Jim Malcolm

Merry Christmas folks and almost Happy New Year. Here are a couple of shots from Glenshee Ski Resort where we had an afternoon on Boxing Day. It has been a fairly poor winter for snow so far and a very wet December with hardly any frost. Tonight is Hogmany and we will be spending it at the Hilton Hotel outside Dunkeld where for the last three years I have been singing along with a ceidlh band put together by wonderful fiddler Pete Clark. It usually develops into a session that goes on well into the wee hours. There is dancing and fireworks at the Bells…

Looking over to the west from the top of Sunnyside at Glenshee. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

Severely beaten by the fish yesterday….bonnie though….

The mighty River Tay….

Bit tardy getting the final part of my last tour up. Here I am in Harlem Georgia near Augusta. I’m visiting the Laurel and Hardy Museum at Hardy’s birthplace. I’m gutted to discover that Stan Laurel was actually English. I’ve believed he was Scottish most of my life but infact despite being brought up in Glasgow he was born in Cumbria in the very north of England with English parents.  In referendum year I don’t think I can bear the disappointment…

Loads of amazing old Stan and Ollie stuff….

I used to watch these guys all the time when I was a nipper They were never off the box….

A real treasure trove..

A mural round the corner..

Nothing could be finer……the 8th state on this trip so far..

Had a super gig at Stonefield Winery north of Winston Salem among the maturing barrels…

As a whisky nut I would love to fill up some of these barrels with scotch when they are empty as wine casks can make really good stuff…

Last picture I took was of this bicycle plane that broke the world record for man-powered flight.I didn’t take that many pictures towards the end of the trip as the weather was poor. Infact it was warmer when I reached Scotland than it was when I left Washington DC.
I’d very much like to thank everyone who helped make this a great tour and to all those who came to see me play across the south.

It may be way out west but the bagpipes are alive and skirling in El Paso TX. The local band performed a wonderful opener for me. They were really nicely in tune and could hold their heads high at the likes of Braemar in Scotland. Thanks for the great show…

A couple of Scottish icons from the South West. A slightly squashed tartan cupcake- eat your clan! made by one of the pipe band And a piece of Rabbie memorabilia from Dave Mcnab…

Real pretzels from a bakery in the quaint German town of Fredricksburg TX

Texas T Party …lovely old model T Fords out for a rally near Austin….

Leaving Texas I came across this memorial to country singer Jim Reeves who was hugely popular in Scotland as well as many other places…

Galloway in Scotland? Someone must have been from there..

In 1814 we took a little trip, Along with General Jackson down the mighty Mississip……

Chief of the Louisiana MacCandlishes out on his frosty lawn- not what I was expecting temperature wise that far south…

Had to swap rental cars as there were three different warning lights showing This one’s got a banjo on its knee…

Connor, grandson of good folks in Birmingham-Richard and Dee bagged a bluegill in the pond next to their home..

A red necked slider turtle encountered on a day off fishing in Northern Georgia

My host Logan was giving me a bass catching lesson. Strangely the fish did not start biting until I played Lochanside on the harmonica then Bang!

A beautifully marked large mouthed bass…

I mostly caught these guys known as bluegills or brim. They are smaller but very tasty-much more so than trout..

Big thanks to the Sullivans….now back to work!

Catching up after a lap-top disaster, a wee broon troot from the beautiful Oak Creek, that runs through Sedona in Northern Arizona. I’ve fished there a few times but this time was the best as the river was much higher than usual after a wet autumn. A beautiful wild fish that I carefully returned…Had a smashing opening gig in Flagstaff, thanks to the Bartons..

The rocks around Sedona are spectacular…for those not hypnotised by the bonnie fish!…

Had a nice show in Prescott..thanks Clan McNab..and went for a walk by Willow Lake…

some cheerful rock art…

down towards Pheonix and one of the real iconic plants of America, the aguarro cactus… thousands of them…

Arizona has quite a lot of cotton where irrigation is possible.. here near Phoenix…

View of Pheonix from near where Liz and Mark live who put on a great house concert..

Reached New Mexico..here are the Organ Mountains – they are supposed to look like a church organ! my lovely host Trish introduced me to Hulu which lets you watch endless consecutive episodes of your favourite TV shows…help ma boab!