The Diary of a Bookseller

SUNDAY, 8 JUNE

I opened the shop at 2 p.m., just as The Bookshop Band arrived. They set up and started the gig at 3.30 p.m. They were wonderful. The Bookshop Band are Ben, Beth and Poppy. They were doing a tour of Scotland and the north of England, and Eliot persuaded them to come to Wigtown and perform in the shop. They brought their friend John along to give them a hand with setting up. Their USP is that they mainly play in bookshops, and all of their songs are based on books they’ve read. The shop was full for their gig: Callum brought his children along too. In the evening, once we’d eaten, the instruments came out again as the wine and beer began to flow and they sang folk songs (John’s speciality). We drank and sang until 3 a.m.