’s bass player and I went to see lots of other bands.  It was only when we went to a Battle of the Bands in Bridgend that we found Ryan Aston.  He was barely shaving at the time. That night changed things in all our lives, and we’ve played together for nearly 30 years!!

Just kids in a garage band, Wal, Viv Jones and Mal

It’s amazing that you can give people the same instruments and opportunities to be creative and they will all be so incredibly different, 11 different bands and 11 different styles of music. What I had to keep on reminding myself through the day was how young these players were.  Their standard of musicianship was exceptional. It did remind me of the musicians I had grown up with.  In many ways someone like my bass player Wal was a really great player at the age of 16, his style and skills were already there to be seen and heard.  What the years of playing with lots of different musicians gave him was the ability to adapt his talents to make the best music collectively.

By the end of the day bands were swapping Instagram accounts and email addresses.  One of the bands from North Wales got everyone to sign a T Shirt and we took a group picture.  I left Trinity smiling thinking even if the news makes you think we are ‘going to hell in a handcart’ maybe the world has a chance with kids like this coming through.

Public meeting in support of the Ospreys

My next stop on Wednesday was the Brangwyn Hall for the Public Meeting about the future of The Ospreys. I wondered where in the Guildhall the meeting would be held.  There’s the George Hall that holds around 200.  Maybe that would be half full??   I was a little late and when I got there I found myself slightly surprised to be guided to the back of the Brangwyn which was pretty much full.  There were rousing speeches and questions from the floor excellently handled by MC Kev Johns.

When I was a kid there was a TV series that was broadcast through the summer holidays called ‘The Flashing Blade’.  All these years later I can still sing the theme song which ends with

‘It’s better to have fought and lost than not to fight at all’.

Over the centuries people have found an affiliation with different saints.  Maybe St Christopher if you are a traveller or The Archangel Gabriel for broadcasters.  I have always been drawn to St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, desperate situations, and hopeless cases.

Together with the people in the Brangwyn on Wednesday I believe this is not the time to passively accept what we are being told is the inevitable demise of the Ospreys and professional Rugby in our region and that we must do everything we can to change that decision.  You would not believe the sticks and stones that get thrown at you, especially on social media, when you decide to make a stand but now is not the time throw in the towel so don’t let them get to you.

Andrew ‘Wal Coughlan, always right beside me.

And finally back to the power of coming together.  As you might have heard just before Christmas my dear friend and bass player of over 50 years left us.  Andrew ‘Wal’ Coughlan was an exceptional musician and even more exceptional human being.  As well as being a musician he loved to make things and he was in the middle of building his dream house.  Wal had it all worked out how each gig he took would pay for the next part of the build. 

As friends of Wal we want to complete that dream and so we have launched a GoFundMe page.  We know these are tough times financially for many of us but if you would like to contribute we would be delighted to accept your gift.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/andrew-wal-coughlan