When I was in France, my winters were all about learning songs for the next wedding season, rehearsing with SouthWest every other Monday, and teaching a few students. The first gig of the year was in May, at the earliest. It’s different this year. School 1 Last Thursday morning, I […]
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16 posts
On Friday, I had the great pleasure of playing a wedding ceremony in the church at Limeuil. If you don’t know this part of France, it is one of the most beautiful villages anywhere. At river level, the Dordogne and Vézère meet by a restaurant I’ve played at a few […]
Two years ago, just before a gig in Cadouin, we were given our first ever fan art. I published it here. Two days ago, during my final gig in Cadouin (more on that in a moment), we were given our second ever piece of fan art – by the same […]
I think this is a first for me: three gigs in a row with varied set lists. A nice, easy one to start with – with SouthWest, playing our second public gig of the season in Cadouin. Here’s a shot from after we finished… The following evening, a piano & […]
On Saturday, I went east for a wedding at Chateau du Doux. I’m now setting up a bit earlier than I did at the start of the season, which gives me a bit more time to socialise and settle in. It also means, even when I’m not scheduled to play, […]
Five days after playing keyboards and percussion in Hertfordshire with The Stones, and two days after playing solo piano at a private party in the Charente, I played the first of three public gigs in the Dordogne, with SouthWest. As we have for several years now, we set up in […]
Last Saturday saw a return to Chateau La Durantie, in the north of the Dordogne. It’s an absolutely spectacular venue – a gorgeous, honey coloured stone mansion with palatial rooms and extensive grounds. This time, it wasn’t an Irish wedding – it was an Irish/British affair. Before the evening party […]
Very rarely, a gig comes along that, for one reason or another – possibly both – is not much fun. The last one I remember was this one, from a few years ago. (A postscript on that gig, by the way: I filmed and recorded it, but the guy doing […]
Once in a blue moon, you get to play a gig that doesn’t involve hours of driving home after packing up. Last Wednesday was just such a night. Domaine de la Fauconnie is new to me and the band. But it’s absolutely perfect, in so many ways. Ceremony, cocktails and […]
On Saturday, SouthWest returned to Chateau du Doux for our second Irish wedding of the year. (Featuring easily the tallest Irish people I’ve ever met.) I got to play the ceremony beforehand, and learnt a new song for the occasion (“The One” by Kodaline). The weather was fantastic – again […]
This year, I’ve been Instagramming stories on gig days. Which means I’ve totally neglected this blog. Back in June, the band actually got to play a wedding! At a venue we haven’t played before – Chateau Camp del Saltre. It was excellent to get out there again, and Andy fronted […]
On Wednesday, I went with Purple Rock to Terrasson to play at a café overlooking the river. We have quite a lot of gear, so started setting up before the road was officially closed, which meant the police rocked up. We didn’t give them too much of a hard time […]
On June 21st every year, France has a music festival everywhere. It’s called the “Fête de la musique” and towns and villages throughout the land put up stages and host bands for the public, for free. With food and bars, too. Obviously. This is France. Yesterday, I fêted la musique […]
Not really. This is the setup before we played a wedding last Saturday. A half-French, half-British affair – I’ve never seen so many bilingual people in one place! Video was shot and sound was recorded, but this week is very busy, preparing for two big gigs on Friday and Saturday, […]
On Saturday, we played a wedding for a Dutch couple up in the north of the Dordogne. I have very little Dutch, and some of it obscure—Hagelslag, for example, always raises a smile (although I’ve only just seen it written down for the first time and was expecting more As. […]
It’s a busy time at the moment. Here’s a snapshot of the stage at the Lembarzique café near Bergerac, where I made my debut with the new band, Purple Rock. We opened the 2019 Bergerac Jazz Festival (although we’re a blues/rock band – don’t worry) and it was an excellent […]