In My Easter Bonnet!
My New Business Card!
It’s been a busy Easter one way and another and now it’s full steam ahead with Pearly Queen shows as the season moves forward to St Georges week. You can’t beat the old sing-along favourites and things are really starting to ramp up as I get ready for Normandy and the 80th D-Day Commemorations.
A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. I now have my new businesses cards printed with a fresh 2024 design and I’m thrilled to announce Arromanches have booked me as their artist in residence for the D-day duration. This will involve working around the town of Arromanches performing a variety of shows in different locations from the 4th through to the 8th June. I haven’t had the full itinerary through yet but most, if not all will be taking place out-side in an around the 6th June Museum and Normandy beach. https://musee-arromanches.fr/en/
It’s very exciting especially as they have given me the top D-Day 90
Setting Up Sound in the Garden!
All Set for D-Day!
minute slot on the 6th June. I will be playing in the main square out-side the museum over looking Normandy beach at 9.30 pm. They usually follow my show with a spectacular firework display but I’ve learn’t from experience it’s best to have a few extra songs up my sleeve just incase the fireworks don’t light. This happened a few years ago where my 90 minute show had to be lengthened by another forty-five minutes so it’s important to prepare properly and to have a contingency plan just incase.
For quite a few years now I’ve opened my Normandy show with La Marsillaise but for the 80th I’m planning something very speci
Chiltern Open Air Museum!
Inside the 1940s Prefab!
al indeed. I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but I have a new D-Day track in production with Richard Whennell, which when completed will be terrific. So keep watching this space and I will keep you posted. This is my Arromanches Concert itinerary so far :-
Wednesday 5th June – 3.30pm = 60 minutes “Street Performance”, Thursday 6th June – 9.30pm = 90 minutes “Place du 6 Juin”, Friday 7th June – 12.30pm = 60 minutes “Cale Neptune”, Saturday 8th June – 3 x 30 minute Shows – 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm “On the Square”.
Last week I had a rehearsal with my sound engineer where we wired up my full rig and experimented with sound in the back garden. It’s important to check equipment especially leads to see all is well before we sail. June seems like ages away but not really when there is much to organise and so little time when I am working around existing shows.
The Table Laid Up for Tea!
Charming Cottage at the COAM!
Last Wednesday I went over to Bedford and I had a few extra speaker leads made up. It’s important to have spares just in case one goes down in the field. Good quality thick leads are essential for good sound and there’s nothing I hate more than to see acts using thin weedy leads on stage. It doesn’t look professional and it makes the act look cheep especially if they are still using jack connectors instead of speakons.
Sometimes it’s easy to
Inside the Chapple!
get bogged down with work but this year I have been trying to have a little more time to myself which is partly why I’ve been writing my blog less frequently than normal. It’s a big commitment especially with dyslexia as it often takes me at least five hours to write a blog entry.
Last Monday I had the pleasure of visiting the Chiltern Open Air Museum in Chalfont St Giles https://www.coam.org.uk/. I hadn’t been there in years and the last time I played there was over ten years ago. Although it was March, I remember we were caught out with the weather as it was freezing cold and we even had snow on the ground. This time was a little more fun as I had the pleasure of seeing the museum from the perspective of a visitor.
The museum was founded in 1976 and opened to the public in 1981. It rescues and restores English buildings from the Chilterns, which might otherwise have been destroyed or demolished. All the buildings have been relocated to the museum’s 45-acre site, and there are more than 35 buildings on view including a working historic farm with animals.
Buildings of interest include a 1940s prefab (which was my favourite), a reconstruction of an Iron Age house, a Victorian toll house from High Wycombe, a “Tin Chapel” and a forge plus a fine pair of cottages from Leagrave, nere Luton.
I shall leave you with a few of my photos and this blast from the past. A video which was made when I last played at The Chiltern Open Air Museum in 2013. Enjoy Watching!
https://youtu.be/NDHXixBqJ0U?si=jtxdSTAinHNQrcsj
Toodle Pip and Bye for Now! 😉