Paul Bielatowicz

I woke up at 9 and went downstairs to find Mattias asleep in the living room. I tiptoed past him and went into the garden where I found Max and Collin.
It wasn’t long before Mattias woke up and we all had breakfast together. Max left to return Neal’s hire-car to Amsterdam airport and [...]

We‘d been told the previous night that breakfast finished at 10.30, so we (Berry, Collin, Jessica and myself) agreed to meet in the hotel restaurant at 10am. One of the first things I learnt about touring was that if you make yourself a packed lunch at breakfast, you don’t have to suffer motorway service [...]

We’d arranged to meet for breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 9. However, when I’d got back to my room at some ridiculous hour in the morning, I’d decided against setting my alarm – opting to skip breakfast in favour of a late morning… we make plans and God laughs (to quote Mr. Bumblefoot). [...]

My alarm awoke me at 7am. Unfortunately, I’d not got the night’s sleep I’d planned; Berry got back at 11.30, had a shower, sent a few text messages and then his phone woke us both up with a text message in what seemed like the middle of the night… ah well!
I had a shower, [...]

I woke up when my alarm went off at 4.40am – ouch! At 5am Berry, the guitar tech for the coming shows, turned up at Collin and Jessica’s house. We eventually left at 5.30 with Berry and 4 other people in his car; Collin, Jessica, myself and Mattias (our ace-photographer / roadie).

Our first [...]

Again, rehearsals were due to start at 10am – this time the plan was for Neal to be there from the start.  When I got up, Collin told me that Neal and his family had arrived in Amsterdam at 6.50 that morning – things were looking good.  We arrived at the church, on bikes, at [...]

Today, the plan was to start rehearsing at the church at 10am, without Neal.  Then, once he’d arrived in the evening, we’d run the set with him before finishing for the day.  However, as soon as I got up and went down stairs, Collin told me that Neal’s plane had been cancelled due to bad [...]

Today was initially meant to be a rehearsal day but Henk, busy as he always is, was playing at a big Christian festival nearby. So big was this festival that it usually generates 2-hour-long traffic jams and, not knowing what time in the evening he’d be able to get to us, we decided that [...]

I started the day with what was meant to be a quick job – posting these tour blogs on my website and Myspace (the Myspace versions don’t have photos, so if you’re reading this on Myspace, then visit my website for the full picture).
For those of you not on my website mailing list you won’t [...]

With nothing on the agenda, I decided that I was going to devote today to practise. I did a few picking exercises in the morning and, once I’d got into the flow of things, I decided to watch some videos on the internet whilst I practised.
The first thing I decided to watch was a [...]

This was our first of a few days off. As on all days off, I woke up with a cold (this usually happens when I give myself a rest).
Jessica was teaching in the morning, so Collin and myself cycled across town to the church we’re due to be rehearsing when Neal arrives on Tuesday. [...]

Another 10am start, this time with no alarm clock hitches!
In total, we ran the set 3 times today. The first time we ran it we made notes of any areas that needed to be focused on. Then, after this initial run through, we replayed all of the sections identified as problem areas, until [...]

Today was the first day of rehearsals for the coming shows.
In the morning, before we left for the rehearsal, I spent some time on the internet ordering t-shirt to wear for the few shows ahead. The t-shirt simply says ‘Guitarist’ – I think that sums things up nicely! I do have another t-shirt [...]

My tour started as most tours start… at the airport. However, most tours don’t start at the wrong terminal of the airport… woops! I’m so used to flying from the same terminal of London Gatwick that I didn’t notice that they’ve change terminal for some of their flights. Not to worry… a [...]