Happy holidays everyone,
Kristian and I had our annual Christmas dinner last Wednesday, and it’s become a tradition for us to go back over the ever growing list of golden memories from the past year. We go through all the shows, the stories, the brilliant guests we’ve had, and try to count the many people we are grateful to for making OTM such a fun and joyful part of our lives.
After dinner, fully fed and feeling merry, I made my way to Waterloo and boarded the train home. The carriage was busy but I managed to get a seat and settled into the quiet carriage with my laptop to do a little bit of work, while listening to some quiet folk music.
All was well… until a man boarded the train, with LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out blaring out of his phone, full volume, no headphones…
Now, I should have said something. I wanted to say something. But, generally preferring an easy life, (plus the fact that Mama Said Knock You Out is one of my favourite songs of all time) meant that I remained stoically unfazed, and focused on my work.
However there was another man in our carriage, who asked, very politely, if the music could be turned off, or if the listener could put in some earphones.
I didn’t look up. But I did some pretty intense clenching. For this is typically the part of the story when a fight breaks out, and someone gets punched, or stabbed, or at least soundly verbally abused.
Now, you don’t have to believe this next part at all. But it happened exactly as I write it.
The LL Cool J fan asked the person sitting opposite him if he would also like him to turn down the music. That man confirmed that, yes, it would be lovely if he could do just that.
So, the man with the phone turned off his phone. Not only that, but he then took out a box of Quality Street and started offering them around the carriage.
Witnessing this little Christmas miracle unfold before my eyes, I was immediately reminded of Polly Bennett’s wonderful story at our last show, reminding us about the importance of speaking with strangers. And Hugh Warwick’s story from our September 13th show, which also featured a lovely interaction with a stranger on a train.
It’s easy to expect the worst and most unreasonable behaviour of strangers we meet. Or indeed, of people we know but haven’t seen or spoken to in a while. But when you make that effort to connect with people, more often than not you’ll find that that’s when magic happens.
Aaron Sorkin once said that dialogue is music. And if you’ve ever been to an OneTrackMinds show, you’ll know all about how music can change your life.
So, as we head off for the Christmas period, I urge you all to make beautiful music with those around you. Your family, your friends, people on the train home. Tell your stories. And listen to the stories of others. Those words might just be the beginning of a song that change both our lives.
Now - a dutiful reminder of our upcoming shows at Wilton's Music Hall in the New Year. Tickets for our shows on January 18th and 19th are already selling fast, so if you don’t want to miss out on hearing stories from Charlie Gilmour, Pauline Eyre, Rob Deering, Kobi Prempeh and Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett (and others!), then book yours now. You can get the best tickets in the house for just £11 if you use the code OTMCrew at checkout.
As part of our Christmas celebrations, Kristian and I went to see Bradley Cooper’s nose Leonard Bernstein biopic, Maestro. It’s a fantastic piece of work, and very on message for OneTrackMinds - the wonderful performances from Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper, their incredible chemistry, and the undeniable frustrations of the tragic love story at the centre make for a living breathing film about the healing power of music, and it’s ability to help us overcome our demons. Strong recommend. It’s on Netflix now, but well worth a trip to the cinema to see it in all its glory.
Right, that’s it! And that’s it for 2023. We’re going to take a little bit of a break until January, and we hope you will too. We love you all so very much, and thank you for allowing us to continue to make OneTrackMinds a thing - it’s one of the great joys of our lives.
If you’re one of our storytellers from this year, thank you for sharing so generously.
If you’re one of our audience members, thank you for bringing your gift of warmth and generosity of spirit to me and Kristian and everyone who steps onto the stage with us.
And if you’ve supported us in any other way, thank you!
We’ll see you all next year!
AS.