The Golden Hum, Constant Follower open practise, Stirling , Nov 3rd 2026
It’s no secret that I admire the music of Constant Follower, I love how their music is never rushed, it is carefully constructed, with warm layered tones, a perfect foil for McAll’s voice. It would be no surprise that I am a follower and subscribe to their mailing list.
Like many subscriptions, they can be forgotten, daily life takes over, time marches on. Occasionally a postcard drops through the letterbox, it is from the band, usually with a warm hello and news of upcoming events. Dispatched four times per year the Postal club has a number of tiers from free to paid, offering a range of CF themed goodies. Also included it is news about new albums (I’m looking forward to their next one) and concerts.
It was intriguing to see the offer of attending their practise, curious, I decided to sign up to the November 3rd practise, my son took up the offer going with me (anything to get out of homework!)
We emerged from the train station into the cold dark night, Stirling, for a Tuesday was fairly vibrant. A short walk we reached the headquarter of the Golden Hum a space where events and records are created. This includes the ‘Circle’ which is a fantastic for young musicians to write and perform with their peers.
We met a couple who had travelled from Ayr, it struck me how loyal the band fanbase is, it reaffirmed my belief that in this extremely challenging musical landscape, a small but loyal fanbase is perhaps preferrable to a large passive audience. These days it seems only the largest artists, and perhaps depressingly, legacy artists (alive or dead) seem to enjoy both.
Constant Follower are trying to sustain a living within music, I can only imagine how challenging this is. Whilst I love playing and creating music with Weird Decibels and the rest of the HMR family, I have the safety of my day job. I strongly believe in paying for music, so I felt privileged to secure seats for no price, but it did leave me feeling that the band should be paid for what would be an excellent two hours.
We arrived at the practise space, my experience with rehearsal rooms…are generally badly lit, cold, damp with a buzzing PA. This space was the opposite, warm and lit with autumnal colours.
After a warm greeting from McAll he joined the band (on this occasion the full band was present which is not always the case). They proceeded to run through their growing catalogue of songs. I was stuck by the sound quality; it was so well balanced.
It felt like an intimate gig, that we were lucky to have secured seats to a secret concert. There were just three rows, the audience was small and appreciative, attentively listening and there was rarely a phone in site.
But it was a practise, the new songs sound exquisite, there were pauses, checking the key, the chord progression, forgetting the odd line. It was amazing to watch an artist construct and move new songs forward in front of you.
The band took requests; a few numbers were suggested for those present it felt like a collaboration. Then, about midway through the night we were asked to take out or phones and log into a site structed specifically for this night. We were given a cue to press a button, from our phones emerged sounds from a coastal town. The band launched into a song; it was such a unique moment of connection.
There were tee shirts designed for the night (designed by a local artist), merch and a hat to contribute towards the band, I happily paid…and was delighted a medium sized shirt still fits.
It was an enjoyable two hours, the vibe relaxed, smatterings of humour and stories about the songs. Band practise tends to be musicians behind closed doors writing or rehearsing, but this was a special moment.
Musicians need to be more inventive to etch out a living these days, tyring to move away from social media, aiming to actually connect with fans. If this is one way to do it then I’m all for it.
Looking forward to the next one!
Pabs
