This week it’s been very much business as usual with me out and about performing Easter Bonnet shows. I’ve been out every day this month and it’s lovely to have a run of the same show where normally I would be chopping and changing programs depending on each clients brief. Easter is always a busy time and it feels great to be back on the road again.
Every moment of the day is precious and I’ve been busy learning new numbers between performances. I learn a lot in the van while I’m driving from show to show. It’s down time I can use as I play my songs over and over again until I get the words and music right in my head before performing them live.
I currently have a long list of post modern numbers which I’m working my way through and I’ve been enjoying introducing them into my act. This week I masted Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and I’ve already been including Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” which has been going down really well, especially as I perform it in a jazzy 1920s style. Some of the other numbers I’ve learnt aren’t suitable to included just yet but with a couple of 1920s shows just around the corner and a few events which will be requiring a more up tempo jazzy content it wont be long now.
My Easter Bonnet show is a very pretty show and one of my favorite numbers which I feature is “April and You”. I first discovered this song on an old 78 record. It was originally recorded by Jo Stafford in 1954 and she was accompanied on the piano by a new up and coming pianist by the name of Liberace who certainly did OK for himself. After hearing the song I looked every-where for the sheet music with-out success so I took a copy of the original recording along to my musical arranger Richard Whennell who very skillfully took down the notes Liberace played and produced a backing track for me. It’s a forgotten gem and I think I may be the only person in the world to sing this number now. It’s a privilege to be able to share this song with others and I shall leave you with a link to my video.
Enjoy Watching Toodle Pip and Bye for Now!