NARROW ESCAPE FOR FRINGE GROUP

A group of musicians en route for Edinburgh Fringe had a narrow escape at the weekend when they were almost run off the road by a herd of runaway cattle.
Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three from St Louis, Missouri, were heading for Nottingham after a week-long run of sell-out dates on the south coast of England.
And just after leaving West Ashling, near Chichester, on a country road, bound for the M25, their tour bus rounded a bend and was seconds away from disaster when the cattle dashed out into its path, forcing their Scottish tour manager, Gerald Roche, to take evasive action and get the truck out of the way of the marauding herd.
The vehicle ended up in the ditch but no one was hurt and band members praised their Scottish roadie for his quick action to avert a serious accident.
“It was quite dark,” said 26-year-old LaFarge, “and we were heading back to our hotel after the gig.
“As we came around a bend, the cows charged over right in front of us from a field and Gerry managed to swerve to miss them.
“After we made sure that everyone was alright, luckily, we were able to push the tour bus out of the ditch as it wasn’t too deep.
“But we had a narrow escape and we were grateful that Gerry was so on the ball there.”
The band were one of the big successes when they made their debut at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival back in January.
They appeared at the Big Chill Festival in Ledbury last week and played a main stage slot at the Summer Sundae Weekender at the De Montford Hall in Leicester on Sunday.
Pokey LaFarge won five-star reviews when he played solo showcases at Edinburgh Fringe last year.
This time he returns with his full band for a three-night run at the Acoustic Music Centre at St Bride’s (Fringe venue 123) that starts on Tuesday, (August 17).
The band’s latest album charted in the USA on its release earlier this year and entered the Euro Americana Chart as well.
Hero of the day, Gerald Roche from Paisley, said: “The cattle were black and white so the headlights immediately picked them out.
“It was a good thing we were travelling at a safe speed on the country road and I was able to avoid them.
“Pokey and the lads are already joking about writing a song to recall the episode.
“There’s no truth in the rumour that it will be to the tune ‘moo-ve over darling’!”