Hope for Sutton Project Launch

I’m some six months (and a bit) late in writing this, but it’s been a busy time.

The Hope for Sutton project, which encompasses a range of activities and initiatives supporting the local community in and around Mere Green launched last October. As part of the celebrations I was delighted to present an original piece of composition recorded and performed by students from three local primary schools. In return for their hard work I decided to keep the recording online for free, so they would have easy access to hear themselves in what is technically a world premiere.

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Selling Up

In 1997 I persuaded my Dad to let me spend the inheritance I was due to receive the following year. I blew the lot (not a huge amount, but enough at the time) on a brand new synthesiser. It was a Roland XP-10, and I’ve used it ever since.

Shameless Promotion

I love the Blues. I love the feel, the sound and the raw emotion.

I also love playing the Blues, and last year I played with the Grey Goose Blues Band. It was immense fun and I was very sorry to have to knock my participation on the head.

However, I still try to keep up with their latest movements. They played at the Chuckery Festival in Walsall Arboretum, and they’ve played a couple of gigs at the White Lion that I’ve been able to get to.

Today, I discovered they’re on Bandcamp, advertising their 2012 album “Beat the Devil out of me” which you can buy and download. Go and have a listen on the site. There’s some magic in that music.

(You won’t find me listed in the credits. Recording finished on this before I joined. Can’t wait to hear their next offering.)

Good Friday – and Rock and Roll is also Dead.

In the beginning there was music. And it was mostly good. Except for the music that was bad. And you could decide for yourself what was what. So long as your mates didn’t find out you’d bought an Osmonds LP / Bros tape / Take That CD / One Direction download with your pocket money.

OK, further back than that was rock and roll. It deserves capital letters. It’s a proper noun.

Rock and Roll.

Developments to Bandcamp – from a novice

I use Bandcamp to sell my music. On my “business” website, I embed a Bandcamp player to promote my latest work. All this is a little one sided. You hear my stuff, and choose to download or purchase it. Well, it works the other way too, and Bandcamp have just upped their game in that sphere.

More recording for the Grey Goose

Tonight I’m going to Wolverhampton to record some vocals for a few Grey Goose tracks. The sound is much more raw than the studio work we did earlier in the year, at least in part because we’re doing the recording ourselves.

I’m very impressed with the quality of the recording so far and I hope the finished article will be well worth listening to.

I’d like to have a play with home recording myself at some point, but only once I’ve managed to cobble together a bit more gear for live work. Speaking of which, I’m quite happy to do solo gigs if anyone’s interested…

Greenbelt – camping, mud, music, and children!

We’ve just returned from Greenbelt 2012. It’s not our first visit, but the first time we camped with the children.

Messing around in Notes

Improvisation. Why is it when I want to, I can’t, and when I do, it’s almost unexpected? I have been improvising all my musical life. It started by swinging the quavers in simple melodies in the very first piano books I was given to learn from, and continues to this day. I love to sit down for half an hour or so and just let rip.

Touring with the Band

The Grey Goose Blues Band are on tour tonight. We’re actually doing an international leg of our 2012 programme of events.

Experiment in random exposure…

… not a photography thing, nor something illegal in any town within Her Britannic Majesty’s Commonwealth.